‘The Cult of the Ebon Shroud are worshippers of death and undeath, they exalt in the ritual of slaying the living and their loftiest aspiration is to become undead themselves, aspiring like the philosopher or alchemist to reach a higher state of divinity through personal transformation, to stretch out the divine spark to touch the infinite and become one with it. If it is immortality we seek, then these misguided souls think they have found a path to it. Of course, in truth, they are becoming forsaken, condemning themselves through such false ideals, both ignoble and ruinous.
Many of these seemingly crazed individuals are filled not only with a zealot’s fanaticism but also a deep conviction that they have the right of it, unyielding in their will, which can be like iron and their malignant words spoken from ancient grimoires bound in the flesh of demons, Sidhe, and creatures from the Other Side of Midnight can leave even the most bold hearted cowering in fear...
The Ebon Shroud Cultist is one of the first Cultists you will meet in the Adventure Game and the Dungeon Crawler!
‘The Veil Gaunt exists inside the Veil, said to be the tormented lost, who perished in the mists unable to find their way to salvation. They leech the life energy from living beings to enervate themselves, in a sorrowful and tortured state of vampiric desperation, drawn to the living for their warmth and vitality, with their malignant eyes baleful and hungering.
The outer boundaries of the Land of the Dead are unfortunately filled with such creatures, starved of positive energy, needing it to sustain themselves before they wither away to a husk or become a wraith themselves. If that happens, they will be forever condemned to walk the misty and shadowed vistas of their pain-filled purgatory.’
The Veil Gaunt is a predatory, sorrowful and wretched creature, an inhabitant you will discover lurking in the mists of the Veil as you explore beyond the Land of the Quick. You’ll be sure to soon realise the danger of allowing these vampiric beings to breach into our world..
‘The Caller in Darkness is a demon from the Primordial Darkness, a timeless void that was there at the beginning and surrounds all that is and will ever be. In that darkness, sentience is not as we perceive it on the mortal plane, but then nothing is. The physicality of the Caller in Darkness on the mortal plane is simply a form, albeit terrible and spine chilling, that our minds can comprehend. Its sightless face and pincer teeth, its flowing and hooded robes of tortured faces, depict either the chaotic emotions of all the selves the Caller has ever been, or the myriad fears and horror of victims across space time – wherever the Caller has made a hunting ground.
All but impossible to destroy, difficult to banish, and with mysterious motivations beyond mortal understanding, the Caller in Darkness is an agent of Chaos which is very hard to defeat. Weapons of a non-magical nature cannot harm it as nothing of their essence exists to this being, and even holy water cannot scold its demonic flesh as it simply refuses to acknowledge any entity we deem a God as an authority over it! When a Caller is present, beware, for the supernatural and the primordial are difficult adversaries to contend with, before you consider the malevolent designs of this awe inspiring evil.’
‘The Wraith is a form of Malefic Spirit.Malefic Spirits are undead horrors, bound to the mortal plane or able to manifest here to haunt the living, to carry out nefarious deeds in revenge against those who wronged them in life, or with even more sinister purposes. From Hungering Shadows in spirit-haunted ruins, to Shades of the Primordial Darkness, and to the blighted souls of the Bloodwraiths of Tartarus, these beings have so many folk stories attached to them, and superstition about them, that the means to kill them or banish them away are mired in a thousand traditions and odd rites. Many of these are meaningless and provide no help in laying one of these terrible torments to rest. The one unifying truth seems to be that they all fear Druidglass!’
‘The Shambling Corpse is a kind of mindless undead, a soul in torment, trapped in its dead body, often against its will due to supernatural means. They are slow and cumbersome, with an awkward gait usually caused by some wound suffered on a battlefield or because of some other physical harm which brought about their death.
While these undead seem to pose little threat, they are not to be underestimated. Their weighty dead limbs can deliver quite a blow, leaving you stunned. Mobs of these Shambling Corpses can hinder your progress or even drag you down and tear you limb from limb. Then there are the ones they say have a bite which carries contagion, and the kind that eat brains…’
‘The Geistbound Skeleton is a long dead and decayed remnant, often of a fallen warrior. The soul is in torment, as it is torn from the Land of the Dead and forced back into whatever is left of its former body. Controlled by magickal rite, lost in madness, yet preternaturally silent, denied speech even if they do not lack for the capacity through decay, the Geistbound are slaves. The forbidden rites to call these spirits back to the mortal plane are known to some death-cults and Necromancers, occultists and the like. Forcing the souls of the deceased to do your will is a violation of the natural laws, and those that do so show contempt for such. Nevertheless the practice yields an obedient if reluctant servant, and they say some souls come back with a thirst for blood they never possessed in life, or even from an Infernal place of fire known as the Magma-Vaults. Most are simply obeying the whims of the practitioner who brought them back, wielding ancient tarnished blades or badly wrought bows often crafted of bone and sinew.’
Geistbound Archers are creations wrought of the remains of recently deceased bowmen, who retain a semblance of their memory: skills honed so long over the course of a lifetime for a Quick sometimes are retained even in the necrotic minds of these spirit haunted vessels. Their bone and sinew bows fire the cursed arrows prepared for them by their necromantic masters or other Bone Dancers, imbued with foul magic.
The Ashen Lady is a being of the Otherworld, an Aos Si from the Other Side of Midnight. When she lowers her Veil, she is seen as tall, statuesque and imposing. Her limbs are willowy and shrouded in a gown of a gossamer thin sheen, and the skin of this woman seems to glisten despite an ashen grey attire. The veil over the face of this captivating figure hides her features, yet she possesses an aura as disturbing as it is transfixing.
It is said by some she is of a beauty unrivalled and all who see her are doomed to heartbreak and love-lust, falling into a sickness of unrequited longing should they ever behold her countenance. Others say that her features are of the grave and her teeth rotten and set in bleeding gums. They say that she spews whispered malice into the very soul that cruelly scars the psyche with the darkest and ugliest aspects of the self. Secrets we bury so deep that victims fall prone to the floor begging for her mercy lest they begin to accept the truth in her words, naming that which they hide, even from themselves...
The discerning favour this second variant of the tale, prudently observing that if the former were true then how did the beholder overcome their love sickness? A cautionary observation and a good question. If you've nothing to hide, nothing you cannot face about yourself, then you have nothing to fear...
‘The Barguest is known by a few names on the mortal plane. The Black Dog, or the Devil Dog, the Hounds of Arawn, the Beasts of Belenus, and the long forgotten Seekers of Cernunnos. Whatever they are called and wherever they are called it, the story behind them is similar. The sinister canines are three to four feet in height at the shoulder, and their rotten jaws burn with the cold-fire of death, and their eyes radiate evil in the night. They emerge through the mists of the Veil to stalk their prey, gathering lost souls or guiding them into the Land of the Dead, often against the will of those they take! Other tales paint them as predators, ravaging their victims on lonely trails, or shadowing them long leagues, hounding their prey through the night until they collapse with exhaustion or surrender to the relentless pursuer. All agree once these beasts have the scent of you, there is nothing you can do but give in. It is inevitable that they will claim you.’
‘The Ritegeist Barguest is a creature that has been slain, risen from death into undeath by the power of arcane blood rites involving their scarified, demonic, sigil inscribed corpses. This condemns the beast to become the domain of demonic entities rather than the Horned God, causing great ire to their master. However it creates a demon-possessed Barguest of enormous hate-filled killing potential: A deadly weapon in the hands of a Necromancer.'
‘None know in truth what a Skinstole is. There are stories that when the decomposed flesh of the undead peels from bone and drops away in dessicated ribbons the Skinstole picks it up and sews it together with magic and makes a body for itself. If this is true, it is fond of utilising teeth from the most predatory of creatures, and using way more than it should...
Appearing like a glistening alabaster sheet of human flesh, a gliding manta ray of undeath, the Skinstole slithers through the air like a serpent does the ground, but it moves fast as the fastest snake, when it wants to strike. It can twist itself around corners, corkscrew through the tightest of spaces, get through paper thin cracks as it becomes like a gossamer sheet of skin and can reform at will. Sometimes it might rise up and unknot itself, a bald human head with no eyes, just black holes. This gives cause to think it might be a demon of the Primordial Darkness unbound from that place, harnessing human flesh for form.’
‘When it attacks it wraps itself about its intended victims, thrashing against solid surfaces while it grips tight, breaking the bones of the misbegotten and entrapped within it. It can also pierce and stab into these struggling captives with teeth which line the inside of the Skinstole, or the underside when it is gliding. Then it vampirically drains blood from its prey which it uses to regenerate, or enervate itself to greater feats of abhorrent destruction.’
‘Fallen warriors, disgraced Heroes, oath-breakers and oath-takers, the Grave Knight’s reasons for rising from death to campaign once more are myriad and not always rooted in tragedy. While some made solemn vows to which they remain beholden, anchoring them to the mortal plane, others are far more sinister. Many are villains powerful enough to break the shackles of death through force of will alone or by having their life essence bonded to the armour in which they fought.
Grave Knights bear the same allegiance, weapons and regalia that they did in life, though now fused and enervated by their often profane resurrection. These formidable Undead command legions of mindless servants as they once did in life, all too willing to rise from their graves and march at their ancient master's behest once more.'
' A Grave Knight’s bonded armour is often a relic; a battle torn and blood stained testament to the unrelenting will and death-spawned madness these beings possess. The trappings of their life in the mortal plane are often so imbued with dark and eldritch energy that the perverse nature of whatever is preserving them manifests within their very mail! This distorts their armour and turns it into a monstrous second skin over the husk of their suppurating flesh and pock-marked bone, caged within.'
‘The Fomorian Shanker is a cunning servant of Balor Evil-Eye the Aberrant King, and form the lower caste warriors of the Deep Sea dwelling race. These hideous malformed humanoids speak in hissing or guttural tones, often communicating with cultists who have made pacts with Balor or pledged themselves to the Fomorian Gods in exchange for favour. The Shanker are often intermediaries between the Fomorians and the Order of Indech.’
‘The Shanker are lithe, agile, fast and vicious. They use bone sabres and serrated knives fashioned from long dead things beneath the sea. They hunger for flesh and possess rending teeth like piranhas, and they love nothing more than to take out their frustrations on the weak and the vulnerable. They know that if they impress their masters or their Gods well enough, then they may be granted Ascension, transmogrifying into a powerful Fomorian Aberrant and becoming marked by destiny. This is the fate to which all Shankers aspire.Wicked, utterly evil and bent on pleasing their dark masters’
‘The Fomorian Aberration is a powerful mutation among the warrior caste of the Deep Sea dwelling race. Truly gruesome to behold, somewhat serpentine or wyrm-likeand hyper-aggressive, the Aberration despises the Sidhe, and all Mortals who sided with them in the past wars. Their memory extends beyond the Before Times, and as such their ire burns from a forge few know, and less can fathom. Some of these beings remember when Inis Fael was their domain. They despise and abhor the race of Humankind wishing only destruction upon them.’
‘The Fomorian Aberration hungers and longs to tear flesh between its teeth, and enjoys nothing more than rending the champions of other races to pieces. This display of might and martial prowess is a demonstration of the superiority of the Fomorians, to the mind of the Aberrant. In truth, the mutations granting it such ferocious brutality are the result of heavy experimentation with alchemy. Fomorian Alchemists are deceptive and mind-controlling manipulators. The Aberrants are ignorant of these lies, believing every word with fervour, and think their Gods have marked them out for some great destiny! Their creators encourage this belief, knowing it will fuel them with a zealots righteousness.'
'The Geistbound Bomber is a peculiar warrior, especially for a long dead and supposedly mindless remnant. This soul may not be in as much torment as others of its kind! Torn from the Land of the Dead and forced into servitude, the Bomber seems to take joy in its work! Perhaps some bizarre and macabre semblance of who and what it was in life resides within, as it gleefully continues to do what brought it so much pleasure when it was of the Quick! That is to say, blowing things up!'
'To the obvious delight of these bombers, their pyrotechnics come in different forms. Sometimes they carry firebombs, which explode and cause great devastation. Other times they may be equipped with Frostbombs which deal Stun as they freeze Heroes, and other times they may dispense Smoke bombs which obscure a zone, making life difficult for ranged warriors. Finally they have been known to throw down bombs which give off poison gas, a weapon the Bomber is immune to! Whatever the case, it never pays to let one of these grinning Geistbound close!'
'The Horned Demon is made almost in mockery of the Horned God of the Underworld, the Land of the Dead, and comes in several forms. Bestial, savage, and relentless, the Horned Demon brandishes polearms, axes and greatswords with equal abandon. Towering over mortals the Horned Demons in their variant guises range from eight to twelve feet tall. Impossibly strong, with regenerative abilities and foul magicks, they are truly terrifying creatures.
Many among the Quick believe these monstrous beings to be emissaries or agents of Cernunnos, who presides over the souls of the recently deceased, a psychopomp of sorts and a King of the Wilds. He is worshipped by hunters, and those dedicated to nature, predominantly. But Cernunnos is also viewed with reverence and respect by any who hold high regard toward an Otherworldly being who might aid them through the Twilight or rescue them from the purgatorial mist-shrouded outer realm of the Land of the Dead, when they pass. What did mortals do to ire the Horned God to send such killers after them? Or is the Horned God simply keen to draw such mortals home?'
'The truth, as ever, is mired by this kind of obfuscation and confusion. Buried in the filth of untruth is the shining jewel of knowledge. Many more wise beings refer to Horned Demons as the Unbound. Demons who no longer have a purpose in a world where their God has been forgotten. Demons roaming the Other Side of Midnight, as dangerous to the Aos Si and Otherworlders as they are to the Quick. Why do they serve certain masters? Why do they make lairs in certain locations or respond to certain summons? The answers are myriad, and in the world where there is the Thinning of the Veil, it matters only that they do. You cannot reason with them, and no matter how fast you run they are relentless in their pursuit. Once they have your scent, the challenge is to fight, or die trying...’
The Twilight King is a cursed creature. Doomed to dwell in the Twilight, bound to the Ember Crown, for all eternity. No one knows how long he has been trapped in this perdition but the Twilight King burns for revenge. Legend has it he was once a High King of Inis Fael who was beloved of Badb, who gave to him her greatest gift, many victories in battle. They say that the Twilight King betrayed Badb when it suited him for the affections of an Aos Si Enchantress. The Enchantress came from the Other Side of Midnight to seduce the Twilight King, for she was enamoured of such a mighty warrior and his skill at arms. The Twilight King succumbed to her Otherworldly and eldritch charm, at least at first. There followed a crushing defeat in battle, in the aftermath of which the Twilight King rejected the further advances of the Aos Si Enchantress, realising Badb was not a woman to scorn. In retaliation the Aos Si Enchantress cursed him! The desperate monarch went crawling back to Badb to beg forgiveness but she was not in the mood to be forgiving! In fact Badb delighted in delivering upon the Twilight King her own curse!'
'Some say this tale is mistold, and that it was the other way around! These folk would have it that the Twilight King was bonded to the Aos Si from the Other Side of Midnight, for they had a tryst after a meeting in a forbidden forest at the edge of a great lake. They say it was she who bound him in a complex weave of magick, giving to him great power that ensured no mortal being could be the match of him. After many victories in battle he drew the attention of Badb who at first did not realise the supernatural assistance the Twilight King possessed. She was impressed and expressed this, along with her desire to be with him, but the Twilight King cast her out, declaring he needed her not! Violent with rage after her rejection, Badb laid a curse upon the Twilight King of her own. ‘Cling to your crown since it is all you care for, and your crown shall be the best you can arrive at!’ She is said to have spat.
‘ But cling to it in the Shadows, far from here, and I shall blight your battles for all the ages! Let the Ember Crown bring you cold comfort as your bedfellow.’
'Whichever tale is true, and there may be truths in both, the Twilight King seems impossible to destroy, for each time he is defeated he retreats to the Isle of Shadow and reforms, before returning to wreak havoc on his enemies. In both stories Badb gifted to the Twilight King a great Murder Crow, named Vindictus. The dread monarch of the Isle of Shadow rides this wicked and now undead beast into battle, sending even the stout of heart fleeing in fear...'
'These malicious giant birds are terrifying, predatory raptors. The Murder Crowis called the Dustwine in some parts, and is a huge avian with a vast wingspan and ill temperament. It is not easy to slay one, as the Murder Crow is vicious and has hooked talons which can rend flesh from bone with ease or grasp onto victims, so they can be carried back to the aerie to die hideously as they are consumed. Another tactic of the Murder Crow is to drop the most resilient of foes from a great height, before claiming the broken body in triumph as its reward. The Murder Crow may be capable of swallowing a mortal whole, but this is rare. The truth is these horrors prefer to fasten onto prey with their tentacles and cup that victim in their dreaded beaks, while needle-like serpentine tubers pierce the flesh and drain all blood from them. Discarded husks are often a warning you are in the hunting ground of a Murder Crow.'
Found on rocky islands, coastal stacks and headlands, they like the heights and the ocean. Once these creatures were considered sacred to Inis Fael for they fought off Sea Serpents and even the mightiest beasts the Fomorians could muster, which they would feast upon in their aeries. Now they are a prized possession for any Necromancer or Death-cultist who can claim the carcass of one. Imagine the immense power of having such a creature as your zombie-like servant! They say the Twilight King even possesses a Murder Crow which he uses as a mount and rides into battle!'
