Bewitched Maiden

Medium undead, Neutral Evil

Armor Class 14 (natural armor)

Hit Points 90 (12d8 + 36)

Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (hover)

STR 12 (+1) · DEX 16 (+3) · CON 16 (+3) · INT 14 (+2) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 18 (+4)

Saving Throws Con +5, Wis +4, Cha +6

Skills Deception +6, Intimidation +6, Perception +4, Religion +4

Gear None

Senses Darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages Common, Abyssal

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Lore

Viy is a bewitched maiden from the Eastern Slavic fairy tale "The Girl Rising from the Coffin" (and Nikolai Gogol’s literary adaptation "Viy").

When summer comes, the students of the city seminary head home. Three friends—a graduating seminarian named Khalyava, a cheerful philosophy student named Khoma Brut, and a younger classman, Tiberiy Gorobets—lose their way in the steppe. Late at night they stumble onto a lonely farmstead. The old woman who lives there grudgingly lets them stay but on one condition: each must sleep in a different spot. Khoma gets the empty sheep barn.

In the dead of night the old woman slips into the barn. Suddenly she leaps onto Khoma’s back and, like a witch, forces him to soar over the dark steppe. Terrified, Khoma reels off every prayer he knows. The spell weakens and he manages to shake her off. Now it’s his turn: he jumps on her back and beats her savagely with a heavy stick. At dawn the crumpled hag turns into a beautiful, exhausted young woman. Panicking, Khoma drops her and runs to town.

From The Fairy Tale Compendium · Fern Flower Press