Buy me a coffeeAzuki Arai, “The Whisper on the Water: The Eerie Red-Bean Spirit That Lures the Curious to a Chilling Fate.”
Azuki Arai — a curious yokai of Japanese myth whose haunting shoki-shoki bean-washing call echoes from riverbanks and mountain streams, luring the unwary with the promise of red beans and the whisper of danger.
A diminutive, elusive spirit seldom seen but often heard; typically described as a squat, human-like figure with large, round or bulging eyes, a grotesque grin, and ragged garments. Some accounts liken its visage to a smiling, odd monk or wizened elder bent over washing red azuki beans beside a pail or shallow stream.
Behaviour:
Primarily auditory in nature, this yokai creates an uncanny shoki-shoki sound — like beans being washed or ground — sometimes accompanied by a strange chant that tempts passersby to approach. Though rarely aggressive, its presence provokes trepidation and missteps rather than direct harm.
Habitat:
Found near bodies of water across rural Japan, especially mountain streams, riversides, and forested ravines at night. Its call often blends seamlessly with the babble of water, making its true source maddeningly hard to locate.
Modus Operandi:
Rather than engage in combat, the lure the curious with the rhythmic sound of bean-washing and a haunting rhyme. Those who draw close often slip into the water or lose their footing, spooked by the sudden silence when the yokai retreats. Sightings are so rare that actually seeing one is considered a stroke of peculiar luck.
Motivation:
Driven by an inscrutable urge to repeat its ritualistic bean-washing and chant, the Azuki Arai is less predator than trickster — content to amuse itself with the reactions of onlookers while preserving the mysteries of the wild places it haunts.
Azuki Arai 5e 2024
Azuki Arai, Pathfinder
A bent, dwarfish man stands by the side of the river, his clothing homespun and crude. He is mostly bald, with a few tufts of hair sticking up from his pate, and a patchy beard and mustache. He clutches a shallow wicker basket in his clawed, webbed hands and stares with yellow, bulging eyes.
Source Demiurge113
Orginally posted on Probing the Membrane of Science
Those that travel along the most remote forest streams report hearing the sound of beans being washed in the river, accompanied by eerie singing about catching and eating people. This song is sung by the azuki arai, a strange humanoid with mystical, musical powers.
Despite their traditional song involving the consumption of human flesh, azuki arai rarely eat the flesh of sentient creatures. Most of their diet consists of azuki beans, and azuki arai villages are often enshrouded in these vines. Almost all azuki arai are male, living either alone or in small communes on hidden islands or remote glens where they farm and weave. Azuki arai cloth and baskets are coarse and rough, but durable enough to last several human lifetimes.
Azuki arai are shy and retiring creatures that are more likely to flee from adventurers or even a lone wanderer than attack or converse. The one exception is when an azuki arai desires to mate. Female azuki arai, known as azuki baba, are vicious and cruel creatures that demand nuptial gifts of treasure and humanoid meat for the privilege. Normally peaceful azuki arai in a mating frenzy descend on remote villages and lone wanderers in order to obtain these trophies. Azuki baba are poor parents, leaving their babies to be cared for by the father until they reach adulthood.
| Azuki Arai CR 3 |
| XP 800 CN Small monstrous humanoid Init +6; Senses low-light vision, Perception +4 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+1 size, +2 Dexterity, +2 natural) hp 32 (5d10+5) Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +3 |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed 20 ft., Swim 20 ft. Melee 2 claws +8 (1d3), bite +8 (1d4) Special Abilities confounding flourish, distracting song, sneak attack +1d6 Spell-like Abilities CL 5th, concentration +7 At will – ghost sound (DC 12) 3/day – invisibility, ventriloquism (DC 13) 1/day – scare (DC 14), sound burst (DC 14) |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength 10, Dexterity 15, Constitution 12, Intelligence 9, Wisdom 11, Charisma 14 Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 15 Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Weapon Finesse Skills Climb +5, Craft (weaving) +7, Intimidate +6, Perception +4, Perform (sing) +3, Stealth +10, Survival +4, Swim +12; Racial Modifiers +4 Craft (weaving) Languages Common Special Qualities gifted musician |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment temperate forests Organization solitary, pair, clan (3-6) or tribe (8-32) Treasure standard |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Confounding Flourish (Su) As a standard action when it is using its distracting song or bardic music, a azuki arai can unleash a pulse of disorienting sonic energy. All creatures within 60 feet must succeed a DC 14 Fortitude save or fall prone. By using this ability, the azuki arai must end its distracting song or bardic Performance. This is a sonic mind-influencing effect. The save DC is Charisma based. Distracting Song (Su) As a standard action, a azuki arai can begin to sing an eerie and unpleasant song that hinders those that hear it. All enemies of an azuki arai that hear its distracting song take a -1 penalty on attack rolls, weapon damage rolls and saves against fear and charm for as long as the azuki arai continues to sing. An azuki arai can sing for as many rounds as a bard of his Hit Dice (12 rounds for a typical azuki arai) as a free action each round after the first. This is a language-dependent mind-influencing ability that requires verbal components. Gifted Musician (Ex) An azuki arai’s rounds of distracting song add to any duration of bardic music effects he gains when taking levels in the bard class. |
| Only about one in one hundred azuki arai are female, and these azuki baba are vicious and spiteful creatures. An azuki baba resembles a withered crone rather than a clownish old man, and they are much more likely to follow through on their sing-song threats. An azuki baba is an azuki arai with the advanced simple template and the ability to cast charm person 3 times per day as a spell-like ability. Azuki baba count as hags for the purposes of joining a coven- a coven containing at least one azuki arai loses the ability to cast bestow curse and can instead cast shout. |
Azuki Arai
Small Fey (Yōkai), Chaotic Neutral
Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 60 (8d6 + 32)
Speed 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 (−1) | 14 (+2) | 18 (+4) | 12 (+1) | 16 (+3) | 10 (+0) |
Saving Throws Dex +5, Wis +6
Skills Perception +8, Stealth +5
Damage Resistances Psychic; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities Thunder (from its Shoki Shout)
Condition Immunities Charmed, Frightened
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 18
Languages Sylvan, understands Common but won’t speak it unless mimicking
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Eerie Presence.
The Azuki Arai is more often heard than seen, producing uncanny sounds like beans being washed in water. It gains advantage on Stealth checks when within 30 ft. of natural water sources.
Innate Spellcasting.
The Azuki Arai’s spellcasting ability is Wisdom (spell save DC 14). It can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
- At will: minor illusion (mimic water or whispers), silent image
- 2/day each: fear, misty step
Mischievous Whispers.
Any non-hostile creature that begins its turn within 10 ft. of the Azuki Arai and can hear it must succeed on a DC 14 Wisdom saving throw or be compelled to move toward the source of the bean-washing sound as if affected by confusion until the start of its next turn (sonic whispers draw it forward).
Actions
Shoki Shout (Recharge 5–6).
The Azuki Arai emits a haunting sequence of whispery bean-washing tones in a 15-ft. cone. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw: on a failed save, a target takes 18 (4d8) psychic damage and is stunned until the end of its next turn; on a successful save, it takes half damage and isn’t stunned.
Bean Basin Glyph (1/Day).
The Azuki Arai places a spectral basin at a point of water within 30 ft. For 1 minute, any creature (friend or foe) that starts its turn within 10 ft. of the glyph must succeed on a DC 14 Dexterity saving throw or slip and fall prone; on a success, it takes half movement to remain standing as phantom beans churn beneath its feet. The glyph vanishes after the duration.
Reactions
Swift Retreat.
When a creature ends its turn within 5 ft. of the Azuki Arai, the yokai teleports up to 30 ft. to an unoccupied space it can see, ideally toward water or shadows, leaving behind an echoing shoki-shoki whisper that fades in 1 round.
Tactics
Azuki Arai typically avoids direct physical confrontation. It begins encounters by using Mischievous Whispers to pull foes out of formation and position, then uses Shoki Shout to stun disoriented targets while slipping back into creeks, shadows, or woods. It leverages misty step to escape when threatened and its bean basin glyph to control the battlefield, turning slippery banks and river edges into hazards. Encounters near water give it advantage on stealth and positioning.
Lore Notes (Optional DM Flavor)
Azuki Arai are rarely seen; their eerie shoki-shoki bean-washing call is part of countless rural folk tales, said to lure the curious only for them to slip into streams or fall prey to their own missteps. Spotting one is considered extraordinarily rare — and in some regions, good luck.