OD&DITIES 10
Basic
Undead: Any intelligent, humanoid creature - Human, Demi-Human, Goblinoid, even monsters - can be transformed into an intelligent Undead on Herol.
Unquiet Guardian spell.
Ghoul: Ghouls - lesser followers of Govenai, these creatures are reanimated by a weaker variant of the Vivicant Brand, developed by Govenai’s Priests, which must be placed on their chests before death.
Vampires - the most favoured followers of the Immortal Govenai, Herolian Vampires are former NPCs who received the Vivicant Brand in life; once killed - either in the course of their lives, or via suicide - the Brand activated, returning them to Unlife as Vampires. The majority of Herol’s Vampires possess high-level Clerical or Magical abilities, in addition to their Vampiric powers - which do not include the ability to turn their victims into lesser Vampires, unless the Vampire himself has the Branding skill; those who do can use that skill on Charmed slaves before killing them, transforming them into Ghouls or lesser Vampires, if desired.
Skeleton: Zombies and Skeletons, of course, can be animated from any dead body.
Zombies and Skeletons - the spell Animate Dead is available to both Clerics and Magi on Herol; however, Undead created by this spell are often weak, pathetic things, easily destroyed. Most “permanent” Undead of this type are created by Branding dead bodies (for Zombies) or etching a Brand-like sigil into the skulls of Skeletons.
The Brands used to create these constructs were originally designed by followers of Govenai, but knowledge of their design has passed into common lore.
Awakened Army spell.
Spectre: Wraiths and Spectres - unlike most corporeal Undead, these monsters do not owe their existence to Govenai; most are ancient, created thousands of ago in a ritual employing the lost spell Unquiet Guardian. Those created since were made by the Undead themselves, since those slain by a Wraith or Spectre will rise again as the same sort of Undead which killed them.
Unquiet Guardian spell.
Vampire: Vampires - the most favoured followers of the Immortal Govenai, Herolian Vampires are former NPCs who received the Vivicant Brand in life; once killed - either in the course of their lives, or via suicide - the Brand activated, returning them to Unlife as Vampires. The majority of Herol’s Vampires possess high-level Clerical or Magical abilities, in addition to their Vampiric powers - which do not include the ability to turn their victims into lesser Vampires, unless the Vampire himself has the Branding skill; those who do can use that skill on Charmed slaves before killing them, transforming them into Ghouls or lesser Vampires, if desired.
Wight: ?
Wraith: Wraiths and Spectres - unlike most corporeal Undead, these monsters do not owe their existence to Govenai; most are ancient, created thousands of ago in a ritual employing the lost spell Unquiet Guardian. Those created since were made by the Undead themselves, since those slain by a Wraith or Spectre will rise again as the same sort of Undead which killed them.
Unquiet Guardian spell.
Zombie: Zombies and Skeletons, of course, can be animated from any dead body.
Zombies and Skeletons - the spell Animate Dead is available to both Clerics and Magi on Herol; however, Undead created by this spell are often weak, pathetic things, easily destroyed. Most “permanent” Undead of this type are created by Branding dead bodies (for Zombies) or etching a Brand-like sigil into the skulls of Skeletons.
The Brands used to create these constructs were originally designed by followers of Govenai, but knowledge of their design has passed into common lore.
Awakened Army spell.
Ghoul Elder: ?
Mummy: Mummies - like Wraiths and Spectres, most ancient Mummies owe their existence to a variation of the Unquiet Guardian spell, and were created during the era of the Lost Empires; however, the mummification process is also known to occur when powerful worshippers of Entropic Immortals (other than Govenai) die a natural death; the power residing within them both corrupts and preserves them in a withered, desiccated husk. Those who achieve the state in this fashion retain much of their magic, in the manner of Liches.
Unquiet Guardian spell.
Lich: Liches - Lichdom is achieved in the same manner on Herol as it is on Mystara; only high-level Magi can use this method.
Gorend: Gorends are horrid undead constructs, made from the fleshy tissue of unfortunate elves.
Awakened Army
Level: 6
Range: 90’ radius
Duration: one night
Effect: summons Undead horde
This mighty enchantment is only available to the most powerful of Govenai's Clerics- Vampire or otherwise – who must be in good standing with their Immortal, as it allows them to directly channel his Immortal essence on this Plane.
The spell requires a moonless night to function, and must be cast in an area of death; a battlefield or cemetery is ideal. The spell is normally started shortly after sunset, to maximise the time available. The caster must invoke the power of Govenai, beseeching him to raise up the dead to serve the caster’s will; this can take an hour or more. If successful, all dead bodies within 90’ of the caster will jerk into a mockery of life, digging themselves out of their own graves if necessary. The strain of channelling Immortal power causes 2d6 hp of damage the caster at this point, which may be healed normally (but not magically); a Vampire caster cannot regenerate this damage until he sleeps again. Conversely, a mortal caster gains the ability to regenerate any further damage received, at the rate of 1 hp per Turn, for the duration of the spell.
The size of the Awakened Army is dependent on both the number of corpses available, and on the caster’s level – use the “Undead Liege” rules in the RC to determine how many Undead the Cleric can command. Vampire casters, who may already function as Lieges, can command 50% more HD of Undead than living casters when using this spell. The animated corpses will be either Zombies or Skeletons, with the lowest possible HD for their type. They will obey the spoken or mental commands of the caster, no matter how complicated, but may move no further than 500’ from the caster without collapsing; however, if the caster moves back into range, they reanimate immediately. If slain in combat, they do not reanimate. Awakened Army Undead cannot be Turned at all for the duration of the spell.
If the caster is slain, the spell is immediately broken, and the Awakened Army collapses. Even if not interrupted, the spell lasts only until the first rays of dawn strike the Awakened Army, at which point they crumble into dust, like a Vampire. This spell is not often used, both because of the damage it causes to the caster and because of the wholesale destruction of “raw materials” that results. The occasions when Awakened Army has been employed, over the centuries, have gone into folklore and legend; indeed, in parts of the Old Countries, an ancient and popular Autumnal festival has been based around the “night of the walking dead”.
Unquiet Guardian
Level: 7
Range: 10’
Duration: permanent
Effect: creates Undead being
This spell is ancient, and believed lost by those few who know of it. It was created many thousands of years in the past, in a period now known as the “Lost Empire” Era (the “Lost Empire”, actually several such empires which succeeded each other over a period of nearly 5,000 years, occupied the area of Draman now known as the Old Countries).
Unquiet Guardian was originally devised to provide untiring, deathless protectors for the tombs of the great kings. It required the sacrifice of an intelligent being in a long, dangerous ritual lasting up to three days, during which the still-living victim was chained to an altar and had slender needles of silver pushed slowly into different parts of his body.
The ritual has several variations depending on the type of Undead to be created. In order to create a Mummy, for instance, the body is drained slowly of blood, creating a desiccated husk; to create a Spectre or Wraith, the heart must be cut from the body and burnt, and the feet removed (to free the spirit from earthly ties). Both these procedures require constant, droning chants to be performed for the entire duration, invoking Entropic powers (both magical and clerical versions invoke the same powers, although the former command, while the latter beseech). Most casters used a succession of trained slaves to do the chanting, rather than risk faltering by themselves; this meant they could catch a few hours of sleep during the spell’s duration.
To determine whether the spell has been cast successfully, the caster must make three successive Saves vs. Death Ray. If creating a Mummy, all three saves must succeed. When creating an incorporeal Undead, however, three successful saves transforms the victim into a Spectre, while two successes and one failure creates a Wraith. More than a single failure will ruin the spell, either destroying the victim (with a magical backlash which deals 6d6 damage to the caster and either infects him with Mummy Rot or drains a level from him, depending on the type of Undead that was being created), or creating a free-willed Undead which immediately attacks the caster and those with him.
If the spell is successful, the resulting Undead must obey the first command given by the caster as if Geased - usually to guard a tomb, treasure-house, or other location from intruders, but possibly to hunt down and slay a particular foe. If the task is completed, the Undead becomes free-willed.
If the spell were to be rediscovered (or granted anew by one of the current Immortals), it might easily be adapted to create other forms of Undead - perhaps even new forms never seen before.
