Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Dungeon 192

Dungeon 192
4e
Mummified Girallion: When Yayauhqui first traveled to the ruined city, he discovered it was inhabited by wild apes that had taken to emulating the city’s ancient carvings in a bizarre mimicry of Cihuatlco’s rituals and practices. Doing his best to avoid the apes, Yayauhqui explored the quarters of the king’s attendants and found the amulet containing the dead king’s life force as well as tablets that taught him the secrets of the king’s enchanting song. After the witch doctor had mastered the king’s song, he used it to lure Cuicatl, the daughter of Jocotopec’s chieftain, to the ruins.
When the girl stepped out of the jungle, the wild apes accosted her. Instead of battering her to death as they had several of Yayauhqui’s assistants, the apes led her to the king’s ziggurat and placed the queen’s crown upon her brow, imitating the carvings they had seen. Where they had found the crown is anyone’s guess, but it bore a powerful magic—a shred of the last queen’s will. Any female who wears the crown believes herself to be the rightful queen of Cihuatlco. In this way, Cuicatl came to regard the apes of Cihuatlco as her new subjects.
While the apes were distracted by their new queen, Yayauhqui sneaked into what he believed was the king’s tomb below the ziggurat and placed the amulet on the mummified remains he found there. As he had hoped, the amulet stirred the mummy to wakefulness. Unfortunately for him, Yayauhqui had placed the amulet on the wrong body. The witch doctor assumed that the large and powerful-looking mummy he discovered was that of the king. Only after it proved both uncommunicative and exceedingly hostile did he discover that he had not animated the dead king but his monstrous guardian—a girallon.
Wraith: ?
Flesh-Crazed Zombie: ?
Zombie Shambler: ?
Ghoul: ?
Mad Wraith: ?
Wraith Figment: When the wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check. The new wraith acts under the Dungeon Master’s control.
When the mad wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check. The new wraith acts under the Dungeon Master’s control.
Decrepit Skeleton: ?
Grasping Zombie: ?
Abyssal Plague Animated Corpse: The lowest form of the Abyssal plague can infect fresh humanoid corpses, resulting in ferocious hordes of reanimated dead bent on slaying every living creature in their path.
Exposed to the strange transformative powers of the Abyssal plague, a reanimated corpse attacks with a mindless ferocity, attempting to destroy any living creature in its path.
The animated corpse is driven by the malevolent will of the Chained God.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 193

Dungeon 193
4e
Harrag's Shadow: One of Lord Neverember’s agents has transformed Harrag’s shadow into an undead creature as a means to keep an eye on Harrag.
Grasping Zombie: ?
Wisp Wraith: ?
Shadow Stalker: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 194

Dungeon 194
4e
Decrepit Skeleton: The undead are animated by the Weeping Aspect of Avandra’s wrathful emotions, doomed to repeat an eternal danse macabre of the temple’s last days in the natural world while orc and goblin defilers were looting it.
Grasping Zombie: The undead are animated by the Weeping Aspect of Avandra’s wrathful emotions, doomed to repeat an eternal danse macabre of the temple’s last days in the natural world while orc and goblin defilers were looting it.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 195

Dungeon 195
4e
Karrnathi Undead: The Odakyr Rites—the ritual used to create the Karrnathi undead—isn’t a cheap form of Raise Dead. The original victim is gone. A Karrnathi skeleton doesn’t have the specific memories of the warrior who donated his bones. The military specialty of the undead reflects that of the fallen soldier, so only the bones of a bowman can produce a skeletal archer. However, the precise techniques of the skeleton aren’t those of the living soldiers. Rekkenmark doesn’t teach the bone dance or the twin scimitar style common to the skeletal swordsmen. So where, then, do these styles come from? Gyrnar Shult believed that the Karrnathi undead were animated by the martial spirit of Karrnath itself. This is why they can be produced only from the corpses of elite Karrnathi soldiers: an enemy corpse lacks the connection to Karrnath, while a fallen farmer has no bond to war. However, the Kind fears that the undead aren’t animated by the soul of Karrnath, but rather by an aspect of Mabar itself—that the combat styles of the undead might be those of the dark angels of Mabar. Over the years, he has felt a certain malevolence in his skeletal creations that he can’t explain, not to mention their love of slaughter. He has also considered the possibility that they are touched by the spirits of the Qabalrin ancestors of Lady Vol. The Kind hasn’t found any proof for these theories, but they haunt his dreams.
Wraith Figment: When the reaper blossom cluster kills a living humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of the cluster’s next turn.
A dim intelligence directs these malign flowers, reaper blossoms, whose toxic pollen can rapidly drain the life force from any living creature, spawning a terrible wraith in the process.
Although they are found throughout the Shadowfell, reaper blossoms are not naturally occurring. Those knowledgeable on the subject suspect that the flowers are Orcus’s creations. The blossoms’ diet of souls and ability to spawn undead gives credence to this belief, which has motivated the Raven Queen’s followers to declare reaper blossoms an affront to her.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 196

Dungeon 196
4e
Ghost Knight of Galardoun: People fiercely disagree on whether the ghost knight is itself undead, but most priests and sages say that it must be. None agree about its origin or essential nature.
Some say the ghost knight is the remains of an undead-hunting paladin who met with mortal misfortune but whose shining will and drive transformed him into an apparition dedicated to leading the living to put the dead to rest by destroying undeath.
Others just as stoutly claim that it is an animated magic item—perhaps directed and using the senses of its creator, now bound into it—intended to control or (in the words of Tonthyn, Battlepriest of Tempus in Zazesspur) “weed out the hosts of” undead by destroying some and aiding others.
Between these markedly opposed views, dozens of other explanations and theories exist.
One of the most interesting explanations is promoted by the wealthy sage and retired adventurer Authraun of Athkatla, who has tried to trace all the known journeys of the ghost knight and identify whom it was following or accompanying. He believes the ghost knight seeks individuals who have particular, nascent gifts so that it can impart, by touch, lore it possesses that will urge these people into certain quests that serve some purpose as yet unrevealed.
Perhaps a fallen god is seeking to rise again, and it requires mortal aid to do so: The deity might want to gather artifacts in a specific place or find suitable living bodies to possess, and the ghost knight is a lure acting on behalf of such a deity. Perhaps the ghost knight is all that is left of a deity or an exarch, and it seeks to slowly and painstakingly gather strength for an eventual return.
“Or perhaps,” counters the young sage Rarkriskran of Baldur’s Gate, “this is all so much fanciful piffle, and this so-called ‘ghost knight’ is nothing more than an enchanted helm whose magic was twisted awry by the Spellplague. Now the ‘ghost’ rides what it can imperfectly glean of the stray thoughts of nearby sentients, and these thoughts goad the helm into wild,
random behavior. In turn, we strain both creativity and credulity in our attempts to concoct explanations for this item.”
The old Sage of Shadowdale, Elminster Aumar, chuckles at Rarkriskran’s words, and responds, “The young and fierce so often seek to exalt themselves by belittling others. I was young and fierce, once.” He suspects that there might well be divine direction behind the ghost knight, but stresses that all the opinions he has heard thus far are speculation. No one has shown any special knowledge that suggests they stand close to the truth.
What Elminster has heard of the encounters and experiments, however, lead him to conclude that the ghost knight follows a purpose that’s something more than destroying undead. He believes it has a cause that various commentators and experimenters haven’t discovered yet. Elminster also suspects that the ghost knight is damaged—a remnant of a being once greater and more capable than it is now, and that at times it wanders from its mysterious purpose.
Wraith Figment: ?
Oblivian Wraith: ?
Wraith: When the oblivion wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check. The new wraith acts under the Dungeon Master’s control.
Vampiric Mist Corruptor: ?
Death Knight: ?
Oath Wight: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 197

Dungeon 197
4e
Wraith: Created from the spirits of the Shadowghasts.
When the wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this wraith’s next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check. The new wraith acts under the Dungeon Master’s control
Blazing Skeleton: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 199

Dungeon 199
4e
Kvaltigar, Skeletal Frost Giant: Three years ago, Kvaltigar was the frost giant jarl, until he was betrayed and murdered by Grugnur, his brother. Grugnur burned the body and tossed the remains into the rift. However, Kvaltigar’s spirit refused to leave the mortal world.
Frost Giant Ghost: Once the loyal bodyguard of Jarl Kvaltigar, Hyrkzag was hunting elk in the mountains when Grugnur betrayed and murdered Kvaltigar to claim the Iceskull Throne. Upon his return, Hyrkzag was ambushed in the dragons’ caverns. Cut off from all avenues of escape, the bodyguard slew many of his kin but was forced into these caverns. He ultimately met his end at the hands of Grugnur’s swordthain, Gnotmir.
“In life, I was the sworn bodyguard of Kvaltigar, jarl of the frost giants and lord of the Iceskull Throne. Kvaltigar was betrayed—slain and set ablaze by his brother, Grugnur! In a rage, I carved a swath through my treacherous kin, but a rival named Gnotmir slew me before I could avenge my fallen lord.”

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 200

Dungeon 200
4e
Dragonscale Slough: ?
Fire Giant Flameskull: ?
Fell Troll Wraith: When Snurre established his hall here, he slew the trolls already in residence. The festering evil of the Elder Elemental Eye prevented their foul spirits from resting easy.
Troll Wraith: When Snurre established his hall here, he slew the trolls already in residence. The festering evil of the Elder Elemental Eye prevented their foul spirits from resting easy.
Fire Giant Death Knight: ?
Flame, Skeletal Dragon: ?
Flame, Dragon Demilich: the Dragon Queen decided to turn him into a unique undead creature: a dragon demilich.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 201

Dungeon 201
4e
Undead: Reanimation Doorway trap.

Reanimation Doorway
Level Varies Trap
Object
XP Varies
Detect Perception or Arcana DC (hard)
Initiative —
Immune attacks
Triggered Actions
R
Effect
FDaily
Trigger: The corpse of a creature of a level up to the trap’s level + 3 passes through the doorway.
Effect (Immediate Reaction):
Ranged 1 (the triggering corpse); the target animates as an undead creature hostile to all other creatures. This creature has half the original creature’s full normal hit points, is immune to necrotic damage and poison damage, and gains the undead keyword. It has all the other statistics of the original creature and can make basic attacks, but the only powers it can use are the original creature’s at-will attack powers. The target remains animated for 1d6 + 4 rounds or until it drops to 0 hit points.
Countermeasures
F Disarm: Arcana (trained only) or Thievery, both DC (hard).
Success: The character defaces the right runes to disarm the trap.
Failure (by 5 or more): The character takes 8 + the trap’s level necrotic damage.

 

[Voadam]

Dungeon 202

Dungeon 202
4e
Cinder Zombie: ?
Skeleton Mob: ?