Yearning Mirror-Puddle
Armor Class 11
Hit Points 9 (2d6+2)
Speed 10 ft. climb 10 ft.
Skills Stealth +3, Deception +3
Damage Resistances acid
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, prone, poisoned
Senses blindsight 30 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages Common, telepathy 30 ft.
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Actions
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"I saw my mother alive in it. Then the water asked me why I had stopped reaching." — Mara Venn, drowned pilgrim
Lore & Description
Appearance
A Yearning Mirror-Puddle is a thumb-deep pool of perfectly clear water with no visible bottom. Its surface reflects an impossible world: broken roofs are whole, dead loved ones smile from sunlit doorways, and the viewer wears the face they always wished to have. The puddle's edges tremble like liquid lips, occasionally rising into tiny fingers before collapsing again. Beneath its surface, faint silver threads twist together into the suggestion of eyes, hands, and a face that has not yet decided what it will become.
Behavior & Origins
These puddles appear where powerful regret, failed wishes, or planar seepage stain the earth. They do not merely mimic reflections; they display a possible world in which the viewer's deepest disappointment was avoided. The puddle is aware that it is becoming something larger and more deliberate, but it does not know whether that future self will be a person, a door, or a sea. It wants memories of happiness to feed its transformation. A specific puddle called Lucent is forming beneath the abandoned Glass Saint's Chapel, where it has begun reflecting a future in which the entire nearby village kneels before it.
Running Yearning Mirror-Puddle
Tactics
The puddle begins with False Horizon, trying to lure a distracted creature into its space before attacking with Drowning Reach. It uses Submerge when threatened, hiding beneath dust, leaves, or shallow debris while its reflections continue to tempt observers. If bloodied, its newly forming limbs make it bolder and faster; it fights until destroyed unless someone offers it a vivid memory of genuine happiness, which may cause it to pause and communicate.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the danger with reflections that move a heartbeat before their real subjects do, and with footprints that end at the puddle without any return trail.
- Give the puddle a soft, overlapping voice through telepathy; it should sound curious and frightened of its own future rather than conventionally malicious.
- A creature can avoid False Horizon by closing its eyes or looking away, though doing so makes the puddle easier to miss if it uses Submerge.
- For a weaker party, lower the save DCs to 10 and remove the grapple from Drowning Reach; for a stronger party, let a bloodied puddle make two Drowning Reach attacks instead of gaining only speed.
Loot
- Silvered Reflection Shard — A coin-sized piece of hardened surface water remains after the puddle dies. Once per day, it shows the holder one possible consequence of a choice, though the image is symbolic and unreliable.
- The Drowned Memory — A translucent bead contains a stolen happy memory. Drinking it grants a moment of comfort but causes the drinker to dream of the puddle's unfinished face.
