Submerged. While submerged, occupies a small area aboveground while the bulk of its body lies within its quicksand lair. While in this state, the Wyndlass gains the following features:
- +5 to its AC (AC 22).
- Resistance Acid, Cold, Fire, Force, Lightning, Poison, Thunder; Piercing Bludgeoning, and Slashing damage.
- Cannot use its bite attack.
If the Wyndlass attacks a creature using it's bite attack, it looses its submerged state until the beginning of its next turn.
Tentacles. The Wyndlass has 10 tentacles. Each tentacle has an AC of 14, 20 hit points, resistance to piercing and bludgeoning damage and vulnerability to slashing damage. Tentacles do not benefit from the Wyndlass's submerge ability. Destroying a tentacle deals 10 damage to the Wyndlass which bypasses any resistances it has.
A destroyed tentacle cannot be used to attack, but regrows in 1d10+10 days.
Multiattack. The Wyndlass makes up to 10 tentacle attacks and one bite attack.
Tentacle. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 30 ft., 1 target. Hit: 8 (1d4 + 6) bludgeoning damage. A creature of size medium or smaller hit by a tentacle must succeed on a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or become grappled.
Instead of attacking with one ore more tentacles, the Wyndlass may move a grappled creature 5 feet towards it for each tentacle which is grappling that creature.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 15 ft., 1 target. Hit: 32 (4d12 + 6) piercing damage.
Description
This creature looks like a foul, brown-black octopus with ten barbed tentacles. Above it's tentacles are three eyes that glow dim blue. It surges up from a pit of quicksand, tentacles flailing.
The Wyndlass makes its home in swamps or wetland forests, finding a meadow or clearing in which to make its home. It burrows into the ground and slowly creates pits of quicksand over time from which it ambushes unweary passerbys. The carcasses of its victims are kept within the quicksand pits to avoid alerting its prey.
Once a Wyndlass as consumed all the creatures in an area, it moves several miles to find a new lair.
Tactics
The Wyndlass will wait in ambush until at least two creatures are in range (if it senses more than one) and then attack the two creatures it can see with 5 tentacles each, attempting to establish as many grapples as possible on each character. Once it has a creature grappled, it will attempt to move it so it can use its mouth attack to kill (and eat) the creature. If it kills a creature, it will move it to a nearby quicksand pit to save it to eat later.
The Wyndlass will typically retreat once it has killed two creatures and deposited them in quicksand pits or when it has lost 5 of its tentacles, at which point it uses its burrow speed to hide underground until its attackers leave.
Treasure
The Wyndlass has no need for treasure and will not keep it on its own. Any treasure which is left by its kills is moved to the bottom of one of its quicksand pits so that there are no signs of its presence on the surface.
Adventurers who figure out a way to search the bottom of these pits may be rewarded with treasure. If the Wyndlass is in an area which is frequented by humanoids, roll on the hoard table and distribute the result among multiple pits in the lair of the Wyndlass (it will take significant time and effort to discover all of it). If a Wyndlass is encountered away from humanoids, it will roll an individual treasure to determine what is scattered between its quicksand traps.
Lair and Lair Actions
The Wyndlass selects an area of the swamp to be its home and gradually transforms it into an area filled with quicksand traps. A typical Wyndlass lair is about 200 feet in diameter, with the Wyndlass at its center.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20, the Wyndlass takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects; the Wyndlass can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Oil-slick: The Wyndlass targets a point within the lair to release oil which bubbles up to the surface. This produces an effect identical to a grease spell with a save DC of 16.
- Quicksand: A 10-foot square of the land of the Wyndlass's lair dissolves into quicksand. A creature in the area when the effect occurs who succeeds on a DC 16 Dexterity check may expend 5-feet of movement and move to an unaffected space, if one exists within 5 feet. A creature who starts their turn in the affected area sinks 1d4 feet and is restrained. As long as the creature isn’t completely submerged in quicksand, it can escape by using its action and succeeding on a Strength check. The DC is 10 plus the number of feet the creature has sunk into the quicksand. A creature that is completely submerged in quicksand can’t breathe. A quicksand pit may be up to 15 feet deep.
Regional Effects
The region containing a Wyndlass's lair becomes soft ground of loosely packed earth in which nothing larger than grasses and small plants can grow. This creates one or more of the following effects:
- Sticky patches of soil which are considered difficult terrain.
- 2 or 3 20-foot diameter permanent quicksand pits throughout the region.
If the Wyndlass dies, these effects fade over the course of 4d4 days.
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