Medium
Undead
CR 8
Neutral Evil
Morrowvex
Hexbound Archon
Morrowvex looks like a gaunt noble draped in a moth-eaten courtier's coat stitched with runes that glow sickly green; it speaks in rasping chords that seem to tug at the edges of the mind. It combines the deliberate menace of a reanimated strategist with the unpredictable cruelty of a warlock: it can step back into the shadows and bombard foes with crackling eldritch bolts, then close to siphon the life from a stunned victim. In battle it alternates between controlling spells and relentless ranged beams, making it a tactical nightmare for parties who rely on straight melee or simple saving-throw strategies.
Armour
16
arcane ward (natural armor)
Hit points
153
18d8+72
Speed
30ft
Challenge
8
3,900 XP
STR
10
+0
DEX
14
+2
CON
18
+4
INT
16
+3
WIS
12
+1
CHA
18
+4
Saving throws
WIS +6, CHA +7
Skills
Arcana +7, Deception +7, Stealth +6
Resistances
bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage immunities
poison
Condition immunities
poisoned
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11
Languages
Common, Abyssal, understands other languages it knew in life but can't speak them clearly
Multiattack. Morrowvex makes two attacks: one Life-draining Touch and one Eldritch Bolt (three beams split among targets as he chooses).
Life-draining Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 14 (3d6+4) necrotic damage. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage dealt. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
Eldritch Bolt. Ranged Spell Attack: +7 to hit, range 120 ft., three beams. Morrowvex can direct the beams at one target or at up to three targets. On a hit, a beam deals 9 (1d10+4) force damage (agonizing blast invocation).
Hexing Command (Recharge 5-6). Morrowvex utters a terse, damning phrase. Each creature of his choice within 30 feet that can hear him must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or be hexed for 1 minute. While hexed, the target has disadvantage on one ability check of Morrowvex's choice each time it attempts that check. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Spellcasting. Morrowvex is an 11th-level spellcaster. His spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 15, +7 to hit with spell attacks). He has the following warlock spells prepared. At will: eldritch blast, thaumaturgy 3/day each: hex, mirror image, hold person 2/day each: hunger of hadar, counterspell 1/day: plane shift (self only, to return to his lair)
Dark Reflex. When a creature misses Morrowvex with a melee attack, he can use his reaction to impose disadvantage on the next attack roll the creature makes before the end of Morrowvex's next turn.
Once a minor lord who trafficked in forbidden pacts to hold a ruined county together, Morrowvex refused the release of death and bound his spirit to an ancient ineffable patron. The bargain preserved his cunning and voice but hollowed his flesh and chained his will; now he walks as a revenant of arcane authority, enforcing the patron's interests across borderlands and city alleys. Local folktales claim Morrowvex presided over a clandestine conclave called the Sable Commissum, a cabal of ruined magisters who traded heirs and harvests for eldritch favor. Morrowvex lairs in places of decay where law once stood: abandoned manors, collapsed council libraries, and the drowned lower halls of ruined fortresses. He draws thralls from desperate townsfolk and sets them to pilfering relics and grimoires. Scholars such as Master Historian Ildryn Vale of Ghelheim University have traced his sigils on confiscated grimoires and warn that Morrowvex's pacts entangle entire estates—destroying him often frees neither soul nor soil easily. The Sable Commissum still whispers in courtrooms and back alleys; other, bolder warlocks sometimes seek Morrowvex not to slay but to bargain for a fraction of his long knowledge.
Morrowvex is the height of an average human (about 5'10") but unnaturally thin: wrists like twine, fingers tipped in blackened nails. His skin is parchment-gray with faint, webbed veins of phosphorescent green that pulse when he channels power. He wears a long, threadbare doublet and a half-cloak embroidered with faded heraldry and occult sigils; bits of rusted chain and broken seals hang from his belt. His face is partially wrapped in moth-silk bandages; where skin shows, the left eye is a glossy black void, while the right is a pale, intelligent hazel ringed in green light. His left hand bears a signet of his old house, cracked but still inked with runes; his right hand is often raised, fingers curled as if feeling invisible strings. For scale reference, show Morrowvex standing in a crumbling council chamber doorway (door frame human-sized) with spectral motes and a faint halo of eldritch bolts forming at his fingertips.
Made with the free LoreKeeper Monster Generator · D&D 5e-compatible stat block · Free to use at your table · Licence
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