Flencer

Found primarily in the Painwoods, Flencers lurk in the deepest, darkest depths of Cognia's forests until they come across hopeful adventurers that seek entry into Suffwreck Mountain. Not native to this world, Flencers are an abominable creation of Desper's twisted agenda. They are designed to twist and contort their alien voices to mimic the harshest doubts of their target - which they discover through a detect thought-like ability granted to them for these purposes by Desper.

Doubt Incarnate. Flencers are mindless things that know not even the meaning of the noises they make. Though they will move through and around the Painwoods in packs, they are not social things and will dive into an intense pursuit with or without the aid of their kin. This said, when a pack or Flencers has locked onto a single target, each can spend a charge of doubt to empower any other Flencer's Intrusive Thought action. This often takes the form of many Flencers hurling insults and abuse at their victim like a band of bullies. Besides this, they seem to have no cause of their own.

Instead, they are driven only to invoke a sense of failure in their targets which they do by way of harrowing, uncanny voices that carry the crushing weight of despair and fear. Their primary purpose is to stem the tide of adventurers who hope to enter Desper's realm by filling would-be heroes with the unshakable notion that they; in fact, cannot enter, and that they are unable to succeed at their goals for lack of skill or ability.

Combat. In combat, a Flencer's strategy involves first identifying the frailest hostile creature (identified as the creature with the smallest AC). They will target this creature's weakness per their intrusive thought ability as frequently as it recharges. If there are ties for the smallest AC, the Flencer targets the creature with the least health. At the DM's discretion, a particularly dexterous Flencer may also have the rare ability to take a claw action - as a reaction - against a creature that just failed a save or check.