Burach-Bhaoi

Large fey, unaligned

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 110 (13d10 + 39)

Speed 20 ft., swim 50 ft.

STR 19 (+4) · DEX 14 (+2) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 3 (−4) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 7 (−2)

Saving Throws Con +6, Wis +5

Skills Perception +6, Stealth +6

Damage Vulnerabilities iron (see Iron Bane)

Damage Resistances poison

Condition Immunities frightened, prone

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 16

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Traits

Amphibious. The bùrach-bhaoi can breathe air and water.

Nine Eyes. The bùrach-bhaoi has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks and can’t be surprised while conscious.

Camouflaged Hide. While motionless on a muddy lakebed, the bùrach-bhaoi has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks and can attempt to Hide as a bonus action.

Iron Bane. Weapons or objects made primarily of wrought iron or steel deal double damage to the bùrach-bhaoi.

Blaze Shy. If the bùrach-bhaoi starts its turn within 10 feet of an open flame of torch-size or larger, it has disadvantage on attack rolls until the start of its next turn.

Salt Scourge. A handful of common salt thrown onto the creature (an improvised ranged attack within 10 feet) deals 2 acid damage and forces the bùrach-bhaoi to succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or be stunned until the end of its next turn.

Actions

Multiattack. The bùrach-bhaoi makes two attacks: one with Snapping Jaws and one with Constrict.

Snapping Jaws. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage.

Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 16). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained, and the bùrach-bhaoi can’t Constrict another target. A grappled creature takes 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage at the start of each of the bùrach-bhaoi’s turns.

Drag Under (Recharge 5–6). The bùrach-bhaoi moves up to its swim speed, pulling any creatures it is grappling with it. If the movement ends with a grappled creature submerged, that creature must succeed on a DC 14 Constitution saving throw or immediately begin suffocating and take 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.

Reactions

Coiling Counter. When a creature within 10 feet misses the bùrach-bhaoi with an attack, the bùrach-bhaoi can make one Snapping Jaws attack against that creature.

Lore

An eel-like vampiric fae that coils around a victim’s legs at the water’s edge, drags the prey under, and drinks the blood.

If we talk about the origin of the name Burach-Bhaoi, it comes from two Gaelic elements: buarach and bhaoi. The first word traditionally refers to the ropes or wooden hobbles used to secure a cow’s hind legs during milking. In Scottish usage it also appears as bourach or boorach, meaning “mess, confusion, fiasco”; on an older level it goes back to the sense “to dig, to burrow,” and is tied to the Indo-European root *bhergh- that produced the English words bury and burrow. The second element, bhaoi, can be translated as “fierce” or “wild,” and it is sometimes linked to the idea of sorcery. Together, the two parts of the name highlight the creature’s twin hallmarks: its power to bind a victim as if in shackles and its magical—rather than purely biological—nature.

According to accounts kept in the archives of the Highland districts of Perthshire, Badenoch, and Argyll, the Burach-Bhaoi is a vampiric faerie that looks like a large eel with nine eyes and massive bands of muscle that let it lash around a target and drag it to the lake bottom. Average length is put between 3 and 6½ feet (1–2 m). The skin is smooth and slimy; the back is dark brown or coal-black, helping the beast merge with the muddy loch bed, while the belly is much paler, sometimes yellowish or almost white. Now and then storytellers describe yellow-green bioluminescent flecks that supposedly flare up during night hunts.

From Vampire Bestiary 5E, p. 36 · Fern Flower Press