Velya

Velya were aquatic vampire creatures that once were surface-dwelling or underwater humanoids, affected by an ancient undead curse.

Description
Velya appeared as blue-skinned humanoids with gills on their necks and clawed appendages. They looked quite feral, with tangles in their hair, wild eyes, and ripped ragged clothes.

Abilities
Velya possessed shapeshifting abilities, allowing them to transform into great white sharks, manta rays, or a moving current of water. Velya transformed into the water worm when they suffered damage enough to kill a creature. In that form, they traveled back into their lairs to recover and heal for at least a full day.

When in the humanoid shape, velya could perform charming songs. These songs could be heard as far as a mile, and it affected creatures within. The effects of the song could be dispelled like the regular charm spell.

Velya were immune to sleep, charm, hold magics, and resistant to cold and electricity. Like regular vampires, velya could only be harmed by magic weapons and rapidly healed unless exposed to their main weakness - daylight. Hard to destroy, there were several ways of ridding the world of these fearsome undead creatures: they could be destroyed by open air, a wooden stake through the heart while resting in their crypts, or via the disintegrate spell. When velya were exposed to open air, they started disintegrating, and unless returned to water promptly, they were completely destroyed. However, they suffered no ill effects of air exposure when at least a part of their bodies touched water.

Personality
Velya were vicious predators who fed on the blood of living creatures.

Combat
When velya battled in one of its beast forms, they attacked with bites akin to natural animals. They could not attack or be damaged when in the water current shape, only vulnerable to some spells. When in their blue-skinned human shapes, velya could sap life energies from their victims with a mere touch.

Society
Velya were solitary creatures, often accompanied by marine wights and could summon between three to twelve mako sharks to aid them when underwater.

Creatures killed by velya turned into undead marine wights within three days after death. To create another velya, the aquatic vampires needed to share their blood with the victim. The ancient curse could be created to create more velya, but that magic was lost to the ages.

Habitats
Velya had to rest in deep dark underwater crypts during the day. They often laired within ancient tombs, submerged cities, temples, and burial mounds, swallowed but sea depths. If a consecrated holy symbol was deposited within a velya lair, the aquatic vampire could never rest there again, even after the symbol was removed. A similar effect could be achieved via the bless spell. Each velya usually kept several of the underwater lairs, sometimes forming temporary habitats within underwater caves and shipwrecks.

Outside of Toril, velya could be found stalking the seas of Mystara, and the Domains of Dread.

Notable

 * Lurelei: a mermaid of Serôs who was turned into a velya by a vampiric ixitxachitl on orders of Xulkur in 1371 DR.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Dungeon #79, "The Akriloth"