A pale, scrawny fellow clad in a black leather apron and slender ebon gloves grins from the shadows. A maw of needle-sharp teeth and the wicked straight razor at his side are a clear warning that his enemies should hasten their footsteps.
Vile barbers are sadistic, unseelie fey who move through the shadows to execute their bloody, malevolent wills. Known as barbers for both the use of wicked blades and their proclivity for slashing the necks of their victims, these insidious fey can be found lurking in dark and harrowed places like back-alley streets or abandoned, deep-shaded cemeteries.
Fey Punishers. Called the siabhra (pronounced she-uvh-ra) among the fey courts, vile barbers are fickle creatures. They are sent to punish those who have offended the fey lords and ladies, and their cruelty and cunning help them write messages in blood and skin. At the very least, they scar those who have spoken ill of the fey; those who have harmed or murdered the fey are more likely to be bled slowly. Some of these deaths are made quite public—though in a few cases, the victim is enchanted to remain invisible while the siabhra does its bloody work.
Slippery Fighters. A vile barber often uses its ability to step through shadows to steal a victim’s weapon and use it against its former owner with devastating effect. Any creature grappled by a vile barber is at the mercy of the barber’s sinister and unclean weapons—they delight in close combat.
Assassins and Envoys. Vile barbers frequently consort with hags and prowl the places these wicked crones cannot go as emissaries and assassins. Information on the siabhra is scant; most adventurers who meet them don’t live to share their findings or to see the vile barber lick its bloody blade clean.
Vile Barber
Small fey, chaotic evilArmor Class 15 (leather armor)
Hit Points 28 (8d6)
Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 (+1) | 18 (+4) | 10 (+0) | 10 (+0) | 8 (-1) | 10 (+0) |
Skills Athletics +3, Stealth +6
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical weapons that aren’t silvered or made of cold iron
Condition Immunities frightened
Senses 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages Common, Goblin, Sylvan, Umbral
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Close-in Slasher. The vile barber has advantage on attack rolls against any creature in the same space with it.
Inhumanly Quick. The vile barber can take two bonus actions on its turn, instead of one. Each bonus action must be different; it can’t use the same bonus action twice in a single turn.
Invasive. The vile barber can enter, move through, or even remain in a hostile creature’s space regardless of the creature’s size, without penalty.
Nimble Escape. As a bonus action, the vile barber can take the Disengage or Hide action on each of its turns.
Pilfer. As a bonus action, the vile barber can take the Use an Object action or make a Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check.
Shadow Step. As a bonus action, the vile barber magically teleports from an area of dim light or darkness it currently occupies, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 80 feet to any other area of dim light or darkness it can see. The barber then has advantage on the first melee attack it makes before the end of the turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The vile barber makes two attacks with its straight razor.
Straight Razor. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) slashing damage.
Unclean Cut. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature that is grappled by the vile barber, incapacitated, or restrained. Hit: 6 (1d4 + 4) slashing damage plus 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The creature and all its allies who see this attack must make successful DC 15 Wisdom saving throws or become frightened for 1d4 rounds.