Born of artifice and necromancy, the machine creaks about on three steel wheels; one on front and two on the backend. Within a frame of pitted coffin wood lays a ghastly core made from the disembodied mouths of those who once laid in the despoiled vessels. Stripes of runic bones cover the top of the deplorable contraption. These ossuary lines converge into a grisly antenna bound by burned bolts and glued together by blood honey. The ground-up agony of the ghastly mulcher's victims swirls sickly red around this antenna. Lastly, a rusty crane arm with a barbed pincher dangles like an angler fish's lure before the construct's maw; a seared steel grate.

Charnel Garden Tool. While animus artisans versed in necromancy assemble the ghastly mulcher it's the waning court's hive crofters who utilize them. The abominable gardeners want to make sure their corrupted glades are always in full bloom and feed a multitude of victims to ghastly mulchers for fertilizer. These poor souls are usually those that a harvestman and his pluckers culled but cannot trade to the waning nobles. So, they end up as compost.

Occasionally ghastly mulchers make it out of the gardens and into battle. Clever fey commanders use beside deadwoods to keep the corrupted treants and other vile plants in the fight.

Ghastly Mulcher

large construct, unaligned

Armor Class 8

Hit Points 67 (9d10 + 18)

Speed 30ft

Str 16 Dex 7 Con 15 Int 3 Wis 10 Cha 3

Condition ImmunitiesBlinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned

Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks that aren't adamantine

Damage Iummunities Poison, Psychic

Languages-

Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)

Life Leech

At the start of the thresher's turn it regains 5 hit points if it has a creature currently in its core.

Actions

Pincher:

Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 14 (2d6 + 4) bludgeoning damage. In addition, the creature is grappled (escape DC 13) if it is a Medium or smaller creature and the mulcher doesn't have a creature grappled. If the mulcher has a creature grappled it releases it when it makes a pincher attack.

Slam:

Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. Hit: 12 (2d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage.

Mulch.

The mulcher moves a creature it has grappled into its gnashing core and engulfs it. The engulfed creature has total cover, is restrained and takes 10(3d6) bludgeoning and 10 (3d6) slashing damage at the start of each of the mulcher's turns. If a creature is reduced to 0 hit points while in the mulcher's core, the creature dies. When the construct moves, the engulfed creature moves with it. An engulfed creature can try to escape by taking an action to make a DC 13 Strength check. On a success, the creature escapes and enters a space of its choice within 5 feet of the construct.

If the mulcher stuffs a new creature into its core, the current creature automatically escapes and enters a space of the mulcher's choice within 5th of the construct.

Reactions

Fertilize.

Whenever a creature within the mulcher's core dies the mulcher may use its reaction to energize nearby plants. The mulcher chooses a point within 60ft. All normal plants in a 30-foot radius centered on that point become thick and overgrown. A creature moving through the area must spend 4 feet of movement for every 1 foot it moves. All plant creatures within that radius regain a number of hit points equal to the slain creature's hit dice.