#u'tlun'ta

[briefbestiary]

A being of Cherokee folklore, the Cherokee did eventually successfully slay her. Laying a pit trap before a pit trap, they had cornered her, but they could not easily harm her stone skin, and knew not how to fatally wound her. She sang her liver eating song loudly to taunt them in response "Uwe la na tsiku. Su sa sai." A titmouse called out "Un, un, un" which sounded similar to their word for heart, and so they aimed for U'tlun'ta's chest. However, since it proved not fatal, they cut the titmouse's tongue in retaliation. Following this, the chickadee came and landed upon her right hand, and they attacked her hand, now putting fear in the stone woman. She would soon fall dead after a successful strike severed the connection between her right hand, or her finger, with her wrist.

[lpbestiary]

U'tlun'ta, also known as Spearfinger, is a boogeyman figure from Cherokee legend. She has stone-like skin and one long, sharp finger that resembles an obsidian knife. She uses this to cut her victims open, and devours their liver.

U'tlun'ta is said to have a voice like thunder, which rolled down the mountains and warned the local Cherokee of her presence. She would use shape-changing abilities to deceive her victims, appearing as a harmless old woman. Her right hand is said to be her only weakness.

Image source.

Monster master list.

Suggest a spook.

[alotoffire-blog]

Jb 11/25/17 mythical beasts day 13 U'tlun'ta (Spearfinger)

Spearfinger, or U'tlun'ta, is a figure in Cherokee legend that lived along the eastern side of Tennessee and western part of North Carolina. “U'tlun'ta” translates from Cherokee to “she had it sharp”, which refers to the sharp finger on her right hand.[1] Sometimes, she was called Nûñ'yunu'ï, which means “Stone-dress”. This name is from her stone-like skin.[2]

Her sharp finger is said to be her forefinger on her right hand.[3] The sharp finger resembled a spear or obsidian knife, which she used to cut her victims. Her mouth was stained with blood from the livers she ate. Often she clutched her right hand tightly, because her hidden heart and only weak spot was in her right palm.

[thecreaturecodex]

U’tlun’ta

Image © Traci Shepard, accessed @arcanebeastsandcritters here

[Another Cherokee creature. I figured they were, like the ame-onna, sufficiently hag-like to make a type of hag.]

U’tlun’ta CR 10 CE Monstrous Humanoid This monstrous old woman has skin like stone. From her right hand grows a single long claw.

The u’tlun’ta, also known as the stone hag or the spearfinger hag, is a loathsome predator that lurks at the edges of civilization in order to prey on travelers and innocents. Like most hags, their favorite prey are children, and they delight in masquerading as helpless old ladies in order to come close. Their weapon of choice is a single awl-like finger, capable of making deep and deadly puncture wounds. If they have time to savor a kill, they will devour the unfortunates’ liver and leave the rest of the corpse behind as a warning. 

Although an u’tlun’ta may use hill giants in her schemes, they despise stone giants and war with them frequently. An u’tlun’ta is more cunning and magically gifted, but the stone giants have the advantage of numbers and ranged capacity. A disguised u’tlun’ta may entice adventurers into wiping out a tribe of stone giants for her, and then turn on the adventurers when they are weakened and weary. U’tlun’ta are misanthropic and anti-social even by the standards of hags. They rarely form covens, but may be persuaded to come down from their rocky retreats by the promise of mass murder. A coven containing one or more u’tlun’ta adds stone to flesh and flesh to stone to the spell-like abilities they can use through coven magic.

U’tlun’ta            CR 10 XP 9,600 CE Medium monstrous humanoid (earth) Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, Perception +17, tremorsense 30 ft. Defense AC 25, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+5 Dex, +10 natural) hp 123 (13d10+52) Fort +10, Ref +13, Will +9 DR 10/adamantine; SR 21 Offense Speed 30 ft. Melee spearfinger +18/+13/+8 (1d12+5/19-20) Special Attacks sneak attack +3d6 Spell-like Abilities CL 10th, concentration +14 At will—soften earth and stone (DC 16), stone call 3/day—stone shape, wall of stone 1/day—spike stones (DC 18), summon monster VI (earth elementals only), veil (DC 20, self only) Statistics Str 21, Dex 21, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 18 Base Atk +13; CMB +19; CMD 34 Feats Combat Expertise, Deceitful, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (spearfinger), Improved Feint, Improved Vital Strike, Vital Strike Skills Bluff +21, Climb +22, Disguise +21, Intimidate +13, Perception +17, Sleight of Hand +18, Stealth +22, Survival +11 Languages Common, Giant, Terran Ecology Environment temperate forests and hills Organization solitary or coven (3 mixed hags) Treasure standard Special Abilities Spearfinger (Ex) The long finger of an u’tlun’ta acts as a manufactured weapon that deals 1d12 points of piercing damage and is wielded in one hand. It can be used to make iterative attacks, but cannot be sundered or disarmed, nor can it be wielded in two hands for a damage bonus. An u’tlun’ta can use Sleight of Hand to conceal her finger as if it were a light weapon.  Stonewalker (Su) An u’tlun’ta ignores difficult terrain from natural, worked or magically manipulated stones.