Dungeon 218
Dungeon 218
4e
Undead: As they battle the mercenaries in Ghere Thau, the characters notice that some of the enemies immediately rise as undead (often wights) when they fall.
Characters who befriend (or interrogate) the more knowledgeable mercenaries learn the truth: the spirits of the dead soldiers lingered on the battlefield in Ghere Thau after death, and they desperately merge with the recently slain, trying to return to life.
Karlerren’s undead army and the knights of Argramos were bitter foes in battle, but after death the knights of Argramos have become undead—even if they don’t realize it. The fading energy of Karlerren’s desperate necromancy persists, preventing the souls of the fallen from moving on from Ghere Thau.
Those souls are invisible, intangible, and unreachable most of the time, and they aren’t strong enough to spontaneously rise as undead such as wraiths or specters. But if someone else dies nearby, the trapped soul can combine with the recently deceased—a phenomenon that Zarudu, a foulspawn seer working with the mercenaries, calls “soulmerging.”
The soulmerged spirit manifests as an undead (each encounter specifies what sort of undead rises) 1 round after the soulmerge occurs, and the creature is hostile to the characters. The power of the creature before it died doesn’t matter; a lowly minion can become a challenging undead foe 1 round later.
After it rises from death, the soulmerged undead draws necromantic power from the trapped soul but retains the motivation and basic personality of the recently deceased. Thus the new undead attack the characters, not any former allies who are still living. (See the “If a Character Dies” sidebar for what might happen to a dead character.)
Zarudu hasn’t figured out why some deaths in Ghere Thau result in spontaneous undead creation, but others don’t. He doesn’t realize that the trapped souls (mostly knights of Argramos) were proud in life, and even after death merge only with Medium humanoids—creatures whose forms are familiar to them. The ettins, ogres, and more unusual members of Trask’s mercenary company won’t soulmerge after death.
✦The undead are rising because the souls of the knights in Ghere Thau weren’t buried properly and seek new bodies (somewhat true; Karlerren’s necromancy is another major factor). Zarudu calls the process “soulmerging.”
✦✦The souls in Ghere Thau seem to be somewhat picky about the bodies they claim. They won’t inhabit an ogre or an animal (somewhat true; they inhabit only Medium humanoids).
✦✦The undead in Ghere Thau keep the motivations and personality they had in life . . . at first. After about an hour, they start to talk more like knights of Argramos for brief moments, then descend into unintelligible madness.
✦✦Some undead in Ghere Thau seem wight-like, while others are more like mummies, and Zarudu can’t figure out why. Unless he sees a vampire rise in this room, Zarudu doesn’t know that’s possible.
Wight: As they battle the mercenaries in Ghere Thau, the characters notice that some of the enemies immediately rise as undead (often wights) when they fall.
Shambling Mummy: Whenever a human transmuter dies in Ghere Thau, a shambling mummy rises in the same square at the initiative point where the transmuter would next act.
2 cambion wrathborn (which animate as shambling mummies when dropped to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau).
1 medusa venom arrow, 1 medusa bodyguard. (When either medusa drops to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau, it animates as a shambling mummy.)
When a medusa dies in Ghere Thau, the snakes fall out of its head and it rises as a shambling mummy the next round.
Battle Wight: A battle wight replaces the chained cambion when it falls in Ghere Thau.
2 dragonborn mercenaries (which animate as battle wights when dropped to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau).
When the cambion dies in Ghere Thau, it becomes a battle wight.
1 cambion infernal scion (animates as a battle wight when dropped to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau).
When the infernal scion dies in Ghere Thau, she rises as a battle wight.
Revenant: Most characters are Medium humanoids and thus are vulnerable to soulmerging if they die. If a character dies in Ghere Thau and a Raise Dead ritual isn’t available, ask the player whether continuing as a friendly undead is an interesting direction for the character.
If the player is amenable, provide access to the revenant, published in Heroes of Shadow and Dragon #375. It should take a player only a few moments to subtract out the old racial benefits and add the revenant’s benefits (retaining the old race as the “past life” of the revenant).
Turning a character into a revenant—voluntarily!—bends the “rules” of the soulmerged undead, but it does so for a good cause. You can justify it by saying that the character’s uncommon willpower channeled Karlerren’s necromantic energy into reanimation without involving any of the knights’ spirits
Vampire Night Witch: When either foulspawn dies in Ghere Thau, a vampire night witch rises in the same square in the foulspawn’s next initiative point.
Lingering Warrior Spirit: ?
Unhallowed Wights: When the human thugs die in Ghere Thau, they become unhallowed wights.
The human thugs, if killed in Ghere Thau, become much more deadly unhallowed wights.
2 human thugs (which animate as unhallowed wights when dropped to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau)
Mummy Tomb Guardian: 3 cambion wrathborn (which animate as mummy tomb guardians when dropped to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau).
Wrathborn that die in Ghere Thau become mummy tomb guardians.
Battle Wight Commander: 1 cambion infernal scion (which animates as a battle wight commander when dropped to 0 hit points in Ghere Thau),
If Trask isn’t able to kill himself by falling in Ghere Thau, he rises as a battle wight commander and fights until destroyed.
Vampire Spawn: Declaring his triumph over death, Rasmus offered the “gift” of immortality to his loyal disciples, slaying them and raising them as his spawn.
Ghoul: The Ironhearts arrived in Arnesbloom just as the cult completed a ritual that slew every living soul in the town, including the hapless adventurers. The cult offered the souls to Orcus, who caused them to rise again as ghouls.
The town’s attempt at a new “life” is imperiled by the presence of the slain cultists, who have also risen as ghouls and insinuated themselves into the population.
The Ironhearts arrived in Arnesbloom before the cultists of Orcus completed their ritual, but they were too late to stop it. They were transformed into ghouls along with all the townsfolk.
Some of the cultists were killed during the initial confrontation and have since risen as ghouls themselves.
Ghoul Ambusher: ?
Alwar Thornwhistle: ?
Ravenous Ghoul: ?
Adept of Orcus: ?
Ghoul Flesh Seeker: ?
Headless Corpse of Rasmus: The vestige of Rasmus’s spirit that inhabits the corpse causes it to reanimate.
Head of Rasmus: ?
Wraith: This chamber, once the entryway to the temple, became the place where Rasmus granted his “blessing” to his disciples, transforming them into vampire spawn. The spawn were slain centuries ago by Arne and her companions, but their restless spirits have been awakened by their master’s return to the temple.
Mad Wraith: This chamber, once the entryway to the temple, became the place where Rasmus granted his “blessing” to his disciples, transforming them into vampire spawn. The spawn were slain centuries ago by Arne and her companions, but their restless spirits have been awakened by their master’s return to the temple.
Sovereign Wraith: This chamber, once the entryway to the temple, became the place where Rasmus granted his “blessing” to his disciples, transforming them into vampire spawn. The spawn were slain centuries ago by Arne and her companions, but their restless spirits have been awakened by their master’s return to the temple.
Wraith Figment: When the wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check.
When the mad wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check.
When the sovereign wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check.
When the wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check.
Rasmus Vampire Lord: Centuries ago, a powerful cleric of the Raven Queen named Rasmus forsook the teachings of his god and began using the power she had granted him to unnaturally extend his own life. Eventually, magic alone was no longer enough to sustain Rasmus, so he undertook forbidden rites in which he drank offerings of blood made by his disciples to prolong his life indefinitely. The dark magic of the rites corrupted the cleric, transforming him into a vampire.
Anja Silvermane: ?
Zombie Shambler: ?
