House Rules: Undeads of Dylosians

by Daniel E. Crosby

Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 12:08:14 -0500 From: "Daniel E. Crosby" To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Creature for critique

Here is some info about a sort of human-undead-sorta creature I made up about a year ago, I thought I'd throw out to the list for comments. It is pretty much tied to a certain nation in my world called the "Dylos League," hence the references here; the details about them aren't important except what's mentioned.

Background

The Dylosians, while not being particularly spiritual people, have a strange set of rituals when it comes to their dead. It appears that whenever someone who was generally considered to be "of strong spirit" (which seems to include anybody who was loud, commanding, respected, talented, strong, etc) dies, they are entombed alongside everyone else?but only after having molten metal poured all around and on top of them! The result is a vaguely man-like monstrosity of metal which is somewhat sickening, especially soon after its creation. The metal used seems to depend on the "strength" of spirit; bronze for the less respected, iron or even lower grades of steel for the great warriors or kings. Legend has it that for a few legendary heroes molten mithril or hracana has even been used. After this process, silver or gold inlays are often put on over the "statues" of the rich, along with precious gems, if such a procedure was prearranged or requested by the next-of-kin.

The purpose behind this bizarre ritual is stranger yet. To be sure, today it is viewed as an honor to be so "preserved" (which is odd, considering that when death is thought to be near, the procedure is sometimes begun while the subject is still alive; it is said to be more effective that way) but there is a long and unsettling legend behind it. Apparently, the Dylosians are (according to them, anyway) a people of great and powerful spirit to begin with. For those above even this high standard, sometimes death of the body does not prove enough to totally quench the powerful spirit. In some cases, the spirit has returned to the dead and decaying body, intending to return to society; but inhabiting the decrepit body and mind quickly causes the spirit to go insane and begin ravaging the lands of the living. Encasing the body in metal does not prevent the return of the spirit, but it prevents it from being able to bring the body back to motion, thus eliminating the problem. Even if this legend could possibly be true, you doubt it could justify the feeling of smelling the molten metal, the foul stench of the furnace used to prepare it, and worst of all, the horrible smell of burning human flesh mixed alongside it.

The Creature

There could be lots of these undead creatures of varying powers, but my PCs encountered the remains of Adranik, a great warrior who led two separate rebellions against the government of the League centuries ago. When they entered his tomb (they had some reason for doing so, I don't remember exactly) they found the body encased in metal; but it was a very spotty job. The outermost layer was of Mithril, but it seemed to have been done in a hurry and underneath was a layer of iron. As it turns out, Adranik was so powerful that he was able to move, even encased in bronze or iron; and unfortunately for the PCs, he had eventually been locked in this tomb because even the mithril did not subdue him completely.

(I don't have C&M even though I use the RMSS, but I assume things are done pretty much the same way)

Stats

Size: M        Hits: 500      AT(DB): 20(75) MS/AQ: SL/SL
Level: 20

Attacks: 150 Huge Bash, 150 Huge Grapple

Special: Takes double concussion hit damage from lightning-based attacks. Whenever a Mithril or lesser weapon delivers a critical, it must make an RR vs its own level or break; +0 for iron, +10 for steel, +20 for high quality alloys, or +30 for Mithril.

Technically this creature would be "undead," but the metal tends to shield victims from normal bad undead effects. Normally killing the body (eliminating all the hits) would simply make it dormant for a while; nothing short of complete annihilation of the body will stop the spirit from returning. In my world there are no clerics (religion exists, but is not that organized yet) so it would be up to the GM to decide whether and how Repulsions would affect it.

Any comments would be welcomed. :)

------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Crosby
dcrosby@math.purdue.edu
http://expert.cc.purdue.edu/~dcrosby

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