Monster - Leshen [CR8 Fey]

“Leshy, leshen, liefbaron, rootfiend... Let these ancient monsters be the reminder of what happen when the mortals oppose the forces of nature. Have you ever been afraid by a pine needle ? You will be forever after meeting one of these nightmares !” – Brokvar

Nature’s guardians. A leshen is said to be born when the natural balance of a region is disturbed. Mass felling, great fires, excessive hunting or incidents of magical nature have great chances of giving birth to the fabled creature. The leshen sprawls its wood in a state of blind rage, attacking travellers and wiping settlements. It will take years or even decades in grave cases after the events for the leshen to finally leave a region, as suddenly as it appeared.

Regional corruption. A region under leshen’s influence disappears slowly under a thicket of thorny vines. Vegetation grows faster than usual and in chaotic ways. Flower bushes might erupt from trees, or long dead stumps may abruptly come back to life. Animals grow in number and become more aggressive. Travelling becomes more difficult, as it is impeded by the repeated attacks of the fauna and the maze-like appearance of the flora.

Tracking. A leshen leaves tell-tale signs of its whereabouts. Villages attacked by the creature have a recognizable layer of moss and vines on every man-made construction. The leshen’s targets are left corrupted by horrendous mutations. Their skin turned to a muddy bark. Long earthshatering vines have entangled their whole body, protruding from their flesh and mouth, reaching for the sky. Their face froze in an everlasting expression of agonizing pain. Such a horrid fate cannot be wished for anyone.

Strategies. A leshen will ambush its preys or trackers by using its vine glide ability to teleport to them, preferrably on a spot where it can hit several creatures using its Root claw. Its purpose is to infect as many creatures as possible early on to gain better regeneration. It will then use its legendary action to Tangle creatures and take control of the battlefield, either by forcing the more dangerous foes to stay still as it teleport away after infecting them, or to prevent weaker creatures from escaping. A leshen will use its summoning ability or Deadly Flowerbed action only when severly menaced in order to temporize and heal.

Deadlier variations. Some leshens are stronger than others. When their destroyed territory was a lush and ancient forest, they manifet as a liefbaron. Liefbarons are verdant leshens covered in flowers and thick emerald moss. They have 200 HP, lose their vulnerability to fire damage and their sinister growth ability uses a d12 instead of a d8. Their CR is 9. When their land is barren and corrupted, they spawn as a rootfiend. Rootfiends are a tangled of dried muddy roots with extending tendrils. They have 200 HP, gain resistance to necrotic damage, and each time they deal damage to a creature with an attack, that attack deals an extra 2d6 of Poison damage. Their CR is 10.

The pdf contains every information needed (description, lore and strategies) to run the creature ! :)

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