Elsewater
Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 114 (12d10+48)
Speed 20 ft. swim 40 ft.
Saving Throws Con +7, Wis +5
Skills Stealth +4, Deception +6, Perception +5
Damage Resistances cold; fire; slashing
Damage Immunities acid, poison
Condition Immunities blinded, charmed, deafened, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Actions
Bonus Actions
Reactions
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I saw my mother on the other side, and she was young again. Then the water learned my name. — testimony of Pell Ardin, sole survivor
Lore & Description
Appearance
The Elsewater appears at first to be a shallow puddle of perfectly clear water, usually no wider than a wagon wheel. Its edges never spread naturally, yet its depth seems impossible: looking into it reveals distant horizons, bright skies, and a version of the viewer's life without its griefs or failures. Beneath that beautiful image, translucent black tendrils drift like drowned roots. When angered, the puddle rises into a low, liquid silhouette filled with countless pale reflections of reaching hands.
Behavior & Origins
Elsewaters are fragments of a place called the Unlost Country, a reflected world where every choice ends well and every dead person still smiles. No two Elsewaters show the same vision, because each one studies the longings of those who approach it. They are not truly killed when shattered; their awareness flows through rainwater, mirrors, polished shields, and still ponds until it finds a new resting place. The Elsewater known as Mercy's Last Reflection haunts the abandoned bathhouse beneath the city of Veyruun, where it shows visitors the lives they might have lived and seeks the silver locket of a drowned queen named Aveline.
Running Elsewater
Tactics
The Elsewater begins by positioning itself near a reflective surface and using False World to freeze the most emotionally vulnerable creature. It uses Reflective Undertow to drag several foes close, then attacks restrained targets with its tendrils while using Mirror-Slip to avoid being surrounded. When reduced below half its hit points, it abandons exposed ground and fights from mirrors, polished armor, or wet stone; it never fights to the true death unless all nearby reflective surfaces have been destroyed.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the danger with impossible reflections: characters see themselves smiling, deceased allies waving, or wounds that are absent from their real bodies.
- Give the Elsewater a soft, intimate voice through telepathy, speaking as the listener's most trusted loved one and finishing their sentences.
- Track reflective surfaces on the map; mirrors, shields, glass, still water, and polished metal can provide escape points for Mirror-Slip.
- For a weaker party, reduce Reflective Undertow to 5d8 damage and lower its save DC to 14; for a stronger party, let Elsewhere Upon Death relocate after 1d6 hours instead of 1d6 days.
Loot
- Aveline's Silver Locket — A tarnished locket recovered from the Elsewater's deepest reflection. Inside is a portrait of Queen Aveline, whose ghost appears in any mirror where the locket is held.
- Shard of the Unlost Country — A glasslike flake that shows a better version of whoever holds it. It is valuable to diviners and dangerously addictive to anyone mourning a lost loved one.
- Black Water Droplet — A sealed bead of Elsewater that remains liquid in any container. It can be used to locate the creature's next resting place, but doing so causes the droplet to whisper the seeker's deepest regret.
