Blink Walkers

Beings of the Elder's Dreams

The Blink Walker. A strange aberrant creature born from the dreams of the sleeping elder gods within the far realms. Having been born in a similar fashion to creatures from a beholder, the Blink Walker's existence is much, much more fickle in its persistence to stay within the realms of men; or to blink out of existence should the god's dreams shift like the ever moving tide. The Blink Walker knows its days are numbered, but few have figured the method of extending their lives; which adventurers find disadvantageous. You see, the way the Blink Walker extends its life is by consuming and assimilating memories from creatures that are more...permanent, extending that same permanence onto the Blink Walker for a time. (Ie. When a creature fails the Maddening Gaze & Whisper ability saving throw. Shown in the statblock.)

When Blink Walkers die, it's ironic that in their death, they rapidly create life themselves that is evermore permanent than they could ever be; even thriving in the most inhospitible of places. Massive lavender Weeping Willows that extend from their corpses and grow for untold centuries. Tendril-like branches extending outwards in strange, alien patterns that give the exotic gem-like tangles of leaves a more unique beauty. Strangely enough, the fruit it bears (which looks terrifying like its head, albeit much smaller) is rumored to have strange ethereal properties when eaten raw and when processed correctly, can even be used to help recall memories that have been locked away, consumed by the Blink Walker, or have been magically sealed or removed (Including the magics of the Feywild that causes one to forget when left)

To those who freely give their sins

Although uncommon, the Blink Walker is sometimes known to even make deals with creatures native to certain planes of existence, consuming unwanted memories for a fraction of its power. With more memories consumed, certain Blink Walkers gain permanence for the rest of their days and even finding time to form a personality and grow as a creature as time continues. What the Blink Walker doesn't know, is that while it might never age and live untold centuries, it's appetite for memories grows with the decades, forcing them to continue making pacts with creatures to satiate its need for survival. These Blink Walkers are very rare indeed, and most who have grown so old are usually named members of their strange race.

Creatures who so freely give their memories are bestowed more and more power with each memory given, and while pacts passively increase both the Elder Blink Walker and the contractee, it is only ever a dangerous gamble. After all, the Blink Walker is a selfish creature that would rather satiate its hunger than truly aid those of its pact.

When a Elder Blink Walker reaches the peak of its evolution through assimilating memories its consumed, it finds that consuming the consistent amount currently does little to fill its metaphorical stomach. So? Like any irrational creature, it begins to gorge itself on stored memories, or even actively stealing them for creatures within or around its lair.

This Phenomenon (The Great Elusion) usually tells experienced adventurers and veteran's alike that a powerful Blink Walker has make its stake in the material plane. As one will likely find great swathes of creatures in all cities and towns alike remembering less and less as memories are stolen from them in a desperate attempt to keep the Elder Blink Walker alive.

Now, some older Blink Walkers are intelligent enough to realize this small flaw decades before it happens, actively eating the bare minimum to keep itself both semi-full and stable within its own existence. These Blink Walkers have the potential to become even more powerful than Elder Blink Walkers and are usually the most cunning. It takes stronger adventurers to even find these particular aberrants and even stronger individuals to fell it.

Maddening Gaze (Recharge 5-6). The Blink Walker digs into the minds of each creature within a 60-foot-cone, attempting to siphon their knowledge and strongest memories. Each creature within the cone must succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw or take 22 (4d8+4) psychic damage on a failed saving throw and become stunned for 1 minute as a memory is consumed. On a success the creature takes half damage and is not stunned. If a creature fails this save by 5 or more, they are instead paralyzed for the duration and gain a long term form of madness, which lasts for 1d10x2 days, or until cured by spells or effects similar to Greater Restoration.

Bonus Actions

Misty Step (See Spellcasting). The Blink Walker can cast Misty Step as a bonus action.

Reactions

Ethereal Phaseshift. The Blink Walker vibrates and phases in and out of existence. It adds 3 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. If this bonus causes the attack to miss, the attack phases through the Blink Walker and the Blink Walker can immediately retaliate with a Claw attack as part of the same reaction.

Vrascod Plums

These plums sprout from adult Memoria Salices Crassisque, or the Memory Willows. Spawned from the corpse of a Blink Walker, these grand lavender willows with strange gem-like leaves sprout a enigmatic fruit from its branches; which can be odd given where the tree may grow. While the fruit itself appears to be morbid recreation of its head, all of the fruit is edible. Oddly enough, there are no seeds in these fruits, but those who have consumed it have stated that different tastes arise for different people.

The documents on this have lead the scholars to theorize that, the fruit draws upon the fond memories of those who consume it, invoking a great bout of nostalgia within and mimicking the taste of one, or many of the creature's favorite foods. When consumed, reports stated that the creature began to phase in and out of reality in a similar fashion to that of the Blink Walker, although thankfully after a hour or so, they did not disappear. The lilac colored skin of the plum is a stark giveaway that it is ripe, as those that aren't are more diminutive and gray in coloration. The flesh of the plum is a deep, vibrant lavender.

Scholars have found however, if the plum is boiled and the skin peeled; the flesh can be finely minced and mixed with a number of alchemical agents to reverse the effects of the Blink Walker's natural aptitude of consuming memories. Much experimentation on these potions revealed that, even creatures not effected by the Blink Walker have been able to remember things much better after consuming this potion, or even remembering things that were sealed, or removed via magic.

Elder Blink Walker

One must be cautious when dealing with the Elder Blink Walker, for in its growth, it's become much more intelligent and much more cunning while it's roamed the material plane. Elder Blink Walkers usually gain this title when they've lived longer than a decade. After all, to sustain themselves for that long is a challenge for such an aberrant creation.

Those that live for over a decade have the knowledge and the intellect to rifle through its collection of assimilated memories, learning from its meals as a means of making future meals easier to obtain. Those that have slain stronger enemies and adventurer's alike, likely gain the knowledge of certain creatures they have fought. In doing so, some Elders will begin to build themselves a lair, however, unlike creatures native to the plane it resides, it can move its lair with enough time and psionic power. You see, the Elder uses its enhanced psionics to create a sort of Demi-plane in a location near it. With enough time and with no interruptions, it can drag a portion of the Plane in which it resides into its own realm.

Sometimes its easy to tell you've stepped into an area near the Elders Lair, when the surrounding terrain is twisted and alien like itself. Sometimes they're cunning enough to make it seem like you've not even stepped into their territory. Be mindful, as while individuals don't need to be close to the lair to be effected by it, the Elders reach within its territory is sometimes deceptive.

Maddening Whispers (Recharge 5-6). The Elder Blink Walker digs into the minds of each creature within a 90-foot-cone, attempting to siphon their knowledge and strongest memories. Each creature within the cone must succeed on a DC 20 Intelligence saving throw or take 42 (8d8+6) psychic damage on a failed saving throw and become stunned for 1 minute as a memory is consumed. On a success the creature takes half damage and is not stunned. If a creature fails this save by 5 or more, they are instead paralyzed for the duration and gain a long term form of madness, which lasts for 1d10x5 days, or until cured by spells or effects similar to Greater Restoration.

Bonus Actions

Misty Step (See Spellcasting). The Blink Walker can cast Misty Step as a bonus action.

Reactions

Ethereal Phaseshift. The Elder Blink Walker vibrates and phases in and out of existence. It adds 6 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. If this bonus causes the attack to miss, the attack phases through the Elder Blink Walker and the Elder Blink Walker can immediately retaliate with a Claw attack as part of the same reaction.

Legendary Actions

The Elder Blink Walker can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature's turn. The Elder blink Walker regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.

Teleport. The Elder Blink Walker magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

Cast a Spell (Costs 2 Actions). The Elder Blink Walker can cast a spell.

Synaptic Overload (Costs 2 Actions). The Elder Blink Walker forces the veil between realms apart, bathing nearby creatures in the ambient madness of the Far Realm. Each creature of its choice in a 10-foot radius centered on itself must make a DC 20 Intelligence saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Paralyzing Gaze (Costs 3 Actions). The Elder Blink Walker targets one creature it can see within 30 feet of it. If the target can see it, the target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed until either it takes damage, or is snapped out of it using an action.

An Elder Blink Walkers Lair

Elder Blink Walkers lair in any place that can be hidden in plain sight. Sometimes it might be on the hill next to a small village, or perhaps the mountain at the back of a large city. But the advantage of an Elder Blink Walker, is that this creature is able to move its lair as it pleases, as all it needs to do is force its will upon the plane it resides and gradually fuse the demi-plane in which its lair resides and that of the surrounding landscape.

This often isn't realized until mass memory loss occurs, or as scholars have called it: The Great Elusion Phenomenon. When an Elder Blink Walker resides for too long in a singular area, people have been known to enter the territory and leave with massive amounts of blanks in their memory; appearing to be gone for days, weeks or even rarely months at a time. The Lair itself however is usually constructed in an alien cave system of sorts where walls have the texture of flesh and the tunnels pulse with the beat of an alien heart.

While the Blink Walker has no servants, because the veil between its demi-plane and the Far Realm are thin, aberrations are known to phase into its Lair.

Regional Effects

The region containing a Elder Blink Walker's lair is warped by the aberrant magic of its nature, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• Bouts of temporary amnesia are common within 6 miles of the Elder Blink Walker's lair.

• Plant sources within 1 mile of the lair are supernaturally alien and tainted by the Far Realm.

• Bodies of water within 1 mile of the Elder Blink Walker's lair form portals to the Far Realm, allowing Aberrations into the world to dwell nearby.

If the Elder Blink Walker dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days, aside from the memory lose if you were personally affected by it's Maddening Whisper ability.