Hythonia

Lair Actions

Source: Mythic Odysseys of Theros

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Hythonia can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects. She can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Hythonia briefly animates creatures that have been petrified by her gaze. Each statue attacks one creature within 5 feet of it, with a +11 bonus to hit and dealing 10 (3d6) bludgeoning damage on a hit. If a Medium or smaller creature takes this damage, it is also grappled (escape DC 15).
• Hythonia causes spectral snakes to erupt from a point she can see within 150 feet of her. Each creature within 20 feet of that point must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (2d4) piercing damage and become poisoned until the end of its next turn. While poisoned in this way, the creature has disadvantage on Intelligence checks and Intelligence saving throws, and it behaves as if under the effect of the confusion spell.

Regional Effects

Source: Mythic Odysseys of Theros

The region containing Hythonia’s lair is warped by her presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:

• A large population of snakes dwells in the region.
• Trees within 1 mile of the lair are petrified wood. Plants that stay within 500 feet of the lair for 1 day turn to stone.
• Small bodies of water within 1 mile of the lair become poisonous. A creature that drinks the water must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or become poisoned for 8 hours. An affected creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each hour.

As a Mythic Encounter

Source: Mythic Odysseys of Theros

Hythonia serves as a potent threat against even high-level characters, but you can increase the challenge by using the Shed Skin trait. When this happens, Hythonia heals many of her wounds and slips away from danger, and then she can choose one of her mythic actions when she uses a legendary action.

You might foreshadow Hythonia using her mythic trait by describing her skin cracking and turning pale as she suffers wounds. Read or paraphrase the following text when Hythonia finally uses her Shed Skin trait:

The medusa’s skin cracks, turns a lifeless gray, and shatters! The monster crumbles to dust—but what clatters to the ground isn’t scale and bone, but hollow stone. The sound of rippling coils precedes the medusa rising up anew, the last of her shed skin dropping away, revealing glistening, unscarred scales.

Fighting Hythonia as a mythic encounter is equivalent to taking on two challenge rating 17 creatures in one encounter. Award a party 36,000 XP for defeating Hythonia after she uses Shed Skin.