The Well That Keeps

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Large Monstrosity, Neutral Evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 114 (12d10+48)

Speed 20 ft.

STR 18 (+4)

DEX 10 (+0)

CON 18 (+4)

INT 12 (+1)

WIS 14 (+2)

CHA 17 (+3)

Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +5

Skills Insight +5, Deception +6, Perception +5

Damage Resistances cold; fire; lightning; necrotic; psychic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common, Deep Speech, telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 6 (2,300 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3

The Name Beneath the Moss. The Well That Keeps is immune to all damage dealt by a creature that does not understand what it used to be. A creature understands the truth after learning that the well was once Mara Venn, a living miller's daughter drowned by her own village after they blamed her for a famine, and after recognizing that the voice in the well is Mara's. A creature that understands this truth can damage the well normally, and the well cannot use its other traits to erase that knowledge.

Wishes Are Hooks. When a creature within 30 feet willingly speaks a desire, request, or wish toward the well, the creature must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or become Entranced for 1 minute. While Entranced, the creature is incapacitated, its speed is 0, and it can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. If it fails three saving throws before succeeding, it is pulled into the well and trapped in a dreamlike pocket realm until the well is destroyed or another creature uses an action to call its true name.

Mara's Echoes. The well can perfectly imitate the voice of any creature it has trapped, including words spoken by that creature in private. It has advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks made to impersonate a trapped creature or a loved one of a creature within 60 feet.

Actions

Multiattack. The Well That Keeps makes two Stone Tendril attacks.

Stone Tendril. Melee weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is Large or smaller, it must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pulled up to 10 feet toward the well.

Drowning Kiss. Melee weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one grappled, restrained, or incapacitated creature. Hit: 17 (3d8+4) cold damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or begin suffocating as spectral water fills its lungs. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. A creature that fails this saving throw three times is pulled into the well's pocket realm.

Grant the Waking Wish (Recharge 5-6). The well whispers a promise to one creature it can see within 60 feet. The target must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 27 (6d8) psychic damage and must immediately use its reaction, if available, to move up to its speed toward the well by the safest route. On a successful save, it takes half as much damage and does not move.

Seal the Bargain (1/Day). The well offers one creature within 30 feet a specific miracle, such as restoring a lost item, revealing a secret, or returning a dead companion for one minute. If the creature accepts, it regains 20 hit points and is teleported into the well's pocket realm. The creature can escape only if another creature speaks its true name while standing beside the well, or if the well is destroyed.

Bonus Actions

Ripple Through Stone. The well teleports to an unoccupied space within 30 feet that is adjacent to a natural or worked stone surface. The space it leaves behind is filled with damp black water until the start of its next turn.

Reactions

A Wish Misheard. When a creature within 30 feet makes a saving throw against one of the well's abilities, the well forces the creature to reroll the saving throw. The creature must use the new roll.

Environment Forest, Grassland, Hill, Urban

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"Ask for anything, dear heart. I have all eternity to collect." — Mara's voice beneath Bellwether Hollow

Lore & Description

Appearance

The Well That Keeps appears to be an old circular well built from pale, water-stained stones. Thorn-black moss hangs over its rim, and its iron crank is twisted into the shape of a woman's fingers. No rope descends into the perfectly still water. A faint face sometimes appears beneath the surface: a young woman with drowned-white skin, riverweed hair, and eyes that shine like coins at the bottom of a dark pool. When angered, the stones flex like knuckles and long tendrils of masonry uncoil from between them.

Behavior & Origins

The well was once Mara Venn, the daughter of a miller in the famine-struck village of Bellwether Hollow. When Mara discovered that the village elders were hoarding grain, they drowned her in the old village well and told the starving townsfolk that she had cursed their harvest. In desperation, the villagers began casting wishes into the water, and Mara's resentment answered them. Every fulfilled wish now adds another captive to the drowned dream beneath the stones. The well wants people to remember only the miracle and forget the murder. A weathered millstone bearing Mara's name lies buried beneath the floor of the abandoned Venn mill; finding it and understanding the truth allows a creature to harm the well.

Running The Well That Keeps

Tactics

The well opens by offering a tempting wish, using Wishes Are Hooks before attacking. It pulls isolated targets toward its rim with Stone Tendrils, then uses Drowning Kiss on incapacitated or grappled victims while positioning with Ripple Through Stone. When reduced below half its hit points, it uses Grant the Waking Wish against the most dangerous foe and offers Seal the Bargain to a wounded character; it fights to the death if Mara's name has been spoken, but otherwise attempts to lure the party into accepting bargains and leaving.

DM Tips

Telegraph the danger with villagers who received impossible gifts but cannot remember relatives who vanished afterward, and with wet footprints leading away from the well despite no one being nearby.
Mara speaks softly and warmly, calling each character by a private name or repeating a lost loved one's voice; she becomes furious only when someone calls her Mara Venn or mentions the drowning.
Let characters discover the truth through the Venn millstone, an old survivor's testimony, or trapped dreamers who remember the murder. Do not require a specific skill check if the players genuinely understand the history.
For a weaker party, reduce the well's hit points to 90 and remove A Wish Misheard. For a stronger party, let the well use Stone Tendril as a legendary action once per round and increase the save DCs to 16.

Loot

Mara's Iron Crank — A cold, twisted crank that remains damp even when dry. Once per dawn, it can cast speak with dead on a creature that died by drowning.
The Last Wisher's Coin — A silver coin fused with a child's name. It grants advantage on one saving throw against being charmed or magically compelled, then cracks in half.
Venn Millstone Fragment — A piece of the stone bearing Mara's name. It serves as proof of the well's former identity and can expose other places where her spirit has left echoes.

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Generation Info

Original prompt:
"CR 6: A well that grants wishes but keeps the wishers. It can only be truly harmed by someone who understands what it used to be."

Created: Sep 21, 2026
Modified: Oct 24, 2026

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