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    Aku-Aku

    Medium undead, neutral evil

    Armor Class 16 (flesh suit; natural armor), 14

    Hit Points 55 (7d8 + 21)

    Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft.

    STR 12 (+1) · DEX 16 (+3) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 11 (+0) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 15 (+2)

    Saving Throws Dex +5, Wis +4

    Skills Deception +4, Perception +4, Stealth +7

    Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning (true form only; see Flesh Suit)

    Damage Resistances necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks (see Flesh Suit)

    Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned

    Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

    Languages Common, Rapa Nui, telepathy 60 ft.

    Challenge 3 (700 XP)

    Traits

    Flesh Suit. The aku-aku begins an encounter wearing its stolen flesh. While it wears the suit, it appears to be an ordinary living humanoid, has advantage on Charisma (Deception) checks to pass as such, its Armor Class is 16, and it has resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks.

    • The suit is destroyed if the aku-aku takes radiant damage, takes a critical hit, or uses its Devour Soul action. When this happens, the spirit’s true skeletal form is revealed; its AC becomes 14, it loses the above resistances, and it becomes vulnerable to bludgeoning damage.

    Spider Climb. The aku-aku can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

    Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the aku-aku has disadvantage on attack rolls, as well as on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight.

    Actions

    Multiattack. The aku-aku makes two Spirit Claw attacks.

    Spirit Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d8 + 3 slashing plus 1d4 necrotic) damage.

    Devour Soul (Recharge 5–6). Melee Spell Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 13 (3d6 + 3) necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or its hit-point maximum is reduced by the amount of necrotic damage taken. The aku-aku regains hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit-point maximum to 0, and it rises 24 hours later as a shadow under the aku-aku’s control, unless the corpse is sanctified by a remove curse or similar magic. Using this action instantly destroys the aku-aku’s Flesh Suit (if any).

    Bonus Actions

    Borrow Flesh (1/Day). If the aku-aku reduces a humanoid to 0 hit points while its Flesh Suit is destroyed, it can, as a bonus action, steal the victim’s flesh, regaining 10 hit points and the benefits of Flesh Suit.

    Reactions

    Phantom Step. When a creature the aku-aku can see misses it with an attack, the aku-aku can move up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.

    Lore

    Guardian spirits of the island who aggressively pursue intruders.

    Aku-Aku are spirits of the dead that have taken on a fully supernatural existence. How to classify them is still debated; in different sources you’ll see them called “devils,” “ghosts,” or simply “spirits.”

    Easter Island is famous for its monumental moai—stone figures that embody deified ancestors (tupuna) and guarantee the island’s prosperity, health, and fertility. Aku-Aku stand on the opposite side of that ancestral power. They personify the angry, destructive aspect of the same force. Unlike the moai, which received open worship, Aku-Aku were never the focus of a formal cult, yet their presence was always acknowledged. Islanders didn’t so much venerate them as placate them, a detail that points to the spirits’ unpredictable and potentially hostile nature.

    From Oceanian Bestiary 5E, p. 16 · Fern Flower Press