A constant shimmer surrounds this short, winged creature, and staring at it is eyewatering and confusing, like a distant desert mirage though it’s only scant yards away.
Desert Mirage Fey. Daus are creatures of haze and illusion. They stand three feet tall, with sandy skin, and are surrounded by a shimmering aura like a heat haze. They are flighty, physically weak, and unfocused, but are agile in both body and wit.
Lazy and Bored. Their ability to magically provide for themselves in most material ways tends to make daus lazy and hedonistic. As a result, daus are often friendly and eager for company and they invite friends and strangers alike to rest in their lairs, partake in their feasts and share their stories.
Sticklers for Etiquette. However, a dau’s hospitality often turns to cruelty when guests breach its intricate rules of etiquette.
Dau
Small fey, chaotic neutralArmor Class 13
Hit Points 49 (9d6 + 18)
Speed 20 ft., fly 60 ft. (hover)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 (-2) | 17 (+3) | 14 (+2) | 14 (+1) | 17 (+3) | 16 (+3) |
Skills Deception +5, Insight +5, Perception +5, Stealth +5
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 15
Languages Deep Speech, Primordial, Sylvan, telepathy 60 ft.
Challenge 4 (1,100 XP)
Magic Resistance. The dau has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Innate Spellcasting. The dau’s innate spellcasting ability is Charisma (spell save DC 13). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
At will: detect thoughts
3/day each: invisibility, mirror image
1/day each: mirage arcane, programmed illusion, project image
Actions
Multiattack. The dau makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 3) bludgeoning damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage, and the dau regains hit points equal to the necrotic damage dealt. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or its hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the necrotic damage taken. This reduction lasts until the creature finishes a long rest.
Tangible Illusion (1/Day). After casting an illusion spell of an object, the dau temporarily transforms that illusion into a physical, nonmagical object. The temporary object lasts 10 minutes, after which it reverts to being an illusion (or vanishes, if the duration of the original illusion expires). During that time, the illusion has all the physical properties of the object it represents, but not magical properties. The dau must touch the illusion to trigger this transformation, and the object can be no larger than 5 cubic feet.
Reactions
Mirror Dodge (1/Day). When the dau would be hit by an attack or affected by a spell, the dau replaces itself with an illusory duplicate and teleports to any unoccupied space within 30 feet in sight. The dau isn’t affected and the illusory duplicate is destroyed.