The Last Keeper
Armor Class 16 (oilskin and spectral brass)
Hit Points 136 (16d8+64)
Speed 30 ft. climb 30 ft.
Saving Throws Dex +8, Wis +7, Cha +8
Skills Stealth +8, Deception +8, Perception +7
Damage Resistances cold; lightning; necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17
Languages Common, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 9 (5,000 XP) Proficiency Bonus +4
Actions
Bonus Actions
Reactions
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"He only asks that you take his hand. That is how he gets inside you." — Mara Venn, survivor of Gannet's Rest
Lore & Description
Appearance
The Last Keeper appears as a weather-beaten lighthouse keeper's uniform walking without a body inside it. Its black oilskin coat is stiff with salt, its brass buttons glow like drowned stars, and its boots leave wet footprints even on dry stone. A cracked lantern hangs from one sleeve, casting a narrow beam that bends toward anyone who looks afraid. Beneath the collar is only roiling black fog threaded with tiny sparks of blue lightning.
Behavior & Origins
The Last Keeper was once Iven Marr, warden of the Gannet's Rest lighthouse, who died during a storm after rescuing sailors from the rocks. The town promised to keep the light burning, then abandoned the lighthouse when the cliffs began to collapse. Iven's devotion curdled into a hunger for gratitude, and now the coat walks the cliff path whenever thunder rolls. It approaches travelers as a soaked, voiceless figure in need of help, growing stronger when someone offers a cloak, a hand, or words of comfort. The Keeper wants the lighthouse relit with a living soul inside it; it has recently begun seeking the daughter of the last sailor it saved, Mara Venn, who unknowingly carries Iven's old brass key.
Running The Last Keeper
Tactics
The Last Keeper begins at a distance in fog, using Borrowed Voice and a false plea for help to mark the most compassionate character with pity. It uses Lantern Hook to drag marked creatures toward cliffs or into the path of Drown in the Light, while Fogstep keeps it among darkness and rain. When reduced below half its hit points, it occupies a marked creature if possible and uses that victim's voice to sow hesitation; it flees into the lighthouse only if no creature remains marked, but fights to the death if Mara Venn or the brass key is present.
DM Tips
- Telegraph the danger with wet footprints leading against the wind, a lantern beam sweeping across empty cliffs, and distant cries for help that repeat word for word.
- Play the Keeper softly and sorrowfully at first, using pauses, rattling buttons, and borrowed voices; make its cruelty emerge only after the characters offer aid.
- Reward caution without removing the central temptation: characters can avoid Pity's Open Door by refusing to help, but doing so should feel morally uncomfortable and create lasting consequences.
- For a weaker party, reduce hit points to 110 and remove the necrotic damage from Lantern Hook; for a stronger party, give it two legendary actions per round and let Fogstep recharge on a 5-6.
Loot
- Iven Marr's Brass Lighthouse Key — A salt-blackened key that opens the abandoned Gannet's Rest lantern room and bears a tiny engraving of the names of the sailors Iven saved.
- The Unlit Warden's Lantern — A cracked lantern that sheds pale light for 10 minutes when exposed to seawater. While lit, it reveals invisible creatures within 10 feet, but each use carries a faint voice asking to be let in.
- Mara's Waterlogged Letter — A letter found stitched into the coat's lining, proving that the town council knowingly abandoned Iven and concealing a map to a sealed rescue tunnel beneath Gannet's Rest.
