Minor NPC: The Blackguard

Another minor NPC, though this one would likely be a recurring villain. I feel like sometimes I do a little too much backstory for things that should be rather basic. This one is the opposite end of the spectrum. Image is courtesy of Reddit user De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: The Blackguard
Race: Human
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Description: 
The air is cold and still around this figure. He steps forward with an unnatural grace even though he should be laden by his heavy armor. Blood drips down his blade in a constant trickle, and his eyes fixate on you unwaveringly.

Profile:
The Blackguard is a human that once was a paladin. He fell from his powers and made a pact with a triad of demon lords to gain new horrific powers, and now works as their pawn in Fomor. His name has been stricken from history, and his existence proves only to tarnish the reputation of all paladin orders. He is the first of his kind, to not only survive the judgement of paladins after falling to evil, but to prove himself worthy of becoming the servant of such masters.
In combat, The Blackguard is a purely melee combattant. He closes in with whomever he can reach and duels until they die. He no longer places any value on his own life, and will not stop until his target is destroyed. His evil magic serves to give him the ability to drain life from his opponents, and also buffs himself physically. He normally only fights alone.
The purpose of this character is to be mysterious without being too intricate. His past is a secret, since none of the paladin orders are willing to admit where he came from, lest they be seen as corruptible. He himself no longer views himself as human, and now blindly obeys his masters. He can be a recurring villain for the party to face, as he serves these enigmatic beings that may have nonsensical goals to mortals.

Minor NPC: Istrix

Wow. No sooner do I talk about how great it is to finally have time to update than a bunch of stuff comes up that then prevents me from doing so. I'm really bad at this. I am trying to get this taken care of in a reasonable fashion, but I may be inconsistent in the near future. Credit for the image to De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: Istrix
Race: Human
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Description:
This human is slightly taller than average. He wears brightly-colored clothing that covers all of his skin, and wields a scimitar with one hand. He keeps an assortment of other combat equipment around his person, and watches everyone around him at the same time.

Profile:
Istrix is a bounty hunter. He mostly works alone, bringing people in either dead or alive to collect rewards. As an adventuring type, Istrix tends to take on more difficult charges that others aren't capable of retrieving. He doesn't question the reasons which someone might be taken in - while some are certainly criminals and evildoers, others are good people that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Istrix makes no distinction so long as it serves him. He is well-known for never reneging on a contract after nearly a decade in the business.
Istrix has a style of combat very similar to that of a Ranger. He is an expert tracker, and is usually lightly armored. His tactics vary based on his mark and whether the bounty is to be brought alive or dead. If lethality is approved, he will often lay traps and attack from a distance. If they need to be caught alive, then he will close into melee and attempt to net them so they can be chained and marched back.
Istrix is very detached socially. He is not very outgoing, and is mostly focused on his work. He has no family that he maintains contact with, and no friends beyond temporary colleagues. While he has never explicitly betrayed someone working a contract with him, he certainly does not go out of his way to help them should they get into trouble during the fight. He is most well known for being a lone wolf, which is rare among bounty hunters. Currently, Istrix resides in Neris as a bounty hunter kept on retainer by a noble house.

NPC: Ferellian

And now I'm back! I'm all moved in and settled into college, and I've finally got some time to get back to the blog. As I promised earlier, I will do two updates a day until I've caught up with all the posts that I failed to make. The delay was a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I'm back in action now. This post deals with an NPC that I doubt will ever see play, but the party is set up that they may encounter her later on. It helps me to establish NPCs like this early on in my mind so that I can use them should they come up later. Credit for the image to De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: Ferellian
Race: Fey
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Description: This female is tall and lithe. She looks vaguely elvish, but is dressed entirely in plant material. Vines writhe around her body, and plants seem to grow under her feet as she walks.

Profile:
Ferellian is a fey tied to Spring. She is attuned to plant life moreso than animal life, and causes spontaneous plant growth everywhere she goes. She is a powerful spellcaster that is very similar to a Druid. 
Ferellian is unrepentantly evil to the eyes of mortals. She cares only for her own affairs, which are alien and incomprehensible to mortal creatures. She does not so much have "allies" as she uses pawns to gain power. She does not have the ability to have compassion for mortals, and oftentimes forgets that they exist. She considers other fey to be beneath her, even if they are technically stronger. Her plants are used as minions to accomplish whatever tasks Ferellian has need of doing.
Generally, Ferellian's actions all have the aim of expanding her own power. Her exact methods are not always obvious, but she is perpetually obtaining that one goal. Like all other fey, she is somewhat tied to her season. As a fey of Spring, Ferellian tends to be more active than other fey. This is also somewhat responsible for her goal of constantly expanding.
Ferellian's interaction with PCs would largely be through her other minions. She has plant creatures that have some form of intelligence to accomplish basic tasks without her micromanaging them at all times. It is fully possible that, should the PCs prove themselves capable, these minions would seek them out to obtain artifacts or materials to accomplish her goals. This would potentially tie into other fey plotlines if the party is involved with them.

NPC: The Wizened Warrior

This is becoming another faction that I'm putting together. This time it's more of a mini-boss that the party may encounter at some point should they go down this path. This NPC is designed to be a tactically challenging fight, since she behaves more like a Warlord from 4th edition (which I actually got the chance to play for the first time last week) and will be highly coordinated. 


Name: The Wizened Warrior
Race: Human
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
This elder human female is adorned in plate armor. Her skin is cracked with scars from previous battles, and she is surrounded by flames. Despite her apparent age, she appears to be a capable fighter.

Profile:
The Wizened Warrior is the eldest of the Burning Crusaders. Her spirit was among the most fervently dedicated to Sarenrae and she is among the most corrupted in the entire church. She has decades of battle experience and expertise in the way of combat. She is the field commander of the Burning Crusaders and holds considerable political sway within the Church. She is usually found either guarding the main temple from interlopers or leading the Burning Crusaders on their conquests.
Physically, The Wizened Warrior is weaker than the others. She is old and her body is beginning to slow. However, she relies on her expansive knowledge of tactics and combat sense to prevail over her enemies. Specifically she excels at demon-slaying, though her mind has become so twisted and warped that she views most beings of Good as demons. When in a group of Burning Crusaders, she acts more as a tactician than an actual combatant, giving her troops instruction and guidance.
She was one of the first to fall to the demons when they corrupted the Church. She was seen as the representation of the Church in the world, renowned throughout the world as a demon slayer and champion of righteousness. When she was first corrupted, the demon used her as a vessel to begin spreading the evil influence throughout the entirety of the Church hierarchy. She was taken during a battle with a powerful demon, and immediately reported to the High Priest of Sarenrae. Through her, each of the Burning Crusaders were corrupted and spread the influence of the demons to every temple.

NPC: The Vendor

This post is inspired partially by Diablo 3, and its Treasure Goblins. I like the idea of an NPC that's not necessarily helpful nor antagonistic, but is purely out for its own interests. While that may describe most NPCs at first, it's sometimes very hard to actually roleplay, since PCs like to rationalize their way out of anything. But this NPC has only one thing that it's after, and that motivation drives its every action, vastly simplifying the way you actually play it out. Credit for the image to Shreya Shetty.

Name: The Vendor
Race: Demon
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
The creature is bloated and massive. It has thick grey skin with countless folds, leading up to a face that resembles a furry spider. It has arms protruding out of it's sides, each with long slender claws or tentacles grasping at various items and coin.

Profile:
The Vendor is a demon that resembles Greed. It has an unquenchable thirst for wealth, and the procurement of valuable items. It is almost immobile, but has powerful magic alongside a slew of magical items that make it fearsome in combat. It mostly acquires wealth by making heavily lopsided deals with mortals. Whenever it finds a mortal with sufficient wealth to catch its interest, The Vendor will manifest to them and attempt to broker a deal. These deals almost always favor The Vendor. It is also open to trade, so long as the potential buyers have something that it deems valuable.
The Vendor has servants that go out and actively search for wealth. These creatures range from lesser demons to mortals, with no consistency between them. Their minds have been corrupted by greed, and The Vendor uses them to go where it can not go easily. Unlike most demon lords, The Vendor can pass into other planes relatively easily. It calls on the greed in every mortal's soul to bring itself forth, and is oftentimes intentionally summoned when a foolish mortal or fey lord wants to purchase something incredibly rare.
The Vendor has existed for thousands of years, acquiring numerous artifacts and magical items in addition to it's endless store of gold and jewels. It also has currency in every conceivable form, from hard coin to promissory notes, from seashells to barter goods. Every civilization with any form of currency has had at least some dealings with The Vendor -- that much it has made sure of. 
The intention for this NPC is to be an inevitable encounter to the PCs. At some point or another, they will be involved with a quest that requires something incredibly rare or even unique. The Vendor will of course have what they need, but will also have a price. It deals both with physical and spiritual currency, and may make several different demands of each member of the party. One may owe The Vendor a favor, one may owe The Vendor their soul upon death to become one of it's wealth-seekers, or even just hard cash should they have it. The Vendor is, while intelligent, very predictable. It has ha

d almost an eternity to know how to swindle mortals, but it will always pursue wealth. If the PCs can offer it something that it could never get anywhere else, its own greed would make it immediately want to pursue that deal.
The Vendor doesn't like combat. Even if it is attacked, the demon will likely just pull itself back into the ground and shift to another plane to conduct further business. If it is absolutely forced to fight, it is an immobile creature. It has many limbs, though most are underground. It has dozens if not hundreds of combat-applicable magic items, so it has virtually any options on the table. Mostly it only wants the wealth of its attackers, and so may only paralyze and rob them. It prefers not to do this when a deal is possible, but The Vendor has been known to do such things in the past.

Quotes:

• "And what do you have to offer?"
• "Your greed…it calls to me….we are not so different."
• Slobbers and fondles gold pieces whenever it receives them.

Creature: Swamp Creatures

So again, something a little bit different. This time, I'm doing a monster concept. The first thing you may notice is that I did not include any stats. That is because the intention is for this to be more of a template than anything else. The monster may be encountered at any time in a campaign, so the stats will vary wildly while the concept remains the same. I included a list of characteristics that would make finding relevant stats easier, since one would only have to follow those guidelines. 
Also something new here: I want to build upon one of the very first posts I did here on this blog. That would be the one and only Black Forest. I'm going to spend the next few days making encounters or NPCs that could be found in there. Credit for this image comes from Deviant Art user ~orochi-spawn...though I still got it from Reddit.
Edit 7/16: So I just realized that I forgot to put the picture in...


Name: Swamp creatures
Environment: Swamps, Dark forests
Type: Aberration

Description:
The creature is large and grotesque. It has slimy green scales, and massive claws. It stands crookedly bipedal, and lets loose a terrifying roar as it sees you. 

Characteristics:

• Low intelligence
• Melee
• Heavily armored
• Amphibious
• Resistance to poison
• Toxic bite

Tactics:

• Charge forward
• Fight to the death

Info:
The Swamp Creatures are very dim-witted but powerful foes. They are created by perverse magic that corrupts the natural order of things. They are considered aberrations, and are unnatural. They feed off of any living flesh, but are not strictly hunters. They will eat what they kill, but the swamp creatures are driven to kill anything they lay their eyes on. They do not use any special tactics beyond hiding in pools of water until they see something to attack.
In combat, the swamp creatures are very predictable. They charge towards the nearest enemy and attack until it dies. Then they move on to the next enemy. This continues until there is either nothing left to kill, or the swamp creature itself is dead. The creatures are strong physically, and are heavily armored, with a resistance to poison. They have no special powers or magical abilities beyond a poisonous bite. 
In terms of roleplaying, the swamp creatures are created mostly by accident. They are products of corrupted nature, and are driven insane. They used to be other creatures, but have been so greatly altered by magic that they are unrecognizable. They sometimes may hunt in packs, but it almost always ends in them tearing each other to pieces until only one remains. Even that one will probably be so heavily injured that it dies shortly thereafter. They may be used by the antagonist as low-level flunkies, as they are very easy to manipulate into serving simple tasks. Mostly just to guard a particular area. They are not very good trackers nor watches, and they can be simple to sneak by unnoticed. 

Minor NPC: The Mushroom Seeker

Something a little different today, with a bit more of a comic relief NPC. This is meant to be a minor ally of the PCs in the early levels, as he can give some aid and will forgive the PCs if they ever provoke him. I'm trying to make my paragraphs shorter and more digestible, so I'm changing some things up slightly. I've also added in a "Quotes" section. Also, I'm going to be out of town for the rest of the week and won't return until Saturday. If I have time, I will try to make updates, but I can't make any promises. Credit for the image goes to Reddit user krzyma.


Name: The Mushroom Seeker
Race: Dwarf
Alignment: True Neutral

Appearance:
You first think you are seeing wood and moss animate before you. The golem structure then coalesces into a more definite form as it moves through the forest, lumbering about. You can barely see a dwarf's face, red and cheerful as he works, bumbling about the top of the structure.

Profile:
The Mushroom Seeker is a cheerful hermit that lives out in the forests. He is a dwarf, and the closest thing to what he is would be a blend between an Artificer and a Druid. He is mildly insane, but not particularly aggressive. He has constructed the structure out of wood, moss, and the magical mushrooms that grow in his forest. He himself can always be found wearing his goggles and smoking a pipe, meandering through the forest to collect the mushrooms.
The Mushroom Seeker almost never notices anyone who comes near him. Even if they directly speak to him, he always think that it is one of the many animals that cling to the golem he has constructed. He is always happy to speak with them, and otherwise softly hums to himself. He also sometimes talks to his golem, named Bugba.
The mushrooms in the forest have many different properties, but only for those who know how to use them. The golem that the Seeker has made is capable of harvesting them without damaging the mushrooms. This is almost impossible for a living person to do, and it took the Seeker years to gather enough undamaged specimens to make the one golem. Now he uses them to make different mystical balms and potions, which have a wide variety of different effects.
The intent is for The Mushroom Seeker to be a minor ally of the PCs. He will not provoke them in any way, but if necessary he can fight. The golem is heavily armored, but wasn't made for combat. It moves surprisingly fast through the forest, and has exceptional camouflage. The Seeker himself keeps many flasks of mushroom potions, ranging from Alchemist's Fire to Sleep spells, and even Invisibility potions. Overall his goal is mostly just to escape, but he can be dangerous if he's allowed to fight on his own terms. Since he isn't even aware that other people exist, the Seeker won't recognize the PCs if they meet him again. He will assume they are new creatures that he's just meeting.
He is willing to give potions to the PCs if they can convince him that they are nice. He is cheerful and loves his woodland friends. He may ask some small forms of payment, but this will largely consist of worthless items. He'll ask for a single strand of moss, or fifteen grains of sand from his favorite mushroom spot. If asked why he wants these things, the Seeker will just laugh maniacally and yell "For science! Beautiful, wonderful science!"

Quotes:

• "For science! Beautiful, wonderful science!"
• "Oooohh, new friends! Lovely!"
• <If attacked> "Why? Why? All I wanted was a friend! Bugba here never even tells me he loves me *sobs*"
• "Bugba, go get that one! No, not that one, that one! Yes, go!"

NPC: Vengarion

One of my player's backstories features celestials pretty prominently. I find it appropriate to actually have that be fleshed out a little bit with potential NPCs as the party progresses. Credit for the image goes to De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: Vengarion
Race: Angel
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Appearance:
The angel has the shape of a slender human, though it towers at around twelve feet tall. It has six glistening silver wings protruding from it's back, and it is covered entirely in a light grey armor. In one mailed fist it holds a sword six feet in length, glowing a dull red. It's helm has six slots for eyes, and each one shimmers a very slight silvery color.

Profile:
Vengarion is an angel that represents vengeance. It is the embodiment of making entities pay for their crimes in blood, while other angels have other means of dispensing justice. It is not evil nor good, and acts according to it's nature within the universe. Vengarion is not well-liked among it's fellow angels, which view it as unnecessarily harsh, though they rarely interfere with it's work. Vengarion is relentless in it's pursuit of it's victims, and always enacts bloody retribution upon them. It mostly only pursues targets that the fates have decreed will not be brought to justice by other means - no mortal will ever make them answer for their crimes, and they don't fall in the jurisdiction of other angels. It is also bound by the same rules of other celestial and demonic entities, such that it can not intervene in the affairs of mortals without exceptional circumstance.
Vengarion is widely regarded to be an angel of death. Stories are told about it's wrath, and the destruction that it reaps among it's victims. While most of those that Vengarion kills are evil, even good people sometimes incur it's wrath, and are targeted for vengeance. It abides by it's own set of ideals, which do not take into account the actual morality of whomever it is sent to kill. It only perceives the action or actions that require vengeance. While most angels are revered as bastions of good, Vengarion is sometimes even considered evil by mortals. They fear it, even though it takes almost incomprehensible circumstances for it to take action.
When someone is targeted by Vengarion, they begin to have nightmares whereupon they receive the "Mark of Vengarion." The Mark resembles the six wings surrounded by five glowing symbols, each of which is a celestial symbol for vengeance. The mark is branded onto their forehead, chest, and back, and is burned into the center of their vision. Vengarion may take hours, days, weeks, or even years in pursuit of it's target. It is seemingly random, yet the sense of foreboding doom looms around the target as soon as they are in Vengarion's attention. To date, no form of magical protection has ever warded off it's search. 
Vengarion's minions are the Inevitables. These creatures are also dedicated to meting out justice, though it is rarely as severe as Vengarion's own missions. They pursue justice for different crimes, to the letter of the law. They are directly within Vengarion's domain when not in use, and it sometimes deems it necessary to create an entire new breed of Inevitable, though this is rare.
In combat, Vengarion only closes in for the kill. It mostly ignores anything that it is not specifically there to dispatch, although it will cut them down if they get in the way. It has the capacity for permanent flight, as well as teleportation between planes. It is primarily a melee combatant, and uses it's sword to purge the souls of whomever it kills. It has access to only a few combat-related spell-like abilities. Most notably, it will paralyze it's target before purging it's soul with it's sword. Once it's mission is complete, it has been known to brand anyone who helped the target with a Mark of Justice. The exact requirements of the Mark of Justice vary from case to case. Other times, the angel simply kills them. It is innately lawful, but does not hate forces of chaos outright. 

NPC: Belkor, Champion of Death

Another image from De_Vermis_Mysteriis. I rather like this concept for an antagonist, as he could be a more direct threat to a group of PCs rather than a contrived encounter.


Name: Belkor, Champion of Death
Race: Undead
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
This creature is tall and slim, and armored lightly. It wields a curved sword in one hand, and leaves it's other hand free. It's armor is a pale yellow, and bears skull icons. It's hair is a pale white, and builds up like a mane.

Profile:
  Belkor was once an elf who stood against the undead hordes. He was a renowned sword-mage among his people, and had led many victorious battles throughout his life. When he confronted Wraithlord Panack's army, however, he was ultimately defeated. His elves had sought to fight the undead in an open battlefield, where they were easily outmatched. He personally dueled against the Wraithlord, only to be crushed by the undead's superior martial skill. He is, however, a very skilled swordsman and magician, and was seen as highly valuable by Panack.
  Belkor is intelligent but impatient. He has a tactician's mind, and often counsels Panack with regards to conducting their war against the living. However, he is often rash and will jump to faulty conclusions. While he may lay intricate plans and create genius battle strategies, he is oftentimes too inflexible and careless to make them succeed. Belkor is arrogant and foolhardy, but his natural brilliance makes him feel superior to all of Panack's other underlings. He views himself as being the most valuable of the Wraithlord's inner circle, and has a cutthroat rivalry with Nora.
  Belkor unlives for battle. He is overcome by bloodthirst and the desire to see his enemies driven before him. Unlike the other servants of the Wraithlords, he has been known to disobey Panack if he feels that he has a better idea. This makes Belkor somewhat of a rogue agent, but he remains useful enough that he has not been dealt with yet. For as long as he has been undead, he has completely defeated each of his enemies, and taken the initiative to expand his destruction. His mistakes are mostly minor, though sometimes they could have been fatal if not for chance. He views it as his purpose in the universe to lead battles and glorify his name in the oncoming age of undead domination.
  In combat, Belkor lives up to his title. He is not as agile as Panack or Nora, and prefers to duel his opponents individually. He uses a combination of magic and swordplay to overcome his foes, mostly focusing on bringing their death as quickly as possible. He is skilled and deadly, but almost never plans beyond his next move. He is entrusted with the command of a large number of undead, who rigidly follow his exact orders. He is, more often than not, sent as an advance party to raid and terrorize an area before the main invasion force can enter. 

Minor NPC: The Scavenger

I'm trying another minor character. I like these mostly because they're fairly simple to come up with, and I've done way too many Big Bad characters lately. Another image from De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: The Scavenger
Race: Undead
Alignment: Neutral Evil

Appearance: 
  The creature is clad in tattered rags and leather. It is covered in dried blood and reeks of death. It is hunched over, under the weight of bags that ooze bodily fluids. It wields a large cleaver that drips with blood.

Profile:
  The Scavenger is a minion of Wraithlord Dirextrus. It is a creature that picks the dead in the battlefield, looking for usable parts in whatever abominations she is creating. It feasts on anything else that is unusable, allowing itself to grow and become stronger. Normally it does not fight, but it's body is the combination of so many other creatures that it does possess great strength. It is sluggish, and focuses mostly on it's duty of collecting the dead, but it will defend itself if necessary. It mostly relies on alchemical substances in it's packs that it creates from corpses, rather than it's own combat ability. The Scavenger is also always accompanied by undead birds, that serve as scouts so it can tell which parts of the battlefield it wants to scavenge from first.
  The Scavenger is not a strong personality. It obeys it's orders, and brings parts back to it's master without question nor hesitation. It mostly ignores whatever else is going on, and focuses solely on gathering bodies. It does have some understanding of language, but did not see any functional reason to give itself any body parts that allowed it to speak. Mostly, it has constructed itself to be able to carry as much as possible, and be able to traverse whatever terrain is necessary. If The Scavenger is encountered multiple times, it's body may be radically different as it adjusts to wherever it is. If it feels that it needs to be more capable in combat, it may sacrifice some of it's functionality to fight off attackers in subsequent missions. 

NPC: Wraithlord Arath

And caught back up with the present. Good work, team! This is the final Wraithlord, although I think I have enough posts to flesh out the faction by the end of next week. Image is, again, courtesy of De_Vermis_Mysteriis. I feel like I should probably get them from other sources, but they uploaded so many that I'm not sure if I'll ever run out at this rate. I wasn't really sure how to describe this NPC. The concept is definitely inspired by Nicodemus from The Dresden Files, but I wasn't entirely sure how to convey that.


Name: Wraithlord Arath
Race: Undead
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
This creature is dressed from head to toe in dark gray leather and cloth, adorned with skulls. Green light pulses out from under it's armor and hood. It has on a mask with only eye holes, glowing a bright green. It wields a large staff made of polished bone, inscribed with runes that glow green.

Profile:
  Wraithlord Arath is the eldest of the Wraithlords. He created each of the others, and is the closest thing they have to a true leader. He is clever and cunning, and has been working through his plans for thousands of years. He is vicious and dedicated to bringing about a new world order, dominated by the undead. Like the other Wraithlords, he is manipulative and powerful. 
  Arath is tireless, patient, and calculating. He is very logical, and has detailed plans for absolutely every possible event that could occur. He is somewhat of a puppet master over civilization, and uses his magic and agents to infiltrate all major political powers. He never reveals himself, even to his underlings, preferring to stay in hiding unless absolutely necessary. His magic serves to complement his own skill both as a warrior and a rogue, and he is highly competent in almost every area imaginable. He often sets up situations in which no matter the outcome, he is capable of coming out ahead.
  Arath was the first undead creature ever created on Fomor. Back when the Formians still ruled over the continent, before the dragons purged them, he was created by something that he does not know or understand. He has since spread the plague of undeath, grown his own power, and slowly witnessed the entirety of Fomor as he enacts his plans. He is well aware that he is being manipulated by some other being, though he is infuriated by his inability to know what created him, or why. All he knows is that to bring order to this world, he needs to exterminate the "Curse of Life" as he calls it. He has a perfect memory of his entire unlife, but does not know if he ever actually lived or was simply created out of the will of this being. The other Wraithlords have been created as useful pawns, each one being a very visible target for any who would bring down Arath's plans. 
  In combat, Arath plays to whatever advantage he can find. He is a formidable melee fighter, and is highly dextrous. His magical ability is almost unparalleled, although nobody is entirely certain just how much magic he can wield. He is capable of summoning undead minions at a moment's notice, raising small armies in the midst of combat. Anyone who attempts to face him is made into an undead, as Arath seeks to free them from their curse. If he feels that he may be overpowered, or if it furthers his plans to lead his enemies on, Arath is not averse to fleeing from combat. He is outfitted with a number of very powerful magical artifacts, which can all aid in his combat ability to different degrees. 

NPC: Wraithlord Nirith

So this NPC profile I made trying to be a bit more sparse in the appearance description. Mostly because I think I'm being overly redundant in the descriptions. I am trying to limit it to a maximum of four sentences for that section. I'm not sure if I like it or not, but I'm going to try it for a few posts and see how it works out. This is, probably needless to say, another image courtesy of Reddit user De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: Wraithlord Nirith
Race: Undead
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Appearance: 
The humanoid has no skin or muscle, and all you can see is a vaguely human skull. It is covered in a dark armor with a swirling crimson cloak. The creature cackles maniacally and stinks of death. It has large, clawed talons and pointed fangs.

Profile:
  Wraithlord Nirith is completely insane. While the other Wraithlords are dedicated to conquering Fomor and exterminating all life, Nirith has essentially no goals. He has wasted away during undeath, and is probably the most powerful spellcaster among them in terms of raw power. He flings his power about in bouts of madness, with no particular aim. He does take a particular sadistic pleasure in inflicting pain and death, but other times he can be benevolent or indifferent. The other Wraithlords, who are usually very manipulative and capable of getting their way, simply let Nirith spread chaos all on his own. 
  Nirith is a sorcerer. He doesn't need to delve into ancient ruins or study dusty tomes, as his power is innately tied into his own being. He could very easily shatter the world if he ever set his mind to it, but the Wraithlord lacks the attention span or desire to do any such thing. He mostly rages about on his lonesome, teleporting to random locations to live out his eternity. He occasionally uses illusions to play cruel games on mortals before killing them, as part of his own amusement. Nirith loves things such as Baba Yaga's hut (something he invented), Decks of Many Things (also his creation), and any other kind of artifact with random chaos involved. 
  In life, Nirith was a sorcerer driven mad by his own power. The concept of having inborn power was completely foreign to him and to every wizard he encountered. He heard voices, had terrible nightmares, and could barely control his own magic. Over time, he went completely insane, and was killed by the other Wraithlords when he tried to kill all of them at once. He very nearly succeeded. He was accidentally brought back as an undead, mostly due to his own power warping reality at the time of his death. The other Wraithlords originally tried to manipulate his great power, which surpassed their own, but soon realized that it was a lost cause. Now they mostly let him have his way, with the assumption that his random chaos will further their own goals. This works in their favor for the most part, but sometimes backfires spectacularly. 
  In combat, Nirith should be almost completely unpredictable. He can teleport at will, and may just leave the fight altogether. He tends to use illusions, as he views them as allowing him to have more fun with his victims. However, he is just as capable of manipulating reality in very real ways to play his games. If he grows bored, he may go on the offensive and kill his enemies, or can leave with his teleportation. If he has any minions, they are very much temporary. Most of them won't be undead or constructs, but rather pure entities made out of the fabric of reality as he disturbs the natural order of the universe. Whether they are under Nirith's direct control is a matter of debate, as he is so insane that it probably wouldn't make them any more predictable.

NPC: Nora, Slayer of the Sands

So I went to a gaming convention over the weekend, and was unable to get internet to upload on Friday. I got home Monday, and then just...forgot to upload stuff. Right when I was starting to pat myself on the back for being on schedule for stuff. Oh well! This is another picture from De_Vermis_Mysteriis, and also an addition to the Wraithlord faction. I think I'll be finishing that out before I go do anything else, since I'd like to actually flesh a complete faction out.


Name: Nora, Slayer of the Sands
Race: Undead
Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Appearance:
This undead is blindingly fast. From what you can make out, she is clad entirely in plate, colored crimson with gold decorations. She has a helm with a frill, framing her terrifying visage. Her cloak closely follows her, whipping about as she slashes. She wields two blades, one in each hand, attacking her foes with inhuman speed. She has the same banner of Wraithlord Panack, a crimson and gold scarab, with blood dripping from the extended blades. The only skin you can see is her face, withered and gray, with two piercing blue eyes. Her face looks frozen in the middle of a battle cry.

Profile:
Nora is a lieutenant to Wraithlord Panack. She is, much like him, a very capable warrior and thrives on the battlefield. Despite wearing what you might expect to be very heavy armor, she moves rapidly across a fight, and slashes as she moves. She seeks to spread death and destruction everywhere she goes. Nora only has one goal, and that is to kill all who live. She is not a master tactician like Panack, but is strictly a warrior. She obeys the Wraithlord completely, and follows orders without fail. She is not adverse to taking her own initiative, but will mostly await instruction.
  In life, Nora was a warrior who attempted to kill Wraithlord Panack. She was not a leader, nor in any position of power, but was an expert fighter. During the battle, she dueled the Wraithlord for several minutes before he was able to kill her. He reanimated her and instilled a thirst for death that she had never known in life. For the centuries since she has joined the undead legions, she has lost whatever was left of her humanity. She is the most loyal and competent follower of Wraithlord Panack, though she is nowhere near his level of power. The other Wraithlords don't necessarily know or care about her origins, and consider her little more than an underling. Panack values her very highly, and she is often tasked with attacking strategic locations, and he trusts her to win any skirmish she's involved in. She is, however, brutal and somewhat dim-witted. She does not always think things through, and she is mostly focused on combat.
  In combat, she stresses her mobility over her opponents. She moves unhindered through any terrain, despite her heavy armor. She slashes about with her two swords, drawing as much blood as possible from her enemies. She usually refuses to stand still during a fight, as burned in her memory is her fight as a living person against the Wraithlord. They fought in a mostly stationary duel, and she lost. Now, she moves about as quickly as possible. She is not afraid of any living foe, no matter how strong or capable they are, but is still paranoid. She is a purely melee fighter, and has no innate magical capability. All of her equipment has various enchantments, though not to the extent of Panack's. Her battle standard emits a fear aura, crippling her enemies as she approaches.

NPC: Wraithlord Dirextrus

Another post from the pictures uploaded by De_Vermis_Mysteriis. I really like how amazing some of these pictures really are.


Name: Wraithlord Dirextrus
Race: Undead
Alignment: Lawful Evil

Appearance:
     You see what you believe to be a woman. She is clad in a deep blue robe, which clings to her body and has a billowing cloak that wraps around her body. It casts a deep shadow beneath her, that slowly drags at your eyesight. She has gold trimmings all around her robes, in swirling patterns that move slowly. Her face is obscured by a golden helm, with only small slits for her eyes, which shine a bright blue. Two crimson horns curl upwards, coated in fresh blood. She floats several feet above the ground, gliding as she moves. Her shadow stretches back underneath and behind her. As you look into it, you find yourself slowly being drawn towards it. She has a stench of death around her, that chokes you the closer you get.

Profile:
     Wraithlord Dirextrus is one of four Wraithlords that are trying to conquer Fomor. Dirextrus in particular comes from the northern cities. She is cruel and obsessed with spreading death and decay. She is a terrifyingly powerful spellcaster, wielding magic that no mortal could ever hope to achieve. She seeks magical knowledge wherever it is, and pursues it relentlessly.
     Dirextrus is the second Wraithlord to have been given the curse of undeath. She is older than even she knows, as she has lost track of the eternity that she has been unliving. She spends most of her time underground, in the tombs of her colleagues in life, uncovering the ancient knowledge that they left behind. Her arcane power essentially knows no limits. Most of her research goes into the art of inflicting death upon the most people possible. She has spread plagues that have ravaged every population for thousands of years, and will continue to do so as long as she is permitted. Although she was sealed away along with the other Wraithlords, she has spent all of that time thinking, and coming up with new and ever more vicious ways of raining death upon the living.
     Wraithlord Dirextrus will stop at nothing to achieve more magical power. If she believes that someone somewhere knows something that she doesn't, she will pursue them and end them. She has a specialty in psychic infiltration, and can attack people's minds from hundreds of miles away. She is very objective-based, and only spreads chaos when it achieves her aims. She has completely abandoned the idea that the Wraithlords can work as a cohesive unit for an extended period of time, and allows them to work towards their own ends while she manipulates them. She is intently focused on achieving her own individual aims. Mostly these involve spreading mass plagues and tormenting the living with her powerful magic. She uses this to swell her armies, which she allows to be "controlled" by the other Wraithlords. Her magic is strong enough to still take the command away if need be.
     In combat, Wraithlord Dirextrus is entirely reliant on her spells. She can fly at will, and hurls magic at her opponents. She mostly uses spells that apply negative energy, draining the life out of her enemies. She also reanimates their corpses as her undead thralls. Especially powerful opponents may be turned into death knights, and are given greater autonomy to enact Dirextrus' will. Her shadow is a portal into an underworld dimension that she has created. Any living creature who looks at it is enthralled, and compelled to move towards it. If they should fall in, their soul then belongs to Dirextrus and she can manipulate them as much as she pleases. While Dirextrus tries to avoid large-scale conflicts, she has participated in several wars. She provides long-range magical artillery, with the negative energy serving a dual purpose. Living opponents are killed, and her undead minions are bolstered.

NPC: Wraithlord Panack

This image from De_Vermis_Mysteriis has made me create an entire new group of antagonists. I'll make an update later to actually go into more description about this faction, but right now I really want to put this out there because I think that the image is very awesome. Even if you don't like my writing, which I don't blame you for in the slightest, this is some fantastic art. It just begs for an awesome antagonist.


Name: Wraithlord Panack
Race: Undead
Alignment: Lawful Evil

                                                           Appearance:
At first you think that all you see is a suit of armor, standing upright. It is only once it starts moving that you realize a creature is still inside it. It stands at more than seven feet tall, with broad shoulderpads. The armor is plated, a crimson red with gold outlines. The armor is spiked and stylized, adorned with gold spheres with sapphires that make them look like eyeballs. Symbols of scarabs and ancient runes go all down the legplates, with crimson cloth flowing out as it moves. The creature has a battle standard coming out from it's back, with blades stretching out and an impressive gold symbol, dripping with blood that seems to come from nowhere. The small face that you can see has grey skin, stretched across bone, and it's hands are nothing more than bones inside of it's heavy bracers. Despite the obvious bulk and weight of the armor, the creature moves almost gracefully, twirling a vicious spear with no apparent burden. 

Profile:
     Wraithlord Panack is one of four Wraithlords that are trying to conquer Fomor. Panack in particular comes from the western desert, and shows the style of the desert in everything that he does. He is vicious and brutal, and has never been known to leave any survivors wherever he walks. He is the general among the Wraithlords, and leads their vast armies into battle. He believes only in outright strength, and takes every measure to show his superiority. He revels in battle, and seeks it out as much as possible. 
     Panack has been an undead for more than a thousand years. In life, he was one of the great kings of Fomor, cursed into undeath by the other Wraithlords. He was the one general cunning and vicious enough to stand up to them, and nearly defeated the undead hordes. For this, he was brought into their own ranks. He loves being undead, as it has given him an eternity to perfect the art of warfare. He holds no attachments to the mortal world, and seeks only to be the perfect military commander. He was always a formidable warrior in his own right, and eternity has allowed him only to hone his own skill. Unfortunately for Panack, he was also cast into a slumber, only recently to awake and resume amassing the undead hordes. This has become his new mission, and then to end all life in Fomor.
     In combat, Wraithlord Panack immediately jumps into melee and will never leave it for any reason. He is absurdly agile, even in his unnaturally heavy armor. It has been enchanted over centuries to be light as a feather while still being impregnable to most weapons or magic. His spear applies negative energy to his enemies, allowing him to eat their souls and animate their bodies upon killing them. His battle standard also emits a fear aura to intimidate his enemies into submission. He considers anyone who is able to resist that aura to be a challenge, and will focus intently on defeating them. The eyes all over his armor effectively allow for Panack to have a full panorama view around him, preventing him from ever being flanked, and granting him the ability to see invisible creatures. He is stronger than anyone could rationally expect, flinging soldiers about like Sauron in the opening to Lord of the Rings. While he lacks any real magical talent, Wraithlord Panack does have a few spell-like abilities that he uses, mostly just area of effect spells to cause even more destruction. 

Minor NPC: Krunth Blackhand

This is the first "minor character" that I'm posting, and that's explained more in the post itself. Also, over the next couple days I'm going to go back through all of my other posts and work on formatting them in a less terrible way. Again, credit for this picture goes to Reddit user De_Vermis_Mysteriis.


Name: Krunth Blackhand
Race: Orc

                                                  Appearance:
When you think "orc," you picture the exact creature before you. He is huge, standing just shy of seven feet tall, all of it muscle. He's covered in ugly, battered armor that shows signs of multiple battles. His face is ugly and scarred, and his mouth is full of broken and yellowed teeth. He is missing one eye, and it has been replaced with what looks like a metallic contraption that extends over part of his face. His other eye is a blood red, and filled with violence. His skin is a mottled grey, and covered in battle scars. He wields a savage axe, crusted with dried blood that he clearly never bothered to clean off. One of his hands is charred black and twisted, but doesn't seem to have lost any strength or ferocity.

Profile:
  Krunth Blackhand is the leader and namesake of The Black Hand, a highly organized group of bandits that operates within central and eastern Fomor. He is ruthless and brutal, and is an exceptionally skilled fighter in his own right. While he is not exactly intelligent, he does have a cleverness that only years of cruelty can cultivate. Krunth has personally killed somewhere between two-hundred and three-hundred people, although he's not very good at numbers and has lost track. Most of these people were innocent travelers or merchants, although he has also seen his fair share of actual fights. Krunth's signature black hand came from a fight in which a wizard's spell was only barely deflected by Krunth's arm. The hand is fully functional, but has an intimidating appearance, so Krunth leaves it bare most of the time. His eye was also lost in a fight, and was recently replaced with a metal covering over part of his face. This acts as a magical eye, and allows him to see much better than he used to.
  The Black Hand itself is very different from ordinary bandit fare. They are very organized and dedicated to Krunth. He originally united them using only his sheer strength, but has since manipulated them into being completely loyal only to him. They have coordinated raids throughout the countryside, and occasionally raid the weaker city-states for supplies and recruits. They are organized enough to be recognized by all of the local powers, and a legitimate threat to most in the region. Krunth himself is very pleased with this situation, and abuses the control his bandits have to extort just about everyone he can. The gang is very large, but only a select few are "worthy" of being in Krunth's personal circle. He likes to think that each of them is another finger of his own black hand, as it were.

Purpose:
  This character is based off of the backstory of one of my players. He mentioned that he was pursued by a group of bandits called "The Black Hand," and gave no further details. As such, Krunth Blackhand is set up as the actual rival to this player. He is dedicated to eliminating this player using The Black Hand, since he never payed bribes that were due to them. As such, this character is a bit sparse on backstory, since he's meant to be more of a short-term antagonist. This is something different from most of what I try to do - while the character is certainly part of the setting, he really only applies to that one player. Krunth Blackhand is a very bland character, and that's okay since he is comparatively minor.

NPC: Yersi Pestis

Yet another image from De_Vermis_Mysteriis. There's way too much good stuff in there. As much as I like the idea behind this character, she's not going under the Fomor tag, as I don't feel that she could really fit into that world. 


Name: Yersi Pestis
 Race: Human

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Appearance:
You see what you think at first is a zombie. She shuffles along slowly, and her body is stiff and motionless. She is clad only in black, and her billowing cloak conceals her body. However, you can see that she still breathes, and has other signs of being alive…but only just barely. Her face is the only skin visible, and it is paler than you thought was possible for a human. Her hair is black and stiff, sticking out almost like straw. She smells of death and decay, and the ground around her feet seems to suffer just by her presence. Nearby plants wilt, and you can see insects crawling around and underneath her robes. 

                Profile:
               Yersi Pestis is a necromancer. She cares nothing for life, and only seeks to spread death and destruction everywhere she goes. Most people would consider her insane, but she is highly intelligent and clever. She has a natural talent for the arcane arts, tempered by rigorous study and practice. She is not a lich, although she is working to become one soon. Her main source of entertainment is coming up with new ways to kill as many people as possible. She is cruel and sadistic, and takes great pleasure in the suffering of others. Her corrupt soul and embrace of the dark arts have rendered her body almost immobile, and she has taken on numerous undead characteristics. This is because she has slowed her body down, prolonging her life for centuries. 
  Yersi's most recent goal is to become an invulnerable lich. She doesn't like the idea of having a phylactery, as it would make her very vulnerable to anyone who could find it. Instead, she is researching ways of either not having a phylactery at all, or having several of them. In her pursuits, Yersi is ravaging the countryside looking for arcane knowledge locked away in ancient tombs, and is using anyone she can get as experimental units for her research. She is very thorough in her experiments, and will deplete someone entirely of all their life force before killing them and turning them into undead. She has raised a vast undead army from all of her victims. However, in addition to the large number of ordinary zombies and skeletons, Yersi Pestis has also created larger and more bizarre undead monstrosities, making her army more versatile and dangerous than anyone would normally expect from a necromancer. She has bound many lesser wizards to her cause, and as they outlive their usefulness they are further enslaved as eternal servants, bound to her even in death. 
  She never had much of a childhood. Her family was very affluent, and as soon as it was obvious that she was capable of becoming a wizard, her parents sent her off to learn the arcane arts. She was always a cruel girl, and grew very attached to necromancy. Her teachers were concerned, and hoped that it was merely a phase, but it quickly grew apparent that she was as demented as they had feared. She was expelled after murdering another student and turning them into her undead slave, and was only spared the death sentence because of her family's influence. After that she only sought to grow her own power, and quickly became feared and outcast from society. She mostly lived in the wilderness after that, kidnapping travelers and torturing them, feeding her own thirst for power. Nowadays, she is an immensely powerful wizard that nobody dares trifle with, and she knows it.
  In combat, Yersi Pestis will rely mostly on her minions. She is a powerful wizard in her own right, and will largely focus on applying negative energy to her opponents, draining them of their life energy. She tries to keep a distance, but she moves very slowly. She has an aura around her that disgusts and repels living creatures, as though she had a perpetual Turn Undead that applied to living beings. Even if they are not "turned," living creatures still suffer a penalty from the nauseating effects. In melee, her robes come alive and whirl out with tendrils to attack her foes. Each tendril is the soul of a powerful wizard, and will apply magical effects to anyone they hit. They whip around independently of each other, though still bound to her will. If she manages to actually grab someone, even if through her glove, she can drain their energy more easily than with her ranged spells. 

NPC: The Galmi Twins

Reddit user De_Vermis_Mysteriis recently uploaded 1848 character portraits. I haven't gone through them all, but I have come up with what I consider very interesting concepts. This first one I think has a lot of potential, and I'm not sure if I entirely did it justice with this. 

Names: Judah and Bezalel Galmi
Race: Construct
Alignment: Lawful Neutral


Appearance:
  Both of the humanoids you see look as though they are not alive. As far as you can tell, they don't breathe, and remain perfectly still at times. They keep their faces obscured, and all of their skin is covered by their clothing. When they move, it is with an inhuman precision. They are proportioned much like ordinary humans, one male and one female, but nothing in their behavior or movement seems at all natural.
  The male stands, wearing an immaculate suit of fine clothing. His face is covered with a black mask made of metal, and two large white domes cover where his eyes should be. Though his sleeves are long, you think you can see the imprint of metal armor showing. His hands end in long, vicious talons, though he usually keeps them in his voluminous pockets. When he speaks, his voice sounds distant and hollow, yet has an eery cheeriness that never seems to waver. He struts with a gentleman's pace, perfect to the point of absurdity, and stands rigidly still when he finishes. 
  The female wears a red cloak that conceals almost her entire body, though you catch brief glimpses of leather armor underneath. She wears a red mask of cloth over her face, and only dark grey goggles over her eyes are visible. She moves quickly and lightly, almost dancing through crowds and around people. She seems to be faster than any human has any right to be, and also goes rigid if she reaches a destination. Her voice sounds like an echo from a distant place, and she generally speaks in riddles or otherwise nonsense. 

Profile:
  The Galmi Twins are golems, imbued with the fractured soul of their creator. A wizard grew desperate to have an heir, and yet was unable to ever conceive a child. So he constructed his own, and to make sure they would be "true" heirs, he gave them each a part of his own soul. This consequently drove him mad, and he died shortly thereafter. The twins have lived on in secret ever since, although the townsfolk are very suspicious of their origins. Their "father" was a prominent mage, and he seemed to go senile shortly before introducing his "children" to the city's nobles. 
The twins are socially active, though in different ways.

• Judah Galmi is the male. He is in every way a proper Victorian-era gentleman, and always wears the suit his father created for him. His very cheery and polite, and is a freakish master of proper etiquette in all social situations. He attends every social event in the city, though the other nobles tend not to approve of him. He doesn't notice. Judah is very proud of his "heritage," often extolling the wisdom and discoveries of his late father. In combat, Judah is mostly a melee warrior. His claws rip through armor with ease, and he is highly mobile. His feet also have extenders that allow him to jump higher than one would expect. His magical specialty is Abjuration, and he has taken to maintaining and improving both himself and his sister.
• Bezalel Galmi is the female. She is much more roguish than her brother. She speaks only in riddles, and is actually incapable of being straightforward with anyone. The only one alive who can understand what she's saying is her brother. She avoids the social scene of the city, preferring to wander through dark alleys and interact with the criminal underground. She has become an infamous thief, unknown to all but her criminal boss. In combat, she is a ranged rogue. She has hundreds of knives built into her body that she is capable of throwing without interrupting her movement or clothing. Her magical specialty is Illusions, and she often uses these to perform her heists or gain an advantage in combat.

  The twins have carried on as though their father never died, as he never had time to "finish" them properly. As such, their directives have left them confused, and they're not entirely sure what they're supposed to be doing. They are more advanced than normal golems, and so have actively taken to exploring the city to determine what their purpose is. The possibility that they were never given a purpose has not occurred to either of them. Judah is assuming that through proper social interactions, he will discover what his father wanted of them both. Bezalel thinks that going through the criminal underground will show her the same. Neither of them thinks the other is wrong, per se, and they do care for each other as deeply as they are capable of doing. They do recognize that they are each imbued with the soul of their father, and that they have different parts. They also recognize that their father is dead, they just don't understand what that actually means. 
  A few members of society have discovered exactly what the twins are, and seek to manipulate them. They are very powerful constructs, capable of independent thought and having some amount of reason. They are being subtly manipulated in different directions, to varying degrees of success. 
The twins continue to live in their father's old home. His body has long since rotted away, though his bones remained untouched. Neither of the twins were ever told that you were supposed to bury people. The ghost still howls through the mansion, though neither twin is capable of seeing nor understanding it.