Asrai

Small elemental, Neutral Good

Armor Class 12

Hit Points 7 (2d6)

Speed 20 ft., Swim 40 ft.

STR 6 (−2) · DEX 14 (+2) · CON 10 (+0) · INT 10 (+0) · WIS 12 (+1) · CHA 16 (+3)

Skills Persuasion +5, Stealth +4

Senses Darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11

Languages Understands Aquan but cannot speak

Traits

Amphibious. The Asrai can breathe air and water.

Frigid Form. The Asrai's body is as cold as dry ice. A creature that touches the Asrai, grapples her, or hits her with a melee attack while within 5 feet of her takes 2 (1d4) Cold damage.

Sunlight Death. The Asrai relies on moonlight to survive. If she starts her turn in direct sunlight, or is exposed to the first rays of dawn, she melts into a puddle of mundane water and is instantly destroyed.

Actions

Frostburn Touch. Melee Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 2 (1d4) Cold damage. (Note: The Asrai is deeply pacifistic and only uses this attack defensively if entirely cornered or forced.)

Reactions

Piteous Weeping. When a creature targets the Asrai with an attack or attempts to grapple her, she curls up and utters a sad, wordless plea. The triggering creature must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma saving throw or be forced to choose a new target or lose the attack or grapple attempt.

Lore

Asrai are often associated with Scotland, largely thanks to the Scottish poet Robert Buchanan, who, in 1872, wrote the well-known poem “The Asrai.”

In his very first poem Buchanan pictured the asrai not simply as creatures of Britain’s ponds and rivers, but as ancient elementals—beings of water, air, and fire that existed long before humankind. He wrote that they seek out “quiet places”: deep moss-covered valleys, “starry waters,” and the yellow sands that “kiss the rim of the shimmering sea.”

Asrai are astonishingly small—about two to four feet tall—and look like exquisitely beautiful young women. Their skin is translucent and pale, sometimes with a silvery-blue or greenish sheen. They have long green hair, often reminiscent of drifting waterweed, and webbing between their fingers and toes that lets them race through the water. Their bodies are literally ice-cold. Folklore says an asrai’s touch burns like dry ice, and anyone who grabs one is left forever with a frost-burn scar.

From The Fairy Tale Compendium · Fern Flower Press