Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Dungeon 172

Dungeon 172
4e
Terraghul: Formed from the Abyssal dirt of Thanatos when Codricuhn passed through Orcus’s demesne ages ago, these fiends now skulk about the many spheres orbiting around their demonic master.
Many demons are creatures of flesh and blood, whose unceasing hatred and violence drives them to horrific acts of evil. In places where the Elemental Chaos gives way to the Abyss, however, the connections between demons and other elemental creatures become clearer. The Abyss’s innate maliciousness washes against the elemental shores and infuses it with cruelty and evil, spawning new demons from the malleable substance of creation. One such creature is the terraguhl.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 173

Dungeon 173
4e
Torven “The Ageless” d'Medani: Undying in one of the only ways the cult offers immortality, this leader is a vampire.
Vampire Spawn Life-Thief: Torven also has personal servants to whom he has granted eternal life—vampire spawn life-thieves—but these can withstand far less punishment than their master.
Countess Tesyn ir'Lantar: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 174

Dungeon 174
4e
Sliver Wraith Seeker: ?
Sliver Wraith Guardian: ?
Abyssal Rotlord: ?
Gibbering Heads: A collection of the Horseman’s prior victims.
Cursing Heads: A collection of the Horseman’s prior victims.
Headless Horseman: Finally, his men found the beast’s nest. With great fanfare, the Horseman and his entourage set out to rid Tranquility of their tormenter. For two days, the villagers waited, fretting and worrying, hopeful and afraid.
Tranquility erupted in jubilation when the Horseman and most of his men returned. And though they were bloodied and bruised, the three reptilian heads they carried left no doubt that they were victorious.
For weeks more the Horseman stayed, getting to know the people, walking with Talitha through fields and gardens. Slowly his men returned to their homes, but the Horseman remained.
Eli van Hassen could take it no longer, yet neither could he simply order the Horseman banished or slain. He would have to turn the people against their savior, and that he could not undertake alone.
Talitha wept and argued, yet in the end, she acquiesced. It never crossed her mind to disobey, for she feared the loss of her own status within Tranquility—and in agreeing to her father’s demands, she sealed not merely the Horseman’s fate, but her own as well.
The following day, as he walked with Talitha through one of the van Hassen farms, the Horseman was set upon by a dozen of Eli’s guards. The Horseman swept up a rusty sickle that lay beside the barn and fought, slaying several before they overwhelmed him by weight of numbers.
Before the gathered villagers, growing ever more puzzled, ever angrier, the guards dragged the battered Horseman to a block of wood. There, at her father’s behest, Talitha told the people horrid lies, claiming the Horseman had taken terrible advantage, ravished her by force during their walks.
Eli waited until the crowd was utterly enraged before he waved his guards forward. Even as he screamed his innocence and begged Talitha to recant, the Horseman was forced down upon the wooden block. One guard raised a heavy axe, and the head of Tranquility’s beloved hero tumbled across the grass.
The corpse was unceremoniously dumped in a shallow grave beside the river, and as the villagers returned to daily life, bitterly bemoaning their “betrayal,” that should have been the end of it.
One week passed. Through a ceiling of clouds, the crescent moon gleamed a sickly blue. The folk of Tranquility retired early that evening, for the air smelled of a coming storm.
Yet what swept over them that night was not rain and lightning, but fog. The mists crept furtively through Tranquility, filling the streets, sending prodding fingers through doors and windows. The world ceased to be, buried under featureless gray.
A sudden, unending thunder deep within the fog resolved itself into the beating of a thousand hooves. Through the streets and fields of Tranquility they pounded, deafening in their fury, yet the villagers could see nothing moving in the mist.
When they emerged the following dawn, the villagers found their crops and gardens trampled under uncountable hoof-prints. The gates of the van Hassen estate hung from broken hinges, and the manor lay desolate, covered in the dust of decades. Eli and Talitha were never seen again. Neither was the estate staff, save a few who’d been elsewhere that night.
And the grave of the Horseman gaped open, a wound in the banks of the river.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 175

Dungeon 175
4e
Dread Wraith Assassin: ?
Dread Wraith: Any humanoid killed by a dread wraith assassin rises as a free-willed dread wraith at the start of its creator’s next turn, appearing in the space where it died (or in the nearest unoccupied space). Raising the slain creature (using the Raise Dead ritual) does not destroy the spawned wraith.
Vampire Lord Dragonborn: ?
Deathshrieker: ?
Lich Castellan Wizard: ?
Dread Bonespitter: Tiamat has suffused the brood mother’s chamber with necrotic energy, hoping to create half-alive, half-undead hatchlings.
Runescribed Dracolich, Consort of Tiamat: ?
Shard Slave: The shard slave, a remnant of Xennul trapped in the shrine.
Undead: Living spells ignore the ubiquitous undead spawned from the warriors slain on the Day of Mourning.
Bear Corpse: ?
Gravehounds: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 176

Dungeon 176
4e
Undead: It takes place in a small forest near the King’s Wall, in a long-abandoned temple dedicated to the worship of the demon prince Orcus. The temple has been given a new and dire purpose by a Chaos Shard from the great meteor. This shard radiates dark energy capable of reanimating the dead, and its power has been strengthened by the lingering evil of the demon prince’s temple. Each night, the shard fills the surrounding forest with the siren call of dark power, causing the many corpses in the Chaos Scar to stir.
The characters should recognize the black gem around Garvus’ neck as a meteor fragment. They can learn more about its function and purpose with a DC 15 Arcana or Religion check. For each successful skill check the characters make, give them one of the following pieces of information.
F This shard radiates staggering amounts of necromantic energy, easily enough to animate the dead within the rectory.
F The shard’s power is likely strengthened by the lingering energy in the temple of Orcus.
F The shard’s power, like many evil items and creatures, is stronger at night.
F Undead may be drawn to the energy produced by the shard.
Zombie Adventurer: Doran Underhelm and his mercenary group Doran’s Daggers decided to spend the night in the temple rectory after a fruitless exploration of the temple. When night fell, the necroshard’s power was unleashed and Garvus’ animated corpse slew them all.
Garvus Harbane, Deathlock Wight: After leading the cult for many years, Garvus sought to prolong his life through a dangerous necromantic ritual a few years ago. However, he foolishly used the necroshard as the ritual’s focus and unleashed a wave of raw energy that killed him and every living creature in the temple. Although a catastrophic and lethal failure for Garvus, his ritual increased the potential power of the necroshard tenfold. Each night since, the shard has slowly been growing in power. The necroshard’s power is at its strongest at night, when it saturates the surrounding area with the power of death. This necromantic energy has been slowly building, feeding on the many deaths in the Scar over the years.
The trapdoor in the northern end of the temple interior leads to a small rectory that once served as the personal quarters of the temple’s high priests. It was here Garvus Harbane performed the ritual that claimed his life and the lives of his followers so many years ago. His corpse, withered and all but mummified, is still here, the necroshard hanging from its shriveled neck.
Although the corpses in the forest will animate tonight for the first time, the corpse of Garvus Harbane, due to its close proximity to the necroshard, has been animating each night for the past few weeks as a deathlock wight.
Shard Zombie: The zombie that ends up with the necroshard is instantly transformed into a shard zombie.
Zombie Soldier: After leading the cult for many years, Garvus sought to prolong his life through a dangerous necromantic ritual a few years ago. However, he foolishly used the necroshard as the ritual’s focus and unleashed a wave of raw energy that killed him and every living creature in the temple. Although a catastrophic and lethal failure for Garvus, his ritual increased the potential power of the necroshard tenfold. Each night since, the shard has slowly been growing in power. The necroshard’s power is at its strongest at night, when it saturates the surrounding area with the power of death. This necromantic energy has been slowly building, feeding on the many deaths in the Scar over the years. Tonight, the corpses of the Scar will rise as an army of zombies.
Zombie Rotter: After leading the cult for many years, Garvus sought to prolong his life through a dangerous necromantic ritual a few years ago. However, he foolishly used the necroshard as the ritual’s focus and unleashed a wave of raw energy that killed him and every living creature in the temple. Although a catastrophic and lethal failure for Garvus, his ritual increased the potential power of the necroshard tenfold. Each night since, the shard has slowly been growing in power. The necroshard’s power is at its strongest at night, when it saturates the surrounding area with the power of death. This necromantic energy has been slowly building, feeding on the many deaths in the Scar over the years. Tonight, the corpses of the Scar will rise as an army of zombies.
Gravehound: After leading the cult for many years, Garvus sought to prolong his life through a dangerous necromantic ritual a few years ago. However, he foolishly used the necroshard as the ritual’s focus and unleashed a wave of raw energy that killed him and every living creature in the temple. Although a catastrophic and lethal failure for Garvus, his ritual increased the potential power of the necroshard tenfold. Each night since, the shard has slowly been growing in power. The necroshard’s power is at its strongest at night, when it saturates the surrounding area with the power of death. This necromantic energy has been slowly building, feeding on the many deaths in the Scar over the years. Tonight, the corpses of the Scar will rise as an army of zombies.
Boneyard Zombie: ?
Grave Hunger Zombie: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 177

Dungeon 177
4e
Husk Spider: ?
Abyssal Ghoul: ?
Immolith: ?
Shattered Soul: ?
Angel of Valorous Death: Kaius has turned legions of angels into shadows of their former selves in an effort to perfect the process.
Angel of Eternal Protection: An angel of protection brought to death and back again, the angel of eternal protection is an effective personal guardian.
Balor Husk: When a captive balor hovers near death, a ritual can free the Abyssal energy that gives it power and strength while pinning the animus in place. It becomes an animate husk of a balor—a corpse walking with just enough power to crush its master’s enemies.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 178

Dungeon 178
4e
Infernal Armor Animus: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 179

Dungeon 179
4e
Lygis, The Black Cloud: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 181

Dungeon 181
4e
Undead: The intense hatred and violence of that final conflict between House Madar and House Tsalaxa had an unexpected effect. It animated the dead of both houses, condemning their lifeless flesh and trapped souls to serve as eternal guardians for the vault for the rest of eternity.
Zombie: This cavern was the scene of a heated battle, and the remnants of that battle are strewn about the place. Over one hundred years ago, what remained of House Madar battled a group of House Tsalaxa assassins. The battle claimed the lives of everyone involved, and the intense hatred borne of the battle has reanimated the dead as zombies and skeletons.
The leader of the House Tsalaxa assassins dabbled in defiler magic and was animated as a dread black reaver zombie. His lieutenant and minions followed their leader’s path to undeath and were animated as zombies in his service.
Skeleton: This cavern was the scene of a heated battle, and the remnants of that battle are strewn about the place. Over one hundred years ago, what remained of House Madar battled a group of House Tsalaxa assassins. The battle claimed the lives of everyone involved, and the intense hatred borne of the battle has reanimated the dead as zombies and skeletons.
The leader of House Madar’s forces was a lesser scion of the Madar line and was an accomplished archer and swordsman. He and his men returned to unlife as skeletons in an undead mockery of the soldiers they’d once been.
Black Reaver Zombie: The leader of the House Tsalaxa assassins dabbled in defiler magic and was animated as a dread black reaver zombie.
Decrepit Skeleton: ?
Dyneera Madar, Weeping Wraith: This chamber was originally intended to house the remains of Darom Madar’s wife and two eldest sons, all slain by House Tsalaxa assassins. In the century that has passed since their deaths, the spirits of the three have become restless and have risen as ghostly abominations.
Wisp Wraith: In addition to the ghostly undead, a more subtle danger awaits intruders. The obelisk in the center of the room is scribed with the names of each and every member of House Madar, stretching back to the founding of the house. It has become a kind of battery for the rage and sorrow of House Madar’s last days. The obelisk leeches negative emotions from living creatures to generate dangerous quasi-undead known as wisp wraiths.
Darom Madar, Lesser Oath Wight: Darom Madar did not escape the fate of the rest of his house. He was wounded in the battle with House Tsalaxa assassins but managed to seal himself in the treasure chamber before succumbing to his wounds. He also did not escape the fate of those who died within the vault and has become an undead horror fueled by rage and hatred.
The monster Darom Madar has become is called an oath wight, a creature animated by a twisted sense of duty to a task left unfinished or interrupted. He has waited here in the dark and the dust for over a century and is quite eager to inflict his all-consuming rage and sense of loss on the living.
Oath Wight: The monster Darom Madar has become is called an oath wight, a creature animated by a twisted sense of duty to a task left unfinished or interrupted.
Ghoul: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 182

Dungeon 182
4e
Grasping Zombie: ?
Skeleton: Anarus Kalton animated several skeletons to stand guard against tomb robbers.
Decrepit Skeleton: Anarus Kalton animated several skeletons to stand guard against tomb robbers.
Specter: ?
Ghost of Anarus Kalton: After Traevus murdered Anarus, the necromancer’s ghost appeared in his treasure vault where he stored his most prized possessions.
Bonewretch Skeleton: ?
Shuffling Zombie: ?