Leanhaum-Shee

Medium fey (shapechanger), chaotic neutral

Armor Class 16 (natural armor)

Hit Points 133 (19d8 + 38)

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

STR 12 (+1) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 14 (+2) · INT 15 (+2) · WIS 16 (+3) · CHA 20 (+5)

Saving Throws Dex +8, Wis +7, Cha +9

Skills Deception +9, Insight +7, Perception +7, Performance +9, Stealth +8

Damage Vulnerabilities damage from wrought-iron weapons or objects

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren’t wrought-iron

Condition Immunities charmed (except by a creature it has chosen as its Beloved), frightened

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 17

Languages Common, Elvish, Sylvan

Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)

Traits

Selective Visibility. The leanhaum-shee is invisible to all creatures except her Beloved (see below) and those who possess true sight. She can end or restore this effect on herself (no action required).

Beloved. As a bonus action, the leanhaum-shee targets one humanoid she can see within 60 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed for 24 hours. While charmed, the creature is the leanhaum-shee’s Beloved; it can perceive her and has disadvantage on saving throws against her abilities. The leanhaum-shee can have only one Beloved at a time. The effect ends early if either creature dies, the leanhaum-shee chooses a new Beloved, or the leanhaum-shee and the Beloved are on different planes of existence.

Red Cauldron. The leanhaum-shee carries or keeps hidden an ornate red-hued vessel no larger than a tankard. If she has dealt necrotic damage since the start of her last turn, she regains 10 hit points at the start of her current turn.

Shapechanger. The leanhaum-shee can use her action to polymorph into a white hind (Large beast, speed 50 ft.) or back to her true form. While a hind, her statistics remain the same except she loses the Blood Kiss and Cauldron Bolt actions and gains a Gore attack (melee weapon attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target, 13 [2d8+4] piercing damage).

Magic Resistance. The leanhaum-shee has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Innate Spellcasting. The leanhaum-shee’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 17). She can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:

At will: detect thoughts (PHB, p. 231/262), minor illusion (PHB, p. 260/298), silence (PHB, p. 275/316)

3/day each: charm person (PHB, p. 221/249), enthrall (PHB, p. 238/269), invisibility (self only; PHB, p. 254/289), suggestion (PHB, p. 279/321)

1/day each: dominate person (PHB, p. 235/266), greater invisibility (PHB, p. 246/281)

Actions

Multiattack. The leanhaum-shee makes three attacks: two Caressing Claws and one Blood Kiss.

Caressing Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 4) psychic damage.

Blood Kiss. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature that is grappled by the leanhaum-shee, incapacitated, restrained, or her Beloved. Hit: 22 (4d6 + 5) necrotic damage, and the leanhaum-shee regains hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt. The target’s hit-point maximum is reduced by the same amount. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest; the target dies if this effect reduces its maximum to 0.

Cauldron Bolt (Recharge 5–6). The leanhaum-shee hurls a scarlet streak of vital energy from her cauldron at a point she can see within 60 feet; it erupts in a 15-foot-radius sphere. Creatures of her choice in that area must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw, taking 28 (8d6) necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on a success.

Reactions

Shed the Glamour. When the leanhaum-shee would be hit by an attack she can see, she becomes briefly incorporeal, gaining resistance to that attack’s damage. She then can move up to 15 feet without provoking opportunity attacks.

Lore

A vampiric fairy muse who grants bards and poets inspiration in exchange for their life-force and blood, which she keeps in a crimson cauldron.

Leanhaum-Shee is a folklore figure of the Celtic world. The name comes from the Gaelic words leannan (“beloved,” “lover”) and sídhe (“people of the hills,” “Aos Sí”), literally pointing to a “lover-fairy.” Depending on the region, she is called Leanan Sídhe in Ireland, Lhiannan Shee or Leanhaum-Shee on the Isle of Man, and Leannan Sìth in Scotland.

Among the Fair Folk, Leanhaum-Shee is classified as a solitary fairy. Unlike collective spirits, she specializes in forging an individual bond—emotionally intimate yet physically devastating—with one human. On the Isle of Man, tradition even treats her as a household spirit tied to certain families, but that status does not cancel her predatory nature: to keep her own form, she needs a constant supply of human life force.

From Vampire Bestiary 5E, p. 62 · Fern Flower Press