EE7: Far Beyond Death (Essential Enemies #7)
Basic
Nun of the Bone Goddess: For decades there was a monastery on Skull Mountain. The presence of the nuns there was thought to be a ward against the possible evil the mountain represented—and what it contained within it. But then the corruption set in, and though it remained hidden for a long, long time, it was finally discovered by a group of travelling mendicants. The sole survivor of their group delivered the news to the Church of Law and Saint Anglard was dispatched to destroy the nuns and the perverted, heretical goddess they idolated.
He was a man renowned for his ability to root out evil, but after razing the monastery to the ground, Saint Anglard still fled from the ruins in horror. He was reticent to speak of it after, not that he had much chance to do so. His next mission was his last, and some believe his experiences on Skull Mountain contributed to that.
But even though they were slaughtered and their monastery was destroyed, the nuns remained unvanquished. For they had taken up worship of the Bone Goddess, and she would not let mere death prevent her followers from attending to her sepulchral bidding. Indeed, she welcomes the deaths of her followers, so they might be reborn in a new form—undead perfection without the hindrance of flesh. For she is one of the many chthonic death deities, a corrupted psychopomp of the blasphemy that is life-in-death.
The Abbess: ?
Flagellant Nun: They lived by the lash, they retain it in death. They were the first of the nuns to lose every pound of their flesh, but even that did not cease their whipping.
Blackbone Abbess: ?
Blackbone Nun: ?
The Lich Sorceress, That Dead Woman With the Cat, Ilessa, Queen of the Northern Marches, Undead Woman, Possible Employer, Daughter, Last Lone Survivor, Wizard, Powerful Undead Creature, Powerful Wizard: Everyone calls her the lich sorceress, or sometimes “that dead woman with the cat.” But there’s old stories going around about her, too. Was she, perhaps, Ilessa, queen of the Northern Marches, who reigned here a thousand years ago? Was she daughter to the merchant prince Kielbarro, himself the bastard spawn of the Mad Emperor? Or is she the last, lone survivor of that ancient nunnery, so deep inside the woods, that was a blackened, overgrown husk even before the village next to it was founded?
Demon vs. Demon
When the lich sorceress was young and still alive, she became involved with a nameless wizard who sought after immortality in planes of existence beyond the astral sea. Together, they roamed the multiverse, conquering kingdoms and laying waste to their enemies. But when this nameless wizard came under the influence of the demon Salxrizan, the lich sorceress turned against him.
Unlike him, she was not so vain as to spurn the necromantic arts. Life without end was, and still is, more important to her than petty considerations like beauty and the adoring gaze of meaningless human eyes. As her flesh rotted away, the nameless wizard’s heart grew cold toward her, and the demon’s grip on him grew stronger. As much as she tried to ameliorate the growing rift between them, she could sense the impending conflict between the two of them becoming inevitable.
To increase her power, the lich sorceress tied herself to an arcane familiar—the horned cat, Camindor. With his soul amplifying her own magic, she was able to seal her corrupted lover inside his own tomb, ridding the world of Salxrizan forever.
Anamhedonic Ghost: Anyone reduced to zero Charisma [by an anamhedonic ghost's drain attack] becomes a ghost themselves.
Though his influence is profound, Aleändro Carvayano has declined to create a permanent bureaucracy around himself. He creates undead servants as he needs them, and stays in touch with his cultist followers sporadically at best. His only constant companions are the most wretched of the many ghosts that the death cult has collected over the years, feeding off stolen memories of mortal joy. Indeed, they are so miserable that only Carvayano has learned to control them.
Zombie of the Death Cult, Death Cult Zombie, Cult Zombie: The round after a Bleeding Man is slain (0hp), there is a 2 in 6 chance he rises again, regaining 1d6 hp and leaping back into the fight. If not killed again, he becomes a cult zombie.
Ghoul Monastic: This most recent abbot has been in power for a long time, but not because the healing waters have extended his life. Instead, it is the feasts of flesh that have given him, and the others, their extra years.
When they devour human flesh, it suffused their blood with a magical life, a sapphire luminescence, that stops them aging.
Mother Nivetta, The Abbess: The woman known as Mother Nivetta showed an early aptitude for the arcane. But wizard schools are built on heights too lofty for little girls from the poorest slums of a port city to even dream about, while the brothels of the docks are nowhere nearly so discerning. It did not take her long to realize that the endless stream of sailors, too eager by half to sate their desires before shipping out again, was not the surest source of coin. Profits come to those who own the ships before the ones who work on them see anything, and they too have desires.
But the patrons who truly changed her life were not the businessmen, but the monks whose desperation she could see as plain as day. When she discovered their true nature, she took advantage. First, they let her see the truth of their hungers. Then, they gave her access to their arcane library. And finally, they made her one of them. And when she found the mask, her sisters elected her to be their leader.
This most recent abbot has been in power for a long time, but not because the healing waters have extended his life. Instead, it is the feasts of flesh that have given him, and the others, their extra years.
When they devour human flesh, it suffused their blood with a magical life, a sapphire luminescence, that stops them aging.
Father Jarrald, The Abbot: Father Jerrald is the oldest remaining member of the original cult, and the only one who remembers its origins. His old superiors are all gone now, either discovered and destroyed by witch hunters, or ruined by the poisonous magics they studied.
This most recent abbot has been in power for a long time, but not because the healing waters have extended his life. Instead, it is the feasts of flesh that have given him, and the others, their extra years.
When they devour human flesh, it suffused their blood with a magical life, a sapphire luminescence, that stops them aging.
Undead Bugbear, Mountain Menace, Beast: ?
Veil Stalker: Veil stalkers are creatures from another plane of existence—“beyond the veil,” as it were—but they can be imprisoned in a body of undead flesh and controlled, all through the use of vat technology.
Hydra Zombie: ?
Revenger Zombie The Butler: When the hydra zombie is destroyed (0hp), the reptilian body is slain but the four zombies on top become independent, free to revenge themselves upon the living!
Revenger Zombie The Critic: When the hydra zombie is destroyed (0hp), the reptilian body is slain but the four zombies on top become independent, free to revenge themselves upon the living!
Revenger Zombie The Pastor: When the hydra zombie is destroyed (0hp), the reptilian body is slain but the four zombies on top become independent, free to revenge themselves upon the living!
Revenger Zombie the Victim: When the hydra zombie is destroyed (0hp), the reptilian body is slain but the four zombies on top become independent, free to revenge themselves upon the living!
Nun of the Bone Goddess, Skeleton, Fiery Ghost: ?
Ghoul Monastic, Undead Cannibal: ?
Ghoul Monastic, Female Nun: ?
Ghoul Monastic, Male Monk: ?
Veil Stalker, More Advanced Creature: ?
Hydra Zombie, Zombie Guardian, Gigantic Reptile: ?
Undead, Undead Creature, Undead Monster: Supplicants: 2 in 6 chance a group of flagellant nuns are accompanied by 1d12 still-living death cultists, 1 HD humans who have only 1hp left and wish to die. The nuns are dutifully driving them forward and whipping them. If they are found worthy, they too may become undead.
But these brigands of the sea have their own practices of philosophies, just like the other factions that make up the larger death cult. They also pay tribute to demonic leviathans that lie imprisoned beneath the oceans, ever scheming to break free and be unleashed upon the world. The pirates send them sacrifices, who are often returned to the world as undead monsters.
Mindless Undead: ?
Undead Servant: Though his influence is profound, Aleändro Carvayano has declined to create a permanent bureaucracy around himself. He creates undead servants as he needs them, and stays in touch with his cultist followers sporadically at best.
Undead Prosthetic: She [the Lich Sorceress] can create undead prosthetics and small undead homunculi and send them to spy on her foes.
Non-Living Creature: ?
Small Undead Homunculi: She [the Lich Sorceress] can create undead prosthetics and small undead homunculi and send them to spy on her foes.
Powerful Undead Creature: ?
Undead Death Cult Pirate Captain: The round after being slain (0hp), [a death cult pirate captain] rises again with 2d8 hp and regains 2d8 hp each day until fully healed.
Ghost Slave: The core premise of the death cult is simple: When you kill someone who has killed fewer people than you, their ghost is your slave in the afterlife. The more slaves someone has, the more powerful they are. If you slay someone again, in the afterlife, they become your slave, no matter how many kills there are between you.
And there are questions that need to be answered. Ghosts can be bound as slaves, but do they stay with the necromancer who controls them after death? Or do they revert to the one they were killed by? Can ghosts escape their killer’s control before the day of judgment? Can they be stolen by the death cult’s necromancers? If you kill someone who has more ghost slaves than you do, are they free until you kill them again in the afterlife, or do they instead become your slave now? If they are enslaved, do they retain control of their own ghost slaves? And if they do, can they use their ghost slaves to rebel against their master? Or are their slaves now free, and easy prey for necromancers to take control of? Is this where all these free-roaming ghosts come from?
All these questions, and more, the death cult is keen to answer. They seek power over the dead by any means necessary, but their favourite tactic is, and always has been, murder. They kill others directly, with their own weapons. They raise the dead and send their hordes of zombies to kill the living. They bind ghosts to their will and forge them into weapons to kill yet more hapless victims.
Free-Roaming Ghost: And there are questions that need to be answered. Ghosts can be bound as slaves, but do they stay with the necromancer who controls them after death? Or do they revert to the one they were killed by? Can ghosts escape their killer’s control before the day of judgment? Can they be stolen by the death cult’s necromancers? If you kill someone who has more ghost slaves than you do, are they free until you kill them again in the afterlife, or do they instead become your slave now? If they are enslaved, do they retain control of their own ghost slaves? And if they do, can they use their ghost slaves to rebel against their master? Or are their slaves now free, and easy prey for necromancers to take control of? Is this where all these free-roaming ghosts come from?
Ghost: ?
Wraith: ?
Zombie: The round after being slain (0hp), [a death cult initiate] rises again as a 2 HD zombie. Can only be destroyed by magic.
The round after being slain (0hp), [a death cult necromancer] rises again as a 2 HD zombie. Can only be destroyed by magic.
The round after being slain (0hp), [a death cult pirate] rises again as a 2 HD zombie. Can only be destroyed by magic.
Vat Zombie: If you want to grow your own zombie armies or pleasantly dream of new bodies while suspended in fluids, the vats of Salfaria stand ready.
The principle behind vat zombies is simple: take a relatively intact corpse, revivify it in a vat, then send it against your foes. Because the resulting creatures have severely limited functionality, they are primarily used as suicidal assault forces. Modifications can be made to them (see page 15), but there are more advanced creatures available as well.
Vat Zombie, Artificial Creature: ?
