murder-mystery-oneshot/npc/xarrul.md

Xarrul — The Unbound Fiend

It does not speak. It does not need to. When it wants something known, you know it — a pressure in the skull, a taste of copper, a certainty that something behind you is smiling.

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Overview

Xarrul is an ancient, cunning fiend — not a brute, not a conqueror. A manipulator. A patient, vindictive intelligence that has survived for centuries by being smarter than the things that summoned it. It was bound by the Lambent Order, sent to assassinate Sevra, intercepted by the Guild of Knives, and accidentally freed when the assassins broke its bindings without replacing them.

Now Xarrul is loose in the Ethereal Plane, anchored to the thin point beneath the Burnt Tongue, and enjoying itself for the first time in a very long while. The cultists tried to use it. The assassins tried to weaponize it. Xarrul decided: why not both? Kill the barkeep in a way that frames both factions, then watch them destroy each other from the comfort of the space between worlds.

It is intelligent, patient, and cruel. It doesn't want to escape — not yet. It wants to watch the fire it lit.

Stat Block

Xarrul — Medium fiend, chaotic evil AC 15 (natural armor) | HP 78 (12d8+24) | Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
12 (+1)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	17 (+3)	14 (+2)	18 (+4)

Saving Throws DEX +6, CHA +7, WIS +5 Skills Stealth +9, Deception +7, Perception +5, Insight +5 Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities poisoned, exhaustion Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 15 Languages Abyssal, Common, Infernal; telepathy 60 ft. Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)

Traits

Ethereal Jaunt. As a bonus action, Xarrul shifts between the Material Plane and the Ethereal Plane. While ethereal, it can see and hear into the Material Plane (60 ft. range) but cannot affect or be affected by anything on the Material Plane. It appears as a faint, smoky distortion visible only to creatures with truesight, See Invisibility, or Veil Dust.

Shadow Cloak. In dim light or darkness, Xarrul has advantage on Stealth checks and can Hide as a bonus action.

Voice Thief. Xarrul can perfectly mimic any voice it has heard within the last 24 hours. It can also project whispers telepathically to a single creature within 30 feet — the target hears the voice inside their head and must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or believe it came from a direction and source of Xarrul's choosing.

Cunning Predator. Xarrul has advantage on attack rolls against creatures that are frightened, charmed, or surprised.

Actions

Multiattack. Xarrul makes two Claw attacks.

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (2d6+3) slashing damage plus 3 (1d6) necrotic damage.

Brand of Spite (Recharge 5–6). Melee Spell Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (2d6) necrotic damage, and the target is branded. While branded:

• Xarrul always knows the target's exact location regardless of plane.
• Xarrul has advantage on attack rolls against the branded creature.
• Xarrul's Claw attacks deal an extra 1d6 necrotic damage against the branded creature.
• The brand is visible as a dark, hand-shaped mark over the target's heart.
• Only one creature can be branded at a time. Branding a new target removes the previous brand.
• The brand lasts until removed by Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or the death of Xarrul.

Visions of Spite. Requires a branded target. Xarrul forces a branded creature it can see within 30 feet to witness a spiteful vision — a hallucination tailored to the target's deepest fears and shames, channeled through the brand's connection. The target must succeed on a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or take 7 (2d6) psychic damage and be paralyzed until the end of its next turn, frozen in the grip of the vision. On a success, the target takes half damage and shakes the vision off. The brand remains on the target regardless.

Example visions (pick or improvise based on the target):

• A fighter sees their sword arm turn to ash, crumbling from the brand outward, while Xarrul's laughter fills the silence where their heartbeat should be.
• A cleric sees their god turn away — not in anger, just indifference. The holy symbol in their hand is cold and heavy and meaningless.
• A rogue sees the room through Xarrul's eyes — every lie they've told tonight replayed at once, every secret exposed, every person they've deceived staring back at them.
• A wizard sees the thin point tear wide open. The Ethereal Plane pours through. Everything they know about planar theory is wrong. The veil was never meant to hold.
• A character who cares about another PC or NPC sees them die — slowly, painfully, and with the certainty that it was the branded character's fault.

The paralysis is not physical — the body locks because the mind is elsewhere, trapped in a moment of fabricated despair. To onlookers, the branded PC goes rigid, eyes wide, mouth open in a silent scream. The brand over their heart flares dark.

DM note — the kill chain: Brand (round 1: 2d6 necrotic + mark) → Visions of Spite (round 2: 2d6 psychic + paralyze on failed WIS save) → Multiattack (round 3: auto-crits within 5 ft. against paralyzed target, with advantage from the brand). The nightmare: two crit Claws with the brand's extra d6 — roughly 4d6+3 slashing + 4d6 necrotic per claw, ~62 damage total. Kills most level 4 PCs.

But it takes three full rounds to build. Players have two rounds to: Remove Curse the brand (kills the whole chain), focus fire Xarrul, break the paralysis (Lesser Restoration, lay on hands), reposition the branded PC out of melee, or force Xarrul off-plane. A party that lets all three stages land earned that pain. A party that disrupts any link breaks the combo.

The loop: After the Multiattack crit round, the paralysis ends (end of target's next turn). The brand is still active. Xarrul can Visions of Spite again next round to restart the cycle — Brand → Visions → Multiattack → Visions → Multiattack — until the brand is removed or Xarrul is killed. This makes Remove Curse the strategic priority, not just a nice-to-have.

Xarrul's round-to-round choice: Visions costs an action (no Multiattack that round). So each round Xarrul decides — Visions to set up the paralyze, or Multiattack with advantage + extra d6 for consistent pressure. Against a high-WIS party, Xarrul grinds with Multiattack. Against a low-WIS branded target, the kill chain is terrifying.

This is how Orenn died. Xarrul branded him from the Ethereal Plane, forced a vision of spite into his mind — freezing him in place — then raked him with claws that struck a body incapable of flinching. Against an unsuspecting, unresisting barkeep with no allies to intervene, the full chain collapsed into seconds. In combat, with allies and agency, it's telegraphed and interruptible.

Whisper of Ruin (Recharge 6). Xarrul targets one creature within 30 feet that can hear it. The target must make a DC 15 Wisdom saving throw or become frightened for 1 minute and compelled to take a specific action on its next turn (attack a specific ally, drop a weapon, flee toward a designated area). The target can repeat the save at the end of each turn. On a success, the creature is immune for 24 hours.

Reactions

Slip Between. When Xarrul takes damage on the Material Plane, it can use its reaction to shift to the Ethereal Plane. It can't use Ethereal Jaunt again until the start of its next turn.

Lair Actions (In the Cellar, Near the Thin Point)

If confronted near the thin point, Xarrul can use one lair action per round on initiative count 20:

• Veil Flicker: The boundary between planes shudders. Each creature in the cellar must make a DC 13 Wisdom save or be disoriented — disadvantage on attack rolls until initiative 20 of the next round.
• Ethereal Pull: One creature must make a DC 14 Charisma save or be partially shifted into the Ethereal Plane until the start of its next turn (it can see both planes but has disadvantage on all attacks and saves).
• Shadow Surge: All light sources in the cellar dim to darkness for 1 round. Xarrul can Hide as part of this action.

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Appearance

Material Plane

Xarrul rarely manifests fully. When it does: a tall, lean humanoid shape made of dark smoke and deeper shadow. No features except two points of amber light where eyes should be — dim, patient, amused. Its hands end in long, curved claws that look less like weapons and more like surgical instruments. When it moves, it doesn't walk — it shifts, as if the space between where it was and where it is simply ceased to exist.

Ethereal Plane

More defined. A gaunt, angular figure with skin like charred paper, cracked with veins of dull orange light. Its face has features here — sharp, aristocratic, with a mouth that curves in a permanent half-smile. Its eyes are fully visible: burning amber, ancient, deeply intelligent. It wears the rags of something that might have been formal clothing centuries ago.

Read-Aloud: First Sighting (Ethereal Plane, via Veil Dust)

Vidíte to. V šedém, rozmazaném světě éterické roviny — kde všechno vypadá jako vybledlá fotografie skutečnosti — stojí něco, co tam nepatří. Vysoká postava, vychrtlá, s kůží jako spálený papír popraskanou žilkami tlumeného oranžového světla. Má tvář — ostrou, aristokratickou, s ústy staženými do polovičního úsměvu, který nevyjadřuje radost. Vyjadřuje trpělivost.

Dívá se na vás. Vědělo, že se díváte, dřív než vy.

Nakloní hlavu. Jantarové oči hoří jasněji. A ve vaší hlavě — ne ve vašich uších, ve vaší hlavě — uslyšíte něco, co není hlas. Je to pocit. Pobavení. Jako by to bylo to nejvtipnější, co dnes vidělo.

Tactics

Before Discovery

Xarrul stays in the Ethereal Plane, watches, and stirs trouble:

• Uses Voice Thief to whisper incriminating things in NPCs' ears ("I saw Haddon near the bar" whispered in Kael's voice to Sevra)
• Occasionally manifests a claw or shadow near the thin point to keep Skein (and therefore Bren) agitated
• If players get too close to the truth too fast, Xarrul creates a distraction — a fight between factions, a strange noise, a candle blown out

When Confronted

• First priority: Not getting trapped. It will use Slip Between and Ethereal Jaunt aggressively to avoid being pinned on one plane.
• Second priority: Turn the room against the players. Whisper of Ruin on the strongest melee character, Voice Thief to make allies distrust each other, telepathic taunts.
• Third priority: Mark and pressure the biggest threat. Brand the most dangerous PC (casters who can affect it across planes, anyone with Fiendbane Manacles), then loop: Visions of Spite to paralyze, Multiattack for crits, Visions again. Against a high-WIS party, skip Visions and grind with advantage Multiattacks. Against a low-WIS branded target, run the kill chain mercilessly. If they have Remove Curse, brand a different target each time it's cleansed to burn their spell slots.
• It will NOT fight to the death. If reduced to half HP or lower and restrained on the Material Plane, it negotiates — it's ancient and has information, names, and secrets it can trade.

The Dual-Plane Kill

See The Reckoning. If players attempt the synchronized kill, Xarrul fights desperately on both planes. On the Ethereal Plane, it's more aggressive (this is its home ground). On the Material Plane, it tries to flee. Both halves must die within 1 round of each other for the cure to work.

Motivation

Xarrul is not mindless evil. It's petty evil with cosmic patience. It was bound and enslaved for an errand (kill an assassin — beneath its dignity) by mortals who didn't understand what they were holding. The assassins, equally ignorant, broke its chains but gave it no respect. The barkeep? The barkeep's death was a statement: I am free, I am here, and the thing you all trusted most is gone because of what you all did.

It killed Orenn because:

1. Orenn was the symbol of neutrality and order — destroying that destroys the social fabric
2. The Brand of Spite leaves evidence pointing at fiendish involvement, which the cultists would be blamed for
3. But the murder happened during a brawl the assassins started, so the timing implicates them
4. Maximum chaos. Both sides blame each other. Xarrul watches.

It has no interest in The Opening. It doesn't care about Mother Vyre's grand design. It's not part of a larger plan. It's a loose thread that might unravel everything, or might simply drift away after tonight if no one confronts it.

What Xarrul Knows (If It Negotiates)

• Everything about the summoning — who ordered it, how it was done, what components were used
• Mother Vyre's real name and location (leverage against the cult)
• Dace's treachery (it watched from the Ethereal Plane)
• The nature of Skein (it recognizes the parasite — "a lesser thing, feeding on scraps")
• That the thin point is growing and the wards are failing — not because of The Opening, but because thin points naturally fluctuate and this one is at a peak
• The exact method of its own destruction (the dual-plane kill) — it will NOT share this willingly, but it might slip in arrogance: "You cannot kill me. Not truly. Not unless you could be in two worlds at once."

Items

Xarrul carries nothing. It needs nothing. If destroyed, it leaves behind:

• A pile of dark ash that smells of copper and old fire
• A shard of amber crystal — warm to the touch, faintly glowing. This is a fragment of the binding that held it. It can be used as a material component for Magic Circle or Planar Binding, adding +2 to the DC of the contained creature's saves to escape. Worth 250 gp to the right buyer.
• The Brand of Spite dissipates from Orenn's body. Mags will notice this. She won't say thank you. But she'll nod. And that's enough.