Aura of Gloom. The hatchling exudes an aura that dampens light within 120 feet. Within this area, all forms of vision (including darkvision) are obscured in a faint shadowy gloom, regardless of more powerful light sources in the area. Creatures relying on vision in the area treat all others as being lightly obscured and have disadvantage on attack rolls against the bhole hatchling. This aura cannot be countered via light effects, but creatures that are immune to vision-based attacks, as well as those with truesight, can see through the bhole’s aura.
Keen Smell. The hatchling has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Magic Resistance. The hatchling has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Tunneler. The hatchling can burrow through solid rock at half its burrowing speed and leaves a 7-foot-diameter tunnel in its wake. It can move through a space as narrow as 7 feet wide without squeezing.
Uncontrollable. The hatchling can’t be put to sleep or controlled by dominate monster, magic jar, or any other means of compulsion or possession. It remains susceptible to confusion, however.
Multiattack. The bhole hatchling makes two attacks: one with its bite and one with its tail.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: [roll]1d20+12[/roll] to hit, reach 10 ft., one target.
Hit: 29 ([roll]4d10+7[/roll]) piercing damage and 11 ([roll]2d10[/roll]) acid damage.
Tail. Melee Weapon Attack: [roll]1d20+12[/roll] to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 ([roll]3d8+7[/roll]) bludgeoning damage.
Thrash. The hatchling moves up to its speed. While doing so, it can enter Large or smaller creatures’ spaces. Whenever the hatchling enters a creature’s space, the creature must make a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw. On a successful saving throw, the creature can choose to be pushed 5 feet back, to the side of the hatchling, or fall prone. On a failed saving throw, the creature takes 20 ([roll]3d8+7[/roll]) bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone.
Description
The vanishingly rare bholes are colossal worm-like entities with scraped, rock-like hides and gaping mouths full of drill-like teeth. They only appear under conditions of absolute darkness, in which they cannot normally be seen, so typical-ly the only way to observe them is through the discovery of the occasional dead specimen or by touch—at which point it is often too late. They dwell in the Dreamlands, burrowing in the Vale of Pnath to eat the carrion and leavings therein.Bholes have thick, rugged hides that constantly wear and peel off due to their savage environment, though they regen-erate just as quickly. Bholes boast large mouths filled with razor-sharp teeth, which they use to carve their way through even the toughest rock formations and to devour their prey.Bholes exist in constant darkness. Even above ground, a bhole exudes a sort of “absence” which makes it very difficult to perceive it (see aura of gloom). As a result, no entity can see a bhole very well, and thus derives only basic impressions of a worm-like form and many teeth.While bholes can wriggle along the earth, they typically submerge in seas of mud or slime and swim beneath the surface. They can also burrow through hardened soil at a great speed. Bholes are enormous and ravenous but not impulsive: they typically sniff out and investigate a creature before eating it. Their most common attack is to engulf a
target: through sheer size, they can easily crush or over-whelm almost any enemy.
Bholes are a different form of the unthinkable horrors known as dholes (see page 300). When a mature dhole breeds, its larvae do not emerge in the material universe, but instead in the Vale of Pnath or another similar area in the Dreamlands. This larva is known as a bhole hatchling, which grows and develops under conditions of absolute darkness until it reaches full maturity. The mature bhole, still in the Dreamlands, can then reproduce and deposit dhole hatchlings (see page 301) in the material universe, on appropriate planets, allowing dholes to move from world to world and continue the cycle.
Whereas titanic adults are rarely seen, a bhole hatchling is spawned close to the surface, so the odds of encountering an immature one are much higher. The hatchlings are also more aggressive in some ways than adults: they scour their environment for protein sources to support their rapid growth, and thus may emerge to attack in a situation when an adult might remain idle. They range greatly in size: a typ-ical hatchling is at least 50 feet long and weighs many tons.
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