Wretchling

Description

Lurking in the darkest corners of the world, wretchlings hide in the shadows and psychically feeding off the emotions of those nearby. Draining hope and joy, and replacing them with fear and depression.

Its rarely-seen natural state resembles a grotesque fusion of a centipede and a human. Its body is long and segmented, covered in slick, oily skin, with dozens of jointed legs protruding from its sides, a twisted human- like visage, sits at the front of its hideous body, with hollow, black eyes and a mouth that opens vertically, revealing rows of needle-like teeth.

When a wretchling senses intelligent beings nearby, it selects one at random and begins stalking them. Once it manages to get within 40 feet of its target undetected, it will attack. If it succeeds in its attack roll, the victim must make a saving throw against magic. On a successful saving throw, the victim becomes immediately aware of the wretchling, however they will also be stunned for a single round unable to act. However, if the saving throw fails, the wretchling’s body dissolves into a dark, smoky mist that enters the target's body through their eyes, nose, and mouth, allowing the wretchling to possess its new host.

During the first stage of possession, the host appears completely normal, but everyone within 100 feet will begin to experience terrible nightmares, initially only during sleep, but later even while awake. These nightmares start with visions of writhing, centipede-like appendages creeping from the corners of their vision, accompanied by a feeling of dread, often accompanied by cold sweats.

Over the next few days, the visions increase in frequency and severity, including hearing a faint, constant whispering that leaves the victim uneasy and physically ill. At this point, the wretchling manifests as a small child that only the host can see, leading to frequent conversations with thin air, that others may notice. If attacked with a magical weapon or spells, the wretchling is forced out of the host's body and will attempt to possess the nearest being. This can be prevented by encircling the host with salt, a substance wretchlings despise. Without intervention, all those near the host will soon begin to experience violent visions targeting friends and allies, with louder whispering urging them to attack.

It is at this point the host enters the second stage. The character must succeed in a second saving throw against magic or die, their eyes turning a glossy black. In 1d6 hours, they rise as an undead being, Turnable as a zombie, but still under the wretchling’s control. The host will then sow even more discord among allies, even attacking companions in the night and feasting on their flesh. Eventually, the wretchling sheds the remnants of its host, after becoming gorged and gaining two extra hit dice, though its movement speed is halved while gorged. All those killed by a wretchling have a 20% chance of rising as a zombie within three days.

Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.

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