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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 7535053" data-attributes="member: 2209">Dungeon Crawl Classics 58 The Forgotten Portal<a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/59887/Dungeon-Crawl-Classics-58-The-Forgotten-Portal?affiliate_id=17596" target="_blank">Dungeon Crawl Classics 58 The Forgotten Portal</a>4eQuahtlatoa, Human Mummy: The day was won, but the hero suffered grievous wounds and died less than a day later. The villagers were emotionally torn, as their hero had clearly saved the village, yet he was likely cursed with the evil taint and thus destined to stalk his people as a werejaguar himself. The elder commanded Quahtlatoa’s loyal followers to deposit his body in the mighty Tototl River near the Atotzin, even though they felt it was not an appropriate burial for such a beloved hero.His followers set out to perform the grim task without ceremony. But when they discovered the cave system, they decided to honor their leader in a more appropriate fashion. They hastily constructed a tomb, with a burial pit and crude altar. Using salt deposits collected from area 1–5, they packed his body and weapons into the pit, and chanted many blessings to Ilhuicatl, his patron deity. After leaving offerings of gold and slain enemies, they sealed the tomb with a large rock, constructed a simple ceiling trap, and painted the walls of the corridor to honor their hero’s deeds.As it turns out, Quahtlatoa was never tainted with the curse of lycanthropy. His spirit was at unrest, though, due to an improper burial and lack of respect for his corpse. For centuries, his body, preserved in packed salt, and spirit lingered and wallowed in the throes of evil, eventually animating as a mummy. (It’s likely that Ahpuchac, the Black Jaguar, at least had a small hand in the animation as revenge against his cult.)Xochatateo: Xochatateo are filthy undead humanoids, created from the sacrificial victims of particularly vile and bloodthirsty cults. Each bears a similar wound upon its chest, where its still-beating heart was cut from its body just before the death of its corporal form. For some reason, the xochatateo lives on – a tormented creature cursed to exist between the realms of life and death, constantly seeking the hearts of the living to replace the one that once beat within its chest.It is unclear as to exactly why the xochatateo are created. Some scholars argue that they are created when a sacrifice ritual is conducted incorrectly; others believe that they are created when the subject being sacrificed simply refuses to die. A few cynics even believe that xochatateo are nothing more than a cruel god’s joke. Regardless of the reasons behind their creation, there is no disputing how they come into existence: During a sacrificial ritual, when the still-beating heart is ripped from a humanoid creature’s chest, for some reason that creature does not die. Instead, it is reborn as a cruel, savage creature with a taste for mortal flesh. When Tlacocelot began sacrificing victims, it took him many attempts to get the procedure right. The results of these failed attempts have generated the four undead creatures that lurk in the alcoves. The xochatateo are filthy ghoul-like undead creatures, forced to exist against their will.Zombie: These chambers were the living quarters for several under-priests loyal to Tlacocelot. When the high priest embraced the new regime offered by the evil couatl, his first action was to slay these priests. He used his magic mask to assume the form of a jaguar, then slaughtered them while they slept. Thus, all the zombies bear horrific slash and bite wounds. (A DC 10 Heal check reveals death was inflicted by a powerful animal’s talons and teeth.) However, he found a use for their broken bodies as undead thralls, and he raised them as zombies in order to terrorize the villagers and assist him with menial tasks.Zombie Rotter: ?Greater Xochatateo: ?</blockquote>

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