Ghul-kin, Witherer
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any land
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Pack
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night
DIET: Scavenger
INTELLIGENCE: Genius (17-18)
TREASURE: C
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 0
MOVEMENT: 18, Sw 12
HIT DICE: 9
THAC0: 11
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3 or 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6/1d6/2d6 or special
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Withering touch
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (10' tall)
MORALE: Fanatic (17)
XP VALUE: 10,000
Witherers: Both male and female witherers are usually taller than soultakers (averaging 10 feet in height) and more dominant. They have greater intelligence and cunning and are usually the instigators of long-term grandiose plans. Such plans are invariably designed to gain more power for the witherer and to corrupt mortals into serving the ghul-kin. They delight in showy rituals and sacrifices of both sentient creatures and treasures. Witherers use soultakers as lieutenants in many of their plans and often find great ghuls to use as pawns. Humans and demihumans are allowed to serve them as semislaves, becoming either shock troops or food sources as the need arises.
When thwarted, witherers retreat to plan their revenge, sometimes taking decades to perfect their tactics before returning to the place where they failed. They are not adept at coping with premature disclosure, however, and they will often make poor decisions in response to the unexpected, thereby revealing their machinations or causing their own downfall.
Male witherers are rare and usually less ruthless than their female counterparts. They may sometimes be found masquerading as hermits or reclusive sha’irs and may be induced to help mortals if offered a substantial enough reward or if the matter interests them. Opportunities to act out some great dramatic role are also effective in persuading male witherers to aid non-ghuls. Claiming some sort of kinship is also an effective ploy if there is the slightest evidence to back up such a claim.
Witherer ghul-kin may become mages or priests of up to 9th level (provided the god they serve accepts them). They can only be hit by +2 or better weapons. Instead of their three regular attacks, they may use a special attack: a touch which weakens and withers the target creature while strengthening the witherer. This withering touch causes 1d10 points of damage (which are temporarily added to the witherer’s hit point total). Damage against the witherer is subtracted from these added hit points first (if not used, the hit points remain for one hour). Furthermore, the touch drains one point of Strength and ages the victim by a year. If the victim’s Strength falls to zero, he or she dies. The victim also dies if the aging is enough to push the character past his or her normal lifespan. Those slain by a witherer must have remove curse cast on their bodies before they can be raised or resurrected.
The aging is only reversible through use of potions or other magic which restores youth or reverses aging, but the Strength loss is not permanent. If not drained completely, the victim recovers any Strength points lost at the rate of one point per turn. Lost hit points must be recovered normally or through magical healing.
Originally appeared in Corsairs of the Great Sea (1994).
