Undead

Regret, grief, and the inability to let go can deal profound mental harm to individuals not receiving the proper support. Of course, it can also result in very profound physical harm to them and their communities by drawing the undead back like flies to honey. If you call out to your lost loved ones that you cannot go on without them, they may very well hear you and come back to make it so. - Sorrowswane, Prelate of the Order of Necromancers

The balance between life and death in Tirneach is strained, and the Undead are regrettably common.

Often, a person can have difficulty resting after death. If their family or loved ones grieve for them too much it can pull them back, raising them as an abomination. If a person dies in an unusual circumstance, area, or with significant unresolved issues they can rise again as well. The Cinnirí and even the local community will keep a close eye on those who have lost someone in case they become a danger to the community or unleash a danger themselves.

The Sluagh

[SLOO-ah]

Nicknames: The Horde, Dead Gwyllt

Often a subject of debate, the Sluagh are commonly accepted to be the undead remnants of the Gwyllt. Hollow things with barely a shred of power the Sluagh are little more than a pest individually. Their true danger lies in their sheer numbers, and many a settlement has bravely seen off a major Gwyllt incursion only to be crushed days later by a horde of Sluagh.

Scholars of such things speculate that their numbers imply that every Gwyllt becomes a Sluagh after death, and theorise about what insights that could grant them about the nature of both the Gwyllt and the afterlife. They bear little physical resemblance to the Gwyllt they were in life, and are marred with purple stains. They are also very unique in that they are not opposed inherently to the living, unlike other undead they naturally cooperate with the other Sluagh around them.

During the campaign of the Season of Graves some Sluagh were seen to retain characteristics and even power from their former composition: The Caorthánaigh. They retained some minor semblance of their original manifestations and a miniscule amount of their power. These were remnants of those buried during the Siege of the Blazing Host.

In unique cases it is possible for a Sluagh to transform into a fused entity called a Sluagh King. This pathetic creature is ferociously powerful and extremely dangerous, as such it is always best to destroy Sluagh and, where possible, ensure the area is cleansed of even the slightest hint of their presence lest they yield another warped threat.

Sluagh King

A Sluagh King is a writhing mass of Gwyllt bodies warped and pulped together. The beast is extremely resilient and even if you strike it to push component pieces out the ripple effect of its organ sack body will dislocate shoulders, rupture armor or even knock you back. Its tendrils and sinews can lash out abruptly and slice at those around it.

The creature has a hive mind and when separated a component piece is capable of fighting for itself but will rush to return to the body and, if it manages to knock someone down or render them bleeding it will attempt to consume a body into its mass regardless of if the subject is a Sluagh or not. If even partially merged the victim may experience an unwilling psychic connection to the Gestalt which can be treated by a magic lore trained anatomist and the application of an invigorate ritual focusing on their individual identity.

This does not prevent the Sluagh King from sensing the absence of the individual and potentially tracking them down with a single minded determination.

In Draíod we slew one of the creatures that attempted to claim a band member and retrieved it's "core" an undulating mass that whispered telepathically with despair and loneliness in its every message to anyone in close proximity. It did attempt to escape by burying into the ground but we managed to break the cluster of it off using pushing strikes and the fear effect to break it apart - but it very nearly escaped.

The Restless

Perhaps the most common kind of undead after the Sluagh, they are the rotting bodies of mortals possessed by the corrupted souls of those who could not pass on, often those tethered here by the wailing and lamentations of their loved one. Generally created when grieving families or friends mourn over a corpse excessively, or interrupt funerary rites with their grief, creating an anchor that stops the departed from moving on. The Restless seem to bear no memory or affection for their former friends and family, and kill relentlessly. They bear some resemblance to the greatly exhausted, with pale skin and deep dark circles under their eyes, but they often also bear the marks of the wounds that killed them.

Revenants

A unique but dangerous undead, an intelligent derivative of the Restless, generally born of an intense and focused desire to take revenge on an individual (or possibly a list of individuals) these beings form themselves out of matter from the soil at a target's feet and attack until disincorporated. They then return again and continue to attack until the subject of their ire is gone. They have memories of their demise and who they knew and these appear to be their anchor to the living world, they hunt their foes relentlessly and will not stop until they or dead. Thanks to a ritual of Whispering at a ritual circle it was possible to summon them to the circle and encourage them to let go of their grudge and move on, however this required strong knowledge of the Revenant's needs and understandings and may not always be applicable. Revenants are ferociously strong and tough, they reform rapidly and can sense belongings or pieces of their body that mattered in life.

The Drowned

Nicknames: Fisher's Bane, Drowners, Watery Dead

Mostly sailors, fishers and pirates, those who die in the water whose bodies are unable to be recovered and get laid to rest. They are mostly a problem at sea, the coasts, and rivers. Often called “the Fisher’s Bane”, they seek to kill others and drag their bodies into the water. They can become a particular problem after shipwrecks. The touch of the sea on their corpses is striking, with mottled green and blue spreading across their face and hands. When encountered in Baol they were ideal hosts to Fungal Spores due to their damp bodies and preference for dark, cool places.

The Drowned can often be found in Uasa buried in the bogs and marshes, when they burst out of the ground it can surprise and daze people in a shower of mud and murky water and give them a chance to attack an unsuspecting victim.

The Lonely

Nicknames: Wisps, Flickers

Most often found in Bruid, they are the souls of those who get lost, either in the forest or somewhere else isolated from civilisation and die, without anyone to mark their passage into the next world and set their souls at peace. Faint and almost incorporeal swirling with pastel colours, they confuse and beguile travellers hoping to lead them to their doom so that they may have company at last. They are Immaterial Undead meaning they are purely the soul and have no shackles to their body, it also means they are a more unconventional threat to line fighting and when facing them it is crucial to stay aware and be ready for them afflicting peoples minds.

The Baleful

Semi corporeal spirits, they are a rare but very powerful kind of undead spectre, the most famous being the Bloodwater Spirits of Dhaloch in Baol. Where they come from is not known for certain, but it is said that when a wrathful person dies with unfinished business in a place of power, and their spirit is not properly laid to rest, their soul can fester and drain the power of the area, turning them into a mighty spectre. They are malicious, dangerous, and difficult to best in combat. They have a frightful red visage.

The Hungry

Nicknames: Starved, Biters, Gorging Undead

Those unfortunate souls who perish of famine, dehydration, or other deprivation without being granted solace. They rise from their graves with a hunger that persists after death, ravaging the land like a horde of locusts and consuming any crop, livestock, or mortal that gets in their way. They are gaunt, with red and black bile leaking from their mouths.

Leicheglacadóir

Nicknames: Lich, Gravediggers, Carrion Eaters

A more unusual subspecies of undead, no one is sure how they come to be and their presence in an area often can't be traced back to a death of origin. They are not a great physical threat by themselves but they prey on the sick and injured, finishing off those wounded in battle. They are said to steal and eat the souls of the dead, preventing them from going to rest in the afterlife. They have a grim white skull poking through purple flesh.

In battle their magic frequently poisons and diseases their foes, leaving people susceptible to the undead they frequently command or stand behind. Their powers are such that they can project the spells over the masses and are sentient, allowing them to strategize and isolate their prey - some even appear to have a "fondness" for their Schwarzcú pets based on the band's experiences in Siabhal.

Schwarzcú

Nicknames: Death Dogs, Corpse Hounds

Thought to be the undead spirits of beasts, they are fearsome bipedal black hounds with fiery red eyes, they are said to mark mortals for death. They are mostly prevalent in Bruid but are known to wander further afield, they can often be found near Leichglacadóir, and those who hunt Leichglacadóir often use the howling of Schwarzcú as a tracking sign.

Deathcaps

Nicknames: Fungals

The Deathcaps are named not for the body but for the inhabitant therein: strains of particularly nasty fungi have taken residence in his body. On their own these fungi can be very poisonous but within an undead body they can provide an augmentation of their nature, upon death they will exude toxic spores from the pustules that form on their faces and heads. Some have White patches and will cause healing to the undead around them following their death, others will spew out dazing toxins and others exude an acidic effect that damages the bodies of those around them.

Shrivelight Husks

Husks are usually found in Bruid but a sizeable number of them surfaced in both the Shaper's Steps and the Gullet of Uasa. Husks are formidable in large numbers, though they lack armor in most cases. The are green hued and some have claws. When slain they lure targets to their graveside.

Rain Dragons

Nicknames: Drakish Undead, Necrodrakes Rain Dragons rise in the wake of the Deathstorm's passage. They specifically target Fathach and Vartach. Usually only two or three appear. They are usually surrounded with Husks.

Unique Undead

Loveless

The Loveless

The former lovers of Surioch resurrected in constant agony begging to die but driven to kill by that same pain. Of the four lovers only three were brought back to life.