Faces of Terror. Any creature who targets the wraith with an attack or a harmful spell must first succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the end of the creature's next turn.
Forbiddance. The wraith can't enter a residence if its owner has marked the main door with lamb’s blood.
Incorporeal Movement. The wraith can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.
Legendary Resistance (2/Day). If the wraith fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Multiattack. The wraith makes three spectral claw attacks.
Spectral Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (3d8 + 6) necrotic damage, plus 13 (3d8) psychic damage if the target is frightened.
Absorb Soul. The wraith chooses a living humanoid with 0 hit points that it can see within 5 feet of it. The target's soul is magically trapped inside the wraith, the wraith regains 20 hit points, immediately recharges Death Grasp, and gains an additional action on its next turn. While the soul is trapped, the target's body and all the equipment it is carrying cease to exist. The soul is freed if the wraith drops to 0 hit points, or the wraith frees it as an action, at which point the target's body reforms in an unoccupied space nearest to the wraith and in the same state as when it was trapped.
Death Grasp (Recharges 5-6). The wraith reaches into the body of a creature within 5 feet of it. The target must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, the target takes 47 (6d8 + 20) necrotic damage. On a failed save, the target drops to 0 hit points.
The wraith can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The wraith regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
- Death Mark. The wraith targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be magically cursed until the end of the wraith's next turn. Until the curse ends, the target is vulnerable to necrotic damage and can't regain hit points.
- Teleport. The wraith magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.
- Insanity (Costs 2 Actions). The wraith targets one frightened creature it can see within 60 feet of it. If the target can see the wraith, it must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw against this magic or take 16 (3d10) psychic damage and gain a random form of short-term madness (roll on the Short-Term Madness table in chapter 8 of the Dungeon Master's Guide) for 1 minute. The target may repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns to end the madness.
Description
Cenokian Wraith
Defied Death. Cenokian wraiths, or simply cenokians, are spectral horrors of former necromancers and sorcerers that used the corrupting influence of necromancy to extend their lives beyond the mortal limit. In their hubris they have defied the god of death's authority by preventing the inevitability of their passing and continued to do so even in the afterlife. Others made a deal with the beings of the Shadowfell known as the Dark Powers and were tricked into an impossible bargain, some were unworthy servants of the Demon Prince Orcus and are forever guarding his realm of Thanatos. As a punishment, decay took their mortal forms, rotting it away even as they sought desperately to sustain it. With no corporeal form to speak of, these men and women became wandering spirits, clad only in their death shrouds. As their grip on the world of mortals weakened, these vagrant souls were bound to be the eternal keepers of the cycle of life and death, reaping those that would attempt to escape their fate.
Cenote Bound. Until they are called to collect a specific soul, cenokian wraiths are bound to a cenote, a soul-trapping portal that was built long ago by unknown entities. Theories abound as to the exact nature of these gates and the symbiosis that connects them to the wraiths. Divination attempts bear no result and even the lips of the gods are sealed when it comes to the topic. Some view these wraiths as psychopomps, severing the last ties between the soul and the body. What is certain is that attempting to resurrect a person is a sure way to gain the wraith’s ire and to be marked by the culling curse. Those that inhabit the lands tainted by a cenote have learned to fear the consequences of resurrection magic and have strictly forbidden its use and teaching, going as far as to outlaw any material components that might be used to cast such spells.
Cenote Cenotes are portals leading to various locations in deathly realms. They bear many names and appear in various cultures, some are well-known and carefully watched over, while others have been dormant and hidden for centuries. They are often located in sinkholes or in deep burial chambers, taking the form of a black pool of frigid water or of an arch built of black obsidian, iron and bones, obscured by a veil of whispering shadows. Plants wither, drinks spoil, and flesh rot in the cenote’s presence. Theories abound as to who or what built the cenotes. A most interesting one states that they are the physical crossroads between life and death, the transition paths taken by souls to reach the final afterlife. This is only the most popular theory among scholars of the dark arts.
Grim Reaper. Within the material world, these spirits are among the most feared of all undead. Their very presence fills the air with dread, and most who face them are driven mad with terror long before they are killed. These vengeful spirits fall upon their enemies, tearing them apart with great sweeps of their claws. In return, those who do stand against them find their pitiful attacks merely pass straight through the cenokian wraith. On their shrouds, the faces of the unfortunate souls they claimed throughout the centuries come peering in agony. Worse still, the deathly touch of the wraith drains the life essence of mortals completely. A cenokian wraith can reach into the body of an adversary and close its spectral claws around the victim's vital organs, causing excruciating pain and deadly spasms.
Lair and Lair Actions
A Cenokian Wraith's Lair
A cenokian wraith's lair is always centred around the site of a cenote. The high number of suicides in the region attracts all sorts of unsavoury necromancers and undead that thrive in this morbid atmosphere.
Cenote - Lair Traits
A cenote has all of the following effects in place:
- A living creature touching the cenote must make a DC 18 Constitution saving throw, taking 54 (12d8) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.
- If a creature dies while inside the lair, its soul is trapped in the cenote. While the soul is trapped, the target's body and all the equipment it is carrying cease to exist. A soul trapped in a cenote for 24 hours ceases to exist. The cenote key can be used to release any soul trapped within, at which point the target's body re-forms in an unoccupied space nearest to the cenote and in the same state as when it was trapped.
- Each cenote has a specific key that will open or close it. Each key is different - some demand certain genuine emotions to be felt, others ask for odd objects to be sacrificed or strange prayers to be said over the cenote. Those who bring the gate the proper key can close it for a hundred years or open it. Some keys are well-known, while others are complete mysteries that need to be uncovered. There is no known way to destroy a cenote, at least not permanently, for it will always reform after 1d10 days.
- If a cenokian wraith is destroyed while its cenote is open, it will re-form in 24 hours in an unoccupied space nearest to the cenote with all its hit points, unless the cenote has been closed by that time.
Regional Effects
The region containing an open cenote is tainted by the cenote's magic, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Despair seeps into the region. The mood of its inhabitants is always bleak and creatures that have lost all hopes and want to end their lives are unknowingly drawn to the cenote. Many traces of past suicides can be found in the region.
- A creature who rest within 6 miles of a cenote find itself haunted by ghostly visions and dreams of death. The creature gains no benefit from finishing a short or long rest.
- Any creature casting revivify, raise dead, true resurrection or similar magic within 6 miles of a cenote triggers a finger of death spell (save DC 20) targeting the caster, which takes effect before the triggering spell is completed. The caster is then cursed with the culling curse (see side note). The caster of the triggering spell must make a successful DC 20 Constitution saving throw to maintain concentration. On a failed check, the triggering spell fails, and its material components are wasted.
If the cenote is closed, these regional effects end immediately.
Cenote Key
d8 Key
1 The cenote will open/close for anyone who brings the gate seven skulls of seven fathers.
2 The cenote will open/close for anyone that comes to it within 24 hours of killing a celestial in cold blood.
3 The cenote will open/close for anyone who feels genuine love in the presence of the gate.
4 The cenote will open/close for anyone who recites its ancestry over seven generations at the gate.
5 The cenote will open/close for anyone who sacrifices his mentor’s life or a legendary magical item at the gate.
6 The cenote will open/close for anyone who is suffering from a indefinite madness.
7 The cenote will open/close for anyone who has committed a selfish act in the past 24 hours.
8 The cenote will open/close for anyone who commits self-harm, reducing itself to 0 hit points at the gate.
The Culling Curse
The culling curse is an ancient magic woven by the entities that created the cenotes. Once a target is cursed a cenokian wraith is set upon it and the culling starts. The wraith will stop at nothing to reach its target, killing any who crosses path with it. The only known way to be ignored by the wraith is to mark lamb's blood above your doors and to stay inside until the culling has passed. After the wraith has absorbed the soul it seeks, it brings it back to the cenote, damning the soul to oblivion. The curse has the following effects:
- Until the curse ends, the target suffers death marks (grey or red striations like those sometimes found on a corpse) and is vulnerable to necrotic damage and can't regain hit points.
- The cenokian wraith knows the distance to and direction of the cursed creature, even if the creature and the wraith are on different planes of existence. If the cursed creature dies, the wraith knows.
- A remove curse spell or similar magic cast on the target of the curse can end it only if the caster succeeds on a DC 20 ability check using its spellcasting ability.
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