Meenlock

Meenlocks were deformed fey that originated from intense fear. They had no purpose other than to destroy good and beauty, and resorted to telepathic torture in order to terrify and corrupt other creatures. Anyone who succumbed to this torture would then be magically transformed into a meenlock as well.

Description
Meenlocks were hideous beings that stood approximately 2 feet (0.6 meters) tall, although their deformed bodies forced them to stoop. Their claws dragged along the ground due to their hunched-over bodies and they moved slower than most because of it. Cysts and sores covered their grotesque hides, underneath shaggy hair like spines that coated their bodies. Their yellow, pupil-less, insectoid eyes easily pierced the darkness, but they struggled to see during the day. Unlike the rest of their bodies, their heads were white and hairless, with flat noses and small toothy mouths.

Personality
Meenlocks were both devious and cunning using indirect methods to achieve the corruption of all things pure. Living in small broods, Meenlocks worked with each other to spoil the beauty of the world and use teamwork to accomplish their mission. They communicated telepathically, although if being observed they might feign a vocal method of communication through a series of clicks and grunts, so as to secretly conspire against their enemies. Meenlocks preferred to travel unseen underground, and disguised their entry points to the surface with large rocks. If their lair was discovered, they would work tirelessly to silence the leak and keep their existence hidden.

Combat
Meenlocks detested direct combat, preferring to pick off members of a group individually as opposed to fighting them all at once. A meenlock assault was a slow and gradual eroding of the mind, tormenting and stalking their opponents for hours and even days. They telepathically sent feelings and images to their targets, making them paranoid and panicked to soften them up for later. Such nightmares include whispers in the night, the feeling of being watched, and images in the corner of the target's vision. Typically they targeted weak, innocent, and good beings with these abilities while they were alone or sleeping, but also used these indirect tactics to deal with groups. Their very presence exuded an aura of fear that could reduce targets into sobbing messes, send them running, or simply leave them standing stuck with feelings of sheer terror.

Adding to the horror of the meenlocks were their terrible hooked claws, capable of paralyzing those who were injured by them. Once paralyzed, meenlocks kidnapped their prey and brought them back to their lairs.

They could telepathically communicate with others over 100 feet (30 meters) and could use this connection to plan and conspire. Being the incarnations of fear that they were, meenlocks themselves were immune to feelings of fright.

If meenlocks found themselves outmatched they teleported to any nearby area covered by darkness in order to make a hasty retreat, although this required them to leave any prize behind, victim or otherwise.

Origin
Meenlocks were created when extreme terror was experienced by a creature in an area strongly influenced by the Feywild. If more than one meenlock appeared in a single instance, a lair would form: a series of winding labyrinthine tunnels, with a single hole leading out. Meenlocks did not possess a conventional method of reproduction. Instead, to create more meenlocks, existing ones must conduct a metamorphosis on an existing humanoid. By telepathically torturing an unconscious victim through disturbing visuals and horrible noises over a series of hours, meenlocks could create fully grown meenlocks, who continued the cycle of torment. The way to lift a meenlock's curse was to kill the meenlock that created it before using magic to raise the victim from the dead and remove the affliction. Failing this, only a miracle or wish spell could free a victim from the transformation.

Society
Meenlocks who did not have lairs might lack them for a variety of reasons. They may have been 'born' alone, their original warren was rendered uninhabitable, or there were simply too many in one area and some had to strike out by themselves. Regardless of the reason, meenlocks without lairs of their own would craft new ones. They created tunnel networks that connected to underground caverns, spending the day plotting inside their shadowy warrens. They camouflaged the entrances to their homes and sealed them to prevent them from being found by others. A large chamber in the center of their subterranean lairs served both as the den and torture room, where new meenlocks were created. The tunnels were coated in a black moss unique to their caves that served to drown out the noise made by the screams of their captives. Other decorations included bone-piles, dirty sleeping furs, and a collection of knives that hung from the walls. Some meenlocks worked under the employ of a hag in small  groups  likely due to their mutual desires to destroy the beautiful and corrupt the innocent, or, rarer still, working with evil wizards or psions, or the like. Otherwise, the only other creatures they associated with were aberrant monsters like the foulspawn.

Religion
Meenlocks were sometimes known to serve the duergar deities Deep Duerra and Laduguer.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Candlekeep Mysteries: "A Deep and Creeping Darkness"
 * Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
 * The Tower of Ahghairon