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Undead Origins
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<blockquote data-quote="Voadam" data-source="post: 8097329" data-attributes="member: 2209"><p>Monsters and Treasures of Airhde 2nd Printing</p><p>Castles & Crusades</p><p><strong>Undead Crow:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Forsaken:</strong> The forsaken are creatures who have survived Klarglich, the Pits of Woe. There, Unklar bound many unfortunate victims of his reign and wreaked havoc upon their minds and bodies. His slave masters tortured them, his wizards experimented upon them and the darkness fed upon their sanity. Most victims perished in that dark pit in the bowels of Aufstrag, but a few survived and they fled the Pit when they could.</p><p><strong>Mison Men:</strong> Mison men are ancient mountain warriors who have returned to the world by the magic bound in the bones of dead dragons. Mison men rise up from the grave and equip themselves with the skin and bones of the dead dragon, appearing in the guise of men adorned in plates of dragon scale.</p><p>The mison men’s origins lie in the early history of men. When men first wandered the high planes beyond the confines of the Dwarven Realms, they encountered creatures both amazing and terrifying, not least of which were the dragons. Many paid homage to these beasts and the monsters took them as servants. And though they still plundered the men of their wealth, or devoured them in flame and acid, the men paid them homage. These ancient tribes found their futures interwoven with that of the great beasts. In later days, Cults of priests learned how to stave off death using the power of the magic born in the dragons, but what they did not account for was the evil bound into the beasts, for as is known, the dragons all came from the goddess Inzae, and her disposition is a malicious one.</p><p>Bound to the dragon and the mountain where the dragon dwelt, the mison men lingered in the lands between life and death, returned or otherwise.</p><p><strong>Naerlulthut:</strong> A victim killed by the naerlulth is brought back to unlife, fated to suffer everlasting torment in the ashen wake of the creature’s passing.</p><p><strong>Soul Thief, Rottenshuf:</strong> These creatures are of the order of the Val-Austlich, created in the Days before Days by Ornduhl. They were shadows, cast off by the Cloak of Red, and called the rottenshuf.</p><p><strong>Terralip Tree:</strong> In the old dead husk of many a tree lingers the echo of its spirit. The spirit burns with some malevolence that it bore in life or that was given to it by others or that it suffered in death. These are twisted spirts, born crooked and they die angry. They are forbidden to return to the earth and oblivion as is the want of all trees, so they remain in bark, bole and branches, there to poison the ground, the very air, that once gave it life.</p><p>The terralip is found where any deciduous forest once grew or grows. They can be of any breed of hardwood, from the hardbarked cherry tree to the tall, thin aspen. They can exist in any climate and as high as the tree line in the mountains. They are found in swamps and deserts, towns and valleys, wherever trees grow.</p><p>Trees root deep in the ground; the fingers of their age push into the soils, soft or hard. For some this is all there is and they take no heed of the fruit that is the earth, the wind and sky and cool waters. For others they are awake and take notice, for what it is worth, of the world around them and these love or hate the joy of it as is their want. Of these the terralip is born. An evil limb in life, turns worse in death. Or happenstance twists a happy spirit to a malevolent force. In either case the tree is foul in death, poisoning the earth and air, filling the soils at its feet with death, trapping the spirits of the fallen in the tangled roots of its own spite.</p><p><strong>Stronger Skeleton:</strong> At will the terralip can call forth the bodies of its victims. At any given time there are 2-16 skeletons and 2-16 zombies lying in the earth around the terralip. These undead are stronger than the norm; skeletons have 2 hit dice (XP 10+2) while zombies have 4 (XP 40+4).</p><p>Trees root deep in the ground; the fingers of their age push into the soils, soft or hard. For some this is all there is and they take no heed of the fruit that is the earth, the wind and sky and cool waters. For others they are awake and take notice, for what it is worth, of the world around them and these love or hate the joy of it as is their want. Of these the terralip is born. An evil limb in life, turns worse in death. Or happenstance twists a happy spirit to a malevolent force. In either case the tree is foul in death, poisoning the earth and air, filling the soils at its feet with death, trapping the spirits of the fallen in the tangled roots of its own spite.</p><p><strong>Stronger Zombie:</strong> At will the terralip can call forth the bodies of its victims. At any given time there are 2-16 skeletons and 2-16 zombies lying in the earth around the terralip. These undead are stronger than the norm; skeletons have 2 hit dice (XP 10+2) while zombies have 4 (XP 40+4).</p><p>Trees root deep in the ground; the fingers of their age push into the soils, soft or hard. For some this is all there is and they take no heed of the fruit that is the earth, the wind and sky and cool waters. For others they are awake and take notice, for what it is worth, of the world around them and these love or hate the joy of it as is their want. Of these the terralip is born. An evil limb in life, turns worse in death. Or happenstance twists a happy spirit to a malevolent force. In either case the tree is foul in death, poisoning the earth and air, filling the soils at its feet with death, trapping the spirits of the fallen in the tangled roots of its own spite.</p><p><strong>Malhavok, Wraith:</strong> In the Age of Heroes, Malhavok was reputed to be the greatest thief in the entire west. In his travels, he took up with the holy paladin Saint Luther who tolerated his malfeasance for he proved useful in his struggles with the evil that had arisen in the east. But eventually, Malhavok betrayed the paladin and when Luther discovered Malhavok’s misdeed, the paladin’s knight laid hands on the rogue and slew him; they gave his body no rest, but burned it to ash. But Malhavok’s spirit proved powerful and refused to enter the Shadow Realms and fled the Gates of Tiamat.</p><p>Naked, it returned to the world of the living as a houseless shadow, seeking it knew not what. At last it found a home in the very blade the rogue carried in life. This blade, born of the magic of Rhealth, one of the Og-Aust of old, consumed the fire of Malhavok so that the rogue became entwined with the blade and the blade became a cursed thing.</p><p><strong>Ghost Jackal:</strong> ?</p><p></p><p><strong>Undead:</strong> Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.</p><p><strong>Wight:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Ghoul:</strong> ?</p><p><strong>Skeleton:</strong> Knoglen Blade magic item.</p><p><strong>Zombie:</strong> Knoglen Blade magic item.</p><p><strong>Banshee:</strong> The sword Noxmorus has two natural enemies, orcs, and elves. Against orcs, the wielder always gains initiative. Against elves or fey, the blade has a malevolent effect. On a roll of a natural 20, the elf or fey’s spirit is forever destroyed, thus cursing them to live out their days as shadows of their former selves, eventually becoming a banshee.</p><p>Noxmorus magic item</p><p><strong>Ghost:</strong> ?</p><p></p><p>KNOGLEN BLADE: Fashioned from the living bones of the aghul’s victims, the knoglen blade is an 8-foot long polearm with a +3 bonus to both attacks and damage. The blade is razor sharp, also crafted from living bone. On a result of 19 or 20 (before bonuses) flakes of the blade break off and enter the wound. Once in a wound the flakes begin to meld with the victim. In the round following a successful hit the victim feels an intense pain. The pain lasts for 4 melee rounds at which point the arm becomes numb and useless.</p><p>If not treated, the wound begins to rot and the surrounding flesh begins to fall off in 1d4 days. There is no saving throw. Treatment can be with cure disease, remove curse, remove disease, heal, restoration or a cleric can attempt to turn the bone flakes, as if they were a skeleton. They turn as a skeleton. If untreated the rot spreads beyond the wound and the victim begins to take 1d10 points damage each day until they die.</p><p>Unless buried in holy or consecrated ground, they reanimate as a zombie or skeleton in 1d8 days.</p><p></p><p>NOXMURUS, “NIGHT OF THE DEAD”: When Unklar came to the world of Aihrde, the greater host of the elves fled the world to the hidden realm of Seven-Rivers, Shindolay. Only a few possessed so great a love for the lands of the All Father that they remained. They hated Unklar and fought him at every turn. But defeat followed defeat and their powers proved too slight in the face of the Horned God. Their losses mounted, culminating in the battles for those lands that came to bear the name The Shelves of the Mist. With frustrated rage their thoughts turned ever to their kin who had fled, in their thoughts were visions of all the gathered strength of the elven hosts and the utter defeat of Unklar. Though they did not know it, even those hosts could not have stood against the Horned God in his prime; not even were all his minions stripped of him. But their thoughts did not know reason, only defeat and in time they turned on their kin, hating them, and cursing those who fled the fate of the world.</p><p>The Elf Prince Meltowg Lothian, brother to Daladon Half-Elven Lord of Darkenfold, was one of these elves. As is told in the Lay of the Lothian Princes, he forged the sword Noxmurus and bound within it the spirit of his rage and hate; this raging spirit took a name, Bodach, which in the elven tongue means “darkness.” Meltowg died in the Winter Dark Wars and his brother, Daladon Lothian, took up the blade for a space of years. Since those days Daladon has drifted from the halls of the Val-Tulmiph and the blade has been lost to history.</p><p>Noxmurus is a +5 two-handed claymore, whose deep green blade is unbreakable. Its grip is of black wire wrapped tightly around an iron base, the pommel a dark green opal, and the great cross-guard is speckled black, as if colored with coal dust. It is always sharp, immune to notches and scratches. Within the blade lurks the corporal manifestation of Meltowg’s madness, Bodach the imp. This imp is possessed of all the rage of its creator and bears a deep, abiding hatred for the High Elves of Aihrde. When held by a human, or any elf other than a high elf or half-elf with high elf ancestry, the sword becomes a living thing and will talk to its “master,” trying to influence the wielder. Bodach’s goals are always twofold, to kill servants of the enemy or the High Elves. It will attempt to drive its master to war on these creatures. Noxmurus is a sentient artifact and as such can control the will of its wielder. Noxmurus has a will of 21.</p><p>When unsheathed, the sword allows the wielder to move silently as a 5th level rogue, and if in a forest environment, the bearer can become invisible at will to all beings less than 15 hit dice and to all elves (as the spell invisibility). Also, elves and half-elves wielding the blade may summon and command Bodach the Imp upon command. Bodach acts as an imp familiar in all respects.</p><p>The blade imparts a resistance to poison (as the dwarf) as well as darkvision up to 120 feet. It can detect magic within a 20 foot radius. When borne by any elf other than a high elf or half-elf with high elf ancestry, the sword bestows a glamour upon the wielder, allowing the wielder to make himself seem greater than he is. The glamour acts similar to the Frightful Presence of Dragons. The glamour unsettles creatures within 120 feet if they have fewer than 12 HD. A potentially affected creature that succeeds at a wisdom save (CL 20) remains immune to the Glamour for one day. On a failure, creatures with 4 or fewer HD panic for 2d4 rounds, fleeing from the wielder and those with 5-12 HD become shaken for 4d4 rounds, suffering a -2 on all to hit rolls and attribute checks. The wielder can also detect any type of scrying.</p><p>The sword has two natural enemies, orcs, and elves. Against orcs, the wielder always gains initiative. Against elf or fey, the blade has a malevolent effect. On a roll of a natural 20, the elf or fey’s spirit is forever destroyed, thus cursing them to live out their days as shadows of their former selves, eventually becoming a banshee.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Voadam, post: 8097329, member: 2209"] Monsters and Treasures of Airhde 2nd Printing Castles & Crusades [b]Undead Crow:[/b] ? [b]Forsaken:[/b] The forsaken are creatures who have survived Klarglich, the Pits of Woe. There, Unklar bound many unfortunate victims of his reign and wreaked havoc upon their minds and bodies. His slave masters tortured them, his wizards experimented upon them and the darkness fed upon their sanity. Most victims perished in that dark pit in the bowels of Aufstrag, but a few survived and they fled the Pit when they could. [b]Mison Men:[/b] Mison men are ancient mountain warriors who have returned to the world by the magic bound in the bones of dead dragons. Mison men rise up from the grave and equip themselves with the skin and bones of the dead dragon, appearing in the guise of men adorned in plates of dragon scale. The mison men’s origins lie in the early history of men. When men first wandered the high planes beyond the confines of the Dwarven Realms, they encountered creatures both amazing and terrifying, not least of which were the dragons. Many paid homage to these beasts and the monsters took them as servants. And though they still plundered the men of their wealth, or devoured them in flame and acid, the men paid them homage. These ancient tribes found their futures interwoven with that of the great beasts. In later days, Cults of priests learned how to stave off death using the power of the magic born in the dragons, but what they did not account for was the evil bound into the beasts, for as is known, the dragons all came from the goddess Inzae, and her disposition is a malicious one. Bound to the dragon and the mountain where the dragon dwelt, the mison men lingered in the lands between life and death, returned or otherwise. [b]Naerlulthut:[/b] A victim killed by the naerlulth is brought back to unlife, fated to suffer everlasting torment in the ashen wake of the creature’s passing. [b]Soul Thief, Rottenshuf:[/b] These creatures are of the order of the Val-Austlich, created in the Days before Days by Ornduhl. They were shadows, cast off by the Cloak of Red, and called the rottenshuf. [b]Terralip Tree:[/b] In the old dead husk of many a tree lingers the echo of its spirit. The spirit burns with some malevolence that it bore in life or that was given to it by others or that it suffered in death. These are twisted spirts, born crooked and they die angry. They are forbidden to return to the earth and oblivion as is the want of all trees, so they remain in bark, bole and branches, there to poison the ground, the very air, that once gave it life. The terralip is found where any deciduous forest once grew or grows. They can be of any breed of hardwood, from the hardbarked cherry tree to the tall, thin aspen. They can exist in any climate and as high as the tree line in the mountains. They are found in swamps and deserts, towns and valleys, wherever trees grow. Trees root deep in the ground; the fingers of their age push into the soils, soft or hard. For some this is all there is and they take no heed of the fruit that is the earth, the wind and sky and cool waters. For others they are awake and take notice, for what it is worth, of the world around them and these love or hate the joy of it as is their want. Of these the terralip is born. An evil limb in life, turns worse in death. Or happenstance twists a happy spirit to a malevolent force. In either case the tree is foul in death, poisoning the earth and air, filling the soils at its feet with death, trapping the spirits of the fallen in the tangled roots of its own spite. [b]Stronger Skeleton:[/b] At will the terralip can call forth the bodies of its victims. At any given time there are 2-16 skeletons and 2-16 zombies lying in the earth around the terralip. These undead are stronger than the norm; skeletons have 2 hit dice (XP 10+2) while zombies have 4 (XP 40+4). Trees root deep in the ground; the fingers of their age push into the soils, soft or hard. For some this is all there is and they take no heed of the fruit that is the earth, the wind and sky and cool waters. For others they are awake and take notice, for what it is worth, of the world around them and these love or hate the joy of it as is their want. Of these the terralip is born. An evil limb in life, turns worse in death. Or happenstance twists a happy spirit to a malevolent force. In either case the tree is foul in death, poisoning the earth and air, filling the soils at its feet with death, trapping the spirits of the fallen in the tangled roots of its own spite. [b]Stronger Zombie:[/b] At will the terralip can call forth the bodies of its victims. At any given time there are 2-16 skeletons and 2-16 zombies lying in the earth around the terralip. These undead are stronger than the norm; skeletons have 2 hit dice (XP 10+2) while zombies have 4 (XP 40+4). Trees root deep in the ground; the fingers of their age push into the soils, soft or hard. For some this is all there is and they take no heed of the fruit that is the earth, the wind and sky and cool waters. For others they are awake and take notice, for what it is worth, of the world around them and these love or hate the joy of it as is their want. Of these the terralip is born. An evil limb in life, turns worse in death. Or happenstance twists a happy spirit to a malevolent force. In either case the tree is foul in death, poisoning the earth and air, filling the soils at its feet with death, trapping the spirits of the fallen in the tangled roots of its own spite. [b]Malhavok, Wraith:[/b] In the Age of Heroes, Malhavok was reputed to be the greatest thief in the entire west. In his travels, he took up with the holy paladin Saint Luther who tolerated his malfeasance for he proved useful in his struggles with the evil that had arisen in the east. But eventually, Malhavok betrayed the paladin and when Luther discovered Malhavok’s misdeed, the paladin’s knight laid hands on the rogue and slew him; they gave his body no rest, but burned it to ash. But Malhavok’s spirit proved powerful and refused to enter the Shadow Realms and fled the Gates of Tiamat. Naked, it returned to the world of the living as a houseless shadow, seeking it knew not what. At last it found a home in the very blade the rogue carried in life. This blade, born of the magic of Rhealth, one of the Og-Aust of old, consumed the fire of Malhavok so that the rogue became entwined with the blade and the blade became a cursed thing. [b]Ghost Jackal:[/b] ? [b]Undead:[/b] Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces. [b]Wight:[/b] ? [b]Ghoul:[/b] ? [b]Skeleton:[/b] Knoglen Blade magic item. [b]Zombie:[/b] Knoglen Blade magic item. [b]Banshee:[/b] The sword Noxmorus has two natural enemies, orcs, and elves. Against orcs, the wielder always gains initiative. Against elves or fey, the blade has a malevolent effect. On a roll of a natural 20, the elf or fey’s spirit is forever destroyed, thus cursing them to live out their days as shadows of their former selves, eventually becoming a banshee. Noxmorus magic item [b]Ghost:[/b] ? KNOGLEN BLADE: Fashioned from the living bones of the aghul’s victims, the knoglen blade is an 8-foot long polearm with a +3 bonus to both attacks and damage. The blade is razor sharp, also crafted from living bone. On a result of 19 or 20 (before bonuses) flakes of the blade break off and enter the wound. Once in a wound the flakes begin to meld with the victim. In the round following a successful hit the victim feels an intense pain. The pain lasts for 4 melee rounds at which point the arm becomes numb and useless. If not treated, the wound begins to rot and the surrounding flesh begins to fall off in 1d4 days. There is no saving throw. Treatment can be with cure disease, remove curse, remove disease, heal, restoration or a cleric can attempt to turn the bone flakes, as if they were a skeleton. They turn as a skeleton. If untreated the rot spreads beyond the wound and the victim begins to take 1d10 points damage each day until they die. Unless buried in holy or consecrated ground, they reanimate as a zombie or skeleton in 1d8 days. NOXMURUS, “NIGHT OF THE DEAD”: When Unklar came to the world of Aihrde, the greater host of the elves fled the world to the hidden realm of Seven-Rivers, Shindolay. Only a few possessed so great a love for the lands of the All Father that they remained. They hated Unklar and fought him at every turn. But defeat followed defeat and their powers proved too slight in the face of the Horned God. Their losses mounted, culminating in the battles for those lands that came to bear the name The Shelves of the Mist. With frustrated rage their thoughts turned ever to their kin who had fled, in their thoughts were visions of all the gathered strength of the elven hosts and the utter defeat of Unklar. Though they did not know it, even those hosts could not have stood against the Horned God in his prime; not even were all his minions stripped of him. But their thoughts did not know reason, only defeat and in time they turned on their kin, hating them, and cursing those who fled the fate of the world. The Elf Prince Meltowg Lothian, brother to Daladon Half-Elven Lord of Darkenfold, was one of these elves. As is told in the Lay of the Lothian Princes, he forged the sword Noxmurus and bound within it the spirit of his rage and hate; this raging spirit took a name, Bodach, which in the elven tongue means “darkness.” Meltowg died in the Winter Dark Wars and his brother, Daladon Lothian, took up the blade for a space of years. Since those days Daladon has drifted from the halls of the Val-Tulmiph and the blade has been lost to history. Noxmurus is a +5 two-handed claymore, whose deep green blade is unbreakable. Its grip is of black wire wrapped tightly around an iron base, the pommel a dark green opal, and the great cross-guard is speckled black, as if colored with coal dust. It is always sharp, immune to notches and scratches. Within the blade lurks the corporal manifestation of Meltowg’s madness, Bodach the imp. This imp is possessed of all the rage of its creator and bears a deep, abiding hatred for the High Elves of Aihrde. When held by a human, or any elf other than a high elf or half-elf with high elf ancestry, the sword becomes a living thing and will talk to its “master,” trying to influence the wielder. Bodach’s goals are always twofold, to kill servants of the enemy or the High Elves. It will attempt to drive its master to war on these creatures. Noxmurus is a sentient artifact and as such can control the will of its wielder. Noxmurus has a will of 21. When unsheathed, the sword allows the wielder to move silently as a 5th level rogue, and if in a forest environment, the bearer can become invisible at will to all beings less than 15 hit dice and to all elves (as the spell invisibility). Also, elves and half-elves wielding the blade may summon and command Bodach the Imp upon command. Bodach acts as an imp familiar in all respects. The blade imparts a resistance to poison (as the dwarf) as well as darkvision up to 120 feet. It can detect magic within a 20 foot radius. When borne by any elf other than a high elf or half-elf with high elf ancestry, the sword bestows a glamour upon the wielder, allowing the wielder to make himself seem greater than he is. The glamour acts similar to the Frightful Presence of Dragons. The glamour unsettles creatures within 120 feet if they have fewer than 12 HD. A potentially affected creature that succeeds at a wisdom save (CL 20) remains immune to the Glamour for one day. On a failure, creatures with 4 or fewer HD panic for 2d4 rounds, fleeing from the wielder and those with 5-12 HD become shaken for 4d4 rounds, suffering a -2 on all to hit rolls and attribute checks. The wielder can also detect any type of scrying. The sword has two natural enemies, orcs, and elves. Against orcs, the wielder always gains initiative. Against elf or fey, the blade has a malevolent effect. On a roll of a natural 20, the elf or fey’s spirit is forever destroyed, thus cursing them to live out their days as shadows of their former selves, eventually becoming a banshee. [/QUOTE]
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