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Immortals Handbook - Epic Bestiary (Epic Monster Discussion)
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<blockquote data-quote="paradox42" data-source="post: 3056225" data-attributes="member: 29746"><p>IMO, these questions are worth asking for every single one of these super-undead types- so we should number them and try to answer them for each template as it comes up.</p><p></p><p>I'll start with the Blood/Spirit being, since it seems to be the one with the most concrete images so far.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The Blood/Spirit being is the result of a vampire whose curse evolves to the point that the blood takes over everything, and the creature literally <strong>becomes</strong> its blood. The blood absorbs the flesh and bone in an effort to feed its neverending hunger, and eventually becomes all that is left. Since vampires can assume gaseous form normally, this super-blood assumes a state permanently between gas and liquid, and becomes a cloud of doom to all it encounters. Its own body was consumed because any mortal flesh simply crumbles before its all-consuming hunger; no mortal creature can be enough for it. The blood-cloud must feed off of Immortal blood as a result, only the blood of gods can satisfy its needs for even a short time.</p><p></p><p>Alternately, a ghost/spectre type being may pull an Anne Rice trick, and learn to draw the blood out of living creatures to torment them. Sometimes, in an orgy of pain and sadistic delight, a particularly powerful spirit (an Eidolon?) actually <strong>merges</strong> with the blood of its victim, and the blood becomes a sort of permanent manifestation or body for it. The creature becomes the blood, and can no longer divorce itself from the fluid. It tries, but the best it can manage is to form a cloud of blood- blood which, because it is corporeal, decays- and must feed to replace itself. The spirit's sense of self-preservation and madness at assumption of its new form eventually causes the spirit to achieve new powers and go after new prey- for only by feeding on Immortal blood can the cloud achieve a measure of permanent existence and continue indefinitely.</p><p></p><p>Spoilers for Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles below:</p><p>[sblock]The reason I mention her works in the above ghost description is because this is her explanation for the formation of the Vampire "race" in her books. A spirit named Amel learned to tease blood out of living humans it was tormenting, but became addicted to the feeling of power it got from pulling out blood this way. When a misguided queen ordered the brutal torture of mediums who communicated with Amel, the spirit retaliated by tormenting her with the blood-sweat; however, when assassins came to kill the queen and stabbed her, the open wounds were a temptation too strong for Amel to resist. It pulled ALL of the queen's blood out, but in the process became entangled in the blood and merged with it, and the queen became the first vampire. The vampire curse spreads by transference of this blood because Amel IS the vampire curse- it transforms the bodies of those it is infused within, to give it better houses through which to interact with the world. Amel is essentially a network of spirit-energy which connects every vampire back to its own pool of spirit-energy, and thus gives them their formidable powers. If Amel's core were to ever be killed, all vampires would die with it- this is an important plot point in the book Queen of the Damned.[/sblock]</p><p></p><p></p><p>If we go with what I suggested above, this blood-cloud usually forms as an accident of gradual evolution, but it should be possible for a lesser undead which is aware of the blood-cloud state to use Epic rituals to transform itself into the new being. Also, if you read the spoiler block above, [spoiler]a blood-cloud could actually be the vampire's curse in a particular game world, and the way to get the blood-cloud into its true form is to somehow merge every vampire in that world or just draw all their blood out of them to go independent[/spoiler].</p><p></p><p></p><p>In the case of the blood-cloud I would say it's very unlikely. What is more likely is that a blood-cloud could animate and possess the bodies of dead creatures near it by entering them.</p><p></p><p></p><p>The blood-cloud is probably immune to weapon damage, or has DR like the Force Golems (i.e. only magical plusses can hurt it). It's like an incorporeal entity, but actually even better, since it has no set form (even if we ignore the fact that it doesn't have a body in the conventional sense) and can just sort of flow or blow around anything material that happens to intersect its form. As for weaknesses, anything which can dissolve or directly damage blood could potentially be a weakness for the blood-cloud monster. I'd suggest that Horrid Wilting or similar effects could prove particularly devastating to it. Of course, being infused with so much negative energy it probably has the usual undead vulnerability to Healing effects.</p><p></p><p>As a side note, we really need a better name than blood-cloud for this thing, but I can't honestly think of one right now. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>I doubt a blood-cloud could be Good, but I don't see too many other alignment restrictions on it- I could see a True Neutral one existing, coming from a ghost that was simply looking for a way to regain some kind of physical form and doesn't go out of its way to harm creatures it feeds upon. Perhaps an open portal to the Far Place could cause a blood-cloud to spontaneously form from blood spilled by victims of the monsters that pour through the portal- that blood-cloud would almost certainly be Chaotic Neutral, and possibly have a Pseudonatural template as well. <img src="http://www.enworld.org/forum/images/smilies/devious.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":]" title="Devious :]" data-shortname=":]" /></p><p></p><p></p><p>Agreed on that point!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="paradox42, post: 3056225, member: 29746"] IMO, these questions are worth asking for every single one of these super-undead types- so we should number them and try to answer them for each template as it comes up. I'll start with the Blood/Spirit being, since it seems to be the one with the most concrete images so far. The Blood/Spirit being is the result of a vampire whose curse evolves to the point that the blood takes over everything, and the creature literally [b]becomes[/b] its blood. The blood absorbs the flesh and bone in an effort to feed its neverending hunger, and eventually becomes all that is left. Since vampires can assume gaseous form normally, this super-blood assumes a state permanently between gas and liquid, and becomes a cloud of doom to all it encounters. Its own body was consumed because any mortal flesh simply crumbles before its all-consuming hunger; no mortal creature can be enough for it. The blood-cloud must feed off of Immortal blood as a result, only the blood of gods can satisfy its needs for even a short time. Alternately, a ghost/spectre type being may pull an Anne Rice trick, and learn to draw the blood out of living creatures to torment them. Sometimes, in an orgy of pain and sadistic delight, a particularly powerful spirit (an Eidolon?) actually [b]merges[/b] with the blood of its victim, and the blood becomes a sort of permanent manifestation or body for it. The creature becomes the blood, and can no longer divorce itself from the fluid. It tries, but the best it can manage is to form a cloud of blood- blood which, because it is corporeal, decays- and must feed to replace itself. The spirit's sense of self-preservation and madness at assumption of its new form eventually causes the spirit to achieve new powers and go after new prey- for only by feeding on Immortal blood can the cloud achieve a measure of permanent existence and continue indefinitely. Spoilers for Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles below: [sblock]The reason I mention her works in the above ghost description is because this is her explanation for the formation of the Vampire "race" in her books. A spirit named Amel learned to tease blood out of living humans it was tormenting, but became addicted to the feeling of power it got from pulling out blood this way. When a misguided queen ordered the brutal torture of mediums who communicated with Amel, the spirit retaliated by tormenting her with the blood-sweat; however, when assassins came to kill the queen and stabbed her, the open wounds were a temptation too strong for Amel to resist. It pulled ALL of the queen's blood out, but in the process became entangled in the blood and merged with it, and the queen became the first vampire. The vampire curse spreads by transference of this blood because Amel IS the vampire curse- it transforms the bodies of those it is infused within, to give it better houses through which to interact with the world. Amel is essentially a network of spirit-energy which connects every vampire back to its own pool of spirit-energy, and thus gives them their formidable powers. If Amel's core were to ever be killed, all vampires would die with it- this is an important plot point in the book Queen of the Damned.[/sblock] If we go with what I suggested above, this blood-cloud usually forms as an accident of gradual evolution, but it should be possible for a lesser undead which is aware of the blood-cloud state to use Epic rituals to transform itself into the new being. Also, if you read the spoiler block above, [spoiler]a blood-cloud could actually be the vampire's curse in a particular game world, and the way to get the blood-cloud into its true form is to somehow merge every vampire in that world or just draw all their blood out of them to go independent[/spoiler]. In the case of the blood-cloud I would say it's very unlikely. What is more likely is that a blood-cloud could animate and possess the bodies of dead creatures near it by entering them. The blood-cloud is probably immune to weapon damage, or has DR like the Force Golems (i.e. only magical plusses can hurt it). It's like an incorporeal entity, but actually even better, since it has no set form (even if we ignore the fact that it doesn't have a body in the conventional sense) and can just sort of flow or blow around anything material that happens to intersect its form. As for weaknesses, anything which can dissolve or directly damage blood could potentially be a weakness for the blood-cloud monster. I'd suggest that Horrid Wilting or similar effects could prove particularly devastating to it. Of course, being infused with so much negative energy it probably has the usual undead vulnerability to Healing effects. As a side note, we really need a better name than blood-cloud for this thing, but I can't honestly think of one right now. :) I doubt a blood-cloud could be Good, but I don't see too many other alignment restrictions on it- I could see a True Neutral one existing, coming from a ghost that was simply looking for a way to regain some kind of physical form and doesn't go out of its way to harm creatures it feeds upon. Perhaps an open portal to the Far Place could cause a blood-cloud to spontaneously form from blood spilled by victims of the monsters that pour through the portal- that blood-cloud would almost certainly be Chaotic Neutral, and possibly have a Pseudonatural template as well. :] Agreed on that point! [/QUOTE]
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