Voadam
Legend
Hacklopedia of Beasts
Hacklopedia of Beasts
Hackmaster 5e
Animating Spirit: Animating spirits are evil maligned spirits returned from beyond the grave. In life they were betrayed by friends and family members and now most often inhabit an item related to their betrayal and death.
No one knows where the animating spirit originates, for the first documented case has been corrupted by urban legend. Coincidentally (or not), this ‘fabric phantom’ was the spirit of an expert Mendarn tailor, Blesdar Forband, a man with the reputation of making the most magnificent clothing in the kingdom. However, one customer (a noble by the name of Granden) refused payment until he saw perfection. Blesdar locked himself in his shop and worked his hardest, though Granden proved unsatisfied with the first five attempts. Finishing his sixth effort with an unexpected speed, Blesdar presented himself at the noble’s home to show off his latest creation.
It was there, stumbling into Granden’s bedroom, that he accidentally learned the truth — Granden had cruelly kept Blesdar working so he could seduce the tailor’s wife. Collapsing from exhaustion and shock, Blesdar died.
The following week, Granden took the tailor’s last creation from his wardrobe, intending to wear the exquisite ensemble at his next ball. There, he was the talk of the party. When asked where he had commissioned such wonderful clothing, Granden claimed that his consort (Blesdar’s widow) had made them for him. Moments later, Granden fell dead to the floor. The noble’s chest had been crushed inward.
Supposedly, since that event, animating spirits have appeared across the Sovereign Lands. Some say Blesdar’s fabric had been resold and his vengeful spirit cursed any object that touched it. Others say that the story is no more than myth and that some type of unseen demon stalks the land. The Brandobians call this creature a ‘blesdar,’ with no other understanding of what it might be.
Barrow-Wight: This dreadful creature is an animated corpse whose spirit was so evil in life that it continues its existence to wreak vengeance and terror upon the living.
In life, barrow-wights were often of noble birth or held some position of power over others (e.g., a knight, duke or even a wealthy merchant). It is unheard of for a serf, squire or other menial person’s corpse to spawn the evil of a barrow-wight, perhaps because they lacked any feeling of power in life and so their spirit does not strive to hold onto it after death.
It is thought that a barrow-wight cannot arise from a consecrated corpse or a body lacking any limb or digit thereof, though this may be merely an old wives’ tale.
A wight's barrow is not only his tomb but, in large measure, his eternal prison as well. Those immutably bound to this sepulcher have but one one hope of escape, that being the ensnarement of a surrogate guardian. Any sapient human, demi-human or humanoid slain by the wight may serve this purpose. Of course, wights were doubtless haughty and proud in life and carried this trait through to their current existence. It wouldn't suit their legacy to have some orkin graverobber ensconced in their tomb. Thus they are choosy about whom they may grant unlife to even at the cost of their own freedom. Those deemed acceptable will be clad in their funereal garb and likely other objects denoting the wight's former status. The corpse will be laid upon the very same funeral slab once occupied by the current master and permitted to rise from death as a barrow-wight.
Tradition holds that the cairns of individuals who, in life, manifested such evil strength of will that those burying them feared their return were marked with runestones to warn visitors of the possible threat.
Fantom Dog: Parents often tell tales of ‘the awful fantom dog with vacant black eyes’ to frighten children from going outdoors at night. These stories provide a variety of origins for the creature, such as the death of a hanged baliff, the spirit of a huntsman falsely executed for murder, the incarnation of a shape-changing sorcerer, and even the spirit of a funeral bier.
Ghast: Ghasts are rumored to be agents of the Harvester of Souls – sapient beings so wicked in life that they now sustain themselves by literally feasting on death.
Ghoul: ?
Haunt: A haunt is created when a person dies prior to the completion of a significant task that he is unequivocally invested in. When this occurs, the life force becomes so strongly attached to its completion that the soul refuses to pass on into death until the task in question can be completed. This event is typically tied to a singular, and extremely powerful, emotion such as love, hate, greed, lust, revenge, and so forth.
Haunts may be found anywhere on Tellene where someone died before the completion of a significant task.
Mummy: Mummification consists of three separate processes. First comes the removal and separate preservation of major organs, including the liver, heart, stomach and brain. After this initial preparation, there is a ritualized bathing of the body in special liquids that preserve the flesh. The organs are then returned to the host in their proper orientations. Finally the body is bound in fine linen or silk, with each limb and digit wrapped separately, in order that the body might be fully articulated.
Mummification has fallen out of favor as a burial practice and is not currently utilized by any cultural group on Tellene.
As such, knowledge of the actual processes involved to properly mummify a corpse is something of a lost art. It is rumored within certain clerical orders that the Congregation of the Dead has retained this knowledge and some members of this vile sect are capable of returning from death as hideous animated mummies.
Rattlebone Mummy: Often they were members of the royal praetorian bodyguard ritually slaughtered and hastily mummified when their liege died.
Servitor Mummy: When an important noble or royal personage died or was otherwise removed from his position of authority, his personal courtiers were frequently ritually strangled and mummified along with their patron. Interred in his tomb, their symbolic role was to continue their service to their departed master. In truth, this ceremony was often just a ritual veil over the some brutal housecleaning by the new regime eager to ensure that no ties to the former sovereign remained and that the new cadre of attendants was aware in no uncertain terms that their very lives depended upon complete loyalty and devotion to the current ruler.
When their patron was invigorated with malevolent unlife, these jhurijany (or servitor mummies) were similarly animated and now truly fulfill the role they were, in theory, assigned at their death (despite it being mere court theater at the time).
Blood Mummy: ?
Natural Mummy: Not all mummies are the result of deliberate action by mankind. It is possible for exceptional environmental conditions to mummify a corpse as well. Extreme and persistent cold may freeze-dry a body preserving it for millennia while those buried (or perhaps simply perishing) in severely arid regions may desiccate leaving behind remains that persist for centuries. Cold bogs are another source of naturally occurring mummies. The combination of low temperatures, highly acidic water and lack of oxygen serves to preserve cadavers though tanning their skin in the process.
Noble Mummy: ?
Royal Mummy: ?
Rusalka: Rusalka are the undead spirits of women who met an untimely end through drowning, whether by murder or suicide.
Some Kalamaran scholars say that the ancient origins of the rusalka lie in the Ep'Sarab Swampland, where three witches lay buried in three separate, but adjoining mounds. In the year 458 IR, river pirates led by the famous brigand Caran Bluetooth plundered the mounds. When they did so they roused the souls of the three witches. These evil incarnations rose from the dead in raging madness, hounding the greater part of the crew to death. Only a few escaped, fleeing south down the Badato River. One of these, Caran’s brother Malaran, is thought to have escaped with a powerful magic ring. He fled into the swamps and wandered listlessly, without home or any kind of shelter. The witches, not satisfied with destroying the pirates, lay a curse on the swamp and all the water that earned the pirates their livelihood.
The curse had greater impact than the witches ever dared hope and soon the spirits of women tormented in life rose from the surrounding wetlands; the rusalka had come to Kalamar.
Shadow: A darkling’s chilling touch drains its victim’s strength (reducing its Strength score commensurate to the damage inflicted). Creatures sapped of all strength (i.e., their Strength score is reduced to zero) become shadows themselves.
A shadow’s touch drains STR equal to damage (save for half); creatures reduced to zero (0) STR become shadows.
Skeleton: Skeletons are unnatural creatures inspirited by dark energy.
Skeletons may be raised from the bones of any humanoid creature. The source material is irrelevant, for the evil enchantment providing the vigor to these bones supersedes any species differentiation. Thus an animated goblin skeleton is functionally equivalent to that of a human. That being said, the types of beings used as feedstock for this unholy ritual may provide some contextual clues as to the circumstances surrounding their current placement.
Once a zombie's tendons and muscles deteriorate completely, they collapse in a pile of bones, never to rise again (although the proper ritual can be used to raise them as skeletons).
Animal Skeleton: The bones of humanoids are not alone in being subject to reanimation. Animals too, as well as the remains of larger creatures, are not infrequently inspirited as obedient – if expendable – sentinels and warriors.
Unquestioningly easier to commandeer, the bones of animals such as dogs can be animated to serve as tireless guardians. Animal remains of a roughly comparable size (like wolves, boars, mountain lions or small black bears) may be used as analogues. However, like standard skeletons, the creature's capabilities in life do not translate to its revivified form. Rather, these bones are merely a template upon which is layered a standardized set of capabilities.
Monster Skeleton: The bones of larger bipeds such as bugbears and ogres may, via more powerful dark magic, be similarly animated.
Spectre: Spectres are the spirits of wickedly obdurate beings who failed in life to complete to fruition their grand evil schemes. Force of will coupled with supernatural assistance has permitted their continued existence as agents of evil.
It is an accepted belief that binding a corpse with ropes constructed of yarn wrapped in a band of high content silver filé prevents the dead from rising as a spectre.
Slain foes who die from a spectre's touch rise as spectres in service to their killer.
Vampire: ?
Will-o'-the-Wisp: The most common tale of the will-o’-the-wisp concerns a blacksmith in a war-torn, impoverished land. In unthinking desperation, he offers his daughter to any god or being that will bless his skill at the forge and so bring him coin with which he can support the remainder of his large family. The gods did not respond, but a being from the Nine Hells did.
This devil (or demon, depending upon the tale being told) quickly came to collect the girl, but the smith realized his own wickedness and decided not to give away his daughter. Instead, he tricked the devil by bragging about the hotness of his fire and claiming that the devil’s home could surely not be as hot. The devil jumped willingly into the smith’s hottest fire to prove his point, whereupon the smith doused him with a bucket of frigid water. The thermal stress shattered the devil into tiny fragments, which the smith later discarded in a nearby swamp.
Each individual fragment retained a bit of the devil’s mind and eventually became known as a will-o’-the-wisp among the locals – or so the story is often told.
Wraith: Wraiths be spirits of men most powerful and bounteous of ambition bewitched by powers nefarious to lead an eternal existence of malice and hatred.
A wraith is a fearsome undead creature inhabited by the spirit of an incredibly wicked mortal.
Most wraiths were powerful and capable men in life.
It is unknown how an individual becomes a wraith. Some sages postulate that great men who in life exhibited hatred, malice, and depravity of legendary proportions received this fate as punishment for their wickedness while others insist that these same lords bartered their souls for earthly power.
Zombie: Most zombies are mindless human or near-human (e.g.,various man-sized humanoids or demi-humans) corpses stolen or risen from their graves.
The Congregation of the Dead is ultimately responsible for many of the zombies found in the world, frequently employing them to sow terror in locals who would otherwise not countenance their presence. However, it must be noted that spontaneous mass risings of the dead have been recorded by scholars without the seeming intervention of these unholy covens.
It is rumored that zombies abound in the ‘city of the dead,’ a fabled lost ruin deep within the Khydoban Desert. Wilder tales declare that the entire population of the city was cursed and transformed into zombies who survive to this very day in a desiccated but very animated state.
Monster Zombie: Most zombies are mindless human or near-human (e.g.,various man-sized humanoids or demi-humans) corpses stolen or risen from their graves. Some evil priests favor the cadavers of large bipedal monsters (e.g., bugbears, gnoles, and minotaurs), should they have access to them.
Hacklopedia of Beasts
Hackmaster 5e
Animating Spirit: Animating spirits are evil maligned spirits returned from beyond the grave. In life they were betrayed by friends and family members and now most often inhabit an item related to their betrayal and death.
No one knows where the animating spirit originates, for the first documented case has been corrupted by urban legend. Coincidentally (or not), this ‘fabric phantom’ was the spirit of an expert Mendarn tailor, Blesdar Forband, a man with the reputation of making the most magnificent clothing in the kingdom. However, one customer (a noble by the name of Granden) refused payment until he saw perfection. Blesdar locked himself in his shop and worked his hardest, though Granden proved unsatisfied with the first five attempts. Finishing his sixth effort with an unexpected speed, Blesdar presented himself at the noble’s home to show off his latest creation.
It was there, stumbling into Granden’s bedroom, that he accidentally learned the truth — Granden had cruelly kept Blesdar working so he could seduce the tailor’s wife. Collapsing from exhaustion and shock, Blesdar died.
The following week, Granden took the tailor’s last creation from his wardrobe, intending to wear the exquisite ensemble at his next ball. There, he was the talk of the party. When asked where he had commissioned such wonderful clothing, Granden claimed that his consort (Blesdar’s widow) had made them for him. Moments later, Granden fell dead to the floor. The noble’s chest had been crushed inward.
Supposedly, since that event, animating spirits have appeared across the Sovereign Lands. Some say Blesdar’s fabric had been resold and his vengeful spirit cursed any object that touched it. Others say that the story is no more than myth and that some type of unseen demon stalks the land. The Brandobians call this creature a ‘blesdar,’ with no other understanding of what it might be.
Barrow-Wight: This dreadful creature is an animated corpse whose spirit was so evil in life that it continues its existence to wreak vengeance and terror upon the living.
In life, barrow-wights were often of noble birth or held some position of power over others (e.g., a knight, duke or even a wealthy merchant). It is unheard of for a serf, squire or other menial person’s corpse to spawn the evil of a barrow-wight, perhaps because they lacked any feeling of power in life and so their spirit does not strive to hold onto it after death.
It is thought that a barrow-wight cannot arise from a consecrated corpse or a body lacking any limb or digit thereof, though this may be merely an old wives’ tale.
A wight's barrow is not only his tomb but, in large measure, his eternal prison as well. Those immutably bound to this sepulcher have but one one hope of escape, that being the ensnarement of a surrogate guardian. Any sapient human, demi-human or humanoid slain by the wight may serve this purpose. Of course, wights were doubtless haughty and proud in life and carried this trait through to their current existence. It wouldn't suit their legacy to have some orkin graverobber ensconced in their tomb. Thus they are choosy about whom they may grant unlife to even at the cost of their own freedom. Those deemed acceptable will be clad in their funereal garb and likely other objects denoting the wight's former status. The corpse will be laid upon the very same funeral slab once occupied by the current master and permitted to rise from death as a barrow-wight.
Tradition holds that the cairns of individuals who, in life, manifested such evil strength of will that those burying them feared their return were marked with runestones to warn visitors of the possible threat.
Fantom Dog: Parents often tell tales of ‘the awful fantom dog with vacant black eyes’ to frighten children from going outdoors at night. These stories provide a variety of origins for the creature, such as the death of a hanged baliff, the spirit of a huntsman falsely executed for murder, the incarnation of a shape-changing sorcerer, and even the spirit of a funeral bier.
Ghast: Ghasts are rumored to be agents of the Harvester of Souls – sapient beings so wicked in life that they now sustain themselves by literally feasting on death.
Ghoul: ?
Haunt: A haunt is created when a person dies prior to the completion of a significant task that he is unequivocally invested in. When this occurs, the life force becomes so strongly attached to its completion that the soul refuses to pass on into death until the task in question can be completed. This event is typically tied to a singular, and extremely powerful, emotion such as love, hate, greed, lust, revenge, and so forth.
Haunts may be found anywhere on Tellene where someone died before the completion of a significant task.
Mummy: Mummification consists of three separate processes. First comes the removal and separate preservation of major organs, including the liver, heart, stomach and brain. After this initial preparation, there is a ritualized bathing of the body in special liquids that preserve the flesh. The organs are then returned to the host in their proper orientations. Finally the body is bound in fine linen or silk, with each limb and digit wrapped separately, in order that the body might be fully articulated.
Mummification has fallen out of favor as a burial practice and is not currently utilized by any cultural group on Tellene.
As such, knowledge of the actual processes involved to properly mummify a corpse is something of a lost art. It is rumored within certain clerical orders that the Congregation of the Dead has retained this knowledge and some members of this vile sect are capable of returning from death as hideous animated mummies.
Rattlebone Mummy: Often they were members of the royal praetorian bodyguard ritually slaughtered and hastily mummified when their liege died.
Servitor Mummy: When an important noble or royal personage died or was otherwise removed from his position of authority, his personal courtiers were frequently ritually strangled and mummified along with their patron. Interred in his tomb, their symbolic role was to continue their service to their departed master. In truth, this ceremony was often just a ritual veil over the some brutal housecleaning by the new regime eager to ensure that no ties to the former sovereign remained and that the new cadre of attendants was aware in no uncertain terms that their very lives depended upon complete loyalty and devotion to the current ruler.
When their patron was invigorated with malevolent unlife, these jhurijany (or servitor mummies) were similarly animated and now truly fulfill the role they were, in theory, assigned at their death (despite it being mere court theater at the time).
Blood Mummy: ?
Natural Mummy: Not all mummies are the result of deliberate action by mankind. It is possible for exceptional environmental conditions to mummify a corpse as well. Extreme and persistent cold may freeze-dry a body preserving it for millennia while those buried (or perhaps simply perishing) in severely arid regions may desiccate leaving behind remains that persist for centuries. Cold bogs are another source of naturally occurring mummies. The combination of low temperatures, highly acidic water and lack of oxygen serves to preserve cadavers though tanning their skin in the process.
Noble Mummy: ?
Royal Mummy: ?
Rusalka: Rusalka are the undead spirits of women who met an untimely end through drowning, whether by murder or suicide.
Some Kalamaran scholars say that the ancient origins of the rusalka lie in the Ep'Sarab Swampland, where three witches lay buried in three separate, but adjoining mounds. In the year 458 IR, river pirates led by the famous brigand Caran Bluetooth plundered the mounds. When they did so they roused the souls of the three witches. These evil incarnations rose from the dead in raging madness, hounding the greater part of the crew to death. Only a few escaped, fleeing south down the Badato River. One of these, Caran’s brother Malaran, is thought to have escaped with a powerful magic ring. He fled into the swamps and wandered listlessly, without home or any kind of shelter. The witches, not satisfied with destroying the pirates, lay a curse on the swamp and all the water that earned the pirates their livelihood.
The curse had greater impact than the witches ever dared hope and soon the spirits of women tormented in life rose from the surrounding wetlands; the rusalka had come to Kalamar.
Shadow: A darkling’s chilling touch drains its victim’s strength (reducing its Strength score commensurate to the damage inflicted). Creatures sapped of all strength (i.e., their Strength score is reduced to zero) become shadows themselves.
A shadow’s touch drains STR equal to damage (save for half); creatures reduced to zero (0) STR become shadows.
Skeleton: Skeletons are unnatural creatures inspirited by dark energy.
Skeletons may be raised from the bones of any humanoid creature. The source material is irrelevant, for the evil enchantment providing the vigor to these bones supersedes any species differentiation. Thus an animated goblin skeleton is functionally equivalent to that of a human. That being said, the types of beings used as feedstock for this unholy ritual may provide some contextual clues as to the circumstances surrounding their current placement.
Once a zombie's tendons and muscles deteriorate completely, they collapse in a pile of bones, never to rise again (although the proper ritual can be used to raise them as skeletons).
Animal Skeleton: The bones of humanoids are not alone in being subject to reanimation. Animals too, as well as the remains of larger creatures, are not infrequently inspirited as obedient – if expendable – sentinels and warriors.
Unquestioningly easier to commandeer, the bones of animals such as dogs can be animated to serve as tireless guardians. Animal remains of a roughly comparable size (like wolves, boars, mountain lions or small black bears) may be used as analogues. However, like standard skeletons, the creature's capabilities in life do not translate to its revivified form. Rather, these bones are merely a template upon which is layered a standardized set of capabilities.
Monster Skeleton: The bones of larger bipeds such as bugbears and ogres may, via more powerful dark magic, be similarly animated.
Spectre: Spectres are the spirits of wickedly obdurate beings who failed in life to complete to fruition their grand evil schemes. Force of will coupled with supernatural assistance has permitted their continued existence as agents of evil.
It is an accepted belief that binding a corpse with ropes constructed of yarn wrapped in a band of high content silver filé prevents the dead from rising as a spectre.
Slain foes who die from a spectre's touch rise as spectres in service to their killer.
Vampire: ?
Will-o'-the-Wisp: The most common tale of the will-o’-the-wisp concerns a blacksmith in a war-torn, impoverished land. In unthinking desperation, he offers his daughter to any god or being that will bless his skill at the forge and so bring him coin with which he can support the remainder of his large family. The gods did not respond, but a being from the Nine Hells did.
This devil (or demon, depending upon the tale being told) quickly came to collect the girl, but the smith realized his own wickedness and decided not to give away his daughter. Instead, he tricked the devil by bragging about the hotness of his fire and claiming that the devil’s home could surely not be as hot. The devil jumped willingly into the smith’s hottest fire to prove his point, whereupon the smith doused him with a bucket of frigid water. The thermal stress shattered the devil into tiny fragments, which the smith later discarded in a nearby swamp.
Each individual fragment retained a bit of the devil’s mind and eventually became known as a will-o’-the-wisp among the locals – or so the story is often told.
Wraith: Wraiths be spirits of men most powerful and bounteous of ambition bewitched by powers nefarious to lead an eternal existence of malice and hatred.
A wraith is a fearsome undead creature inhabited by the spirit of an incredibly wicked mortal.
Most wraiths were powerful and capable men in life.
It is unknown how an individual becomes a wraith. Some sages postulate that great men who in life exhibited hatred, malice, and depravity of legendary proportions received this fate as punishment for their wickedness while others insist that these same lords bartered their souls for earthly power.
Zombie: Most zombies are mindless human or near-human (e.g.,various man-sized humanoids or demi-humans) corpses stolen or risen from their graves.
The Congregation of the Dead is ultimately responsible for many of the zombies found in the world, frequently employing them to sow terror in locals who would otherwise not countenance their presence. However, it must be noted that spontaneous mass risings of the dead have been recorded by scholars without the seeming intervention of these unholy covens.
It is rumored that zombies abound in the ‘city of the dead,’ a fabled lost ruin deep within the Khydoban Desert. Wilder tales declare that the entire population of the city was cursed and transformed into zombies who survive to this very day in a desiccated but very animated state.
Monster Zombie: Most zombies are mindless human or near-human (e.g.,various man-sized humanoids or demi-humans) corpses stolen or risen from their graves. Some evil priests favor the cadavers of large bipedal monsters (e.g., bugbears, gnoles, and minotaurs), should they have access to them.
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