Uktena
Image © H. Kyoht Luterman
[Sponsored by Kodey Bruno. Horned serpents are a common archetype in indigenous North American mythologies, but there's a lot of variation within them. The uktena, a Cherokee iteration, is unusual in that much of the existing information about them is instead about the ulunsuti, the gemstone in their forehead that can be used as a powerful (but dangerous) magical tool. So I wanted to do right by the ulunsuti as much as cover the uktena itself. The artwork was originally on deviantArt (and I've used the same artist's work for my piasa), but the artist deleted their account.
If you'd like to join Kodey in sponsoring your own monsters, or just want to help a girl out, check out the Creature Codex Patreon here!]
UktenaCR 12 CE Magical BeastThis enormous serpent has the horns of a mighty elk growing from its head. Sitting in between the horns is a glittering gemstone. Its scales are banded with bright rings of color, and spikes grow along the sides of its tail.
An uktena is a wicked horned serpent that despises all the sunlit world, but is sometimes sought out for its powers of divination. In the mythic past, uktenas opposed the divine power of the sun, and as such sunlight burns their flesh and causes them to wither and die. They now lair in dark places, like mountain caves and the deepest depths of freshwater, emerging only at night. The magic gemstone in their skull, called the ulunsuti, allows them to see faraway places and predict the future. If they find humans in their vicinity, they strike, punishing them for what they see as the sun’s favor.
At the uktena’s will, the ulunsuti can glow brightly, acting as a lure that draws victims closer and renders them unable to resist its bites and gores. The venom of an uktena rots flesh rapidly, and they can breathe this in a cone to wither multiple foes at once. Uktenas fight to the death, as much out of spite as anything. They know that a creature who slays them is cursed, and one by one their family members will die suddenly, leaving them alone in the world. For some slayers, this is a price worth paying, for the ulunsuti of an uktena can be harnessed into a powerful tool.
The Ulunsuti If an uktena’s ulunsuti is removed from its corpse, a creature can attune to it with a successful DC 20 Spellcraft or Use Magic Device check. A creature that fails that check can attempt again in one week’s time, and the ulunsuti can only be attuned to a single creature. When attuned, the ulunsuti acts as a crystal ball with a drawback—it must be bathed in the blood of a recently slain creature every week by the creature it is attuned to. Most ulunsuti users use the blood of small game such as birds or rabbits. If the ulunsuti is not properly bathed, it animates 24 hours later as a will-o-wisp with hardness 8 that deals fire damage instead of electricity damage with its touch. This will-o-wisp then takes the blood it needs itself, usually from the community of the ulunsuti user, for a night before returning to its inanimate form. If this will-o-wisp is slain, the ulunsuti is destroyed.
