Filter Air. Aartuk require air to survive, and rely upon their Elders to keep the air clean. An Elder can filter stale air sufficient to produce air for 50 medium-sized beings.
Camouflage. Aartuk come in a variety of strains. In all cases, this coloration allows an Aartuk to conceal itself in a natural environment. All Wisdom (Perception) checks to spot a hiding Aartuk, both passive and active, are made at disadvantage.
Spellcasting. The Elder Aartuk is a 5th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 11, +3 to hit with spell attacks). The Aartuk has the following cleric spells prepared:
- Cantrips (at will): mending, resistance, sacred flame, spare the dying
- 1st level (4 slots): divine favor (always prepared), shield of faith (always prepared), bless, cure wounds, inflict wounds, purify food and drink
- 2nd level (3 slots): magic weapon (always prepared), spiritual weapon (always prepared), find traps, lesser restoration, protection from poison
- 3rd level (2 slots): crusader's mantle (always prepared), spirit guardians (always prepared), dispel magic, revivify
Pellet. Ranged Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 60/240 ft., one target. Hit: (1d4) bludgeoning damage. Upon impact the pellet produces a spark, and if used in the phlogiston, the spark ignites into a (5d6) fireball, affecting all within 20 ft.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6+5 bludgeoning damage.
Improved Grab. An aartuk may choose to shoot forth its gooey tongue to entangle an opponent. The sticky tongue is effective up to thirty feet. On a successful attack the victim must make a Dexterity save (DC 15) or become grappled. An opposed Strength roll is required to escape (the victim receives a -1 penalty for every round of continuous entanglement). The Aartuk can then draw a body towards its center at a rate of 5 feet per round as a bonus action.
Crush. If a grappled creature is within five feet of the Aartuk, it can use its action to constrict the grappled creature, dealing 1d8+5 bludgeoning damage per round.
Description
Aartuk are nomadic vegetables and religious fanatics, constantly seeking worthy adversaries. Aartuk view war as the ultimate form of art.
Plant-like Biology
There were several varieties of aartuk, each belonging to different tribes, but they all shared a similar shape. Aartuk bodies were shaped like stars, standing up to 6 feet tall, and moving on five appendages that ended on suction cups with three pseudopods each. Their skin was similar to a spiked bark that resembled leather. At the center of the star-shaped body, a long snake-like neck ended in an oval head with three black sensory organs, capable of detecting sounds, vibrations, and infrared light, but not visible light.
Variants of aartuk included gray, light brown, or moss-covered individuals, among others. In all cases, they were expert at blending in with their natural environment. Aartuk could eat any type of nourishment, and usually cooked their meals.
Culture
They worshiped evil deities associated with war from diverse origins, including human deities from several worlds, as well as other creatures.
They treasured gems, art pieces, weapons, and magic items that had any association with the theme of war. Aristocrats and elders had their own type of magic item: torques worn around their necks that could provide magical protection or other enhancements. Humanoids could wear those items like bracelets.
Combat
Aartuk warriors fought by throwing pellets of solidified sap at their opponents, as well as constricting them with their powerful tongues, which could grab an opponent at a distance of up to 30 ft (9.1 m). They then proceeded to use their other appendages to crush the entangled opponent to death. Elder Aartuk had more powerful sap projectiles, which produced sparks when hitting their targets.
In any fight, Aartuk avoided harming individuals that they perceived to be capable of piloting spelljammers, as they preferred to capture them and take them as prisoners in case they had to retreat, later employing them as slave pilots to their spelljammer vessels. Aartuk travel in captured vessels that are modified to fit their tribe's coloration.
Society
Aartuk communities could be found anywhere in wildspace or even in the phlogiston. They were always organized in tribes consisting of one elder leading anywhere between 10-100 warriors. Tribes typically controlled one or more spelljammers, which they took over and plundered from defeated enemies.
The reproductive cycle of Aartuk was related with their obsession with war. They reproduced by infecting an unconscious opponent with a virus that could be cured, but if left unchecked, transformed the victim's flesh into jelly over the course of a few days. From the jelly, a new Aartuk emerged within one month, carrying the memories of the Aartuk who had infected the victim.
An Aartuk warrior lived between 70 and 90 years until it blossomed. A blossomed Aartuk, known as an aristocrat, could display flowers, mushrooms, or rocky outgrowths, depending on the variety. After blossoming, most Aartuk wilted and died, but the few who survived the processed shed their original skins and became elders, who lived on for another 40 to 60 years. Newly emerged elders were usually granted a spelljamming vessel, slave pilots, and some treasure and then departed with a few young Aartuk to found a new tribe.
The slime secreted by Aartuk tongues could be boiled to produce a fairly potent glue. The sap from elders could be fermented to produce a beverage called aartukia, which was eagerly sought after by Beholders and could be sold for a substantial value. Their tongues could be dried to produce rope, but were also considered a savory delicacy.
There were legends that indicated that the Aartuk homeworld was destroyed by beholders in the distant past. For that reason, Aartuk held an ancient hate toward them and would measure no effort to harm a Beholder if the opportunity arose.