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Aquatic Symbiote
🕑 Added 2021-06-06 18:01:01 +0000 UTCAquatic Symbiote
Wondrous item, rare (requires attunement)
This fleshy mass pulses with life and twitches when touched. If you allow this creature to merge with your body you gain adaptations suited for an aquatic environment. You can breathe underwater and gain a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. You must immerse yourself in water for at least 1 hour every day, or suffer one level of exhaustion at the end of that day. You can only recover from this exhaustion through magic or by immersing yourself in water for at least 1 hour. Additionally, when you merge with the symbiote, you can choose one of the following adaptations:
Bioluminescence. Your skin develops luminous patches or you grow a slender stalk from your head that dangles a mass of luminescent flesh at the end. As a bonus action you can activate or deactivate your bioluminescence, providing bright light in a 20-foot radius and dim light for an additional 20 feet. As an action you can create a dazzling display and attempt to allure a creature within 20 feet of you that can see you. The creature must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw, or become charmed by you for 1 minute on a failure. A creature charmed in this way is incapacitated and moves towards you at half speed on each of its turns. The creature can remake this save at the beginning of each of its turns and each time it takes damage, ending the effect on a success. Once this property is used, it cannot be used again until you complete a long rest.
Venomous Spines. Rows of thin spines protrude from your skin, coated with neurotoxic mucus. As a reaction, when a creature hits you with a melee attack, you can retaliate with venomous spines. Make an unarmed strike against the attacker, dealing 1d4 piercing on a hit and the target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw, taking 2d8 poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failure. Once you hit a creature, this property cannot be used again until you complete a long rest.
Ink Sacs. You develop three sacs filled with an inky black substance. As an action while underwater you can secrete the contents of one sac to create an opaque ink cloud in a 20-foot-radius sphere centered on yourself. The sphere spreads around corners, its area is heavily obscured, and it counts as difficult terrain to creatures other than yourself. It lasts for 1 minute or until a strong current disperses it. You regenerate all expended ink sacs when you complete a long rest.
Removing the attunement to the symbiote takes 1 hour of incredibly painful surgery, which must be performed by another creature. During this process, you are incapacitated and take 2d6 necrotic damage every 10 minutes. This damage ignores resistance and immunity. If you are reduced to 0 hit points or the process is interrupted, the removal fails. If the process is a success, the attunement ends and the symbiote is destroyed.
The elder coaxed a strange creature from the pool, amorphous and gelatinous with large, wild eyes akin to those of an octopus. They swiveled and blinked in four different directions, drinking in the candle-lit chamber. Immediately the creature began to change color and shape, stretching and flattening itself over her skin. She handled it quickly, preventing it from gaining purchase on her body. “This is for you, young one. Step forward.”
Ambergris hesitated. He knew the process of becoming Seaborne would permanently change you, and he welcomed the transformation, but he wasn’t expecting it to be so… grotesque. “Come now, it is time.” The elder said sternly, and Ambergris obeyed. She held the creature aloft, chanting softly to herself, and lowered it onto his shoulders. The creature was cool, slimy and eager. As it expanded to engulf his skin, it felt as if he was being submerged into a vat of old blubber, or wriggling worms. Swallowing panic, he closed his eyes and stood incredibly still. Within minutes the creature wrapped itself around his entire body, leaving his head free. Then it began to itch and burn.“It hurts!” Ambergris gasped
“Focus child. You must guide its shape to suit your needs.”
Wincing through the pain, he reached out with his mind, and felt a strange alien presence respond to his attention. Slowly, the pain subsided, and Ambergris opened his eyes to see the chamber filled with a brilliant blue glow. The light was coming from his own skin, which now protruded with gills and fins that flexed slowly. Ambergris felt a sudden urge to try out this new body. He stepped forward and dove into the water. It felt like home.
