So,
as there has been little activity here and I have little in the way of
properly prepared material due to me being up to my ears in exams at the
moment, I'll just throw out an interesting creature idea I've been
tossing around in my head. I like the idea of undead being specifically
formed by the method of their dispatch and there doesn't seem to be much
in the way of Orcish undead around so here goes. I play RQ and as such
would use either the ghoul or orc profiles from the Monster Colliseum,
but beyond that I'm not doing stats or anything just fluff.
Orcish Traitor Beasts.
These are physical entities, born when Orc traitors are caught and sealed into purpose-built chambers. Being a culture that is entirely absorbed in blood and honour, betrayal is one of the highest of Orc sins. Death is seen as an honourable end that allows a joining with the great Orc spirit army that marches across the lower planes of the ethereal realms for all eternity and as such being cursed in undeath and perpetuity is a great disgrace and a denial of eternal honour. Seeing as those subjected to this punishment have often also shown a knack for survival the Curse-sealers who place the undeath upon the traitors take great amusement from their fate. The orcs are flayed and have spiked chains wound around them. The ritual of entombing them takes 3 hours of chanting and laying curses upon the doomed Orc. After 73 days of incarceration the transition to un-dead is fully complete. The chains are healed into the flesh of the beast, who is driven mad through despair, shame and rage. The Orc's flesh, already a greyish shade turns almost chalky white and their blood and other bodily fluids run crystal clear from their wounds.
Their voices are high-pitched and chittering, the creatures chuckling to themselves as they contemplate their fate in their sealed chambers. Communication with their own kind or other undead creatures is achieved through complex gestures and rattling of their chains, however they can spea whatever languages the Orc could in life, in a chittering high pitched mockery of the Orc's guttural accent. Ironically, pronounciation of human and similar languages is arguably improved as the traitor orcs usually have their tusks shattered during the imprisonment ritual.
When they deign to speak to mortals at all it is in twisted riddles and metaphors. They swing around on and use their trailing chains to attack intruders. Due to the knowledge they have been denied eternal honour, they have no qualms about any tactics and are often highly effective trap-setters. They favour hiding and ambushes and are naturally cowardly and deceptive. By far the most common tactic is to sneak up on targets (a difficult task given the amount of chains many are burdened with) and throttle them untill they pass out. They can then be bound (often to the Orc by his spiked chains) and then tormented at will. If they escape their sealing chambers they make their homes at the tops of mountains in as isolated a location as possible.
The traitor-beasts are usually lone deserters or small groups of plotters that are caught, but there have been known cases of entire regiments being ritually interred together after being suspected guilty of treasonous activity so any number could be found together.
Orcish Traitor Beasts.
These are physical entities, born when Orc traitors are caught and sealed into purpose-built chambers. Being a culture that is entirely absorbed in blood and honour, betrayal is one of the highest of Orc sins. Death is seen as an honourable end that allows a joining with the great Orc spirit army that marches across the lower planes of the ethereal realms for all eternity and as such being cursed in undeath and perpetuity is a great disgrace and a denial of eternal honour. Seeing as those subjected to this punishment have often also shown a knack for survival the Curse-sealers who place the undeath upon the traitors take great amusement from their fate. The orcs are flayed and have spiked chains wound around them. The ritual of entombing them takes 3 hours of chanting and laying curses upon the doomed Orc. After 73 days of incarceration the transition to un-dead is fully complete. The chains are healed into the flesh of the beast, who is driven mad through despair, shame and rage. The Orc's flesh, already a greyish shade turns almost chalky white and their blood and other bodily fluids run crystal clear from their wounds.
Their voices are high-pitched and chittering, the creatures chuckling to themselves as they contemplate their fate in their sealed chambers. Communication with their own kind or other undead creatures is achieved through complex gestures and rattling of their chains, however they can spea whatever languages the Orc could in life, in a chittering high pitched mockery of the Orc's guttural accent. Ironically, pronounciation of human and similar languages is arguably improved as the traitor orcs usually have their tusks shattered during the imprisonment ritual.
When they deign to speak to mortals at all it is in twisted riddles and metaphors. They swing around on and use their trailing chains to attack intruders. Due to the knowledge they have been denied eternal honour, they have no qualms about any tactics and are often highly effective trap-setters. They favour hiding and ambushes and are naturally cowardly and deceptive. By far the most common tactic is to sneak up on targets (a difficult task given the amount of chains many are burdened with) and throttle them untill they pass out. They can then be bound (often to the Orc by his spiked chains) and then tormented at will. If they escape their sealing chambers they make their homes at the tops of mountains in as isolated a location as possible.
The traitor-beasts are usually lone deserters or small groups of plotters that are caught, but there have been known cases of entire regiments being ritually interred together after being suspected guilty of treasonous activity so any number could be found together.
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