A compilation of facts and legend regarding those creatures of monstrous bearing which still inhabit this fair land.

Benthen

Crag Trolls

Hill trolls

Stone trolls

Bone (War) trolls

Deep trolls

Deep Walkers

Giant Rats

Goblins

Ryndarth Orcs

Strange Ones

Troglodytes

Undead">

Neridian Beastiary A compilation of facts and legend regarding those creatures of monstrous bearing which still inhabit this fair land. Benthen Crag Trolls Hill trolls Stone trolls Bone (War) trolls Deep trolls Deep Walkers Giant Rats Goblins Ryndarth Orcs Strange Ones Troglodytes Undead, Arisen Undead, Created     Return to the Beastiary Index         The Undead are a class of monster with which Neridia has had much experience and deals with in a forthright and final manner. They destroy them and they use nearly every possible means to do so. The Neridian Chivalric Code states that you will shun the forces of undeath and destroy them at each turn. This statement has been analyzed and interpreted many times over the centuries since it was first put to parchment. The clear interpretation as supported by the King is that anything short of direct violation of the law of Neridia or the violation of another tenet of the code is acceptable in destroying undead. There is no law in Neridia forbidding interacting with undead, as long as the end result of that interaction is the undead’s destruction. This means that one can speak to an undead or even put off its destruction if those actions will bring its destruction about, but you cannot interact with it under the guise of seeking its destruction only to aid yourself or it. There have been many court cases over the years involving those who claimed to be seeking the destruction of undead but were found to have simply been their supporters or seeking profit from their interaction with the undead. While these cases are always difficult to try, they are tried and have brought about convictions. The undead in Neridia have been grouped into two basic classes, the created and the arisen. Arisen Undead Least Ghoul Revenant Lesser Colossal Revenant Ghast Ghost Phantom Will of the Wisp Greater Corpse Light Greater Phantom Haunt Ravener High   Master The arisen are quite different from the created undead. No one is quite sure why the arisen return to walk Tyrra after their deaths. It is not due to a formal magic at all and those who have never touched necromancy have been known to walk the world once more as an arisen. There is no known way to transform oneself into an arisen undead. Though formal magic scrolls have been found which describe this transformation, there has never been a case where the transformation was not completely latent in Neridian history. In general arisen come about when someone dies with an intense need unfulfilled. This is not the only requirement but it seems to be necessary to arise spontaneously. Some of the arisen come about due to a nexus of chaos somehow affecting the dead in an area. What exactly these nexuses are, how they come about, or why they cause dead in the area to rise, is a matter for the scholars to study. The fact is these nexuses do cause entire graveyards to sometimes rise from the ground and seek the life force of the living. Those arisen who rise spontaneously are driven to complete whatever task it is that brought them back from beyond the grave but often they cannot do this themselves. In many circumstances in order to put an arisen to rest it is necessary to complete their task for them or aid them in the completion of the task, though this is not always the case. Neridian law specifically allows for the aiding of the arisen in order to put them to rest and it is allowed by the code as the proper interpretation of "Thou shalt shun the forces of undeath and defeat them at each turn." Since the first case of laying an arisen to rest, this has been accepted as the proper way to defeat these undead. However it is not acceptable if the task needed is to say raise a horde of undead to kill the King. In cases such as that another way to put the arisen to rest must be found. Those arisen brought forth by a nexus generally do not wander too far from the nexus if there is life in the area. To stop these dead from walking it is necessary to destroy the nexus which can sometimes be problematical. The pit of unlife is a famous example of this type of nexus and the largest one ever described. Though it was destroyed centuries ago, the City of Barrow’s Bane still stands as a monument to its destruction. Smaller nexuses such as ghoul or ghast barrows have been described by adventurers. These are not too difficult to destroy in general but often require a destroy earth magic formal to be cast upon it. Like the created undead the arisen fall into categories based on their power and how certain spells affect them. The least and lesser arisen tend to be more powerful than the least and lesser created but the greater, high, and master forms tend to be on the same power level as the created. The least arisen include the following. The Revenant:  These creatures are powerful of form but with no defense to magic. Weapons that strike them are reduced in damage. They carry the rusted, pitted swords they find among the dead when they arise. They seek to take the life force of those who still walk among the living. It takes nothing special to set a revenant to rest. The Ghoul:  A ghoul arises from a nexus of chaos often called a barrow. These creatures are dangerous for their touch causes the body to lose all ability to move. They often carry weapons taken from tombs but also sprout claws from their fingers which can cleave those around them. They too have no special defense from magic. A ghoul is driven by a hunger to strip the living flesh from the bone and devour it while still warm. The lesser arisen include the following. The Colossal Revenant:  Like their least brethren the colossal revenant is physically powerful and without magical defense. They have more strength and fortitude than do the least form of this creature. They rise from the graveyards and seek out the living to bring them back to death. The Ghast:  The ghast is a stronger form of a ghoul. They too arise from barrows and seek to devour the living’s flesh. Their touch also paralyzes their victims but they can emit a noxious substance from their body as well, the stench of which is so bad as to cause those afflicted by it to wretch and heave and be able to do naught else. The Phantom:  No one is sure why a phantom arises from the grave. In contrast to the revenants phantoms are physically weak, not even able to swing a blow at their enemies. They are magically strong however, having spells that are delivered without the need to even incant them, drawn from the very source of magical power. These creatures are also non-corporeal and able to send several spells back to the minds of their foemen who cast magics upon them. Phantoms are creatures of fear existing seemingly to spread fear among the living and do nothing else. The Will of the Wisp:  The will of the wisp appears as a floating ball of yellow light, often seen in the swamplands of the forbiddance. The creature arises and seeks to lead the unwary to their doom deep within the swamp. The creature seems to have an unnatural ability to bewitch those it sees and cause them to follow them ignorant of the doom ahead of them. Little harms a will of the wisp, they are immune to all weapons save those which bear an enchanted dweomer around the blade and they are not affected by the damaging magics of celestial mages. Healing magic and magic that specifically harms undead will affect them as normal. Luckily there is not much substance to a will of the wisp and they are easily dispatched by low level magics or a swing of two of a magic blade. It is theorized by the scholars that deep within the forbiddance are areas which serve as nexuses that cause the will of the wisps to form. The Ghost:   A ghost is probably one of the best examples of the arisen in the classic sense. The ghost is the non-corporeal spirit of a deceased man or woman which cannot rest due to unfinished business upon the face of Tyrra. It returns to Tyrra seeking to finish that which it could not when it was alive. Some ghosts can be destroyed just by force of arms. Others require an act to be completed before they can truly rest and if defeated will reform some time later and try once more to complete its task and allow it to rest. As ghosts are half on Tyrra and half in the graveyards they can phase momentarily to the graveyards to avoid an attack which would affect them here. It takes a blade of at least silver to do harm to a ghost. There do not appear to be weaker forms of the phantom, the will of the wisp, or the ghost. The greater arisen include the following The Ravener:  The raveners are a greater form ghoul and ghast. They too arise from the barrows found here and there in Neridian lands. Like the ghouls and ghasts they hunger for the flesh of the living but unlike these lesser forms they retain the cold, calculating part of their mind and intelligence, with this intelligence they also retain the skills they possessed in life. A ravener does not simply attack and try to paralyze their enemies to strip their flesh. They think and pause and wait for opportunities to attack from superior position. They do not wait and plan well but the small bit of additional thought they do put in can often turn the tables on the unsuspecting. A ravener turns aside blades of steel, requiring a silver blade or an enchanted one to harm it. They gain strength enough to tear free from a web spell and resistance to magic such that they may turn back the spells of an enemy returning them to their minds perhaps twice a day. It can inflict the nausea of its foul smell on five victims each day and paralyze them through their touch so they can still sense the teeth of the ravener as it begins to feed on their flesh and see deep into their glowing red eyes as they approach to begin their feeding. The Greater Phantom:  Like their lesser brethren the greater phantoms exist to spread fear through the living. Again, like their lesser brethren, they are magically strong delivering spells innately up to the eighth circle of magic. Unlike their lesser brethren they do have some physical prowess, able to strike with insubstantial claws and rob the strength from the body with their touch. Those who face them in battle often find themselves unable to swing as hard as they normally could due to this effect. They too can return magic to the minds of their victims though more so than the lesser form. They are not harmed by blades of steel requiring silver blades or dweomered blades to harm them, in turn they have no physical attack of their own having neither claw nor hand to deliver it with. Beware the greater phantom and have care when you see its glowing red eyes for they may hold additional surprises as they maintain the skill they once held while alive. The Corpse Light:   The corpse light appears as a floating ball of sullen red light, often seen in the swamplands of the forbiddance with the will of the wisps all around it. The creature arises with its lesser brethren and seeks to aid them in leading the unwary to their doom deep within the swamp. The creature has the same unnatural ability to bewitch those it sees and cause them to follow them ignorant of the doom ahead of them. As little harms a corpse light as harms a will of the wisp but they can also prevent the effects of healing upon them twice each day. This will not return those spells to the mind of the caster so beware of their loss. The corpse light has more substance to it than a will of the wisp though a single destroy undead will still kill it. The corpse light is also more offensive than a will of the wisp, serving as their protectors, this offense is all magical as it still has no appendage with which to strike out at an enemy. The corpse light can deliver innate magics at its enemies of necromancy, curses, death, mystic force, and command. Be glad that these creatures do not retain skill from whatever spirit gives them form for with additional strength they would truly be a difficult enemy to fight. The Haunt:   Like the ghost, a haunt is one of the best examples of the arisen in the classic sense. The haunt is also a non-corporeal spirit of a deceased man or woman which cannot rest due to unfinished business upon the face of Tyrra. It too returns to Tyrra seeking to finish that which it could not when it was alive. A haunt can never be destroyed just by force of arms, they always require an act to be completed before they can truly rest and if defeated will reform some time later and try once more to complete its task and allow it to rest. As haunts are more in the graveyards than on Tyrra they can phase momentarily to the graveyards to avoid an attack which would affect them here even more often than a ghost. It still takes a blade of at least silver to do harm to a haunt. Their red eyed countenance and the chains about their body which anchor them to Tyrra tell you when you come face to face with a haunt. It is said when a haunt is finally put to rest they leave behind their chains and these are empowered with the force of the graveyards and of use in formal magics. There does not appear to be a greater form of the revenant. No one in Neridia has yet described high or master forms of any of the arisen. However, from the tales of other lands it is probable that they exist and will be seen in time.

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