Faces of the Dead Lands
3.5
Zombie Crodlu: ?
Zombie Crodlu Heavy: ?
Zombie Crodlu Heavy Warmount: ?
Undead Crodlu: ?
Skeleton Crodlu Mount: ?
Unreclaimed: When a S’thag Zagath dies upon the obsidian of the Dead Lands, it soon reanimates as a maddened, hateful parody of it’s living self: a Bugdead. Usually, the living S’thag Zagath quickly move to perform mysterious psionic rituals on these newly risen undead, calming and subjugating them to the will of their living brethren - these are the creatures known to the undead humanoids of the Dead Lands as Scarlet Wardens.
When these rituals are not performed in time, the result is a creature known among the zagath as an Unreclaimed. Bigger and stronger than other Scarlet Wardens and generally belligerent (if not hateful) towards it’s living kin - and those Scarlet Wardens that serve them, Unreclaimed retain both the tentacles and innate psionics that are removed from other Scarlet Wardens during the “reclamation” rituals.
“Unreclaimed” is an acquired template that can be added to any Scarlet Warden.
The Unreclaimed and their Scarlet Warden “cousins” have shared origins: they were the innumerous masses of workers, soldiers, and officers who either died in the cataclysm caused by the Deathwash, or starved to death in isolation. The Unreclaimed rose with the same curse of undeath which now awaits all Zagath who die upon the blackglass. As they crawled out of their graves, they instinctively lurched back to their birthstones, barely registering how the land around them was now an endless plain of black glass.
Anthyarka, Queen of the Great Mound, Unreclaimed Scarlet Warden Necromant 10: ?
The Unreclaimed, Unreclaimed Scarlet Warden: ?
Weaker Unreclaimed: ?
Maddened Hateful Parody of its Living Self: ?
Athasian Wraith: Any humanoid slain by the Nameless Shaman’s energy drain becomes an Athasian wraith 1d4 days after death.
Ogres in the Walls, Athasian Wraith, Angry Ogre-Wraith, Angry Undead, Conglomerate Undead Being: The ogres who fell defending Tru’ezarr were not from Ulyan, but rather the city-state of Celik. While the ogres of Ulyan often formed the working class of the Sageocracy or multiracial townships of the eastern basin, these ogres were distinctly more martial. Celik was home to many ogres and orcs from the nearby Yellow Hills or southern plains, whom had centuries of experience fighting as mercenaries. Celik, resettled by Remaans after the great psionic disaster that destroyed it millennia before, and survived through its vital position on the southern trade route and (in a third case of not learning from its own history) the employ of highly skilled, well-paid mercenaries. Celik depended on controlling trade with the great southern cities of Uylan, and as such, constructed Tru’ezzar atop the Winding Way, on the rim of the Cliffs of Ulyan. The ogres were explicitly forbidden from influencing the politics of Ulyan, and so stood by as Rajaat’s great army marched down the Winding Way into Ulyan. When word of the siege of Nagarvos reached the top of the cliffs, Celik’s elders dispatched reinforcements to the garrison, and their fears were supported by interrogated orcish refugees from Ghash-naarg: Uyness of Waverly marched for the Winding Way, intent on capturing it for herself. With their restrictions now null due to Nagarvos’ destruction, the ogres deployed into the Winding Way itself, taking full advantage of their size and the tight quarters to make Uyness pay in blood for every step up the switchback route. But they were hopelessly outnumbered, and unable to contact their employers in Celik for clarification, the commander refused to collapse the Winding Way. Thus, step by step the ogres were driven upward back into Tru’Azzar itself, and finally slain to the last.
Afterwards, their bones and blood were used by the triumphant Defiler-Warlord Ram-azah to shore up the fort’s ruined walls. Despite their gruesome ends, the slain garrison passed into the Gray, at least until the Shining Tide. The strange necromantic energies unleashed with the obsidian tore them from the Gray, binding their spirits to the bones and blood-mortar of Tru’azzar as wraiths.
Wraith Honor Guard, Dodam's Honor Guard, Athasian Wraith Fighter 12: Dodam and his Honor Guard pushed deeper in an effort to hunt down the city's Whitebeard Fathers - the last moment of his life, he was proudly breaching the entrance hall of the Whitebeard Council when the tunnel collapsed on his head.
Dodam crawled out of the rubble as a thinking zombie after the fires had died and Gallard's forces had departed, joined by the wraith remnants of his Honor Guard, who were bound in service to their commanding officer.
Daskinor's Dead, Athasian Wraith Castaway Fighter 15: Though the Shining Tide did not breach their gates, its necromantic energies did, reanimating the human dead who had fallen in the siege of the city as wraiths.
These particular soldiers fell in battle to the goblins' elemental clerics and mindbenders. As Daskinor's forces looted Gzhabakr, the dead were stripped of all possessions and interred with honor in small cairns made from the rubble of the city (the traditional burial method of their people) the graves were topped by sharp-pointed stones - a stylized mountain or chevron guiding the spirit upward. The human dead rested peacefully for decades until the Shining Tide washed overhead and were reanimated as wraiths, with their focus being the large central burial-cavern itself by their desire to ascend to the heavens. Suddenly awakening deep within the caverns rather than experiencing their promised heavenly ascension did no favors for the wraith's sanity, and they immediately blamed the surprised undead goblins for their state.
Airy Shade: ?
Forbidden Mountain Wraith: ?
The Nameless Shaman, Unique Athasin Wraith: The tribe's last shaman was born when their clan had been reduced to less than a dozen, in the era when Rajaat was just beginning to experiment with magic and recruit students. Rajaat's early attempts to harness the Gray as a source to power arcane magic would end in disaster and the death of his entire first generation of students, who were warped into powerful undead beings known as Crimsons. The Nameless Shaman, in distant Ulyan, tried his best to help his tribe using his paltry knowledge of medicine and magic but could not feed them or stop them from resorting to cannibalism in desperation. Eventually the shaman himself died alone of starvation, and his rage and sorrow drew one of the newborn Crimsons like a shark to blood. The creature bonded with the shaman instead of devouring his soul, reanimating the shaman as something similar to a wraith.
Massive Semi-Transparent Skeletal Being: ?
Giant Wraith: ?
Wraith of the Forbidden Mountains, Athasian Wraith Wizard 15, Powerful Wraith: The tribe's last shaman was born when their clan had been reduced to less than a dozen, in the era when Rajaat was just beginning to experiment with magic and recruit students. Rajaat's early attempts to harness the Gray as a source to power arcane magic would end in disaster and the death of his entire first generation of students, who were warped into powerful undead beings known as Crimsons. The Nameless Shaman, in distant Ulyan, tried his best to help his tribe using his paltry knowledge of medicine and magic but could not feed them or stop them from resorting to cannibalism in desperation. Eventually the shaman himself died alone of starvation, and his rage and sorrow drew one of the newborn Crimsons like a shark to blood. The creature bonded with the shaman instead of devouring his soul, reanimating the shaman as something similar to a wraith. From its influence, many of the souls of the shaman’s tribe, both recent and ancient, were drawn from the Gray and reanimated as powerful wraiths.
Lesser Wraith: ?
Dim Grey Mist Burning With Silvery Flames That Flicker In and Out of Existence With Dark Dull Red Eyes: ?
Greater Wraith: ?
Tlatnaloc, Guardian of the Perished, Human Athasian Wraith, Undead Guardian: It was from his admiration for the supernatural powers of these leaders that Tlatnaloc’s own death sprung. A high officer saw how impressed Tlatnaloc was with even simple psionic and arcane effects and began to tutor the young warrior in the arts. He tricked Tlatnaloc into agreeing to serve in any capacity which would afford him a chance to develop such powers, and then had the young man killed and reanimated as an undead guardian to protect the catacombs of the dead. Tlatnaloc was bound to serve in this role until Tectuktitlay’s final conquest of the world.
Wraith Taskmaster of Harkor: ?
Sentinel of Death, Human Athasian Wraith Wizard 10/Necrmant 7: Created by Harkor during his rise to power, the Sentinels of Death are internal police and spies, required by any serious tyrant. Harkor chose demihumans that the undead plainsfolk would naturally despise and raised them to a position of power, to ensure the Sentinels have little political power beyond what he bestows upon them. Enslaved with nigh-permanent necromancies, they are Harkor’s hands.
Shumash Guerilla Wraith, Human Athasian Wraith Psion Kineticest 15: Psionic learning was deeply revered in Shumash in the Green Age, and many great sages and masters of the Way came from (and returned to be buried in) Chumash. When the Black Tide swept over the city, the souls of many great psionicists animated, and bereft of their long decayed bodies, they became wraiths.
Shumash Guerilla Wraith, Orc Athasian Wraith Psion Kineticest 15: Psionic learning was deeply revered in Shumash in the Green Age, and many great sages and masters of the Way came from (and returned to be buried in) Chumash. When the Black Tide swept over the city, the souls of many great psionicists animated, and bereft of their long decayed bodies, they became wraiths.
Pixie Blight: Due to its proximity to Nagarvos’ and long distance from the other sylvan lands inhabited by pixie’s, Small Home was Wyan of Bodach’s first major assault on the pixies and sprites before leaving Ulyan. Like many of the Champions, he came up with new and horrible ways to torment his assigned races even beyond death, thus creating the blights out of decapitated pixie prisoners. When the remaining pixies of the area arose as racked spirits an instant and mutual antipathy developed between the spirits and the blights, one that remains to this day.
Crimson: Rajaat's early attempts to harness the Gray as a source to power arcane magic would end in disaster and the death of his entire first generation of students, who were warped into powerful undead beings known as Crimsons.
Cursed Dead: ?
Dhaot: ?
Wandering Dhaot: ?
Dune Runner: ?
Dwaven Banshee: ?
Stalwart Banshee, Stalwart of Toganay, Dwaven Banshee Fighter 13: The Stalwarts of Toganay were reanimated as banshees by their shame and guilt: they were sworn to defend the people of Toganay, but they failed. They will never rest, but they have collectively resolved to use their undead states to the advantage of their people, granting Toganay an eternal, unkillable defense force.
When the Butcher of Dwarves arrived, the militia held out for an entire week, forcing the humans to pay in blood for every foot of cliff scaled and pushed into their mines. They fought a staggered, cautious retreat down into the tunnels, but away from the caves where their families were held in stasis, which were sealed with magic by the Sun clerics. The wounded Stawarts did not retreat but were slain by their comrades, so as to trick Egendo into thinking that they were making a suicidal last stand, and that the noncombatants had escaped over the cliff-rim to other dwarven colonies. Egendo realized that the survivors were likely holed up in the deepest mines, but the battle had already cost him too many men, and he had no intention of being waylaid into hunting every dwarf down in the dark. Thus, he had his defilers flood the mines with poison gas as his forces withdrew, which killed the few surviving dwarves that were not in stasis. Sensing no more living dwarves, Egendo moved on.
The first Stalwarts were already rising as banshees as the humans departed, unsure if the plan had worked.
Nophdeh, Dwarf Dwaven Banshee Rogue 13/Fighter 5, Cruel Unrelenting Tyrant: Manipulated by Gretch into failing at his Focus and returning as a dwarven banshee, Nophdeh served as Gretch’s spymaster during the Cleansing Wars.
Nophdeh Lieutenant, Dwarf Dwaven Banshee Rogue 13: ?
Nophdeh Sergeant, Dwarf Dwaven Banshee Fighter 13: ?
Nophdeh Scout, Dwarf Dwaven Banshee Rogue 8: ?
Shumash Guerilla Banshee, Dwarven Banshee Fighter 15: The Dwarven Banshees of Shumash were largely dwarves that broke and ran when the army Irikos breached the city walls to cleanse Shumash. Now they roam endlessly in an effort to defend Shumash and all the Dead Lands from the Bugdead menace.
Fael: ?
Musraaf's Chosen Cavalry Commander, Human Fael Fighter 15: When the Shining Tide inundated the Musraafi people, their minds were largely focused on providing food for their families, not the squabbling of the chieftains, and when they died, they reanimated as fael rather than zhen.
Musraaf's Chosen Cavalry Lieutenant, Human Fael Fighter 8: When the Shining Tide inundated the Musraafi people, their minds were largely focused on providing food for their families, not the squabbling of the chieftains, and when they died, they reanimated as fael rather than zhen.
Musraaf's Chosen Spearman Lieutenant, Human Fael Psychic Warrior 8: The Spearmen's minds were largely focused on providing food for their families, not the squabbling of the chieftains, and when they died, this reanimated them as fael rather than zhen.
Musraaf's Chosen Spearman Lieutenant, Human Fael Fighter 6: The Spearmen's minds were largely focused on providing food for their families, not the squabbling of the chieftains, and when they died, this reanimated them as fael rather than zhen.
Yughbo the Relentless, Lord of the Blacktooth Maw Clan, Ogre Fael Barbarian 15: In the last few months of his mortal existence, as the Cleansing Wars raged through Ulyan, something stirred deep in his mind — he began thinking of how to restore the fortunes of the ogre race. Dying under the blades of the Cleansing Armies and returning as a fael with the Obsidian Tide buried this impulse for a time.
When the Cleansing Wars came to the lands of the Sagocracy, Yughbo and his fellow barbarians were among the first to engage them. They were slaughtered, bar Yughbo and a few dozen survivors.
With nowhere safe to flee, they harried the invaders, ambushing patrols, picking off stragglers and scavenging supplies and weapons. Yughbo and his fellows took to eating the flesh of their victims (sometimes while they were still alive) in a disgusting display of cannibalistic gluttony and revenge. Eventually, Yughbo’s luck ran out and his group was ambushed by a force of Kalak’s warriors.
Reanimated by the Boiling Ruin and condemned to eternal unlife and gluttony, Yughbo and the other ogres sought to fill their newfound hunger by consuming the undead around them, making war on other groups much as they did in life.
Blacktooth Maw Reaver, Ogre Fael Barbarian 9: With a handful of exceptions, the Blacktooth Maw Reavers have been followers of Yughbo since before the Cleansing Wars. They were killed together, were reanimated by the Obsidian Tide together and rose hunted as ever-hungry fael together.
Massive Feral Monstrosity: ?
Big Brute: ?
Ever Hungry Fael: ?
Fallen: A giant, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid slain by a fallen’s death knell power rises as fallen after 1d4 rounds.
Ghash-Naarg Fallen Warrior Orc: ?
Ghash-Naarg Fallen Warrior Human: ?
Fallen Warrior Orc: ?
Fallen Warrior Human: ?
Shabnas the Last Chief, Orc Fallen Wilder 12/Fighter 14: ?
Chosen of Shabnas, Orc Fallen Psion Egoist 7/Fighter 11: Eventually, they cornered the last of the clan-chiefs, Shabnas, and for her amusement, Uyness ordered her consort-guard to kill the orc for her favor. Twelve of the Guard lay dead before her “true“ champions felled Shabnas.
Eager to keep on schedule, and more importantly, beat her peers to the riches of Celik, Uyness gave her dead a token memorial then moved on, though soon enough her new favored guards fell into disfavor, as the Silver Lady grew bored. Her twelve lost knights rose as undead, filled with a sense of betrayal at the pointlessness of their deaths. They were immediately commanded by the also risen Shabnas, who forced them to hammer out the symbols of Uyness from their intricate silvered armor and replace them with orcish symbols of loyalty to Shabnas, quite aware of the irony of forcing them to serve as his personal guard.
Fallen, Undead Orc: ?
Dauntless of Ghash-Naarg, Orc Fallen Fighter 11: ?
Viceregal, White Guard, Kobold Fallen Fighter 12, Loyalist Fallen: The White Guard and Black Guard were, in life, all members of the Viceregal Guard, handpicked from the finest raiders and warriors of Aagnikh to protect the Hermit Majesty’s bloodline. Armed with the metal pilfered from Sageocracy and Arludas caravans, they bravely served Gorl-ik, the 48th Vice-Regent, when they fell in a last stand to protect the kobold nests and hatchlings from Sacha’s warriors. Many members of the Viceregal Guard (and Gorl-ik himself) rose soon after as fallen, haunted by their failure to protect their monarch and young charges.
Rebellious Fallen: ?
The Bold of Sacha Bone Guard, Human Fallen Fighter 15: Most of the Bold of Sacha who fell were never given a proper burial, unrecoverable or simply abandoned among the carnage and collapsed tunnels. They shortly rose as fallen and immediately resumed their attack on the reanimated kobolds, until Ni-angh’akh emerged to assert his authority.
Champion of Deshentu, Human Fallen Psychic Warrior 14, Fallen Champion: ?
Giant Skeleton Leader, Giant Fallen Fighter 4: Deshentu’s Giant Skeleton Bombardiers are the animated skeletons of long dead giants, given collections of rocks to throw.
These giant skeletons are indicative of the presence of giants in Ulyan going back to at least the Green Age, near what is now the Forbidden Mountains. Given there is no record of these giants serving in the Deshenten military before the Obsidian Flow, these giants were surely excavated and raised from an ancient burial site. Only the most powerful and intact were raised as fallen.
Swiftwing Leader, Elf Fallen Fighter 14: These strange undead were assembled out of the bones from the skeletons of a short elf-like humanoid (only 6 feet in height) and strange bat-like creatures, both found in a mass grave at the edge of the Bone Lands. Instead of arms, the Swifwings have bat-like wings covered with stretched leather, and their feet are taloned claws that allow them to grip objects and creatures.
The Swiftwing Leaders are a cut above the nearly mindless troops they lead. Some of the elven dead had reanimated after the Obsidian Tide as fallen and the Deshentan necromancers were, after proper subjugation, able to modify the physical forms of the fallen in a similar manner as their fellows.
Kiwk's Praetorian Guard, Feylaarn Fallen Psychic Warrior 13: When he claimed Kiwk for his experiments, Gretch found his initial results to be promising. He then decided to take all the warriors of the small tribe at once, in the hopes of creating a force of inhumanly strong bodyguards and enforcers.
Fallen Warrior: ?
Erthne the Exilarch, Ogre Fallen Fighter 17, Hulking Ogre: Erthne was once one of the leading generals of Nagarvos’. She served and died at the Battle of Tforkatch River, ensuring the safe retreat back to Nagarvos’. Processed and reanimated at the Charnelhouse, she was made one of the generals commanding Gretch’s undead armies.
Erthne's Guard, Ogre Fallen Fighter 12: All of Erthne’s Guard served in the armies of long-lost Nagarvos and were scavenged from battlefields by Gretch’s carrion-pickers and reanimated at the Charnelhouse or another of his undead factories.
Soldiers of Exilarchate, Human Fallen Fighter 8: The Fallen that comprise Erthne’s army are a mixed lot: some came from Gretch’s reanimation factories, others arose on their own.
Gwanqui Axe-Born, Mul Fallen Fighter 10, Rare Undead Mul: The Fallen that comprise Erthne’s army are a mixed lot: some came from Gretch’s reanimation factories, others arose on their own.
Wujarrt's Warrior, Human Fallen Fighter 8, Fairly Standard Fallen: Wujarrt’s Warriors are fairly representative of the soldiery in other kingdoms. Fallen such as these were churned out by the thousands by Gretch’s reanimation factories.
Elf Skirmisher, Elf Fallen Fighter 6: Those who remained were the bodyguards of the Gathered Voice and other veterans with strong ties to their home city, but their already small numbers were heavily reduced, and were killed to the last by Albeorn’s soldiers.
After the slaughter, many rose as fallen and raaigs, organized under the leadership of Malwaenis and waged a guerilla war on the human occupiers.
Albeorn's Shock Trooper, Human Fallen Fighter 11, Soldier, Walking Skeleton, Fodder, Cautious Opponent: Many of the fallen came from among the Shock Troops of Albeorn, prestigious veterans of the Champion’s army occupying and looting the city while Albeorn researched a way to ascend Neowar's Ladder; some fell in the initial Cleansing of the city, others were victims of the initial elven counter-attack, and others of the prolonged year-long guerilla war by the undead against the living. Many more reanimated from the necromantic energies of the Shining Tide but were quickly dominated by the elven Meorty before they could resume their work, much to their resentment.
Eddarkols, Human Fallen Wizard 10/Necromant 8/Fighter 5, Unsubtle Combatant, Battle Mage, Determined Fallen: Eddarkols and his soldiers, along with Sielba’s own dead, were interred in the sacked homes of Tarktas’ now-dead inhabitants. Each home was then sealed and an inscription carved stating the fallen soldier’s name and rank: Eddarkols himself was interred with honor in the burned town hall. The dead laid undisturbed until the Shining Tide flowed over the ruins of Tarktas, covering but not breaching their sealed tomb, and reanimating many of them as fallen.
Soldier of Tarktas, Human Fallen Fighter 8, Undead of Tarktas, Sleeping Soldier of Tarktas, Cleansing Army Veteran, Slumbering Undead: After the city had been cleansed and the bodies of the enemy burned, the dead Cleansing Army warriors were interred in the sacked homes of Tarktas’ former inhabitants, and then sealed with large stones inscribed with the fallen soldier’s respective names and ranks.
There they remained undisturbed until the Obsidian Tide came, and the warriors rose again.
Flesh Worm: ?
Ioramh: Any humanoid slain by a meorty becomes an ioramh 1d4 days after death if it has less than 5 HD. If it has 5 HD or more, it becomes a namech.
Ioramh Servant: ?
Ioramh Human: ?
Ioramh Ogre: ?
Kaisharga: ?
Typical Kaisharga of Deshentu, Human Kaisharga Wizard 5/Necromant 8/Fighter 7: ?
Thualath of Deshentum, Thaulath, Thauleth, Human Kaisharga Wizard 5/Necromant 8/Fighter 7, Emaciated Skeletal Being With Deathly Gray Skin and Empty Eye Sockets That Blaze With Green Fire: Long dead when the Shining Tide engulfed Ulyan, Thualath had nevertheless been buried in a place of honor. She was therefore easily identified by Kulrath’s necromancers and animated as one of his chosen generals. The animation ritual which brought her to unlife bound her to the Vizier’s will, although in truth Thualath would have followed him freely in any case, simply to be able to serve her people once more.
Knor'morhen, Troll Kaisharga Psion Seer 14/Expert 5, Nihilistic Ancient Philosopher, Undead Troll, Crotchety Troll Kaisharga: Finally, as Nuubark’s defenses reached their lowest ebb, the king relented and appointed Knor’morhen to lead a delegation to beg for peace, on any terms. But as the king had foreseen Myron was uninterested in the trolls’ surrender. He laughed in Knor’morhen’s face and had the entire delegation tortured to death in front of the horrified leader. Knor’morhen was killed in turn and raised to undeath as well, so Myron could enjoy the spectacle of sending Yorg-yanak’s ambassadors back to him with his answer eloquently expressed in the corpselike shuffle of the undead.
Namash-Te, The Hands of Harkor, Human Kaisharga Wizard 5 Necromant 2/Psion Nomad 9/Cerebremancer 5, Chief Lieutenant, Minion, Chief Servant, Chief Slave: Namash-Te was slain early in the Cleansing Wars and was reanimated as one of Qwith’s creatures, pried from an obsidian tomb, until Harkor captured the talented wizard and psion. Sensing her spirit and power, he bound her to his will with powerful rituals, and made her his chief servant.
Hekeyla, The Hands of Harkor, Human Kaisharga Wizard 5 Necromant 2/Psion Nomad 9/Cerebremancer 5, Chief Lieutenant, Minion, Chief Slave: ?
Pandruj, Human Kaisharga Wizard 15/Necromant 10, Skeletal Figure With Empty Eye Sockets: Pandruj was captured while battling the Champion’s Daughters as they breached the Arkolak’s walls. Dragged alive before the Warbringer, Rajaat gloated over his foolish former student, before handing Pandruj over to Daskinor’s torturers. Faith that his family escaped bored Pandruj through all the agonies Daskinor and his forces inflicted upon him. Daskinor taunted Pandruj with the burnt husk of a dwarven woman, and the mutilated corpse of a child that could not have been Kalria. Tiring of his ‘sport’, Daskinor eventually used Pandruj for an experiment in undeath. As necromantic agonies wracked his body, Pandruj felt a weightless sensation in the last moments before death claimed him.
As his bones reassembled in a mass grave, Pandruj returned to consciousness as though awakening from a nightmare. Although physical pain was a fast-receding memory, the drive to find Elwiese and Kalria occupied his every thought.
Khvakhas: ?
Khvakhas Noble: ?
Priest-King Thuguch, Goblin Khvakhas Fighter 9/Psion Kineticest 4/Cleric 4/Psychic Theurge 5, Particularly Gruesome Example of a Khvakhas: When Daskinor's army finally came for Gzhabakr, Thuguch attempted to parlay, only to watch in horror as his emissaries were flayed alive in full sight of the city. Thuguch and his leaders were unable to defend their city, and were hung from the cavern ceilings, forced to watch all of their subjects flayed alive and tortured to death. Denied the traditional Ember-Burial, Thuguch's spirit rose as one of Athas' first known khvakhas.
Khvakhas Lieutenant: ?
Goblin Noble, Goblin Khvakhas Fighter 8: Compared to the infighting that would doom many later goblin cities, the nobility of Gzhabakr fought valiantly to the end, earning the dubious distinction of becoming Athas' first khvakhas; after being forced to watch their people flayed and tortured to death, they were themselves flayed alive and killed.
When Daskinor's army finally came for Gzhabakr, Thuguch attempted to parlay, only to watch in horror as his emissaries were flayed alive in full sight of the city. Thuguch and his leaders were unable to defend their city, and were hung from the cavern ceilings, forced to watch all of their subjects flayed alive and tortured to death. Denied the traditional Ember-Burial, Thuguch's spirit rose as one of Athas' first known khvakhas.
Khvakhas Ash Priest: When Daskinor's armies finally arrived at Gzhabakr's gates, the Ash Priests fought valiantly, but were forced to suffer the ultimate blasphemy when the Daskinor's men denied their bodies cremation into sacred Ash. Their profane deaths via “sky burial” led many Ash Priests to rise in undeath shortly afterward and they quickly restored order among the other khvakhas as the Priest-King’s enforcers.
Krag: ?
Magma Krag: ?
Kragling: Any animal, humanoid, giant, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid slain by a krag’s elemental infusion has a 50% change of rising as a kragling after 1d4 days.
Subordinate Krag Cleric Disciple, Marabout, Magma Krag Cleric 11: Many of the acolytes caught in the Shining Tide rose as Krags and, though less powerful than their masters who joined the Gleaming Tribunal, they were quickly re-incorporated into the Disciples.
Krag Gleaming Tribunal Leader, Magma Krag Cleric 16/Psion Nomad 5/Psychic Theurge 4: ?
Kragling, Servant: ?
Kragling, Assistant: ?
Lizardfolk Shaman, Advanced Fire Krag Cleric 11, Krag Spiritual Leader: The lizard folk corpses were engulfed by the defiled swamp long before the Shining Tide, and then reanimated by the Obsidian.
By the Time of Magic, the lizardfolk had made enemies of all their neighbors with their inflexible hostility, but were too entrenched in Sagramog to warrant their eradication - until the coming of Keltis. The Shamans ritually hissed in grief and ritually let their blood at the horrific defilement of their swamps, and took the lives of many human invaders and their elven allies, but in the end, Keltis’ fire clerics put an end to both them and holy Sagramog. As they had died in holy combat with the belief the Water Spirits would reward them, few lizardfolk reanimated among the waters of the Pallid Mire, only those Water Shamans that had died to the profane flames of Keltis’ fire clerics.
Meorty, Undead Meorty: Underground, [G'dranav] reanimated his former soldiers as meorties one by one, biding his time and preparing for an assault: for above, remnants of Rajaat’s army had taken up residence and built a research compound.
While the secrets of creating a meorty are all but lost to history, nearly all great Green Age cities had created one such guardian by the beginning of the Time of Magic.
Ni-angh-ahk, The Hermit Magesty, Kobold Meorty Wilder 30: And so came Rajaat himself, standing before Aagnikh’s ruined gates. Ni-angh’akh’s mindscape met that of the twisted Pyreen, and for two days they silently battled, sending psionic shockwaves across Ulyan and beyond. Ni-angh’akh glimpsed the memories of the Warbringer: images of a White Tower, of an ancient world covered in oceans inhabited by Halflings with strange living cities and vessels, and writhing through his mind, always, images of hate, of death, a world turned to dust and blood, until even the humans who served him were gone. Ni-angh’akh had little time to contemplate the meaning of these images as he battled the Warbringer’s mind. On the second day, Ni-angh’akh seemed on the very cusp of victory, but then the Warbringer, even as blood dripped from his ears and nose, found his opening: the hissing of Ni-angh’akh’s childhood tormentors, the blaze of a fire, and in that momentary memory lapse, a piercing pain shot through Ni-angh’akh’s brain and all went black. Slowly, detached from space and time, thoughts returned, a drawn out burst of memories and ideas both his own and not his own, and in response to his mental screams, withered flesh and bone strained back to life.
Dwarf Meorty, Howling Tornado 3' Tall: ?
Raging Meorty Warrior: ?
G'dranav, Ogre Meorty Psion Shaper 26, Elderly Ogre: When the walls of Nagarvos finally failed, the powerful master psion G’dranav was the last of the Defenders to fall to the final assault by Rajaat’s forces. During his last stand at the Arkolak, he, through sheer force of will, created a chasm underneath both him and his foes, swallowing up all of them along with his dead allies. As [he] fell, G’dranav transformed himself into a meorty.
Ramlichiavli the Defender, Ogre Meorty Psychic Warrior 20: The effort had failed, or at least had not yet succeeded, when at last the attacks broke through the Arkolak’s hallowed walls. G’dranav led a desperate counterattack, and Ramlichiavli was in the front-line, filling the breach in the wall with his own body. He was overborne by the press, pierced by a dozen pikes and trodden under by the surging attackers. Five or six more he killed, pulling them down by the ankles as they ran over his body, and crushing their throats in his massive hands, but in the end the mighty ogre’s eyes closed for the last time.
When Ramlichiavli once again opened his green eyes and looked out upon the world, it had changed beyond recognition. The ogre saw above him the face of his commander G’dranav, who had just raised him to unlife as a meorty.
Underground, [G'dranav] reanimated his former soldiers as meorties one by one, biding his time and preparing for an assault: for above, remnants of Rajaat’s army had taken up residence and built a research compound.
Dwarven Defender, Dwarf Meorty Fighter 5/Psychic Warrior 14, Stocky Tough Swarthy Dwarf: In life, the Defenders of Nagarvos’ were fanatically loyal to the great city and its ideals, and that loyalty has only intensified since G’dranav raised them as meorties.
The Defenders are the ancient guardians of Nagarvos’, having served the Tetrarchs in life as an elite guard during the Green Age. When Rajaat’s final assault on the city came, each and every Defender fought bravely, furiously, and ultimately futilely. They gave their lives in defense of the Tetrarchs and the city they had sworn to serve. But as in much of ancient Ulyan, death didn’t mean an end to their service.
Over many decades, G’dranav raised his former comrades as meorties, assembling a small army underneath the ruined city of Nagarvos’.
Underground, [G'dranav] reanimated his former soldiers as meorties one by one, biding his time and preparing for an assault: for above, remnants of Rajaat’s army had taken up residence and built a research compound.
The ogre saw above him the face of his commander G’dranav, who had just raised him to unlife as a meorty. For many years thereafter, Ramlichiavli aided his mentor in raising to unlife the hundreds of other fallen Defenders whom G’dranav had brought down with him into the chasm below the Arkolak.
Ogre Defender, Ogre Meorty Psychic Warrior 16, Burly Ogre: In life, the Defenders of Nagarvos’ were fanatically loyal to the great city and its ideals, and that loyalty has only intensified since G’dranav raised them as meorties.
The Defenders are the ancient guardians of Nagarvos’, having served the Tetrarchs in life as an elite guard during the Green Age. When Rajaat’s final assault on the city came, each and every Defender fought bravely, furiously, and ultimately futilely. They gave their lives in defense of the Tetrarchs and the city they had sworn to serve. But as in much of ancient Ulyan, death didn’t mean an end to their service.
Over many decades, G’dranav raised his former comrades as meorties, assembling a small army underneath the ruined city of Nagarvos’.
Underground, [G'dranav] reanimated his former soldiers as meorties one by one, biding his time and preparing for an assault: for above, remnants of Rajaat’s army had taken up residence and built a research compound.
The ogre saw above him the face of his commander G’dranav, who had just raised him to unlife as a meorty. For many years thereafter, Ramlichiavli aided his mentor in raising to unlife the hundreds of other fallen Defenders whom G’dranav had brought down with him into the chasm below the Arkolak.
Meorty, Undying Guardian: Before the Siege, Nagarvos boasted no fewer than seven undying guardians, each a meorty created during a very different era of the city’s existence, and each with different powers and rules governing its actions.
Cregsyzz the First Guardian, Goblin Meorty Psychic Warrior 7/Echolocator 10: Slowly, membership in the Watch grew large enough to effectively patrol the city, and proved effective at keeping the peace for a time, but proved to be woefully inadequate defending from its first attacks by raiders. Coming along the trade roads from the west, the invaders were repelled, but many of the Watch were either killed or permanently crippled, including Cregsyzz. In response, Nagarvos built its first city wall around the noble hill districts, making the hill the city’s first defensive fortress. Cregsyzz wished to continue in the defense of the city, so she agreed to become the first Undying Guardian of the City.
Her injuries became inconsequential in undeath and she quickly helped to rout the raiders, and Cregsyzz has watched over and protected the city ever since.
Preceptor Elynos Silvermark the Third Guardian, Half-Elf Meorty Psion Telepath 9/Psiologist 10: Elynos ended up serving at the psionic temple long past what should have been his retirement age. Since he had no family, he had chosen to devote his life to bettering the lives of his students and the city. This made him a natural choice for the role of Guardian, once it became clear that his failing health would no longer allow him to continue teaching students. He accepted and became the third of the Undying Guardians of Nagarvos.
Duzzukk “Cold Blade” the Seventh Guardian, Orc Meorty Psychic Warrior 7/Soulknife 10: Agreeing that greater measures would have to be taken, Boru-Hardis nominated Duzzukk for immediate transformation into an Undying Guardian, and he became the seventh meorty to serve the city.
Baru-Hardis, Meorty, Undying Guardian: ?
Malwaenis, Last Defender of Elsavos, Elf Meorty Cleric 11/Psion 3/Psychic Theurge 8: By the time the Gathered Voice made their decision and chose him to become the city’s only meorty, Malwaenis was quite old - he had become known not only for his unyieldingly vengeful stance on the lizardfolk and their continued attacks, but for his almost grandfatherly care for the elves of Elsavos.
Meorty, Tasked Undead: ?
Morg: ?
Morg Templar of the Vizier: ?
The Vizier's Priest, Morg Templar 18, Morg Priest: ?
The Vizier's Monk, Morg Templar 13/Psion Telepath 7: ?
Morg, Servant: ?
Morg, Assistant: ?
Tetrarch, Human Morg Psion Telepath 22, Magically Controlled Servant: After he arose in undeath, Pandruj was powerful enough to animate the Tetrarchs as his undead servants.
Pandruj decided that those who had fought at the Arkolak with him would make the best allies, so he tapped into the Gray to raise the Tetrarchs.
Tetrarch, Half-Elf Morg Psion Telepath 22, Magically Controlled Servant: After he arose in undeath, Pandruj was powerful enough to animate the Tetrarchs as his undead servants.
Pandruj decided that those who had fought at the Arkolak with him would make the best allies, so he tapped into the Gray to raise the Tetrarchs.
Tetrarch, Gnome Morg Psion Telepath 22, Magically Controlled Servant: After he arose in undeath, Pandruj was powerful enough to animate the Tetrarchs as his undead servants.
Pandruj decided that those who had fought at the Arkolak with him would make the best allies, so he tapped into the Gray to raise the Tetrarchs.
Rajaat's Fugitive, Human Morg Wizard 15/Necromant 1: Rajaat’s Fugitives are a combination of journeyman students of the Psionic Temple, elemental clerics native to or trapped within Nagarvos, preservers who once studied under Pandruj himself, and other unaffiliated preservers who had moved to the city in the late Age of Magic. Rallied by Pandruj and the Tetrarchs when the Siege of Nagarvos began, they fought bravely in defense of the city, but fell just before G’dranav’s final stand at the Arkolak.
After the destruction of the Boiling Ruin, Pandruj awakened and called them to his side again.
Gretch, The Manipulator, Human Morg Wizard 5/Psion Shaper 5/Necromant 10/Cerebremancer 10: Ever since Gretch was a student in the earliest days of the Pristine Tower, he has never really viewed other sentient beings as anything more than tools to be used. His cold and self-serving approach to other beings seemed a bit inhuman even to his fellow students (who would later go on to become Rajaat’s Champions).
This inhumanity mixed with endless frustration when his transformation into undeath was botched, granting him his desired immortality but leaving his formidable intellect permanently damaged.
Rajaat’s humanocentric rhetoric eventually turned against Gretch however, after he had transformed himself into a morg.
Las-ufar, Ambassador of Gretch, Human Morg Psion Nomad 9/Rogue 7, Morg Mindbender: But age was creeping up on Las-ufar, and death was not a barrier on which Gretch wanted one of his most prized servants to wreck. The old necromancer convinced Las-ufar to endure morgbirth, and so remain active in the world. Las-ufar was daunted by the pain associated with morgbirth – he had sworn many times, on the deck of the Pride of Zillart, to avoid all pain, and he had seen Uzhgabr’s anguish in the change – but he felt that death would cheat him of the rewards he knew were his due for his services to Gretch’s and Rajaat’s cause. He accepted.
Fnuthaar, Human Morg Psion Kineticist 8/Ranger 7: ?
Col'raoz, Half-Giant Morg Barbarian 16: Before her compatriots could determine if the obelisk was safe to touch, she attempted to pry out the valuable metals, activating the malfunctioning psionic teleportation device and disappearing from Celik. Col’raoz awoke strapped to a table in one of Gretch's reanimation labs, being prepared for the morg-birth.
Uzhgabr, Human Morg Psion Telepath 11/Fighter 5: He never could have anticipated his midnight abduction by agents of Gretch. Gretch needed capable leaders for his armies of undead, and he saw the carnage of Nagarvos as an opportunity to reap the best of the fallen heroes. Gretch was also still looking for petty ways to strike out at Rajaat’s favorites. To this end, Uzhgabr fit both goals nicely. Uzhgabr walked away from his morg-birth enraged at his forced transformation, distrubed by his new unlife, and firmly under Gretch’s control.
Tol’thak the Surveyor of Olnak, Human Morg Wizard 5/Necromant 10/Psion Nomad 5/Cerebremancer 4: In life, Tol’thak was a sage, knowledgeable in plant species and agriculture. He fell prey to Gretch’s kind reputation and was killed, reanimated, and interrogated by Gretch in short order.
Wujarrt, Human Meorty Wizard 5/Necromant 2/Psion Shaper 5/Cerebremancer 5: A former student at the Pristine Tower, Wujarrt adored the Champion Uyness and enlisted with her forces. Wujarrt was injured at the battle of Tforkatch River but pressed on fanatically and during the first charges on Nagarvos got fatally injured and later encased in a stasis effect by Uyness to preserve her life. This is when Gretch’s agents found her. Interrogated, transformed into a morg, and then imprisoned for ages by Gretch, Wujarrt has long been mad.
Dthul's Elite Bodyguard, Morg Human Wizard 5/Necromant 10, Morg Necromancer: Over the centuries of undeath, as D’thul learned the secrets of necromancy, he found a way to increase the effectiveness of his bodyguards by reanimating them as morgs.
Namech: Any humanoid slain by a morg’s energy drain becomes a namech 1d4 days after death.
Any humanoid slain by a meorty becomes an ioramh 1d4 days after death if it has less than 5 HD. If it has 5 HD or more, it becomes a namech.
Any humanoid slain by a t’liz’s energy drain becomes a namech 1d4 days after death.
A humanoid reduced to 0 Constitution by scarlet warden poison dies but continues to breathe shallowly as if alive. After 1d6 days, the corpse rises as a namech under the scarlet warden’s command.
Namech Servant, Namech Human Fighter 5: While every individual’s story differs in the details, the background story of any namech likely involves their capture and death at the hands of a powerful undead, sometime just after the Boiling Ruin had swept the land, and their awakening feeling compelled to do his/her bidding.
Blind Namech Servant: ?
Namech Manservant: ?
Namech Worker: ?
Albeorn's Human Mindbender, Human Namech Psion Kineticist 10: ?
Raaig: ?
Yorg-Yank, Troll Raaig Wilder 15/Cleric 3/Psychic Theurge 7, Spectral Image: Yorg-yanak passed into undeath more gracefully than most as a Raaig by a mix of his faith and trust in his own philosophy.
As the Cleansing Army burned his city and butchered his people, Yorg-yanak simply sat upon his throne, philosophizing and contemplating his failures, not moving or speaking even when Myron’s elite troops burst into his hall and impaled him with acid-tipped spears. Not long after, the king of fallen Nuubark rose from his throne as a Raaig, for he had reached a conclusion: the ideals he and his people had held in life were flawed, and that there was a truth in the human’s fanaticism and hate. And so he embraced the same fury he has seen burning in the eyes of the soldiers who killed him: any living or undead human, be they enemy or former subject, who enteres his hall is torn apart, crushed, and then put back together so he can torture them again.
Ylsia, Raaig: Kulrath had observed the sorry state of Deshentarum for generations, and was particularly enraged when Ylsia, whom had risen as a raaig during the Shining Tide, merely set about to become the warlord of a marauding army of undead whom used the Unholy Lands as a base to raid their neighbors such as Shadowmourn, Harkor, and the Bone Lands.
Harkor, The Reborn, Human Raaig Wizard 14/Necromant 10, Mad Raaig, Embittered Hateful Sadist, Millenia Old Being, Ghostly Figure: When the Navel was assaulted, Harkor called upon the full fury of Fire, fending off the blasphemous undead, inhuman attackers. When the Gate was breached, burying everything beneath a Boiling Tide, Harkor was terrified and ran, thinking only of home, family and his temple.
Harkor returned to consciousness as a ghostly figure on the steps of his temple, now buried beneath a sheet of black glass. Nothing remained of Ulyan except sterile stone and death. Death without rebirth or renewal. As a raaig, one of the undead, his very existence was now anathema to the elemental powers of Fire and he was left abandoned by the forces he had pledged his existence to.
Servant of Harkor, Human Raaig Wizard 10/Necromant 2, Blasphemous Hateful Creature, Former Priest: Twisted by Harkor’s magic and ritual defilement, the Servants of Harkor rose into undeath as blasphemous and hateful creatures.
Generations of human plainsfolk tended the sacred Fire temple Harkor led during his life, their ashes contained in blessed urns and laid to rest in alcoves, along with their prized possessions. Dedicated and faithful shamans, they spread Fire’s blessing among their people, their teachings offering balance and purity to their nomadic lives.
That passed with the red-hot Obsidian Tide which defiled Ulyan, searing away its people and raising them into undeath. When Harkor returned, he completed the defilement, ritually debasing every room and chamber of his temple. Once he reached the alcoves of the dead priests, he unleashed sadistic genius on his predecessors. Reanimated as raaigs, he spent years sealing the priests’ ashes in enchanted urns, and bound them to his will.
Raaig, Tasked Undead: ?
Elf Pankrator, Elf Raaig Psychic Warrior 7, Raaig Soldier: Other warriors of Elsavos mastered a uniquely elven form of martial arts that emphasized combining the Way with close-quarters unarmed combat, said to be first developed by warriors who were lost in the depths of Sagramog, with only their minds and bare hands to rely on. Many of these soldiers volunteered as scouts for Keltis’ army, and eventually departed their homeland to march with his forces to liberate the seas near Arkhold of lizardfolk. Those who remained were the bodyguards of the Gathered Voice and other veterans with strong ties to their home city, but their already small numbers were heavily reduced, and were killed to the last by Albeorn’s soldiers.
After the slaughter, many rose as fallen and raaigs, organized under the leadership of Malwaenis and waged a guerilla war on the human occupiers.
Chimera Raaig Wilder 18, Fiercely Territorial Being: The most psionically powerful Chimeras formed a rudimentary council system to settle disputes between individuals and codify territory. This system endured for millenia, undisturbed by the Rebirth races, barring the odd explorer, who was swiftly devoured. Even as the Cleansing Wars erupted among the humanoids they were considered mere animals by Rajaat and his armies and spared from any trouble. They likely could not ponder the source of the Shining Tide before they, their herds, and their forests were engulfed by boiling obsidian. Yet, somehow, the members of the ruling council rose into undeath as raaigs, likely as a result of the faith they and their kin had in their system and their deeply held primal ties to the land.
Racked Spirit, Undead Racked Spirit: Should outsiders somehow enter the Beardpit Mines, [gnome racked spirits] would quickly begin to harass living visitors, attempting to drive them to the brink of maddess in an attempt to create more racked spirits.
Small Homer Pixie, Pixie Racked Spirit Psion Telepath 8: The pixies of Athas were naturally attuned to nature, without needing or having any affinity for the druid’s path. They revered the God Trees of Small Home (and elsewhere in Green Age Athas) and enjoyed working and living with their brownie druid neighbours. For the brownies’ part, they valued the easy rapport with nature the pixies had. As a result, when the Pixie Blight’s mission brought him to Small Home, the pixies and brownies fought side by side against Rajaat’s 12th Champion. Despite mustering all the fury and wrath their race was capable of, they died side by side with their brownie neighbours. Betrayed by the other races of Athas and enraged by their inability to protect their beloved God Trees, many pixies of Small Home arose as racked spirits after their deaths.
Vicious Little Terror: ?
Capricious Little Fey: ?
Unquiet Spirit: ?
Small Homer Brownie, Forest Gnome Racked Spirit Druid 6/Blighted 5, Short Transparent Humanoid: Although druids by nature, the brownies of Small Home didn’t commune with spirits of the land, instead communing with the trees in the forest around their homes. When they died, their souls merged with the essences of the trees, becoming a permanent part of the forest, and constantly whispering in the minds of their living descendants.
When the Cleansing Wars came to Small Home, Wyan did far more than merely defile the brownie’s God Trees, he wilfully destroyed the essence of the brownies’ ancestors, breaking the links to generations of brownies before them. As the brownies’ spirits arose to fight again in undeath, they found their connection to their God Trees had been completely severed. This terrible silence in their minds has driven them mad with rage.
Small Transparent Creature: ?
Spectral Creature: ?
Brownie Animal Companion, Animal Companion Undead Black Bear: ?
Gnome Racked Spirit, Gnome Racked Spirit Fighter 9: ?
Racked Spirit, Undead City Resident: ?
Nafari, Human Racked Spirit Cleric 15, Ghostly Form: Rubza’if regained the ability to reason and ultimately the capacity to speak, but it took years. His mother Nafrai remained with him, and one other survivor of the ruin of the temples of Nagarvos’ also, a goblin wizard named Duk’kneg who had assisted in his transformation. By the time that Rubza’if was again capable of speech, his mother had died, by his side. Nafrai was transformed into an undead racked spirit by the trauma of participating in, and viewing, her son’s transformation.
Oskyar, Human Racked Spirit Wizard 11/Necromant 10/ Psion Nomad 5/Cerebremancer 3, Ghostly Form: A student at the Pristine Tower who was killed in a magical accident, Oskyar was reanimated by Gretch but was cast aside soon after for his perceived shortcomings.
Ceeryl, Queen of Perfection, Human Racked Spirit Wizard 5/Necromant 7/Psion Shaper 5/Cerebremancer 3/Druid 4: Many years later after she had died of an unexpected disease, Gretch (who had grown infatuated with her from afar, but never had the social skills to approach her) made her one of his first experiments in reanimation.
Human Racked Spirit: ?
Gnome Racked Spirit: ?
Scarlet Warden, Standard Scarlet Warden: The Unreclaimed and their Scarlet Warden “cousins” have shared origins: they were the innumerous masses of workers, soldiers, and officers who either died in the cataclysm caused by the Deathwash, or starved to death in isolation. The Unreclaimed rose with the same curse of undeath which now awaits all Zagath who die upon the blackglass. As they crawled out of their graves, they instinctively lurched back to their birthstones, barely registering how the land around them was now an endless plain of black glass.
When a S’thag Zagath dies upon the obsidian of the Dead Lands, it soon reanimates as a maddened, hateful parody of it’s living self: a Bugdead. Usually, the living S’thag Zagath quickly move to perform mysterious psionic rituals on these newly risen undead, calming and subjugating them to the will of their living brethren - these are the creatures known to the undead humanoids of the Dead Lands as Scarlet Wardens.
When these rituals are not performed in time, the result is a creature known among the zagath as an Unreclaimed. Bigger and stronger than other Scarlet Wardens and generally belligerent (if not hateful) towards it’s living kin - and those Scarlet Wardens that serve them, Unreclaimed retain both the tentacles and innate psionics that are removed from other Scarlet Wardens during the “reclamation” rituals.
Anthyarka, Queen of the Great Mound, Unreclaimed Scarlet Warden Necromant 10, Renegade Scarlet Warden: Eventually, Ahnthyarka succumed to death and arose as an undead; without the scarlet warden rituals to calm their mind, Ahnthyarka was left thoroughly insane.
Scarlet Warden Commander: ?
Scarlet Warden, Monster: ?
The Unreclaimed, Unreclaimed Scarlet Warden, Insane Undead Cousin: The Unreclaimed and their Scarlet Warden “cousins” have shared origins: they were the innumerous masses of workers, soldiers, and officers who either died in the cataclysm caused by the Deathwash, or starved to death in isolation. The Unreclaimed rose with the same curse of undeath which now awaits all Zagath who die upon the blackglass. As they crawled out of their graves, they instinctively lurched back to their birthstones, barely registering how the land around them was now an endless plain of black glass.
When a S’thag Zagath dies upon the obsidian of the Dead Lands, it soon reanimates as a maddened, hateful parody of it’s living self: a Bugdead. Usually, the living S’thag Zagath quickly move to perform mysterious psionic rituals on these newly risen undead, calming and subjugating them to the will of their living brethren - these are the creatures known to the undead humanoids of the Dead Lands as Scarlet Wardens.
When these rituals are not performed in time, the result is a creature known among the zagath as an Unreclaimed. Bigger and stronger than other Scarlet Wardens and generally belligerent (if not hateful) towards it’s living kin - and those Scarlet Wardens that serve them, Unreclaimed retain both the tentacles and innate psionics that are removed from other Scarlet Wardens during the “reclamation” rituals.
“Unreclaimed” is an acquired template that can be added to any Scarlet Warden.
Thinking Skeleton: ?
Subordinate Warrior Disciple, Human Thinking Skeleton Fighter 15: The Subordinate Warriors are an eclectic mix of individuals from many different backgrounds: some were inanimate corpses recovered by the Disciples, others were former enemy soldiers dominated or persuaded to their side, and others were genuine converts to the faith. Some still have relatively intact bodies, having been recently reanimated or had their spirit called back from the Gray (see the unliving identity spell), but others have had the flesh stripped from their bones by war and time.
Thinking Skeleton Lancer Cavalry, Human Thinking Skeleton Fighter 8: ?
Skeleton Champion of the Sunken Graves, Human Thinking Skeleton Fighter 8: ?
Nocwis, Human Phrenic Thinking Skeleton Fighter 15, Animate Skeleton: In life, Nocwis was a great leader amongst her people who opposed the efforts of Tectuktitlay to recruit from her tribe. Slain through treachery, her bones were eventually sold to Gretch for one of his experiments. Gretch reanimated her and, after the Cleansing of Ulyan, set her loose upon the plains to patrol the furthest reaches of his domain.
Thinking Zombie: But, since their reanimation, the Whitebeards have taken to worshiping Paraelemental Magma, rather than their traditionally beloved Elemental Earth (the Elements reject undead clerics); with this change in faith came new enhanced over death and the reanimation of undead. If they wished, the Whitebeards could animate a host of dead gnomes as Thinking Zombies (and other types of undead) to defend their home and defeat their murderers; the only thing stopping them is their slowly waning faith in Elemental Earth.
The vast hordes of undead who joined the Disciples in the early days were largely destroyed in the disastrous First and Second Crusades, and those few that survived came back battered and broken. Since then, Disciple necromancers have furiously obtained and reanimated zombies in an effort to create thinking zombies and bolster the ranks of their faithful.
Earth Drake, Unique Thinking Zombie Earth Drake, Guardian Earth Drake, Undead Earth Drake: ?
Dodam Linass, Human Thinking Zombie Wizard 15/Necromant 3/Cleric 3: Dodam and his Honor Guard pushed deeper in an effort to hunt down the city's Whitebeard Fathers - the last moment of his life, he was proudly breaching the entrance hall of the Whitebeard Council when the tunnel collapsed on his head.
Dodam crawled out of the rubble as a thinking zombie after the fires had died and Gallard's forces had departed, joined by the wraith remnants of his Honor Guard, who were bound in service to their commanding officer.
Dodam's Footsoldier, Human Thinking Zombie Fighter 9: ?
Whitebeard Psion, Gnome Thinking Zombie Psion Seer 15: ?
Whitebeard Cleric, Gnome Thinking Zombie Cleric 15: ?
Gnome Thinking Zombie, Gnome Thinking Zombie Fighter 8: The thinking zombies are largely remnants of the stalwart gnomes (warriors mostly) who defended Arludas during the siege by the Cleansing Army.
Dwarf Zombie Leader, Dwarf Thinking Zombie Fighter 14: After the Boiling Ruin, Deshentu was the first of the Dead Lord kingdoms to actively dig for bodies to stock its army, stumbling upon the mass graves of several old dwarven infantry formations from Nagarvos just north of the Tforkatch River. The Deshentan necromancers animated the formations wholesale and once the dwarves adjusted to their undead state they were incorporated into Deshentu’s armies.
Dwarf Hammer-Bearer, Dwarf Thinking Zombie Fighter 10: After the Boiling Ruin, Deshentu was the first of the Dead Lord kingdoms to actively dig for bodies to stock its army, stumbling upon the mass graves of several old dwarven infantry formations from Nagarvos just north of the Tforkatch River. The Deshentan necromancers animated the formations wholesale and once the dwarves adjusted to their undead state they were incorporated into Deshentu’s armies.
Thinking Zombie Servant: ?
Thinking Zombie Squad-Leader: ?
Zombie Mason of the Octagonal Tomb, Human Thinking Zombie Fighter 5: ?
Zombie Mason of the Octagonal Tomb, Orc Thinking Zombie Fighter 5: ?
Zombie Mason of the Octagonal Tomb, Gnome Thinking Zombie Fighter 5: ?
Thinking Zombie, Assistant: ?
Kuo'chthan, Thri-Kreen, Thinking Zombie Fighter 7/Psychic Warrior 13, Hak'trin, Undead Kreen, Bugdead Leader: At the time, the Pristine Tower was actively recruiting psions from the Kreen Lands, and Kuo’chthan was brought east into the Tablelands by agents of Rajaat to share his people’s knowledge of psionics with the students of the Pristine Tower. On his return trip to Kreen Empire, he was murdered and his body returned to Gretch for reanimation.
Kiwk, Thinking Zombie Feylaar Psychic Warrior 17: ?
The Razor, Human Thinking Zombie Fighter 15: ?
Black Thunder Cavalry, Human Thinking Zombie Fighter 9: ?
Thinking Zombie Overseer: ?
Thinking Zombie Squad Leader, Elf Thinking Zombie Rogue 5: ?
Thinking Zombie, Most Replaceable Undead: ?
T'liz: ?
Ohl-numash, Ambassador to Shadowmourn, Human T'liz Wizard 18: One of these tasks took him south into the so-called “Kingdoms of Gretch,” where he was captured by agents of Oskyar, and tortured, killed, and reanimated as a t'liz (one of the first on Athas.)
Deshenten Negotiator, Human T'liz Wizard 9/Necromant 8: ?
Lesser T'liz: ?
Chuul, Human T'liz Wizard 16/Necromant 2: When Chuul effortlessly won the affections of a woman Gretch had fallen in love with, Gretch arranged his death as retribution. Gretch then chose to make him his latest experiment - a decision he soon regretted.
Venger: ?
Gnome Venger, Gnome Venger Fighter 9: The gnome vengers arose from those who felt betrayed at the moment of their death — mostly civilians.
Gor-lik the Viceregent, Kobold Venger Wilder 15/Fighter 8, Sad Hideous Creature: The kobolds were unprepared when Sacha’s army marched on Aagnikh, but their formidable defenses and Ni-angh’akh’s protection crushed the initial assaults, despite the loss of many of the kobold’s best warriors. Gorl-ik led his battered raiders and Viceregal Guard with bravery, hissing in triumph as the mighty Champion, Sacha of Arala himself, fled from their tunnels in humiliation. But then, after days locked in mental combat with an unknown enemy, the Hermit Majesty’s mind went silent, and the humans flooded through the mazes into the inner warrens, butchering all they found. Shocked by the loss of his ancestor, Gorl-ik could only fall back, finally making a last stand with his best surviving warriors in the nesting chambers. A fire broke out, and the last thing Gorl-ik heard was the screams of hatchlings and popping of eggs as he was powerless to save them, and then the flames consumed him.
The trauma brought him back as a venger and he swiftly rallied his risen Viceregal Guard in a vicious counterattack against the humans that were rising as undead in turn.
Zhen: ?
Ram-Azah, Human Zhen Wizard 10/Necromant 6: The years passed, and he constructed a basic laboratory under the fort with materials from the odd convoy, prolonging his life with defiler magic, and yet still Uyness had not returned. Ram-azah was well beyond his mortal years when, while he worked in his underground sanctum, the earth shook, and after initially bursting out in fury at being disturbed, he beheld a terrible sight before him.
The plains of Ulyan below had been swallowed by a tide of molten obsidian, as great globs the size of temples rained down upon the Tablelands’ edge. He ignored the ground below his feet ominously shifting and retrieved samples of this still-cooling blackglass, retreating to his lab to study them. He had discerned the obsidian’s odd necromantic properties when the second wave struck, causing the section of the cliff and Tru’ezarr with it to collapse into the molten obsidian below. Ram-Azah was drowned and burned alive in molten glass... then awoke, as a zhen, alongside many of his garrison, to find himself trapped in a subvitrine bubble, along with the newly-reanimated, angry undead walls of their fortification.
Ram Azah's Lieuteant, Human Zhen Fighter 12: Trapped here in a shabby fort on the edge of the world, a posting at Tru’ezarr was one of tedium and boiling resentment, and the garrison largely left the deranged old necromancer to his devices in his basement laboratory.
That is, until the entire fort dropped into the molten obsidian below and they arose as undead.
Patchworked Horror: ?
Lunikra Brokennose, Dwarf Zhen Cleric 24, Heavy Zhen Dwarven Woman, Loving Dictator: Lunika and her aging parents prepared for triage, developing a plan to lead the noncombatants into the deep mies and place them in a magical suspended animation. As Egendo’s army arrived and the Stalwarts held them off to buy time, Lunikra led her charges deep into the mines, but Egendo’s forces soon took the residential levels, leaving them trapped. As she placed the last families in stasis, she felt a choking sensation in her throat, and soon everything went black. Lunkira, her parents, and every conscious dwarf was killed with toxic gas flooded into the mines by Egendo’s soldiers, but her magic worked, sparing those placed in suspended animation.
Lunika succeeded in saving her charges, preventing her from rising as a banshee, but the Shining Tide’s effects reached far enough into the mines where she was interred to reanimate her as a zhen.
By the time the Stalwarts had broken through to the outside, every living dwarf in Toganay had asphyxiated. However, their dead wards soon rose into undeath themselves as zhen, including Lunikra, who quickly swayed the banshees to support her by pledging herself to the protection of the colony, and with their aid enforced order among the terrified and confused undead dwarves.
Zhen, Undead Dwarf: By the time the Stalwarts had broken through to the outside, every living dwarf in Toganay had asphyxiated. However, their dead wards soon rose into undeath themselves as zhen, including Lunikra, who quickly swayed the banshees to support her by pledging herself to the protection of the colony, and with their aid enforced order among the terrified and confused undead dwarves.
Bangad the Founder, Dwarf Zhen Fighter 27: One day, while investigating what he stubbornly insisted was a newly discovered branch of the vein, Bangad slipped from the cliff-face; Bangad was not so lucky to be killed by the fall. With his bones shattered, and stuck in a ravine, he slowly starved to death and his body was not discovered until months later. He did not rise as a banshee but was instead interred in a grand tomb located deep within a played-out section of the mine, peacefully resting until the Shining Tide. While the obsidian did not penetrate into the mines of Toganay, the necromantic energies permeated deep enough to reanimate Bangad as a zhen.
Kigdifi, Clan Chief of the Talonborn, Orc Zhen Fighter 18: Kigdifi died during a clan dispute and spent generations peacefully interred before rising as a zhen during the Obsidian Tide: as a result, she almost appears to be alive, looking like a particularly wizened old matriarch, despite only being-middle aged when she died.
Kigdifi’s grudges eventually caught up with her, and she was slain by a loyalist of her brother’s while her son was but a teen. Despite a general dislike for her, she was a respected warrior and interred with honor in Ghaash-Naarg’s caverns. The necromantic energies of the Shining Tide reanimated her as a zhen, which she interpreted as a second chance to claim her rightful place as chieftain.
Clan-chief Riig-bo’ak the Throatbarer, Half-Orc Zhen Barbarian 17: The loss of her political support dashed his immediate hopes, and he began to bide his time, easily gaining followers: he achieved leadership of at least one tribe, and was poised to challenge his uncle, when he was killed during a botched raid. Riig’bo’ak was interred in the ancestral crypts with his mother, and Shabnas’ grandfather inherited the position of Chieftain. He lay undisturbed for generations until the Shining Tide reanimated him as a zhen.
Battlerager of Ghash-naarg, Orc Zhen Barbarian 11, Undead Orc:
Numerous Battleragers interred across the generations rose from the Obsidian Tide as zhen: these undead orcs serve their bloodlines with great honor, seeing their reanimation as a call to duty.
Carinborn, Human Zhen Psion Telepath 7/Wizard 5/Necromant 3/Cerebremancer 5: Then came the day that boiling obsidian seeped from fissures in the caves, and Dodam felt a strange surge of power within himself. After some testing confirmed his Defiler magic suddenly no longer needed a life-source to function, he strode to the city gates and effortlessly blasted away Gallard's ancient seal, only to be horrified by the impenetrable wall of cooling obsidian that now sealed him inside. Things only grew worse when he returned to his power base, to find his Honor Guard scattered, and the formerly interred dead risen as some new type of undead. To his horror, Dodam realized these new “zhen” were too powerful for him to dominate; despite his assertions that he was the highest-ranking servant of Gallard present, the undead spies convinced their fellow zhen to drive off the “lesser undead”: declaring themselves the ‘Cairn-Born' and taking the former Council Chambers for themselves.
The sutler-agents of Gallard were some of his best-trained operatives, and no expense was wasted on outfitting them for infiltrating gnomish settlements. Their tattered clothing bears a strong resemblance to that still worn by the nobles and merchant-princes of modern Nibenay, such as decorative masks and loose, flowing cloaks of silk or fine linen. This finery was often powerful glamered magical or psionic gear designed to help them infiltrate and sabotage gnomish defenses from within.
Dodam and his wraiths interred the sutler-agents’ remains along with the regular forces of Gallard’s army, and after decades of burial under hastily-built rubble cairns, the remains had largely rotted away (or been consumed by vermin and the omni-presant fungi of the caves) by the time the Obsidian Tide occured, but the Cairn-Born still somehow carry the putrid stench of rotting flesh. Their reanimation as zhen did nothing to restore their decayed bodies in a facsimile of their living forms, leaving many of the Cairn-Born as nearly skeletal caricatures of their living selves.
Due to errors in communication, some of sutler-agents were caught in the chaos on Arludas’ outer farming terraces, killed either by errant battle-spells or by the gnomes themselves, and their bodies were forgotten among the dead as the chain of command faltered admist the chaos. The dead were left behind and sealed within the ruins of Arludas by Gallard; the bodies were soon found by a reanimated Dodam Linass and buried in a makeshift cairn in the former Whitebeard Council Hall.
When the Shining Tide flowed over Arludas, a fissure in the ruined ceiling allowed a tendril of molten obsidian to seep into the Council Chamber, and with it the strange necromantic energy of the obsidian. The sutler-agents rose along with the other zhen, and quickly asserted themselves as the leaders of the group, convinced that, if the obsidian had seeped this deep under the earth, surely nothing survived on the surface above, and that their nature as strange obsidian-infused undead made them the natural lords of this new world.
Zhen Gleaming Tribunal Member, Zhen Cleric 16/Psion Seer 5/Psychic Theurge 4, Immensely Ancient Powerful Cleric: ?
Typical Mythargos Disciple, Mythargos Diocese Administrator, Mythargoi, Zhen Human Wizard 5/Necromant 2/Cleric 14: ?
Itinerant Beryessaa, Nuncia of the Disciples, Human Zhen Cleric 18, Typical Zhen, Emaciated Walking Corpse: On the fateful day when all life in Ulyan ended, Beryessaa was out in the fields, pulling tares from the rows and sifting the furrows for rocks. She had been working for three hours in the late afternoon, since the growing season in Ulyan was always short, and the daylight was needed for more pressing chores. [She] probably would not have noticed the silent wave of roiling black liquid from the east, had it not been for the sudden westward scattering of birds, which normally clustered over the fields, looking for stray seeds or grubs.
Beryessaa look east in the direction of the commotion, and saw a glittering line eclipsing the setting sun, along the horizon, stretching north to south across the plains of the old Sageocracy, as far as eye could see. The line grew closer and closer with what appeared to be tedious slowness, but in truth moved with hideous speed, soon becoming a deep black ribbon covering the eastern sky. Beryessaa yelled for her family, but her father and brothers were working other fields, while their mother and younger sister were making porridge for breakfast in the sod house.
The Shining Tide rose till it seemed to fill the sky, and Beryessaa screamed, and screamed again, running for the house, but was no more than halfway there when the obsidian surged over her, the house, the fields, everything. Eventually Beryessaa returned to consciousness, believing that she had had a terrible dream: for in the humdrum life of post-cleansing Ulyan, such a fantastical disaster as the Shining Tide was simply incomprehensible. But she found she could not wake up from her nightmare, trapped as she was in a cyst of hissing blackglass.
Naswangg, Zhen: ?
Typical Zhen Disciple Narthguk, Human Zhen Cleric 16: ?
Typical Zhen Disciple Psion, Messenger, Human Zhen Psion Nomad 15: ?
Zhen Wizard Disciples, Human Zhen Wizard 10/Necromant 6: ?
Zhen Disciple Priest, Sovereign Rising Missionary, Human Zhen Cleric 16: ?
Firemouth, Zhen Animal: ?
Firemouth, Undead Sea Animal, Unfathomably Large Fish, Sea Monster, Gargantuan Sea Monster, Vicious Undead: ?
Brotherhood of the Mirror Troll, Troll Zhen Cleric 16: Halvaz and Myron’s elite troops launched a ferocious naval assault across the Sparkling Gem, losing many soldiers to the summoned Firemouths and Water-magic, but soon enough, the temples of Nolak Island were burning and its Brotherhood, whether human or troll, massacred to the last. The surviving fisherfolk eking out a living on the “Glass Sea” continued to venerate the ruins and avoided them until the coming of the Shining Tide, which covered half the island and trapped the rest with the remnants of Glass Lake beneath the obsidian.
Much of the Brotherhood was reanimated as zhen, and after assessing their situation, they rededicated themselves to protecting the Mirror of the Ages.
Brotherhood of the Mirror Human, Human Zhen Cleric 16: Halvaz and Myron’s elite troops launched a ferocious naval assault across the Sparkling Gem, losing many soldiers to the summoned Firemouths and Water-magic, but soon enough, the temples of Nolak Island were burning and its Brotherhood, whether human or troll, massacred to the last. The surviving fisherfolk eking out a living on the “Glass Sea” continued to venerate the ruins and avoided them until the coming of the Shining Tide, which covered half the island and trapped the rest with the remnants of Glass Lake beneath the obsidian.
Much of the Brotherhood was reanimated as zhen, and after assessing their situation, they rededicated themselves to protecting the Mirror of the Ages.
Troll Zhen: Then came the Shining Tide, which buried the city under blackglass but for its tallest towers. Many more undead, both troll and human, rose due to its influence as zhen, and initially challenged Yorg-yanak: he tore these rebellious undead limb from limb, backed by his newly-risen Warrior-Sages, whom had become as jaded and cruel as he, and the survivors fled to the surface.
Human Zhen: Then came the Shining Tide, which buried the city under blackglass but for its tallest towers. Many more undead, both troll and human, rose due to its influence as zhen, and initially challenged Yorg-yanak: he tore these rebellious undead limb from limb, backed by his newly-risen Warrior-Sages, whom had become as jaded and cruel as he, and the survivors fled to the surface.
Troll Warrior-Sage, Warrior-Sage of Nuubark, Troll Zhen Psychic Warrior 12: ?
Marauding Zhen: ?
Zhen Troublemaker: ?
Obsidian-Infused Zhen: ?
Viceregal Black Guard, Kobold Zhen Fighter 12: With the coming of the Shining Tide, many of the lovingly buried dead rose as zhen, and resisted Ni-angh’akh’s control. These newly risen kobolds rejected Ni-angh’akh’s detached rule and his policy of working with their human murderers. Decrying him as an out of touch fool, they waged war on both the newly risen human zhen and Ni-angh’akh’s loyalists. The situation deteriorated even further when Gorl-ik, dissatisfied with his ancestor’s aloof demeanor, declared himself sole Viceregent, and defected to join with the zhen. He declared the zhen of the Viceregal Guard his “Black Guard” splitting the Guard in two and pushing those who remained loyal to The Hermit Majesty to call themselves the “White Guard”.
Rebel Zhen: ?
Kobold Zhen: ?
The Bold of Sacha Stone Guard, Human Zhen Fighter 15: The zhen of the Stone Guard have fared much better in their appearance than their fallen brethren: the rebirth in the Obsidian Ruin left their skin as smooth and glossy as that of any zhen, but ages of constant combat have left their mark upon the Stone Guard’s flesh.
In the following decades the fallen Bold of Sacha put aside their grudges with the kobolds, doing their best to make the warrens a comfortable home: tunnels were expanded to human height and the collapsed dens and walls were repaired. However, the Shining Tide undid much of their work, as the weakened ceilings of many caverns collapsed and the entry tunnels were plugged by cooled obsidian. Far worse, one of those caverns breached was the communal burial cavern, and its interred dead reanimated as zhen.
Rebellious Zhen Kobold: ?
Zhen Follower: ?
Marauding Human Zhen: ?
Khasti Raziim, Human Zhen Fighter 5/Barbarian 15: Khasti's raids proved successful, scoring major victories against their rivals, and seeing the tribe return down the cliffs with stolen herds and plunder. They traded off their goods to the merchants of Deshentarum as the drought finally ended with a particularly generous rainy season. As the rains came to an end, the most powerful of the five warlords, Neegas Achhed, died.
When his distant cousins-in-law, the Achhed brothers, came into conflict over which would succeed him, they were oblivious as a black ribbon appeared on the eastern horizon. Subsumed by the Boiling Ruin, Khasti and his tribe were first of their people to claw their way out of the blackglass.
Bael Asiim, Human Zhen Barbarian 24: As the brothers prepared for war, Bael set up camp to support Tatia, and was drilling her warriors in unarmed combat when Achbed‘s cries heralded a black ribbon on the horizon: the Shining Tide. Afterwards, Bael and many of her tribespeople ripped their way to the surface as zhen, emerging onto the blackglass.
Tatia Ached, Human Zhen Ranger 20/Wilder 5: Tatia was practicing archery in his camp when a black ribbon appeared on the horizon, heralding the Shining Tide’s engulfment of the Musraafi tribes.
Returning as a zhen, Tatia smashed his way out of the obsidian and quickly reunited with his reanimated tribesfolk.
Inbed Achhed, Human Zhen Barbarian 24: Inbed was reviewing [plans] for battle when the Shining Tide, which had already consumed his brother's forces, fell upon his camp. He reanimated as a zhen and made his way through the blackglass to the surface, reuniting with his reanimated kin.
Hazzi Shalil, Human Zhen Fighter 5/Wilder 18: Hazzi reluctantly threw his support behind Inbed, reasoning that if he could not stop the coming war, he could at least minimize the bloodshed by keeping Inbed's rash impulses in check. His tribe shared camp with Inbed as they prepared for war, and Hazzi was meditating when the Shining Tide struck. His death was met less by horror and more by puzzlement, as his contemplation gave way to searing pain and then darkness.
Hazzi, reanimated as a zhen, eventually working his way back to the surface and reuniting with Inbed and the remnants of their two tribes.
Zhen Lieutenant: ?
Kulrath, The Vizier, Human Zhen Wizard 16/Necromant 10, Perpetually Unhappy Being, Deleuded Old Zhen: ?
Particularly Decrepit Zhen: Ku[l]rath was working on a mountain of paperwork in his office when the sounds of battle outside rose [about] him[ from] the attack of G'dravav and his Defenders on the Navel. Kulrath has barely stood up in anger as his office door exploded inward and he was inured in molten obsidian. He eventually regained consciousness and broke his way through the blackglass to the surface, where, in the blazing light of the crimson sun, he discovered his undead nature.
The High Wizard Rhokhan, Human Zhen Wizard 17/Necromant 7, Bookish Magical Scholar: Rhokhan distinguished herself at the Pristine Tower as a skilled scribe and sage serving under Rajaat himself. As one of the First Sorcerer’s most knowledgeable assistants, she was assigned to Qwith’s research efforts at the Navel and died there when the gate erupted. After the Boiling Ruin, she dug herself out of the cooling obsidian but was left confused for a time until Kulrath found her and helped restore her sanity.
Qwith, Grand Duchess of Shadowmourn, Zhen Wizard 20/Necromant 10, Former Defiler, Organized Orderly Woman: Even Qwith does not fully recall the exact circumstances when she ordered her subordinates to use the Gate to summon elementals to fend off the overwhelming invaders. All she does remember is when the Nayalas building exploded, or more properly erupted.
Gouts of shiny black liquid burst from the Nayalas, knocking its walls outwards as they heaved off the rough domed roof. Quicker than thought, the molten rock rolled over the courtyards, enveloping combatants of all three groups indifferently. Qwith saw it all as if in slow motion, like a raging and rolling tide, rushing forward yet rising all in the same place, as it swept insatiably forward to consume all before it. Buildings were inundated, people swept away, the sun blotted out by its searing shroud of death.
Qwith awoke to find herself conscious and moving, slowly, sloshing even, deep within a bath of molten black obsidian. She did not immediately seek release, however, but in her normal orderly way carefully analyzed her situation and considered what seemed to have happened. At first, she imagined that she was somehow still alive, despite the terrible boiling magma all around her. She swam to the surface still convinced of this and broke the surface on a new world. All around her, as far as her eyes could see, lay an endless undulating plain of glistening obsidian, slowly hardening.
It was not until Qwith saw herself in the glass and recognized that her skin had changed color to a glossy black, and that there were disgusting suction-cup-like holes in the palms of her hands, that she realized she must be undead.
Ghonnsin, Chamberlain of Qwith, Human Zhen Psion Kineticist 12/Wizard 6/Necromant 1, Experienced Soldier, Former Defiler, Chamberlain of Shadowmourn: Ghonnsin had just finished saddling his kank near the head of one such caravan when a bright red gleam pulsed sinisterly against the orange predawn. Looking to catch the sun’s first rays, his eastern view instead caught a red glow growing across the ground. Even as he waved for his men to mount up, the red glow rushed towards them. Ghonnsin realized the danger far too late; with nowhere to run and no way to flee the Obsidian Tide, Ghonnsin had only a few terrified moments of reflection before the flesh-melting heat and crushing tide claimed him in a second of agony.
Consciousness returned slowly, with black glass entombing Ghonnsin. Providentially buried near the surface, shimmering purplish-black swirls of obsidian-tinged sunlight pierced the black glass. Clawing to the surface, he emerged onto undulating hills of black glass where grass and trees once stood. Horrified by his glassy black skin and sucker-pierced palms, Ghonnsin realized he was undead.
Praetor of Shadowmourn, Human Zhen Psychic Warrior 22, Expert of Military Strategy and Tactics: ?
Centurion of Shadowmourn, Human Zhen Wizard 10/Necromant 2: ?
Naghak, Harkorese Ambassador to Shadowmourn, Human Zhen Barbarian 3/Cleric 16, The Voice of Harkor, Cold Dangerous Fighter: Naghak is a zhen, a child of the Shining Tide whose shiny black skin seems to glisten in the light.
Naghak was overwhelmed by the Obsidian Wave and entombed in the cooling obsidian. He initially thought that he had somehow not died, but once he clawed his way to the new surface, he realized that he had indeed changed, and surmised that he was undead.
Descendant of the Chosen Scholar, Human Zhen Psion Shaper 15, Minor Scholar, Descendants Scholar: ?
Thikwasa, Human Zhen Psion Kineticist 26: ?
Traleev-eso, Human Zhen Wizard 12/Necromant 10: ?
Magnwag, Human Zhen Wizard 15/Necromant 1: ?
Negchar, Human Zhen Wizard 15/Necromant 1/Cleric 3/Mystic Theurge 10: ?
Ac'nac'wo, Human Zhen Wizard 8/Necromant 6/Psion Shaper 5/Cerebremancer 10, Former Academic: ?
Munavar, Human Zhen Cleric 21: ?
Cheltagthwo, Human Zhen Psion Shaper 17: ?
Zaprarus No-iim, Human Zhen Wizard 18/Necromant 5: ?
Djelj, Human Zhen Psion Kineticist 25: ?
Sinker Kasgat, Human Zhen Wizard 20/Necromant 4: ?
Ulariss, Human Zhen Wizard 17/Necromant 5: ?
Ruknis, Human Zhen Wizard 23/Necromant 3: ?
Ebliriok, Human Zhen Wizard 17/Necromant 3: ?
Wasagar, Human Zhen Wizard 6/Necromant 1/Psion Nomad 7/Creberemancer 10: ?
Pwiskathi Bone-Eyes, Human Zhen Psion Seer 21: ?
Abak-Enawi, Human Zhen Psion Egoist 24: ?
Kakraz the Putrid, Human Zhen Wizard 6/Necromant 4/Psion Shaper 6/Crebremancer 9: ?
Hashbru E’abriz, Human Zhen Wizard 19/Necromant 3: ?
Rahaat's Fugitive Cleric, Human Zhen Cleric 16: After the destruction of the Boiling Ruin, Pandruj awakened and called them to his side again. They rose and joined him, swearing to oppose and destroy any remaining servants of Rajaat.
Rahaat's Fugitive Psion, Human Zhen Psion Nomad 15: After the destruction of the Boiling Ruin, Pandruj awakened and called them to his side again. They rose and joined him, swearing to oppose and destroy any remaining servants of Rajaat.
The Commander, Her, Human Zhen Psychic Warrior 24: When the Burning Tide erupted across Ulyan, the Daughters were raised from their long sleep of death, arising as zhen.
Champion's Daughters Lieutenant, Human Zhen Psychic Warrior 19: When the Burning Tide erupted across Ulyan, the Daughters were raised from their long sleep of death, arising as zhen.
Champion's Daughters Infantry, Human Zhen Psychic Warrior 14: When the Burning Tide erupted across Ulyan, the Daughters were raised from their long sleep of death, arising as zhen.
Nukra-dzif, Human Zhen Wilder 15/Rogue 15: Nukra-dzif met his end (alongside Quansak) in the first stages of the final assault on Nagarvos, caught in a rain of spells cast on top of him and his men while they were surrounded by the Defenders. The others in his cabal fell not long after. He and his men were buried alongside the rest of Kalid-ma’s soldiers in their camp west of the city.
Nukra-dzif was one of the first zhen to claw out of the obsidian after the Boiling Ruin brought him back.
Quansak One-Ear, Human Zhen Rogue 7/Fighter 14: ?
Jishassagar No-Footfall, Zhen Rogue 22: ?
Redsmile Rog, Human Zhen Rogue 7/Psychic Warrior 13: ?
Volldrager’s Faithful, Human Zhen Cleric 12: ?
Guinswai the Forbidding, Human Zhen Wizard 11/Necromant 10, Independent Undead Leader: ?
Duk’kneg, Goblin Zhen Wizard 9/Necromant 8: No obsidian seeped into the Transformation Vault, but the baleful material covered the ground above Rubza’if’s prison, and surrounded it. Duk’kneg was reborn as a zhen, and despite his immortality, Rubza’if felt his own life beginning to ebb away as well.
Duk’kneg was asked by both Pandruj and the Tetrarchs to assist in the creation of a champion of their own, to combat the abilities and powers they had seen in action at the battle of Tforkatch river. When the experiment failed, Duk’kneg ended up sealed inside the Transformation Vault when the city fell.
Eventually, Duk’kneg died and was laid to rest by Rub’zaif within the Vault. When the Obsidian Flow came, Duk’kneg was raised as a zhen by the negative energy within the obsidian, even though no obsidian breached the vault.
Vassahi Eomwa, Elf Zhen Psion Nomad 25: When the Boiling Ruin came, Vassahi was far from his homeland after providing his “services” out amongst the plainsfolk. After finally clawing himself free of the obsidian, Vassahi found himself alone in a devastated world, and that he had changed as much as the world around him.
Zhen Overseer, Human Zhen Fighter 10: ?
Humanoid Zhen: ?
Recalcitrant Zhen: ?
Gazwaag, Leader of the Striders, Human Zhen Ranger 19, Enigmatic Figure, Ruthless Resourceful Tactician: Gazwaag’s history is a mystery, even to himself. He only knows what his fellows do: that he clawed his way out of a burial mound and found himself in this ruined world instead of the afterlife.
Strider Warrior Human Zhen Ranger 8: The Striders are the plainsfolk and herders that were reanimated as zhen by the Obsidian Tide.
Stony Lizardfolk Zhen: ?
The Razor's Captain Human Zhen Cleric 9/Fighter 2: It is unknown whether they were once Disciples, members of another lost Cholite clan, or simply wayward clerics of the plains caught up in the Boiling Ruin.
D'thul, Human Zhen Wizard 5/Psion Telepath 6/Necromant 10/Cerebremancer 7: For several centuries after the Champions had left, D’thul continued to rule over the now named Cholite tribes, the only threats to their relative peace being attacks by undead from the (now renamed) Pallid Mere or challenges from raiding tribes to the west. That was until the ruins of Nagarvos erupted.
An unnatural dusk filled the horizon. Before the clan shamans could divine the ill omen’s meaning, a tide of molten obsidian rushed down upon the tribesmen. A moment of searing pain seemed to end D’thul’s ambitions and power, with barely more than a few moments of mounting panic. Not even the wind riders escaped death, as the endless black tide proved inescapable.
D’thul awakened some time later in his claustrophobic tomb of black glass.
Swift Death Flying Warriors, Human Zhen Rogue 2/Psychic Warrior 7, Flying Warrior: ?
Human Zhen Driver: ?
Lizardfolk Warrior, Lizardfolk Zhen Fighter 8: The lizard folk corpses were engulfed by the defiled swamp long before the Shining Tide, and then reanimated by the Obsidian, the majority of the undead lizardfolk of Sagramog are zhen.
Many of those killed in the war with Keltis, whose remains were reduced to waterlogged bones at the bottom of the Pallid Mere by that time, reanimated as zhen, interpreting the obsidian as some new blasphemy unleashed by the human invaders, or perhaps a particularly ironic punishment from the elemental lords of Water.
Zhen Lizardfolk: ?
Humanoid Zhen: ?
Non-Humanoid Zhen: ?
Undead Xemokepper, Xemokeeper Zhen: ?
Undead Dsaliq, Dsaliq Zhen: ?
Jush-Esgar, The Caravan King, Human Zhen Psychic Warrior 22, Seasoned Guerilla Warfare Leader: ?
Shumash Guerilla Zhen, Orc Zhen Psychic Warrior 15: After the Cleansing of Shumash, Jush-Esgar had his men pile the city’s defenders in mass graves. When the Shining Tide came, it not only reanimated mass numbers of the living as zhen, but also seeped down into the burial-pits of Old Shumash; there, it reanimated many of the orcish dead. The orc’s spirits laid disquiet in the grave, but most had not the strength of conviction to return from the grave; the Obsidian Ruin gave them that strength.
Shumash Guerilla Zhen, Human Zhen Psychic Warrior 15: After the Cleansing of Shumash, Jush-Esgar had his men pile the city’s defenders in mass graves. When the Shining Tide came, it not only reanimated mass numbers of the living as zhen, but also seeped down into the burial-pits of Old Shumash; there, it reanimated many of the orcish dead.
Bugdead: ?
Mindless Bugdead: ?
Sentient Bugdead: ?
Invading Bugdead, Bugdead Invader: ?
Stray Bugdead: ?
Bugdead Aratha: ?
Bugdead Dragonfly: ?
Unintelligent Flying Bugdead: ?
Savage Bugdead Invader: ?
Voracious Bugdead: ?
Monstrous Bugdead: ?
Carapaced Bugdead: ?
Attacking Bugdead: ?
Horrid Bugdead: ?
Kank Bugdead Zombie Worker: ?
Kank Bugdead Zombie Warrior: ?
Wezer Zombie Bugdead: ?
Wezer Worker Zombie Bugdead: ?
Wezer Soldier Zombie Bugdead: ?
Wezer Brood Queen Zombie Bugdead: ?
Bugdead Wezer: ?
Bugdead Brood Queen: ?
Spider Bugdead: ?
Large Spider Exoskeleton: ?
Spider Bugdead Zombie: ?
Small Spider Bugdead Zombie: ?
Medium Spider Bugdead Zombie: ?
Large Spider Bugdead Zombie: ?
Bugdead Zombie Spider Swarm: ?
Unfortunate Bugdead: ?
Stray Bugdead: ?
Controlled Mindless Bugdead: ?
Swarm of Bugdead Mini-Kanks: ?
Swarm of Bugdead Locusts: ?
Kank Exoskeleton: ?
Wezer Exoskeleton: ?
Kank Exoskeleton Worker: ?
Kank Exoskeleton Warrior: ?
Wezer Soldier Exoskeleton: ?
Wezer Worker Exoskeleton: ?
Wezer Brood Queen Exoskeleton: ?
Exoskeleton Bugdead: ?
Exoskeleton Spider: ?
Spider Bugdead Exoskeleton: ?
Small Spider Exoskeleton: ?
Medium Spider Exoskeleton: ?
Wezer Exoskeleton: ?
Undead, Living Dead, Undead Being, Undead Creature: But, since their reanimation, the Whitebeards have taken to worshiping Paraelemental Magma, rather than their traditionally beloved Elemental Earth (the Elements reject undead clerics); with this change in faith came new enhanced over death and the reanimation of undead. If they wished, the Whitebeards could animate a host of dead gnomes as Thinking Zombies (and other types of undead) to defend their home and defeat their murderers; the only thing stopping them is their slowly waning faith in Elemental Earth.
Mindless Undead: ?
Intelligent Undead, Fully Aware Undead, Thinking Undead, Sentient Undead: Many of the thinking undead have the tendency to make more of their own kind as bonded servants when they slay the living.
Common Undead: ?
Leader Undead: ?
Powerful Sentient Undead: ?
Incorporeal Undead, Dark Shadowy Creature: ?
Bonded Servant: Many of the thinking undead have the tendency to make more of their own kind as bonded servants when they slay the living.
More Powerful Intelligent Undead: ?
Minor Undead: ?
Undead With the Death Wish Weakness: ?
Particularly Ancient Human Undead: ?
Undead Green Age Creature of the Woods: ?
Undead Trooper: ?
Undead Abomination: In undeath, Ram-azah has meddled with the negative energies inherent in the blackglass and indulged his love for necromantic experimentation, turning the fort itself into an undead abomination.
Undead Minion: ?
Undead Bodyguard: ?
Undead Wall: ?
Swarm of Undead Pixies: ?
Angry Undead: ?
Hated Undead Human: ?
Undead Captor: ?
Human Undead: ?
Conglomerate Undead Being: ?
Profane Undead Fortification: ?
Undead Inhabitant: ?
Undead Dwarf: ?
Undead Kin: ?
Undead Descendant: ?
Undead Orc: ?
Corporeal Undead: ?
Undead Animal: ?
Undead Woodland Animal: ?
Swarm of Spiteful Undead Fey: ?
Undead Animal Companion: ?
Undead Brownie: ?
Encroaching Undead: ?
Non-Hostile Undead: ?
Undead Gnome, Gnomish Undead: ?
Infected Undead: ?
Lesser Undead: ?
Fungus-Infected Undead: ?
Enemy Undead: ?
Undead Laborer: ?
Undead Spy: ?
Newly Rised Undead: ?
Strange Obsidian-Infused Undead: ?
Strange Fungus-Infested Undead Gnome: ?
Dominated Lesser Undead, Dominated Undead Minion: ?
Undead Prey: ?
Undead Victim: ?
Undead Humanoid: ?
Undead Demi-Human: ?
Ancient Undead: ?
Stubborn Undead: ?
Undead Troll, Trollish Undead: ?
Powerful Thinking Undead: ?
Jaded Undead: ?
Disaffected Undead: ?
Average Undead: ?
Undead Warrior: ?
Undead Convert: ?
Vicious Undead: ?
Undead Wildlife: ?
Rebellious Undead: ?
Screaming Human Undead: ?
Undead Inhabitant: ?
Undead Subject: ?
Undead Kobold: ?
Undead Commander: ?
Undead Cleansing Army Soldier: ?
Undead Intruder: ?
Undead Warhorse: ?
Undead Riding Skeletal Mammal: ?
Undead Horse: ?
Undead Insect: ?
Powerful Undead: ?
Troublesome But Lesser Undead: ?
Undead Neighbor: ?
Undead Outsider: ?
Undead Goblin: ?
Surprised Undead Goblin: ?
Undead Intelligent Being: ?
Powerful Undead Being: ?
Undead Intelligent Trespasser: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
Undead Former Colleague: ?
Strange Demihuman Undead: ?
Undead Refugee: ?
Undead Crodlu-Mounted Cavalry: ?
Non-Human Undead: ?
Strange Undead: ?
Undead Horror: ?
Humanoid Undead: ?
Unnatural Abomination: ?
Abomination: ?
Unintelligent Undead: ?
Undead Enemy: ?
Patrolling Undead: ?
Undead Master: ?
Enslaved Undead: ?
Blasphemous Undead Inhuman Attacker: ?
Undead Plainsfolk: ?
Low-Ranked Undead, Interchangeable Weak Undead: ?
Weaker Undead: ?
Humanoid Undead Ruler: ?
Undead City Resident: ?
Undead Attacker: ?
Undead Servant: ?
Undead Avatar: ?
Humanoid Undead Invader: ?
Tasked Undead: ?
Undead Monstrosity: ?
Undead Leader: ?
Marauding Undead: ?
Jaded Undead: ?
Shansanar, Unique Undead Treant: Shansanar’s past lies within the experimental laboratories of Gretch. It’s hard to imagine now what creature Gretch had corrupted to create such a being, but it is no secret that it is Gretch’s experiments.
Shansanar was an exercise in life and death for [Gretch] — the fusion of a living tree and a living crustacean, perverted into undead. Gretch thought the two creatures, each from along the shoreline but from either side of the waves, would make an interesting combination in unlife. Gretch attempted his experiment many times, and though most of his amalgamations failed, Shansanar proved the exception, and exists to this day, part tree and part crustacean.
Undead Feylaar: ?
Dwarven Undead: ?
Rampaging Undead Vermin: ?
Undead Cavalry: ?
Undead Cleric: ?
Fleshless Skeleton Fearsome Undead Steed: ?
Undead Pack Animal: ?
Conventional Undead: ?
Undead Dsaliq: ?
Undead Xemokepper: ?
Undead Vurgoshilm: The undead vurgoshilm reanimated after the Shining Tide amid the tangles of decayed plant matter and tar polluting the dead water pockets that were trapped by the obsidian.
Undead Lizardfolk: ?
Undead Elf: ?
Undead Viscera: ?
Demihuman Undead: ?
Undead Human Servant: ?
Elven Undead Ally: ?
Captured Undead: ?
Undead Vermin: ?
Undead Worker: ?
Slumbering Undead: ?
Humanoid Undead Inhabitant: ?
Undead Humanoid Opponent: ?
Undead Zagath, Undead S'thag Zagath: ?
Undead Brood Queen: ?
Undead Sage: ?
Undead Spider: ?
Subjugated Undead Kin: ?
Clipped Undead Zagath: ?
Maddened Undead Zagath: ?
Insane Undead Cousin: ?
Undead Owner: ?
Undead Druid: ?
Undead Ranger: ?
Shadow: ?
Mindless Skeleton: ?
Skeleton Horse: ?
War Horse Skeleton, Warhorse Skeleton: ?
Warhorse Skeleton Light: ?
Strange Skeletal Creature: ?
Swiftwing Skeleton: ?
Skeleton Archer: ?
Giant Skeleton Bombardier: ?
Elf Skeleton Swiftwing: ?
Animated Skeleton: ?
Oversized Oddly Proportioned Skeleton Light Infantry: ?
Mindless Giant Skeleton: ?
Giant Skeleton: ?
Skeleton Infantry: ?
Mindless Skeleton With Pike: ?
Human Skeleton: ?
Troll Skeleton: ?
Skeleton, Undead Skeleton: ?
Skeleton, Mindless Undead: ?
Skeleton Crodlu: ?
Angry Ogre-Wraith: ?
Wraith: ?
Mindless Zombie: ?
Zombie Customer: ?
Zombie, Servant Undead: ?
Normal Zombie, Standard Zombie, Zombie: Any living creature slain by an undead dsaliq’s poison becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.
Zombie Archer: ?
Quite Haggard Looking Zombie: ?
Zombie Infantry: ?
Ogre Zombie: ?
Mindless Zombie Worker: ?
Mindless Zombie Soldier: ?
Zombie, Mindless Undead: ?
Intelligent Zombie: ?
Human Zombie: ?
Kank Zombie: ?
Zombie Spider: ?
Dsaliq Zombie: ?
Vurgoshilm Zombie: ?
Xemokepper Zombie: ?
Zombie Vermin: ?
Zombie Rat Swarm: ?
