Teketeke テケテケ

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 14 (incorporeal form)

Hit Points 52 (8d8 + 16)

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft. (spider climb)

STR 14 (+2) · DEX 18 (+4) · CON 14 (+2) · INT 10 (+0) · WIS 14 (+2) · CHA 12 (+1)

Saving Throws Dex +6, Wis +4

Skills Acrobatics +6, Intimidation +3, Perception +4, Stealth +6

Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, necrotic; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, poisoned, prone, restrained

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 14

Languages Common; telepathy 60 ft.

Challenge 3 (700 XP)

Traits

Incorporeal Movement. Teketeke can move through creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. She takes 5 (1d10) force damage if she ends her turn inside an object.

Spider Climb. Teketeke can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings, without needing to make an ability check.

Turn Resistance. Teketeke has advantage on saving throws against any effect that turns undead.

Unnerving Presence. Any creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of Teketeke and can see or hear her must succeed on a DC 12 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened until the start of its next turn. A creature that succeeds is immune to Unnerving Presence for 24 hours.

Actions

Multiattack. Teketeke makes two Sickle Slash attacks.

Sickle Slash. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 12 (1d8 + 4 slashing plus 1d6 necrotic) damage.

Severing Strike (Recharge 5–6). Teketeke makes one Sickle Slash. On a hit, the attack deals an extra 14 (4d6) necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be incapacitated and have its speed reduced to 0 until the end of its next turn, as agony shoots through its legs.

Haunting Questions (Recharge 4–6). Teketeke telepathically demands answers from one creature she can see within 30 feet. The target must make a DC 12 Charisma saving throw. On a failure, it takes 10 (3d6) psychic damage and is frightened of Teketeke for 1 minute. The frightened creature can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Bonus Actions

Click-Click Pursuit. Teketeke moves up to her speed toward a creature she can see or hear. This movement does not provoke opportunity attacks.

Reactions

Blurred Dodge. When a creature Teketeke can see targets her with an attack, she imposes disadvantage on that attack roll.

Lore

The ghost of a girl missing her lower half, who drags herself along on her hands in search of prey.

Teketeke is a modern urban specter, born in the age when railroads first appeared. Her nickname is onomatopoeic—“tek-tek,” the click-click you hear as the spirit scrambles along the tracks on her hands. People say that if you ever hear that “tek-tek,” it’s already too late to run.

In the classic version of the legend, a girl named Kashima Reiko was brutally beaten and then tossed onto the rails. Half-conscious, she tried to crawl to safety but failed, and a train cut her in two just below the waist. The tale highlights the cruelty of the moment: the winter cold clamped her blood vessels shut, prolonging her agony. Passers-by who witnessed the tragedy simply turned away and hurried off, not wanting to get involved. Such a horrific death—and the icy indifference of those around her—gave birth to an immensely vengeful onryo whose anger is aimed not only at the train, but at anyone who lingers near the tracks.

From Yokai Bestiary 5E, Book Two, p. 96 · Fern Flower Press