Knightly Apparitions - RSP Encounter

The PCs discover an old battlefield, strewn with the rusting detritus of the fallen.

A sprawl of rusting weapons and armor mixes with a tangle of shattered bones, like a twisted carrion-bird’s nest built of broken valor. Mist wreaths the area.

Two creatures, the invisible stalker Aelethafel and the will-o’-wisp Malegar, live here and prey on travelers and looters. When the pair becomes aware of intruders, they put their clever deception into action. Sensing prey, the two creatures attack immediately.

As you survey the ancient carnage, a hint of movement in a deep, boggy area catches your eye. With surprising swift, but jerky, movement an empty suit of ornate, rusting scale mail and great helm rises from the mire.

AREA FEATURES Bogs: The battlefield is composed of viscous, sticky mud covered with brackish water. It costs 2 squares of movement to enter a square containing shallow bog, and the DC of Acrobatics checks in such a square increases by 2. Bogs increase the DC of Stealth checks by 2.
Deep Bogs: The battlefield features wide channels of deep bogs. A square that is part of a deep bog has roughly 4 feet of standing water. It costs Medium or larger creatures 4 squares of movement to move into a square with a deep bog, or characters can swim (DC 10 Swim check). Small or smaller creatures must swim to move through a deep bog. Tumbling is impossible in a deep bog. The water in a deep bog provides cover (+4 AC, +2 Reflex saves) for Medium or larger creatures. Smaller creatures gain improved cover (+8 AC, +4 Reflex saves). Medium or larger creatures can crouch as a move action to gain improved cover. Creatures with improved cover take a –10 penalty on attacks against creatures that aren't underwater. Deep bogs increase the DC of Stealth checks by 2.
Foreboding Mists: Thick fog blankets the swamp. The fog obscures all sight beyond 5 feet, including darkvision. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment (20% miss chance).
Field of Slaughter: The remains of over two hundred knights and retainers lie submerged in the swamp. A DC 20 Knowledge (nobility) or Knowledge (history) check identifies this as the site of the Battle of Cindermoor, a vicious skirmish in which two rival human princes fell in bloody slaughter.
Treasure: The PCs can search the site; each Perception check takes one hour:

TACTICS Aelethafel and Malegardwell invisibly lurk within the suit of armor that rises out of the swamp waters. It is possible the PCs believe the disembodied armor to be a construct or undead creature at first sight. This appearance is exacerbated when Malegar flies off independently of Aelethafel wearing the armor’s apparently empty helm. Note that neither creature benefits from its natural invisibility while so clad. Malegar attacks using Combat Expertise, feinting in combat as often as possible to deny enemies their Dexterity bonus from both his and Aelethafel’s attacks. Aelethafel hammers enemies with his slam attacks until Malegar is injured. Aelethafel then inflicts non-lethal damage with slam attacks to trigger his Enforcer ability to demoralize his enemies, which allows Malegar to feed on their fear.
When either creature is reduced to less than half hit points, it retreats to sheds its armor, relying on its natural invisibility to throw off pursuit. The two creatures regroup and redouble their attacks under the aegis of invisibility once their enemies think the danger has passed. The two creatures flee the area permanently if either is reduced to less than 10 hit points.

Invisible Stalker CR: 6 (2,300XP)

Medium elemental, neutral

Armor Class: 14

Hit Points: 104 (16D8+32).

Speed: 50 ft , fly: 50 ft , can hover

STR

16 +3

DEX

19 +4

CON

14 +2

INT

10 +0

WIS

15 +2

CHA

11 +0

Skills: Perception +8 & Stealth +10

Damage Resistances: Bludgeoning,Piercing and Slashing from Non-Magical Attacks

Damage Immunities: Poison

Condition Immunities: Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained and Unconscious

Senses: Darkvision 60ft & Passive Perception 18

Languages: Auran (Elemental Air),Understands Kelldorian (Common) but cannot speak

Challenge Rating: 6 (2,300XP)

INVISIBILITY:

The Stalker is invisible. (An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. The creature's location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves. Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature's attack rolls have advantage.)

FAULTLESS TRACKER:

The stalker is given a quarry by its summoner. The stalker knows the direction and distance to its quarry as long as the two of them are on the same plane of existence. The stalker also knows the location of its summoner.

Actions

MULTIATTACK:

The stalker makes two slam attacks.
SLAM: Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: 1d20+6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2d6+3 bludgeoning damage.

An invisible stalker is an air elemental that has been summoned from its native plane and transformed by powerful magic. Its sole purpose is to hunt down creatures and retrieve objects for its summoner. When it is defeated or the magic that binds it expires, an invisible stalker vanishes in a gust of wind. Directed Hunter. When an invisible stalker is created, it stays at its summoner’s side until it is given a task to perform. If an assignment doesn’t involve hunting down and slaying a specific creature or recovering an object, the magic that created the invisible stalker ends and the elemental is released. Otherwise, it completes the task, then returns to its summoner for more commands, forced to serve until the magic that binds it expires. If its summoner dies in the interim, the invisible stalker vanishes after completing its task.
An invisible stalker is an unwilling servant at best. It resents any undertaking assigned to it. A mission that requires significant time might drive the invisible stalker to pervert the intent of a command unless it is worded carefully.
Unseen Threat. Invisible stalkers are composed of air and are naturally invisible. A creature might hear and feel an invisible stalker in passing, but the elemental remains invisible even when it attacks. A spell that allows someone to see the invisible reveals only the invisible stalker’s vague outline.
Elemental Nature. An invisible stalker requires no air, food, drink, or sleep.

Malegar (Will-o'-Wisp) CR: 2 (450XP)

Tiny undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class: 19

Hit Points: 22 (9D4)

Speed: 0 ft , fly: 50 ft , can hover

STR

1 -5

DEX

28 +9

CON

10 +0

INT

13 +1

WIS

14 +2

CHA

11 +0

Damage Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Necrotic, Thunder, Bludgeoning, Piercing and Slashing from Non-Magical Attacks

Damage Immunities: Lightning & Poison

Condition Immunities: Exhaustion, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained and Unconscious

Senses: Darkvision 120ft, Passive Perception 12

Languages: Understands all languages it knew in life, but cannot speak.

Challenge Rating: 2 (450XP)

CONSUME LIFE:

As a bonus action, the will-o'-wisp can target one creature it can see within 5 feet of it that has 0 hit points and is still alive. The target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw against this magic or die. If the target dies, the will-o'-wisp regains [rol:3d6] hit points.

EPHEMERAL:

The will-o'-wisp can't wear or carry anything.

INCORPOREAL MOVEMENT:

The will-o'-wisp can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 1d10 force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

VARIABLE ILLUMINATION:

THE WILL-O’-WISP SHEDS BRIGHT LIGHT IN A 5-TO 20-FOOT RADIUS AND DIM LIGHT FOR AN ADDITIONAL NUMBER OF FEET EQUAL TO THE CHOSEN RADIUS. THE WILL-O’-WISP CAN ALTER THE RADIUS AS A BONUS ACTION.

Actions

SHOCK:

Melee Spell Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 2d8 lightning damage.
INVISIBILITY: The will-o'-wisp and its light magically become invisible until it attacks or uses its Consume Life, or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell).

Two creatures, the invisible stalker Aelethafel and the will-o’-wisp Malegar, live here in the swamp and prey on travellers and looters. When the pair becomes aware of intruders, they put their clever deception into action.
Will-o’-wisps are malevolent, wispy balls of light that haunt lonely places and battlefields, bound by dark fate or dark magic to feed on fear and despair.
Hope and Doom. Will-o’-wisps look like bobbing lantern lights in the distance, although they can choose to alter their colors, or wink out completely. When they activate their lights, will-o’-wisps offer hope, hinting of safety to creatures that follow them.
Will-o’-wisps lure unwary creatures into quicksand pits, monster lairs, and other dangerous places so that they can feed on the suffering of their prey and revel in their death screams. An evil being that falls prey to a will-o’-wisp might become a wisp itself, its woeful spirit coalescing above its lifeless corpse like a flickering flame.
Consumed by Despair. Will-o’-wisps are the souls of evil beings that perished in anguish or misery as they wandered forsaken lands permeated with powerful magic. They thrive in swampy bogs and bone-strewn battlefields where the oppressive weight of sorrow stoops even heavier than the low-hanging mist and fog. Trapped in these desolate places of lost hope and memory, will-o’-wisps lure other creatures toward dismal fates and feed on their misery.
Agents of Evil. Will-o’-wisps rarely speak, but when they do, their voices sound like faint or distant whispers. In the miserable domains they haunt, will-o’-wisps sometimes form symbiotic relationships with their wicked neighbors. Hags, oni, black dragons, and evil cultists work with will-o’-wisps to draw creatures into ambush. As their evil allies surround and slaughter creatures, the wisps hover above them, drinking the agony of a last breath and savoring the sensation as the light of life goes out in a creature’s eyes.
Undead Nature. A will-o’-wisp doesn’t require air, drink, or sleep.

NATURAL INVISIBILITY Aeletafel’s and Malegar’s natural invisibility gives them a great advantage in battle. This has the following effects:

• +2 bonus on attack rolls against sighted opponents.
• Ignores sighted opponent's Dexterity bonus to AC.
• Opponents have a 50% miss chance.
SCALE ENCOUNTER Level 4: Remove Malegar Level 7: Two Will-o'-Wisps