Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

Ashiok is a nightmare planeswalker of unknown gender and origin. Ashiok has long, slender fingers with long talon-like claws for fingernails. The bottom half of their head resembles a human's, but the top half consists of two large black horns, made of a rough rocky substance, that frames the void around them. Ashiok has no upper face, no cranium, nor eyes nor nose. In their place, there is only black smoke emanating from where the mouth and upper lip ended. This black smoke whirls around their head, swirling down in a wider radius outside the body.
Ashiok is capable of reaching into the dreams and fears that dwell inside of others. With this power, they can summon beings born of people's darkest fears, call them into reality, and give them form. They become Ashiok's minions, eager to please their master, freed from the dreams of the believer. Ashiok uses these minions to tear down those who view themselves as untouchable and superior, believing that since all sentient beings feel fear, fear is the greatest equalizer of all beings.
Over time, Ashiok's power has taken a physical toll. The mage's face has eroded into a smoky shadow. Nightmarish wisps swirl where a skull may have once been. That these are no longer required is part of their enigma, and is a testament to the unnatural power they wield. The dread-vapors that emanate from Ashiok are an extension of the nightmare magic the mage wields, giving the walker easier access to the fears of those they enshroud. Ashiok now travels the Multiverse in perpetual search of designs for the perfect embodiment of fear.
In this search, Ashiok came to Theros and recognized that the dreams of this plane seem more vibrant than those of the other planes they have traveled to.
Ashiok came to Theros because of the strong power of devotion and belief of the plane's mortals, and of the consequential effects it has on the gods and Nyx. There is something special about Theros, and they intend to harness this unique advantage. However, unlike the gods, Ashiok does not seek to become the object of belief. Instead, they seek the darker side of belief, the smoke, and screams that waft from the cold corners of nightmares. They know that if fond thoughts of the gods have power, then the dark phantasms spawned of fearing those gods hold even more: where there is a belief, there is doubt, and where there is doubt, there is the nightmare. And the world of Theros is a world full of believers.
The nightmare weaver's complete agenda is yet unknown. Whether Ashiok came to Theros for personal purposes, or as an emissary of some stronger force, is unclear. At some point in their pursuits, they made a bargain with Phenax, the god of lies and deceit. The nightmare weaver then sought to incite war between the polis of Iretis and the leonin.
Ashiok posed as Udaen, an advisor to Kedarick, king of Iretis. Kedarick was trying to make peace between his city and the Leonin, resulting in a peace meeting between the two sides. However, Ashiok sent nightmarish abominations to kill off individuals from both sides during the peace meeting. This resulted in continued conflict between humans and leonin, each side accusing the other of betrayal. The leonin retaliated by annihilating the Iretis' citizenry, allowing Phenax's plan to go into motion, to create another necropolis for the Returned, a cog in his grander designs. In return, Ashiok asked to be made invisible to the gods, which made Phenax break into a burst of hysterical, cruel laughter after he peered deep in their essence.
As an experiment, Ashiok used psychic powers to upset the dreams of the citizens of Theros. This created disturbing thoughts of the poleis, which in turn created Cacophony - God of Cities. The newborn god was quickly slain by Ephara, but she was unable to locate the creator of Cacophony. Ashiok was satisfied by the use of Phenax's boon and the results of the nightmare weaver's test. Ashiok valued creation and beauty and considered the deed beautiful.

A grander scheme Slowly Ashiok's influence grew, nightmares stirring in the minds of Theros's inhabitants. Entire cities grew tense as their dreams turned against them, but it was only the start of their scheme. As the will of the people weakened, those with power, the magic wielders found themselves awakening in places with no memory of how they had gotten there or what they had done while slumbering. They could remember only the nightmares that haunted them, and mayhem broke out in their wake. They were cast out from their homes and all the while, Ashiok gathered power for the grandest spell.
The walker planned to cast a spell over all of Theros that would send the world into never-ending slumber so that they could harvest nightmares forever. There was only one person who could hope to stand against the mage: Dack Fayden. Dack, Ravos, and the dead put an end to Ashiok's Sleep curse.
Beyond Death Ashiok continued to spread nightmares through Theros. Not even the Underworld was free from such dark power. Eventually, they would start to particularly savor the twisted dreams of Elspeth Tirel, a fallen planeswalker. Ashiok found out about the nightmarish Phyrexians from Elspeth's mind and then planeswalked away, hoping to find the Phyrexians and to understand more about their nature.

Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver

Ashiok is a nightmare planeswalker of unknown gender and origin. Ashiok has long, slender fingers with long talon-like claws for fingernails. The bottom half of their head resembles a human's, but the top half consists of two large black horns, made of a rough rocky substance, that frames the void around them. Ashiok has no upper face, no cranium, nor eyes nor nose. In their place, there is only black smoke emanating from where the mouth and upper lip ended. This black smoke whirls around their head, swirling down in a wider radius outside the body.

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Armor Class	13	16 with mage armor
Hit Points	19d8+76
Speed	30 ft.	Fly 30 ft. (hover)
Strength	12 (+1)
Dexterity	17 (+3)
Constitution	19 (+4)
Intelligence	19 (+4)
Wisdom	20 (+5)
Charisma	20 (+5)
Saving Throws	Constitution d20+9	Wisdom d20+9	Charisma d20+10
Skills	Arcana d20+9	Deception d20+9	Insight d20+9
Damage Immunities	Necrotic
Condition Immunities	Frightened
Senses	Truesight 120 ft.	Passive Perception 15
Languages	Common
Challenge	14 (11,500 XP)
Special 1	Cloud of Fear	Creatures within 15 feet of Ashiok have a disadvantage on saving throws	made to avoid becoming frightened or falling asleep,
and Ashiok can use an action on their turn to learn the	deepest fears of anyone creature within the radius
Special 2	Innate Spellcasting	Ashiok's innate spellcasting ability is	Intelligence (spell save DC 17).
They can innately cast the following spells,	requiring no material components:
Innate Spells 1	At will	Disguise self	Minor illusion
Plane shift (self only)	Sleep
Innate Spells 2	3/day each	Blur	Dream
Fear
Innate Spells 3	2/day	Silence
Special 3	Intimidate	Ashiok has an advantage on attack rolls	made against frighted creatures
Special 4	Spellcasting	Ashiok is a 17th-level spellcaster.	Their spellcasting ability is Charisma
(spell save DC 18, d20+10 to hit with spell attacks).	They have the following spells prepared
Spells 1	Cantrips (at will)	Chill touch	Fiends
Mage hand	Message	Thaumaturgy
Spells 2	1st level (4 slots)	Cause fear	Dissonant whispers
Mage armor	Sleep
Spells 3	2nd level (3 slots)	Crown of madness	Invisibility
Shadow blade
Spells 4	3rd level (3 slots)	Blinkl	Gaseous form
Hypnotic pattern
Spells 5	4th level (3 slots)	Confusion	Phantasmal killer
Shadow of moil
Spells 6	5th level (2 slots)	Cloud kill	Mislead
Spells 7	6th level (1 slot)	Eyebite	Mental prison
Spells 8	7th level (1 slot)	Project image	Teleport
Spells 9	8th level (1 slot)	Glibness	Maddening darkness
Spells 10	9th level (1 slot)	Astral projection
Action 1	Multiattack	Ashiok makes two withering touch attacks
Action 2	Withering Touch	Melee Weapon Attack	d20+8 to hit
Reach 5 ft., one target	Hit 4d6+5 necrotic damage.	If the target is frightened,	it takes twice as much damage,
If the target is not frightened, it must succeed on	a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute.	A frightened creature can repeat the saving throw	at the end of each of its turns,
ending the effect on itself on a success
Legendary Actions	Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver can take 3 legendary actions,	choosing from the options below.	Only one legendary action option can be used at a time
and only at the end of another creature's turn.	Ashiok regains spent legendary	actions at the start of their turn
Legendary Action 1	Mind Drain	One creature of Ashiok's choice that they can see	within 60 feet must make a DC 18 Intelligence saving throw.
On a failed save, the target takes 4d8 psychic damage	and loses an unexpected spell slot of 3rd level or lower;	on a success, the target takes half as much damage	and does not lose a spell slot.
Whether the target fails or succeeds,	Ashiok learns one thing the target fears
Legendary Action 2	Weaving NIghtmares (Costs 2 Actions)	Ashiok chooses one creature that they can see	within 60 feet that has failed a saving throw against
Ashiok's Mind Drain since the end of Ashiok's last turn.	Ashiok summons an illusory copy of a creature of their choice,	whose CR is equal to or lower than the level of the spell	slot lost by the target due to Mind Drain.
If the target didn't lose a spell slot,	Ashiok instead summons a creature whose	CR is equal to or lower than 1d4-1 .	The summoned creature appears in an unoccupied space
of Ashiok's choice that they can see within 60 feet,	is hostile to all creatures except Ashiok,	and acts at the end of Ashiok's turn
Legendary Action 3	Nightmare Feast (Costs 3 Actions)	Ashiok forces each frightened creature of their choice	within 120 feet to make a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw.
On a failed save a creature takes 2d8 psychic damage	and is stunned until the end of its next turn;	on a success a creature takes half	as much damage and is not stunned.
Then Ashiok summons an illusory copy of a creature of their choice,	whose CR is equal to or less than the number of creatures	that failed the saving throw.	The summoned creature appears in an unoccupied space
of Ashiok's choice that they can see within 60 feet,	is hostile to all creatures except Ashiok,	and acts at the end of Ashiok's turn