Arkak

Avatar of the Appocalypse

Born from the death throes of the obyrith’s dying multiverse, the elder evil known as the Arkak terrifies every known creature, including those that shouldn’t even know what fear is. Ordinary plants frantically tear themselves free from the ground in a vain attempt to escape, while its sheer power scares off even the mighty tarrasque. Gods pray that it will be over soon, for their own sake as well of that of their followers, as even they are powerless against it.

As the Avatar of the Abyss, the Arkak

In its true home, it sees gods the same way they see titans, a slight challenge for such a mighty creature as itself, while if not for its sheer malevolence, it would see titans the same way the tarrasque sees insects, so weak as to be beneath notice, but it kills them anyways, for nothing is too pathetic to be worth killing in its eyes. If it were ever to be slain in its true lair, every god would bow down to whoever did it, assuming of course that its slayer was not even worse.

Its true form cannot exist in our reality, the closest thing to it that can be forced to exist for even a brief moment is the threat-no the promise-that the Abyss will win, not any specific demon lord, but the Abyss itself. This vision is the nightmare of the gods and any creature that somehow survives or is resurrected after seeing it suffers recurring nightmares for the rest of its existence. Even blindness is not a guarantee of survival, for the vision is merely weakened by needing to bypass the eyes and attack the mind directly. Pale Night has a mere shadow of this ability, but even the weakest shadow is enough to kill instantly.

Legend of Asmodeus and the Most Foolish God. The Abyss has pits so deep and so foul that even gods grow weak long before reaching the vast cavern at the bottom where the Shard of Pure Evil lies. Most gods were wise enough to turn back, of those who pressed on, all but two collapsed from exhaustion and were devoured by the Abyss itself, the last two deities, Asmodeus and one whose name is lost to time, reached the shard and broke off a single screaming piece, the Arkak attracted by the noise, attacked the pair, knowing he had no hope of survival, Asmodeus betrayed his companion in order to escape with the fragment that would one day become his Ruby Rod. Upon the unknown god’s death, their name vanished from all minds and all records, and the god’s former followers died instantly, their souls nowhere to be found.

Fighting the Arkak as a mythic encounter is equivalent to taking on two CR 30 creatures in one encounter. Award a party 310,000 XP for defeating the Arkak after it uses Unravel Form.

Note to the DM: The Arkak contains mechanics from both the 2014 and 2024 rules, this is deliberate. The intent is to induce anxiety in the players, not just in their characters. If your players are shocked and/or saying something to the effect of “What do you mean it can use lair actions/What do you mean it’s a mythic creature, those don’t exist anymore?!” that means it is working as intended.

Notice: I am working on creating a proper supplement for the Arkak, it will eventually be available on GMBinder

The Arkak has no need to be in its true lair to take lair actions, anywhere will suffice.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Arkak takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Arkak can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

Summon Demons. The Arkak summons one klurichir or 1d4 balors. Once the Arkak uses this lair action, it cannot do so again until it completes a short or long rest.

Abyssal Tentacles. Strength Saving Throw: DC 25, each creature in a 30-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the Arkak can see within 240 feet. Failure: 21 (6d6) Bludgeoning damage plus 28 (8d6) acid damage and the creature has the Prone condition. Success: Half damage only.

Rend the Sky. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 25, each creature in a 40-foot-radius Sphere centered on a point the Arkak can see within 200 feet. Failure: 42 (12d6) Bludgeoning damage plus 42 (12d6) fire damage. Success: Half damage.

Regional Effects

The following effects occur within 5000 miles of where the Arkak has been:

Corrupt Life. Ordinary plants sicken, mutate and die in that order. All creatures are subject to the following effect upon completing a long rest: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 20, Aberrations, Constructs, demons and Undead succeed automatically. Failure: The creature gains one Exhaustion level. If the creature has at least three Exhaustion levels, it is also Poisoned until it no longer has any Exhaustion levels. Failure or Success: This long rest does not remove any Exhaustion levels.

Cracked Moon. Celestial bodies appear to be shattered.

Divine Barrier. Deities and their avatars cannot directly affect anything within the area.

Gravity Failure. Areas of high, low and zero gravity occur within the region, in addition, gravity may function in different directions in different areas.

Nightmare Skies. Weather in the area includes impossible events such as unlighting, bloodnadoes and lavastorms.

Planar Decay. Rifts to the Abyss and the Far Realm appear with alarming frequency, demons and aberrations leak from these rifts.

Poisoned Time. The passage of time is altered within the region, roll on the time warp table in the Dungeon Master’s Guide to determine the characteristics of this effect. The passage of time may be different for each creature, even if they leave as a group.

Tectonic Devastation. Earthquakes, fissures and volcanic eruptions are extremely common.

Weave Tears. The region contains a higher than average number of wild and dead magic zones.

If the Arkak dies, the altered flow of time is adjusted so that all creatures in a group that left together will arrive outside the area at the same time, the rest of these effects (including the altered flow of time) fade over the course of 1,000 years. Once the Arkak dies, a wish spell can be used to repair the fabric of reality in a one mile radius, ending the effects within that area. If the Arkak is not killed within 2d6 days, the regional effects spread across whatever remains of the solar system and include the following additional effects.

Abyssal Consumption. Over an indeterminate amount of time, the area is absorbed by the Abyss, becoming a new layer.

Malicious Meteors. Meteors, comets and asteroids gain sentience and malevolence (use the murder comet statblock).

Naked Singularities. Black holes randomly appear, often missing their event horizons.

Nonsensical Orbits. Celestial bodies randomly change direction.

Planer Lockdown. All attempts to escape the area deposit travelers deep within the Abyss.

Reality Failure. Laws of physics change spontaneously and without warning.

Shattered Sun. All celestial bodies shatter without fully separating.

Solar Instability. Solar flares, coronal mass ejections and fluctuations in stellar luminosity, size and temperature occur frequently.

Undead Stars. Supernovae occur sporadically, these events do not actually destroy the star or other celestial bodies but are otherwise just as deadly and destructive as normal.