Petrichor Griever
Armor Class 16 (natural armor)
Hit Points 119 (14d10+42)
Speed 40 ft. burrow 20 ft.
Saving Throws Dex +5, Con +6, Wis +5
Skills Stealth +5, Perception +5
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Common, Primordial, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP) Proficiency Bonus +3
Actions
Bonus Actions
Reactions
Lair
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the creature can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- Hallway of Return. The griever seals one doorway or passage within the lair and opens another doorway within 60 feet. Until initiative count 20 on the next round, the sealed entrance appears to lead back to the room it just left, while the new entrance exhales the smell of rain.
- Memory in the Walls. One creature in the lair must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or hear the voice of someone it has lost speaking from a nearby wall. Until initiative count 20 on the next round, the creature is frightened and cannot willingly move farther from that wall.
- Sudden Downpour. A 20-foot-radius area within the lair becomes a curtain of warm rain until initiative count 20 on the next round. The area is heavily obscured, and creatures other than the griever treat it as difficult terrain.
Regional Effects
The region containing the creature's lair is warped by its magic, creating the following effects:
- Within 3 miles of the lair, rain falls from cloudless skies whenever someone nearby prepares to leave a loved one, settlement, or long-held obligation.
- Paths, stairways, and corridors near the lair subtly return travelers to places they have already visited, especially when those travelers are trying to depart.
- The smell of wet stone lingers on people who spend the night within 1 mile of the lair; after three nights, they begin dreaming of conversations they never finished.
If the griever dies, the rearranging passages settle over 1d10 days. The rain ceases, but every unresolved farewell within 3 miles is heard once, faintly, in the night.
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"You may leave when the rain has finished remembering you." — scratched into the door of the Last Threshold
Lore & Description
Appearance
The petrichor griever is a towering figure made from black basalt, rust-red mineral veins, and sheets of water that never quite fall away from its body. Its shoulders resemble weathered slabs of hot stone, while its faceless head bears a narrow fissure glowing with muted amber light. Each movement releases the unmistakable scent of rain striking sun-baked rock. Water gathers in the hollows of its limbs and drips upward whenever it becomes angry.
Behavior & Origins
The creature was born when a dying city's final rainstorm struck a plaza where hundreds had been forced to leave without saying farewell. Their grief soaked into the heated stone, and the petrichor griever rose from it with one conviction: no departure should ever be allowed to become final. It now inhabits the abandoned bathhouse called the Last Threshold, whose rooms rearrange themselves to keep visitors from reaching the exit. The griever especially hates the name of Ilyra Venn, the architect who sealed the bathhouse while fleeing a plague; it wants someone to bring Ilyra back so the two can complete their final conversation.
Running Petrichor Griever
Tactics
The griever opens with Rearrange the Goodbye, scattering the party and frightening the most emotionally vulnerable target before closing with its long-reaching fists. It uses its burrow speed and shifting passages to isolate stragglers, break line of sight, and force characters to approach through difficult terrain. When bloodied, it focuses on anyone attempting to flee or rescue an ally, using Not Yet to prevent escape; it fights to the death in its lair, but retreats through stone if brought below one-quarter of its hit points outside it.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the creature with sudden warm rain, the smell of wet stone, corridors that return to places the party has already passed, and distant voices calling characters by names only the dead used.
- Roleplay the griever as mournful rather than loud: it pauses after every spoken sentence, tilts its stone head toward departing characters, and treats leaving as a personal betrayal.
- For a weaker party, reduce hit points to 91, lower the save DCs to 14, and remove the psychic damage from Rearrange the Goodbye; for a stronger party, let Lair That Refuses Farewell shift two passages per round and increase the griever's reach to 15 feet.
- Give characters a noncombat advantage if they learn Ilyra Venn's name and promise to seek her: the griever hesitates, allowing one round of movement without provoking opportunity attacks.
Loot
- Basalt Tear — A warm, glassy stone formed where the griever's water meets its core. Once per long rest, a creature holding it can cast speak with dead, but only to ask about an unfinished farewell.
- Map of the Last Threshold — A damp architectural plan that changes whenever unfolded. It shows the bathhouse's true exit and marks the location of Ilyra Venn's abandoned seal.
- Vial of First Rain — A thumb-sized vial containing water that smells of rain on hot stone. Pouring it over a sealed door reveals, for 1 minute, the last person who passed through that door.
