Chyrrin Brood-Mother

Living Forges of Resin. Brood-Mothers are swollen, luminescent queens of the Chyrrin. Their abdomens glow with alien light, visible for miles in the Everdeep. Their resin secretion feeds the hive and fuels the X’Shyrr’s rituals.

Pulse Incarnate. To the X’Shyrr, the Brood-Mother is a holy creature — the living voice of the Pulse. Her death is treated as a calamity, with her resin and shell harvested for sacred relics.

In Battle. Though slow, a Brood-Mother is devastating. She unleashes torrents of resin that drown caverns in sticky, glowing pools. Protected by her children, she uses her massive mandibles to crush intruders while summoning waves of Workers to swarm.

The lair of a Chyrrin Brood-Mother is a cavernous hive deep within the Everdeep. Resin drips in thick, glowing sheets from the ceiling and hardens into jagged pillars. Egg sacs line the walls, pulsing with faint bioluminescence. Resin pools bubble on the floor, releasing noxious fumes. The air hums faintly with the Pulse, and the constant clicking of countless Chyrrin echoes through the chamber.

• Ceiling Height. 40–60 feet high, with resin bridges and inverted tunnels for Chyrrin to climb.

• Illumination. The Brood-Mother and resin clusters shed dim to bright light in patches. The entire lair glows with eerie bioluminescence.

• Hazards. Pools of resin (difficult terrain) can trap creatures. Breaking hardened resin requires a Strength check (DC 13).

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the Brood-Mother can use one of the following lair actions. She can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

1. Resin Spray. Jets of glowing resin erupt from cracks in the floor. Up to three creatures of the Brood-Mother’s choice within 30 feet of a resin pool must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained by hardened resin (AC 10, 15 hp).

2. Swarm Summons. A swarm of Chyrrin Workers (use Swarm of Insects stats, reskinned) bursts from a brood sac in the lair, appearing in an unoccupied space within 30 feet of the Brood-Mother. The swarm rolls initiative and acts on its own turn.

3. Resin Burst. A resin sac ruptures, spraying toxic gas. Each creature within 15 feet of the burst must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or take 10 (3d6) poison damage and be poisoned until the start of its next turn.

4. Resin Wall (Recharge 5–6). The Brood-Mother commands the hive to shift. A 20-foot-long, 10-foot-high wall of resin rapidly grows from the floor, providing three-quarters cover. The wall has AC 10, 30 hit points, and is immune to poison and psychic damage.

Regional Effects

The lair of a Brood-Mother warps the area around it. The region within 1 mile of the hive is altered by her presence:

• Chyrrin Activity. Chyrrin patrol the area constantly. Travelers hear faint clicking and skittering at all times.

• Glowing Resin Veins. Resin seeps up through cracks in stone, glowing faintly green and purple. These deposits are mildly toxic; creatures spending more than an hour near them must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion.

• Resonant Pulse. The hum of the Pulse is audible. At night, creatures who sleep nearby must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be afflicted by unsettling dreams, waking without the benefit of a long rest.