While a scion oversees the hierarchy of a waning cult it falls on a rushlight chanter to tend to the spiritual needs of its members. Often clad in revealing, flowing clothing the chanters always have a glow of health to them. Charismatic and energetic, most find a rushlight chanter hard to resist. Thus, they prime recruiters for cult and often cultivate contacts outside of it. Behind the mask, however, lurks a corrupted heart on which direfly larvae suckle.

Foul Beacon. Unlike the rest of the waning cult the direflies infesting a rushlight chanter never mature. Instead, the larvae burrow into the bard's core. The fey insects reshape the sternum and ribs into a honeycombed network around the heart and enter into a state of permanent hibernation around the muscle. The slumbering larvae grow fat and infuse the singer's body with an otherworldly radiance; rushlight. Now offically a rushlight chanter the bard can channel the mad energies of the feywild and allow it to flow through them. Glossolalia and spittle fly from their lips and they burn through their arcane energy to stoke the rushlight to a lethal intensity.

Fate Stealer:The Waning Princes delight in cutting lives short and reaping a psychic benefit from that fate unfulfilled. Saturated by the archfey's corruption the rushlight bard does much the same. The rushlight within is fed whenever the bard takes a life, allow it to either manifest for longer or supplementing the singer's arcane ability. This leads some chanters to become sirens of a sort, luring paramours away from others and slaughtering them for the rush only murder provides. Others restrain these impulses, instead focusing on becoming the best battlefield supporter they can be when the cult takes up arms. Both often deal the killing blow, however, during the cult's profane sacrifices.

Rushlight Chanter

Medium humanoid, neutral evil

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 44(8d8+8)

Speed 30ft

Str 9 Dex 16 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 12 Cha 16

Skills: Deception +5, Performance +5

Senses passive Perception 11

Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Sylvan

Challenge 4 (1800 XP)

Soothslayer

Whenever the rushlight chanter’s action drops a creature to 0 hit points it may regain a spell slot equal to half the creature’s level or CR, minimum of 1.

Spellcasting

The rushlight chanter is a 4th-level spellcaster. Its spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). It has the following bard spells prepared:

Cantrips (at will): dancing lights, thunderclap

1st level (4 slots): bane, charm person, dissonant whispers, thunderwave

2nd level (3 slots) animal messenger, detect thoughts, hold person, invisibility, phantasmal force

Actions

Sallow Whip.

Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d4+3) slashing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage.

Rushlight (1/day).

The rushlight chanter’s flesh alights and produces jaundice, enervating light that envelopes a radius of 15 feet centered on the chanter. When the creature enters the area for the first time on a turn or starts its turn there, it must succeed on a DC 13 Charisma save or take 10 (3d6) necrotic damage, half as much on success. Creatures within the area reduce their speed by half.

At the start of its turn the rushlight chanter may expend a spell slot to extend the light for a number of turns equal to the spell slot’s level. If the rushlight chanter does not do so the effect immediately ends. While Rushlight is active the chanter may not cast any spells as they babble blasphemies in sylvan.

The rushlight chanter is immune to the effects of Rushlight.

Reaction

Humiliating Whispers.

If a melee attack misses the rushlight chanter the singer’s direflies relentlessly mock the attacker for their failure. The attacker has Disadvantage on its attacks against the rushlight chanter for the next minute. At the end of each of its turns, the creautre may make DC 13 Wisdom saving throw, the effect ending on success.