Owenga

Medium undead, lawful evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)

Hit Points 95 (14d8 + 28)

Speed 40 ft., climb 30 ft.

STR 17 (+3) · DEX 16 (+3) · CON 15 (+2) · INT 12 (+1) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 15 (+2)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +5

Skills Athletics +6, Insight +5, Perception +5, Stealth +6

Damage Vulnerabilities radiant

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks

Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened, poisoned

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common; understands all languages it knew in life but can’t speak

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Traits

Aura of Stillness. A 10-foot-radius sphere of supernatural hush surrounds the owenga. Sounds made by creatures and objects (including the owenga) inside the aura are muffled, imposing disadvantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on hearing for creatures outside the aura.

Regeneration. The owenga regains 10 hit points at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point and hasn’t taken radiant damage since the end of its last turn. The owenga is destroyed only if it starts its turn with 0 hit points and doesn’t regenerate.

Sunlight Weakness. In direct sunlight the owenga has disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks, and its Regeneration trait doesn’t function.

Running-Water Barrier. The owenga can’t willingly cross running water that is at least 5 feet wide.

Sacred Talismans. A creature wearing or brandishing a gri-gri amulet (or comparable holy symbol) has advantage on attack rolls against the owenga, and the owenga has disadvantage on attack rolls against that creature.

Life-Sight. The owenga can sense the location of any living creature within 60 feet of it unless the creature is behind running water or total cover.

Actions

Multiattack. The owenga makes two Claw attacks, or one Claw attack and one Vital Drain.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 11 (2d6 + 3) slashing damage.

Vital Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature that is grappled by the owenga, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 14 (3d6 + 3) necrotic damage, and the owenga regains hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt. The target’s hit-point maximum is reduced by the same amount. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this reduces its hit-point maximum to 0.

Grasp of Resentment (Recharge 5–6). The owenga targets up to two creatures it can see within 30 feet. Each target must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be paralyzed by crushing sorrow for 1 minute. A paralyzed creature repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. While paralyzed in this way, the creature also takes 7 (2d6) psychic damage at the start of each of its turns as the owenga siphons its will.

Bonus Actions

Silent Pursuit. The owenga moves up to its speed toward one creature it can see. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks, and the owenga can move through the space of Medium or larger creatures during it.

Reactions

Unyielding Grudge. When the owenga is reduced to 50 hit points or fewer, it gains advantage on its next attack roll before the end of its next turn.

Lore

The vengeful ghost of someone who died of a broken heart, appearing as a skin-clad skeleton with one bloodshot eye.

Owenga, or Ovang, is one of the least-studied varieties of West African vampires. The phenomenon is intriguing chiefly because this is not an undead that spreads infection through a bite, nor a servant of demonic forces in the classic vampiric sense, but a corpse that has risen from the grave after dying of an emotional wound—specifically, a broken heart. In Guinea, where any disruption of moral harmony between people is viewed as a potential catalyst for post-mortem revenge, the image of Owenga is shaped within that moral-social context: an intellectual being that has returned from the dead for vengeance, not a chaotic nocturnal predator driven by bloodlust.

Linguistic analysis of the name shows its meaning as “the one who came back” or “the one who never left,” a meaning typical for revenants in various African languages. Yet this term—and the concept of the creature overall—is not connected to magic or sorcery; its origin lies in the psycho-emotional state of the dying person. Someone leaves life with a crushing sense of betrayal, exile, domestic cruelty, unrequited love, or heartbreak that blocks the soul’s normal passage into the realm of the ancestors. The spirit therefore remains in the body, forming Owenga, who first lies in the grave and works out a plan of revenge, murder, or punishment for the offenders. This phase lasts anywhere from several days to months until the algorithm of vengeance is honed to perfection. Once every detail is sorted, he rises from the grave and goes to work. After emerging, the revenant is territorially bound to the “grave–object of resentment” route, moves mainly through forests, village outskirts, and ruins, seldom leaves familiar terrain, and avoids contact with other supernatural beings.

From Vampire Bestiary 5E, p. 78 · Fern Flower Press