Unsettling Presence Creatures within 30 ft, of the Crooked who can see it must succeed on a DC 15 wisdom saving throw or gain disadvantage on attacks against the Crooked and become frightened of the Crooked until their next turn. If a creature succeeds on this saving throw, they become immune to this trait until the next day.
Consuming Night When the Crooked is hostile, light within 30 ft. of the Crooked becomes dim light if it is not already and light more than 30 ft. away becomes magically dark. If a creature manages to get 60 ft. or more distance away from the Crooked, they will escape the darkness. If the creature looks back after escaping, they will see a sphere devoid of light with a 60 ft. radius with the Crooked at its center. Creatures who look at this sphere of darkness become frightened until they look away.
Psionic Sight The Crooked relies on its heightened senses of smell and hearing. The Crooked has no problem discerning the landscape around them (location of walls, rocks, etc.). Its heightened senses give it an increased area of awareness, but it can be fooled by disguising scent and sound.
Smells Fear The Crooked can smell fear for miles. The Crooked knows the general location of a creature with the frightened condition within ten miles and knows their exact location within the range of its blind sight. 360 ft. The Crooked can discern the fear of different individuals and will be able to identify specific creatures based off of the fear of those it has encountered.
Unusual Nature The Crooked does not require food, drink, or sleep
Elongated Arm Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., 1 target. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) psychic damage when inside of the Stendhal painting or slashing damage when outside of the Stendhal painting.
Eerie Grasp (Recharge after one turn) The Crooked reaches out with its elongated arm, attempting to grab a creature within 10 ft. of it: Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., 1 target. Hit: 6 (1d6 +3) psychic damage when inside of the Stendhal painting or bludgeoning damage when outside of the Stendhal painting. The target also must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or become grappled by the Crooked. Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and will take 14 (4D6) psychic damage at the start of each of the Crooked's turns. The target may repeat the saving throw on each of its turns, ending the grapple on a success. The Crooked has two hands and may hold one target in each.
Terrifying Smile (Recharge after one turn) The Crooked looks directly at a creature within 30 ft. that can see it. The target must succeed on a DC 15 wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn. If the target fails the saving throw by 5 or more, it is also frightened for one minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success.
Multiattack (Recharge after one turn) The Crooked makes two Elongated Arm attacks against 1-2 targets, one with each arm.
Horror Stride (Recharge after two turns) The Crooked walks backwards into the darkness until it disappears from sight (The radius of light from the Consuming Night trait does not move with the Crooked). The area within the radius of light created by the Consuming Night trait becomes muted, all ambient sound disappears leaving the Crooked and the players as the only sources of noise. Furthermore, player made sounds become amplified to about twice their normal volume, the Crooked can also be heard moving in the darkness by the cracking of its bones. A few seconds after the Crooked disappears into the darkness it will target one creature that it can hear. The Crooked will then charge out of the darkness and make three attacks, two Elongated Arm attacks and one Eerie Grasp attack. As the Crooked charges at the target, the target must make a DC 15 wisdom saving throw that relies on hearing, gaining disadvantage against the Crooked's three attacks and losing the ability to take a reaction on a failure. If the target is deafened, they automatically fail this saving throw.
Violent Evasion (Recharge after three attacks are made against the Crooked) The Crooked attempts to evade an attack by snapping and rearranging its body. The Crooked must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fail the evasion. The Crooked takes half the damage it would normally take on a success.
Description
The Crooked are beings of madness that were created by the original Stendhal Painting. When an initiate fails the ritual to become an Amemi, their soul is consumed by the painting. As they stay trapped inside the painting, their soul is broken and driven insane as it is integrated into the painting itself. The painting will then make the soul become a part of the depiction in the original painting, or one of the many replica Stendhal paintings. When in this state, the Crooked soul must forever fill its role on the canvas. In more rare occasions, the Crooked is simply put into the world within a Stendhal painting, where they can live without being in the outside depiction.
In their passive state, the Crooked appear as normal humanoids, with the exception that they lack any emotion. They will not acknowledge anyone who is pulled into the painting, unless they are attacked. If a Crooked is attacked, every single Crooked in the painting mutants into their true form and becomes hostile, showcasing the mangled state of their souls. The Crooked do not gain knowledge of where the creature they are hostile to is located unless they see or sense them. When they mutate their arms and legs will grow unnaturally long, snapping and cracking as they rearrange into their new state. Their eyes shrivel and disappear, their face contorts into a permanent toothy and sinister smile, and their skin loses any vibrance, pulled taught over their bones. They can be around 9-10 feet tall when fully transformed.
The Crooked's mere presence invokes fear into those near it. They are unnaturally agile, being able to move like a horrifying contortionist, snapping bones if need be as they climb, crawl, or run at their target. The light around the Crooked goes dark as if the night consumes you, trapping you with the monstrocity. The Crooked has extremely good perception, it is very difficult to hide from, though not impossible. All damage done by the Crooked while inside the painting is psychic, as your mind is trapped, not your body. If you are killed by a Crooked while in the painting, you will be freed, but gain chronic madness (the details of which are on the Stendhal Painting description). If the Stendhal painting's curse is removed, any Crooked trapped inside will be released. The monstrosities will then flee into the world and lurk in the darkness, waiting for a new mind to break.
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