Longingwater
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 52 (8d8+16)
Speed 20 ft. climb 20 ft.
Saving Throws Wis +3
Skills Stealth +5, Perception +3
Damage Resistances acid; cold
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned, prone
Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 13
Languages Common (can't speak)
Challenge 3 (700 XP) Proficiency Bonus +2
Actions
Reactions
📷 Export as Image
Share your monster as a beautiful PNG image styled like classic D&D sourcebooks.
Includes: Full stat block, monster image (if selected), CR badge, and QuickMonster branding.
Resolution: High-quality PNG at 2x scale for crisp display on any device.
"Don't be afraid. The water remembers the day before everything went wrong." — a voice heard beneath Mirrorfen
Lore & Description
Appearance
Longingwater looks like an ordinary shallow puddle, though its edges constantly tremble without wind. Its surface is mirror-bright and tinted with impossible colors: rose-gold skies, emerald fields, and warm windows glowing in distant homes. No matter how dim the surrounding place, the reflection shows a perfect day in a world where every painful choice went differently. Faces occasionally appear beneath the surface, smiling upward through the water. When angered, the puddle rises into translucent ribbons and grasping hands, with dark silt swirling where a heart should be.
Behavior & Origins
Longingwater forms when a powerful grief soaks into a place of death, betrayal, or desperate regret. This one remembers Elian, who vanished beneath the ice of Mirrorfen while trying to retrieve a wedding ring. The creature no longer understands that Elian is dead; it believes every traveler who resembles its lost love can be brought home to the beautiful world beneath the surface. It wants to reunite with Elian in the reflection and will follow the chosen victim through the wilderness if forced to retreat. The ring still rests somewhere in Mirrorfen, and displaying it can make the Longingwater hesitate or reveal the truth of its memory.
Running Longingwater
Tactics
The Longingwater opens by using A Better World Below to draw creatures toward it, choosing the most emotionally vulnerable-looking party member as the face of Elian. It uses Offer of the Other Shore when several creatures cluster, then focuses Drowning Grasp on its chosen beloved and drags that victim across the ground. When badly wounded, it retreats through cracks and beneath doors, but it fights to the death if the chosen creature carries or resembles Elian's lost ring.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the danger with reflections that show absent loved ones, impossible sunlight, and footprints that stop at the puddle's edge.
- Give the chosen character private, tender descriptions of Elian's face in the water; the Longingwater should sound confused and pleading rather than openly malicious.
- If the party is struggling, reduce Offer of the Other Shore to 2d6 psychic damage; for a stronger party, let the Longingwater use Receding Reflection twice per round.
- The ring from Mirrorfen can grant advantage on one saving throw against A Better World Below and gives the party a peaceful way to end the encounter.
Loot
- Elian's Tarnished Wedding Ring — A silver ring engraved with two intertwined reeds. Showing it to the Longingwater may calm it, and it is proof that the creature's beloved truly died at Mirrorfen.
- Vial of Impossible Water — A sealed vial of Longingwater reflects a peaceful scene from the viewer's past. It can be used as a potent scrying focus, but prolonged viewing risks recurring dreams of the better world.
