"Most folks see forest gnomes as gentle souls n' I suppose this spirit started out that way. It ain't anymore, but I'd not be bringin' this to yer lot if'n it was a benevolent ghost, eh? Little more than a wee silhouette with green glowing eyes, ya can spot barbed braches brustin from its form here n' there. Rumor has it they were cast out by their druidic order. Somethin' about wantin' to embrace the natural rot o' the world. Ended up strung up on a brier to die. Die they did. Now, they want to bring death to the rest of the wood. We can't have that, can we? Be careful tho, it can change into anything risen it's seen before and back again. Makes it damn hard to stop, that it does. Worst o' all, the animals it once protected follow it in a rotten horde now. Ever fought a zombie bear? Well, yer about to."

-Fossor Carvilius Graeme

The Caretaker

Small undead, chaotic evil

Armor Class 14

Hit Points 58 (13d6 + 13)

Speed 0ft

Flight 40ft (hover)

Str 4 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 9 Wis 16 Cha 17

Skills: Nature +2, Perception +6, Stealth +7

Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained

Damage Immunities cold, necrotic, poison

Damage Resistances acid, fire, lightning, thunder; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15

Languages Common, Deep Speech, Elvish

Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)

Death Tongue.

The Caretaker can speak to any undead or beast.

Ethereal Sight:

The ghost can see 60 ft. into the Ethereal Plane when it is on the Material Plane, and vice versa.

Incorporeal Movement:

The ghost can move through other creatures and objects as if they were difficult terrain. It takes 5 (1d10) force damage if it ends its turn inside an object.

Revenant Resistance.

The ghost has advantage on Constitution saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Woodland Wraiths.

Whenever the Caretaker kills a beast, it rises as a zombie under the Caretaker's control 1d4 rounds later. The Caretaker can control 4 such zombified beasts at one time.

Actions

Death Touch.

Melee Spell Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (3d6+3) necrotic damage.

Etherealness:

The ghost enters the Ethereal Plane from the Material Plane, or vice versa. It is visible on the Material Plane while it is in the Border Ethereal, and vice versa, yet it can't affect or be affected by anything on the other plane.

Apparitional Aspirations (1/day).

The Caretaker can use its action to magically assume the shape of an undead creature they have seen before of a CR equal or less than its CR. The ghost can stay in this shape for up to 3 hours.

During this time, the ghost's statistics are replaced by the statistics of the beast, but it retains its alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores. They also retain all of its proficiency, skill, and saving throw proficiencies.

When the ghost transforms, it assumes the beast’s hit points and Hit Dice. When they revert to its normal form, it returns to the number of hit points it had before it transformed. However, if the Caretaker reverts as a result of dropping to 0 hit points, any excess damage carries over to theirnormal form.