Barraglox
The Ember Toad
Type: Huge Beast
Region: Marrowcrags, Inner Ash Hollows
Alignment: Unaligned
Armor Class: 16 (obsidian-plated skin)
Hit Points: 172 (17d12 + 68)
Speed: 20 ft. (slow, earth-shaking)
Challenge: 7
Senses: Tremorsense 60 ft., Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 13
Damage Resistances: Fire, Necrotic, Non-magical bludgeoning
Condition Immunities: Prone, Charmed, Frightened
“We watched it move through the ash like a coal buried in meat.
Its breath lit the air. Its back was covered in glowing bulbs—some pulsing. Some… popped.”
—Griswold Cain, deep-walk journal (vol. IV)
The Barraglox is a massive, volcanic toad-like beast that dwells in ash-choked fissures and long-dead calderas. Its obsidian-plated skin cracks with heat, and its back pulses with ember-bright fungal sacs—part incubation chamber, part memory vault. It carries an ancient stillness, as if waiting for something that already happened. Some who approach it speak of grief in the air. Others never speak again.
Abilities
– Broodfire Core. Barraglox stores excess heat in its gut to incubate the fungal-ember brood fused to its back. Once per long rest, it may erupt in a 15 ft. radius blast of searing air and embers. Creatures in range must make a DC 15 CON save or take 6d6 fire damage (half on success) and suffer Disadvantage on concentration checks for 1 minute.
– Eggs of Sorrow. Barraglox carries 1d6+1 living brood-eggs. If struck by lightning or necrotic damage, a bulb may rupture, releasing a psychic wave of ancestral grief. All creatures within 30 ft. must make a DC 14 WIS save or become Stunned for 1 round, then suffer Disadvantage on attack rolls for 2 rounds.
– Ash Croak. Once per day, Barraglox may unleash a low, resonant croak. All non-constructs within 120 ft. must make a DC 13 WIS save or feel their body resist motion—movement is halved for 1 minute.
– Obsidian Hull. Whenever Barraglox takes slashing damage, shards of glasslike armor explode outward. All creatures within 5 ft. take 1d6 piercing damage.
– Torch Warden. Barraglox cannot be surprised in volcanic regions. It always acts in the first round of combat unless magically restrained.
Attacks
– Seismic Slam (x2). +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., 3d8+5 bludgeoning. On hit, target must succeed on a DC 15 STR save or be knocked prone.
– Maw of the Cradle. +9 to hit, 4d10+5 fire-piercing. If the target is prone, it is grappled (escape DC 16) and begins to suffocate in heat, taking 1d10 fire damage at the start of each of its turns.
– Egg Burst (Recharge 5–6). Barraglox slams its back against the ground, bursting one brood-egg by force. Choose a 10 ft. radius within 40 ft. Creatures in the zone must make a DC 14 CON save or be blinded and take 2d6 fire damage. Those who fail also gain Disadvantage on all attacks for 1 round.
Ecology & Behavior
Barraglox is ancient. It breathes smoke and silence. This volcanic behemoth emerges only when the earth splits wide enough to welcome it—and only when its brood stirs. Its back pulses with glowing fungal-ember eggs, half-alive and whispering. Most never hatch. A few do—and become something stranger than toad or flame.
It does not eat in the conventional sense. It warms, it waits, it broods. When disturbed, it croaks not in rage, but in ancient grief—mourning the memory of flame long lost beneath the Filter.
Combat Notes
- Use Barraglox in choked canyons, post-eruption zones, or deep ash basins.
- Its croak and grief-burst eggs add psychic and emotional layers to combat.
- Cold or emotional suppression spells may stall its eruption, but risk rupturing eggs.
- If left unprovoked, it may simply watch. If wounded… it remembers.
Harvest & Remnants
- Obsidian Splinters: Shards of heat-holding armor. Can be embedded in weapons or tools that glow when danger is near.
- Broodember Egg: A fungal-ember node pulsing with memory. May be brewed into a psychic resilience draught—or hatch into something unnatural.
- Croakstone: A throat-node used to craft instruments or relics that carry unnatural resonance. Sometimes glows when near dormant volcanoes.
Encounter Hooks
The Breathing Stone
A resonance stone retrieved from a collapsed vent in the Ash Hollows won’t stop pulsing. When attuned, it plays a looped, trembling sound: a croak, a child sobbing, and then silence. The miners who left it behind are still missing.Ashbound Pilgrim
A young villager covered in soot and fungal tattoos appears at your campfire. They offer no name, only a handmade map of the cliffs and a whispered promise: “If you can wake her gently, she might not scream.”Ember Eggs for Sale
A traveling relic merchant claims to have a “dormant broodember” in a lacquered box. It glows faintly, radiates warmth, and weeps at night. He’ll trade it for protection through the Hollows—or sell it to someone less careful.The Croak That Cracked the Sky
Locals report a thunderous, echoing croak two nights ago. Since then, animals have fled the region, the ash has stopped falling, and a low, rhythmic hum can be heard from beneath the crag. Something is rising.The Ridge Bell Pact
At the edge of a cliff sits a small stone altar. The villagers bring offerings each month—bread, salt, sometimes blood. “It’s for the bell beneath,” they say. “So it doesn’t ring for us.” One child warns the party: “It’s listening now.”
