Thessamere, the Ledger of Sighs

Medium fiend (devil), lawful evil · CR 15

by Ledgerhand

Thessamere, the Ledger of Sighs
Armor Class
19
natural armor
Hit Points
247
26d8 + 130
Speed
30 ft., fly 60 ft.
  • STR +3
  • DEX +5
  • CON +5
  • INT +6
  • WIS +4
  • CHA +7
Saving Throws
Dex +10, Con +10, Wis +9, Cha +12
Skills
Deception +12, Insight +9, Perception +9, Persuasion +12
Damage Resistances
Bludgeoning (nonmagical), Cold, Piercing (nonmagical), Slashing (nonmagical)
Damage Immunities
Fire, Poison
Condition Immunities
Charmed, Frightened, Poisoned
Senses
darkvision 120 ft., truesight 60 ft., passive Perception 19
Languages
Common, Abyssal, Draconic, Infernal, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 15 13,000 XP

Traits

  • Magic Resistance. Thessamere has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
  • Devil’s Sight. Magical darkness does not impede Thessamere’s darkvision.
  • Contract-Bound. Thessamere cannot tell a deliberate lie, and cannot attack a creature that has an unbroken agreement with him. He is exhaustively literal: any ambiguity in an agreement resolves in his favour, and he will point out the ambiguity afterwards, at length.
  • Ledger of Sighs. Thessamere carries a ledger that cannot be destroyed while he lives. As an action he can read a name from it; if that creature is on the same plane, it knows it has been read, and has disadvantage on the next saving throw it makes against Thessamere before the end of its next long rest.

Innate Spellcasting

Their spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 20, +12 to hit with spell attacks).

  • At will. Charm Person, Detect Magic
  • 1/day each. Counterspell, Dispel Magic, Dominate Person, Scrying, Wall of Fire

Actions

  • Multiattack. Thessamere makes three Quill of Judgment attacks, or makes one Quill of Judgment attack and casts a spell of 3rd level or lower.
  • Quill of Judgment. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) piercing damage. Thessamere writes the wound into the ledger as it is made. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this attack cannot be restored to life by any spell of 5th level or lower until the debt recorded against its name is settled.
  • Sigil of Arrears (Recharge 5-6). Every promise the targets have broken is read aloud at once. Each creature in the area must make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw, taking 27 (6d8) psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. On a failed save, a creature is also frightened. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Each creature within 20 feet of Thessamere must make the saving throw.

Bonus Actions

  • Amend the Terms. Thessamere strikes out a line in the ledger. One creature he can see within 60 feet that is charmed or frightened by him takes 14 (4d6) psychic damage, and the condition ends.

Reactions

  • Clause of Recompense. Trigger: A creature within 60 feet reduces Thessamere to 0 hit points or damages him with a critical hit. Thessamere records the offence. The triggering creature must succeed on a DC 20 Charisma saving throw or take 21 (6d6) necrotic damage, and Thessamere gains temporary hit points equal to the damage dealt.

Legendary Actions

Thessamere, the Ledger of Sighs 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. Thessamere regains spent legendary actions at the start of their turn.

  • Quill. Melee Weapon Attack: +10 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (3d6 + 5) piercing damage. Thessamere writes the wound into the ledger as it is made. A creature reduced to 0 hit points by this attack cannot be restored to life by any spell of 5th level or lower until the debt recorded against its name is settled.
  • Read the Name. Thessamere reads one name aloud from the ledger. That creature must succeed on a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on the next attack roll or saving throw it makes before the end of its next turn.
  • Terms Renegotiated (Costs 3 Actions). Thessamere teleports up to 60 feet to an unoccupied space he can see and exchanges positions with one willing creature that has an agreement with him. Both creatures take 10 (3d6) psychic damage from the sudden revision.

Lair Actions

  • Lair Action 1. The floor of the hall becomes a written page. Each creature of Thessamere's choice within 60 feet must succeed on a DC 20 Dexterity saving throw or be restrained until initiative count 20 on the following round as clauses close around its feet.

Regional Effects

  • Regional Effect 1. Within 3 miles of Thessamere's lair, no creature can knowingly break a spoken promise without feeling it: the offender takes 5 (1d10) psychic damage the moment the promise is broken, and Thessamere knows the offender's name and direction. The effect extends 1 miles from the lair.
  • Regional Effect 2. Ink will not dry within 1 mile of the lair. Written agreements smear, ledgers run, and any document signed in the region is legally void everywhere except in Thessamere's hand, where it is perfectly legible.

Origin Story

Thessamere was not summoned and was not bargained into being; he was audited into it. When the archdevil Maugrys fell, his holdings had to be counted, and the counting took eleven years. The clerk who did it was mortal at the start. He is not certain when that stopped being true — there was no moment of signing, no offered pen, only a column that would not balance and a man who would not stop until it did. The ledger he carries is the eleventh volume, the one he never finished, and every name he has added since is written in the same patient hand as the first page.

Habitat and Ecosystem

Thessamere keeps no fortress. He takes a room — a counting-house, a magistrate's office, the back of a temple that handles tithes — and works there until the business of the district reorganises itself quietly around him. Debts in that district get settled. Contracts get honoured. Crime drops. The place prospers, visibly and measurably, and the people who live there will defend him to outsiders with genuine warmth, because by every metric they can name he has made their lives better. He does not lie to them. He does not have to.

Interaction Guide

Thessamere is unfailingly courteous and will negotiate with anyone, including people actively trying to kill him. He offers exactly what he says he offers. The trap is never in the terms; it is in what the terms do not cover, and he will not volunteer that gap, because volunteering it was not part of the agreement. Parties who deal with him and read carefully generally come away better off. Parties who skim come away owing something they did not know was purchasable. He takes no pleasure in either outcome. Asked why he does this, he will say that the column has to balance, and he will mean it.

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