Monster
Comments from the Finger: This is a bit of a lighter offering, since I’m frantically working on Dark Matter, which releases tomorrow, July 1st! So here’s an excerpt from the book itself.
This monster is a homage to one of my favorite podcasts The Adventure Zone! If you’re not familiar with the MacElroy brothers and their antics, click here to check them out!
Voidfish
Mysterious creatures intrinsically linked to the Void, voidfish produce beautiful songs and are considered good omens for travelers.
Mostly Void, Partially Stars. These immense and rare creatures possess a silent, unearthly beauty that can leave one breathless. The voidfish appears like a massive jellyfish, translucent and faintly glowing, filled with the inky black and glimmering lights of countless stars. The galaxies and nebulas seen though (or perhaps within) a voidfish’s body hail from distant and impossible reaches of space, for much like the Void itself, voidfishes are linked to the entire universe. If a voidfish feels threatened, it can fold itself in space, vanishing and reappearing elsewhere in the cosmos. It’s possible these fish are untethered by time as well — to date, no voidfish that anyone can remember has been caught and closely examined.
Melodies of Memory. There is no sound in space, yet a voidfish projects a quiet, persistent song to all who see it. Somehow, this music is linked to memory, and all who listen to it recall a different song; always it is a distantly familiar harmony, a sublime and peaceful tune.
Forgetters. Very few creatures hunt the voidfish, for it is as rare as it is mesmerizing. But there are those who see this creature as a quarry to be hunted and a challenge to be overcome.
These hunters sometimes discover the voidfish’s defense mechanism: the voidfish can manipulate the memory of every creature in the universe, erasing the essence of a creature, an object, or an entire ship. A thing that is erased by the voidfish is not destroyed; rather, it is forgotten by all. Even evidence pertaining to a thing’s existence is manipulated, shrouded in a mental fog. A creature’s name might be stricken from existence, and his possessions are remembered instead as belonging to others, or are simply compulsively ignored by everyone at once.
Moreover, the voidfish can consume the memories of those which encounter it, causing a blanket amnesia in a massive field.
Very few creatures are aware of the voidfish’s amnesiac properties, perhaps not coincidentally. If one were to learn this information, surely it would be forgotten rather quickly.
Voidfish
Huge aberration
Armor Class 11
Hit Points 90 (12d12 + 12)
Speed 0 ft., fly 25 ft. (hover)
STR 8 (-1) DEX 13 (+1) CON 13 (+1)
INT 16 (+3) WIS 21 (+5) CHA 14 (+2)
Saving Throws Int +6, Wis +8, Cha +5
Damage Resistances psychic
Senses blindsight 120 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages —
Challenge 8 (3,900 XP)
Vacuum Breath. The voidfish doesn’t require air.
ACTIONS
Multiattack. The voidfish makes two attacks with its tentacles.
Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 11 (2d10) bludgeoning damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it is grappled (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the voidfish can’t use its tentacles on another target.
Amnesia Burst (1/Day). Each creature within 500 feet of the voidfish must make a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, a creature completely forgets the events of the past 10 minutes.
Dimension Jump. The voidfish teleports itself 1,000 feet away.
Erasure. The voidfish consumes the essence of a creature or object it is grappling. The target must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw (DC 16). On a failed save, the target is erased from history. If the target is a creature, it also falls unconscious for 1 minute. The voidfish releases the target from grapple.
Any creature that knows of the target instantly forgets it and subtle changes occur in its memory to explain the discrepancies of the target’s absence. Direct evidence of the object’s existence that can’t be explained away is simply ignored completely. If the target is a creature, its name is stricken from every record and depictions of it are defaced. When a creature is erased, it regains all memories it once had of other erased objects and creatures. A creature does not lose memory of itself.
If a voidfish dies, all effects of its erasures end. Because voidfish do not die of old age, this only occurs if the voidfish is slain.
