Cindershrike Broodmatron

Large monstrosity (fire, ashborn), neutral evil · CR 5

by Emberquill Tamsin

Cindershrike Broodmatron
Armor Class
15
natural armor
Hit Points
102
12d10 + 36
Speed
30 ft., fly 60 ft.
  • STR +4
  • DEX +2
  • CON +3
  • INT -2
  • WIS +2
  • CHA -1
Saving Throws
Dex +5, Con +6
Damage Vulnerabilities
Cold
Damage Immunities
Fire
Senses
darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages
understands Ignan but can't speak
Challenge 5 1,800 XP

Traits

  • Cinder Plumage. A creature that touches the broodmatron or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet takes 3 (1d6) fire damage as its ashen feathers flare. While the broodmatron is in dim light or darkness, the embers in its plumage shed dim light in a 10-foot radius.
  • Ashen Camouflage. The broodmatron has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks made to hide in ashfall, smoke, or volcanic terrain. It also ignores difficult terrain created by ash, cinders, or loose rubble.

Actions

  • Scalding Beak. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) fire damage.
  • Raking Talons. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) slashing damage. On a hit against a Large or smaller creature, the target is grappled (escape DC 15) and pulled 5 feet toward the broodmatron's nest.

Bonus Actions

  • Ashsurge. The broodmatron beats its smoldering wings and flies up to half its flying speed without provoking opportunity attacks, leaving a 5-foot-wide trail of choking ash in each space it leaves. The ash lightly obscures those spaces until the start of the broodmatron's next turn.

Reactions

  • Scalding Riposte. The broodmatron erupts in a gout of embers. The triggering creature must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or take 7 (2d6) fire damage and be unable to take reactions until the end of its next turn as it beats out the flames.

Origin Story

When the fire-titan Vurmagga was slain and its heart cooled into a hill of black glass, the first cindershrikes were said to have hatched from the cracks that split it. They are not truly birds but ash-born predators that ape avian shape, their bones hollowed and packed with slow-burning coals. A broodmatron is an elder of her kind, grown vast and patient after decades stalking the calderas. She lays clutches of obsidian eggs in active lava vents, and defends them with a fury bordering on the suicidal, for each brood is the only future her bloodline will ever know.

Habitat and Ecosystem

Broodmatrons haunt volcanic badlands, ash wastes, and the scorched ruins of settlements built too near a caldera. They favour high roosts above migratory trails, where thermals let them soar for hours without a wingbeat before folding into a diving strike. Where a matron nests, the surrounding stone is slowly buried beneath drifts of grey ash, and lesser fire creatures gather to scavenge her leavings. Druids and border wardens track their movements closely, for a broodmatron's arrival in new territory often means a dormant volcano is beginning to wake.

Behavior Patterns

A broodmatron is a patient ambusher rather than a brawler. She opens from height, using Ashsurge to close and rake a chosen target, then breaks away on the thermals before a party can surround her. Cornered or brooding, however, she abandons all caution: a matron guarding eggs will not flee, fighting until destroyed and using Scalding Riposte to punish every blow. She is intelligent enough to recognise spellcasters and healers, and will single them out, but her low cunning can be exploited by prey that lures her away from her nest with easier kills.

Add to an encounter