Corpse Candle
A large, grotesque candle grows from the Candle Bearer’s chest or skull, its flame burning with sickly yellow light. The candle sheds dim light in a 20-foot radius and cannot be extinguished by nonmagical means.
If the candle is snuffed by magical means, the Candle Bearer is stunned until the end of its next turn, after which the flame reignites.
Still Until Summoned
While no living creature is within 60 feet, the Candle Bearer is indistinguishable from a corpse and appears inert. A successful DC 14 Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check reveals faint movement in the candle flame.
Undead Beacon
Undead allies within 30 feet of the Candle Bearer gain advantage on saving throws against being turned, and they gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls while in the candle’s light.
Slam
Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target.
Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 4 (1d8) necrotic damage.
Waxen Renewal (Recharge 5–6)
The candle flares brightly. One undead creature of the Candle Bearer’s choice within 30 feet regains 10 (3d6) hit points. If the target is prone, it can immediately stand up without expending movement.
Guiding Flame
When an undead ally within 30 feet misses an attack, the Candle Bearer causes the candle flame to gutter and twist. The attacker can reroll the attack roll and must use the new result.
Description
A Candle Bearer is the animated corpse of a humanoid whose body has become host to a grotesque funerary candle. The thick taper erupts from the corpse’s chest, throat, or skull, fused to bone and sinew as though it grew there rather than was placed. Pale, yellowed wax cascades down its withered form, sealing wounds and binding stiffened joints in glossy layers. The smell of rancid tallow clings to it, only barely masking the sour reek of decay.
The candle’s flame burns with an unnatural steadiness, casting dim, sickly light that stretches shadows into claw like shapes. The fire produces little warmth, and it cannot be extinguished by mundane means. When no living creatures are nearby, a Candle Bearer remains perfectly still, easily mistaken for a posed corpse or grim shrine decoration.
When intruders approach, the flame flares brighter. The corpse stirs with a dry crack of hardened wax splitting at its joints. It moves in slow, deliberate steps, guided not by sight but by the presence of life. Other undead gather in its glow, emboldened and steadied by the fell radiance. Necromancers and death cults often create Candle Bearers to serve as beacons and battlefield attendants, their eerie light guiding the dead and strengthening them against holy influence.
Though not powerful combatants on their own, Candle Bearers are rarely encountered alone. Where one stands burning, darker things are never far behind.
Comments