Infernal Thornling
Creature 1Source: Custom Creature
Infernal Thornling
Creature 1
Uncommon · Medium · Fiend · Plant
Infernal thornlings are developing manifestations of the corruption spreading beneath the Palakar Forest. Taller and more coordinated than rootlings, they have begun to resemble malformed humanoids built from blackened wood, twisted roots, and overlapping plates of scorched bark.
Long thorns grow from their shoulders, forearms, and backs. Their hands terminate in hooked wooden claws, while several flexible roots trail behind them like muscular tendrils. Cracks between their bark plates glow with a dull ember-red light, and thick black sap seeps from wounds before smoking against the air.
Thornlings represent a dangerous transitional stage of the infernal blight. They are no longer merely mobile extensions of corrupted vegetation, but they have not yet developed the resilience or supernatural control displayed by mature infernal blightlings.
Perception +7; darkvision
Languages understands Fey and Infernal but can't speak
Skills Athletics +7, Stealth +6 (+8 in forests or heavy vegetation), Survival +7
Str +3, Dex +2, Con +3, Int –2, Wis +2, Cha +0
AC 17
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +7
HP 26
Resistances fire 2
Weaknesses vitality 2
Speed 25 feet, climb 15 feet
Melee ◆ claw +9, Damage 1d6+3 slashing plus infernal lignification
Melee ◆ tendril +9 (reach 10 feet), Damage 1d6+2 bludgeoning
Infernal Lignification
curse, primal
When the thornling damages a living creature with its claw, black veins spread outward from the wound as thin woody fibers begin forming beneath the victim's flesh. The target must attempt a DC 17 Fortitude save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds until the start of its next turn.
Failure The creature takes a –5-foot status penalty to its Speeds and is clumsy 1 until the end of its next turn.
Critical Failure The creature takes a –10-foot status penalty to its Speeds and is clumsy 1 until the end of its next turn.
The thornling's lignification is stronger than that of a rootling but still unstable. The woody growth hardens rapidly around muscles and joints before cracking apart as the blight magic dissipates.
Hellroot Eruption ◆◆
fire, primal
Frequency once per 1d4 rounds
The thornling drives its tendrils into the earth, sending burning black roots racing beneath the ground. The roots erupt in a 10-foot burst within 20 feet.
Each creature in the area must attempt a DC 17 Reflex save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes half damage.
Failure The creature takes 1d4 piercing damage plus 1d4 fire damage.
Critical Failure The creature takes double damage and falls prone.
The affected squares become difficult terrain until the start of the thornling's next turn as burning roots and hooked thorns remain protruding from the ground.
Black Sap Reprisal ↻
fire
Trigger A creature within 5 feet deals slashing or piercing damage to the thornling.
Effect A pocket of heated black sap bursts beneath the thornling's bark and sprays toward the attacker. The triggering creature must attempt a DC 16 Reflex save.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected.
Success The creature takes 1 fire damage.
Failure The creature takes 1d4 fire damage.
Critical Failure The creature takes 1d4 fire damage and is dazzled until the end of its next turn as smoking sap splashes across its face.
Thorned Rush ◆◆
The thornling Strides up to its Speed and makes a claw Strike at the end of its movement. If it moved at least 10 feet immediately before the Strike, the Strike deals an additional 1 piercing damage.
On a critical hit with this Strike, hooked thorns tear at the target as the thornling passes. The target also takes 1 persistent bleed damage.
Tactics
Infernal thornlings are considerably more aggressive than rootlings. They use brush, tree trunks, logging debris, and broken structures to approach under cover, then attack suddenly from close range.
A thornling usually opens with Hellroot Eruption if several enemies are clustered together. It then uses Thorned Rush to close with an isolated or weakened target and attempts to apply Infernal Lignification.
Once engaged, a thornling alternates between claw attacks and tendril attacks, using its reach to threaten creatures trying to move around it.
Thornlings show a strong instinctive hostility toward fey, animals, and creatures using primal magic. They rarely retreat unless separated from the blight or reduced to only a few remaining hit points.
Ecology
Thornlings develop when an infernal rootling survives long enough to accumulate additional black sap and infernal energy. Its tangled body thickens, individual roots fuse into stronger limbs, and layers of bark form around a crude internal framework.
At this stage, the blight begins producing defensive thorns and more specialized appendages. The creature also becomes capable of directing corrupted roots through nearby soil rather than merely causing uncontrolled eruptions.
Thornlings frequently patrol the territory surrounding larger concentrations of infernal growth. They may guard corrupted seedlings, underground passages, contaminated logging sites, or the approaches to more developed blight colonies.
Although they display rudimentary tactical behavior, thornlings do not appear truly intelligent. Their actions resemble coordinated instincts transmitted through the larger blight rather than independent reasoning.
Signs of the Blight
A slain thornling remains partially intact rather than collapsing immediately like a rootling. Its limbs gradually curl inward as the internal roots dry and contract.
Cutting through the bark reveals channels filled with thick black sap surrounding fibrous structures resembling muscles and tendons. Small deposits of gold-colored mineral growth can be found embedded throughout these tissues.
The mineral deposits are noticeably more developed than those found in rootlings but remain less extensive than those present in mature infernal blightlings. Comparing specimens makes the progression difficult to miss.
GM Notes
Role Mobile skirmisher / lesser battlefield controller.
Encounter Use Thornlings are intended to bridge the gap between groups of weak rootlings and the much more dangerous infernal blightlings. They work well as the primary combatant in low-level encounters or as support for a stronger blight creature.
Their 10-foot tendril reach and Hellroot Eruption let them interfere with party positioning, while Thorned Rush gives them a simple reason to move rather than remaining stationary and making repeated Strikes.
Development The known mobile progression of the corruption is: Infernal Rootling → Infernal Thornling → Infernal Blightling.