Stolas

Large fiend (demon), neutral

Armor Class 20 (natural armor)

Hit Points 304 (32d10 + 128)

Speed 40 ft., fly 120 ft. (hover)

STR 20 (+5) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 26 (+8) · INT 24 (+7) · WIS 22 (+6) · CHA 26 (+8)

Saving Throws Dex +10, Con +14, Int +13, Wis +12, Cha +14

Skills Arcana +13, History +13, Insight +12, Nature +13, Perception +12, Persuasion +14, Stealth +10

Damage Resistances cold; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities fire, poison

Condition Immunities exhaustion, frightened, poisoned

Senses truesight 120 ft., passive Perception 22

Languages all, telepathy 120 ft.

Challenge 19 (22,000 XP)

Traits

Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If Stolas fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead.

Magic Resistance. Stolas has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Magic Weapons. Stolas’s weapon attacks are magical.

Astral Foresight. At the start of his turn, Stolas chooses one creature he can see. Until the start of his next turn, attack rolls made by that creature against Stolas are made with disadvantage, and Stolas has advantage on saving throws against spells cast by that creature.

Flexible Neck. Stolas can’t be flanked, and he has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight or hearing.

Innate Spellcasting. Stolas’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 22, +14 to hit). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:

At will: detect magic (PHB, p. 231/263), guidance (PHB, p. 248/282), mage hand (PHB, p. 256/293), mold earth (XGE, p. 162), thorn whip (PHB, p. 282/333)

3/day each: dispel magic (PHB, p. 234/264), plant growth (PHB, p. 266/305), scrying (PHB, p. 273/313), telekinesis (PHB, p. 280/331), wall of force (PHB, p. 285/338)

1/day each: flesh to stone (PHB, p. 243/275), foresight (PHB, p. 244/276), plane shift (PHB, p. 266/305), sunburst (PHB, p. 279/329), whirlwind (XGE, p. 171)

Actions

Multiattack. Stolas makes three Talon attacks or two Talon attacks and uses Stellar Ray, if available.

Talon. Melee Weapon Attack: +12 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 18 (2d10 + 7) slashing damage plus 9 (2d8) necrotic damage.

Stellar Ray (Recharge 5–6). Ranged Spell Attack: +14 to hit, range 300 ft., one target. Hit: 36 (8d8) radiant damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 22 Constitution saving throw or be blinded until the end of its next turn.

Botanic Snare (Recharge 4–6). Vines erupt (or other plants) in a 20-foot-radius, 20-foot-high cylinder centered on a point Stolas can see within 120 feet. Each creature of Stolas’s choice in the area must make a DC 22 Strength saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) bludgeoning damage and becoming restrained on a failure. A restrained creature can use its action to repeat the save, ending the effect on a success. The vines wither after 1 minute or if Stolas uses this action again.

Bonus Actions

Step Between Worlds. Stolas teleports up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space he can see.

Reactions

Regal Rebuke. When a creature Stolas can see within 60 feet insults him or violates proper etiquette (DM’s discretion), Stolas utters an eldritch word. The creature must succeed on a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw or be stunned until the end of the current turn.

Legendary Actions

Stolas can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn. He regains spent legendary actions at the start of his turn.

Talons. Stolas makes one Talon attack.

Astral Shift. Stolas uses Step Between Worlds or casts detect magic.

Gaze of Countless Eyes (Costs 2 Actions). One creature Stolas can see within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 22 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. A frightened creature repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a success. If the initial save fails by 5 or more, the creature is also paralyzed while frightened.

Lore

A raven or crowned owl prince who teaches astronomy, prophetic botany, and gemstone lore.

Sixteenth-century treatises describe Stolas as a “night raven,” yet the famous 1863 illustration from the Dictionnaire Infernal fixed his image as an owl wearing a crown with long heron-like legs. His chief visual manifestations are: a demonic form (a gigantic owl-demon hybrid with black or dark-blue plumage, several pairs of glowing red eyes, and a blazing crown); an anthropomorphic or angelic form (an elegant man with white wings, blue-green eyes, and refined clothing); and a fully human disguise (a gray-haired man whose irises are red, dressed in aristocratic attire, red glasses). In every shape he retains certain traits: an elastic neck able to swivel 180–360 degrees, long legs, feathers, and the crown.

Stolas gives off a sense of dualism: he can look ridiculous, yet his presence always presses with mystical power. His aura carries ancient aristocratic melancholy and wisdom, and after he departs a room is strewn with feathers. Anatomically he has an extremely flexible neck for threatening head turns, while his long legs symbolize the ability to step between worlds.

From Demonic Bestiary 5E, p. 94 · Fern Flower Press