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eldritch-sanctum · 7 years ago

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The Guide to Non-Evil Undead

This is a rough draft of something I am working on to help people incorporate non-evil undead in their D&D games. Whenever I look up this subject it seems a lot of people do ask for this and some are shut down by less open-minded people. If you’ve been bombarded by the idea that undead = evil for years it would be harder to conceive of such a thing, so I go into detail about the possibilities of non-evil undead. It is not complete, most of the fluff part is done, but the technical things like statblocks and potential spells to add are still things I am working on. Each of the NPCs are going to have statblocks, and I am thinking of statblocks for additional non-evil undead creatures like baelnorns and ancestral spirits, stuff like that.

I’d like some feedback and crit if possible.

Text under the cut.

Incorporating Non-evil Undead in Your Game.

As Player Characters

The previous character examples serve as points of inspiration for non-evil undead. With some tinkering, one can add slight adjustments to a player character to make them undead. Some may want their character to be a specific kind of undead, such as a vampire, but balance issues become more concerning when a player character is far tougher than others in the party despite being the same level. You may consider having a character loose levels upon undeath, or start out at a lower level. Another suggestion is the remove certain benefits from an undead character, and also remove some weaknesses at the same time. A vampire character may one be able to turn into mist once a night, may not have great strength or dexterity, but also be able to have some limited time in the sun. This may seem like cheating, but one could justify it by means of an artifact, blessing, or simply another kind of vampire that is less powerful.

In previous editions there were added complexities that did make undead characters more difficult to handle--they had no constitution score, were healed by necrotic spells that harmed the living, were harmed by healing spells that healing the living, and were destroyed upon loosing hit points. Fifth edition has none of these, but most healing spells have no effect on the undead, and undead can still be targeted or turned.

An undead character can provide a twist on an adventuring party, even moreso if the party members lean toward good or lawful non-evil alignments. The party may accept the undead companion, except for one or two due to their devotion to a god who absolutely detests undead such as Kelemvor. One must be very cautious if this occurs, it can decrease cooperation an cause the party to split. On the other hand it could be a conflict the party must overcome and realize they have to work together for the greater good against a common foe. Some party members may be more accepting of undead--perhaps they don't see what is so evil about most undead, maybe they've had experiences with undead that were not hostile. They may do what they can to help the undead ally such as disguise him or her in a place where their presence would be unwelcome or be sensitive about where and when they cast turn undead.

Resolving Cosmological Setting Issues

One of the difficulties that arises with incorporating non-evil undead is that many settings have established that the dark animating force behind undead, typically known as "negative energy" makes them evil or corrupts the world by existing alone. It's possible to simply ignore this if it isn't important in the setting, but there are some workarounds that can be used:

Undead who are not evil can lessen their dependence on negative energy by their very abstinence from evil. A very good undead can even start siphoning energy from another source such as positive or arcane energy, such a creature's properties would change to reflect that. The undead creature would count as living creatures for any magical effects that specifically target undead after gaining a few levels. An undead creature powered through raw arcane power might gain levels in sorcerer but can suffer ill effects if using too much magic.

It may also be that the existence of a few undead do very little to the entropy of the cosmos, rather it’s their larger collective existence that may accelerate the destruction of the Material Plane. If the issue is adding more evil to the Material Plane, a non-evil undead may instead negate it with their own virtue or actions.

Different Perspectives on Negative Energy

Consider re-interpreting negative energy in your setting if you want it to co-exist with non-evil undead. What if negative energy is not as dangerous and evil as many believe? If positive energy preserves and gives life and negative energy destroys and takes away life, then wouldn’t the two be necessary to co-exist? After all, much of life depends on death—living organisms that cannot produce their own energy and biological material must take it from another organism. These organism must destroy, break down, and absorb another organism’s remains into more basic components to use for energy, to use to grow their own body, or other necessary biological functions. If this sounds ghoulish, well maybe it isn’t so different from a ghoul after all? Positive and negative energy might be a part of every living being, positive and negative energy might even be two facets of the same kind of energy that suffuses the cosmos.

Consider if negative energy and positive energy are completely neutral, they are part of the fabric of the cosmos the way the elements are, and some wizards hypothesize that they are just another element to draw power from and control. The trouble is, that when the element you draw power from is very good at death and decay, it can often be the easiest to corrupt those who crave power or destruction of others, hence the association. Yet any power can be misused, even positive energy can have very dangerous and gruesome effects if wielded to dominate and destroy. Positive energy can overwhelm and burn biological systems or even cause horrid growths and proliferate vermin and diseases.

Perhaps negative energy flowing to the Material Plane is not just natural, but necessary. There may be fonts of negative energy where undead are more likely to occur. The reason is to slow down or balance the process of life on the Material Plane, or maybe even balance the positive energy that already suffuses it. If all negative energy were wiped out, biological processes would accelerate to the point were complex life could not exist.

Undead vs. Deathless

In some settings, undead are counterbalanced by a visually similar but intrinsically different type of creature: the deathless. Deathless appear corpse-like, but are created through divine power, often by a cleric or deity. Deathless are often simply warriors risen back to fight for the cause of good, and then are sent back to rest until called again. Deathless are powered by positive energy in the same way that in some settings undead are powered by negative energy.

One could simply re-label all non-evil undead as “deathless”, yet it risks removing some of the drama and storytelling appeal of undead. Deathless are also linked heavily to the divine which makes them harder to work with less religious characters. In a world where non-evil undead and deathless exist, the undead may find themselves believing to be wholly wretched and cursed, and become jealous of the deathless who were chosen by the gods to continue their existence. This may serve as a point of contention between some undead and the gods, in which some undead renounce their faith in the good gods, but know well the evil gods do not have their interests in mind. Good-aligned undead may try hard to prove themselves to the gods that they are worthy of becoming deathless. If deathless are more available to a certain race, such as elves, this can also serve as tension between an undead and that race which has better access to deathlessness. Some who aspire to become deathless but learn that it has a racial restriction that does not include their own race may become undead out of spite, but still retain a sense of justice that does not allow them to slip into evil.

In some settings, there may be good-aligned divinely created undead that occur. In Forgotten Realms, baelnorn are elves who are bestowed undeath by their gods, even good-alined ones to be guardians of their families, artifacts, or knowledge. Yet, baelnorn are still counted as undead and do animate dead in battle.

The Cycle of Life and Death

In many settings, there are gods who believe that undead are unnatural abominations that disturb or disrespect nature or the cycle of life. They care not for the deeds or alignment of said undead, only that undead to them must be put down. This can act as a compelling source of contention between heroic undead characters and the gods. This perspective of undeath may even biased or flawed if undead have a tendency to spontaneously rise, or rise when a creature feels their death is unjust or that their time in the Material Plane ought to be extended in the case of revenants and ghosts. Undeath being a divine domain, even to evil gods may also cast some doubt about undead being “unnatural”, if they are a niche within the cosmos-but so would many evil domains such as murder and tyranny. Some good or neutral gods can be more considerate of undead if they serve them, or even in disagreement with the gods who hate undead. These considerations can be issues the characters must deal with, adding conflicts between good characters and between different points of view about what constitutes “natural” and “unnatural” or even what good is or should be about. If the gods become involved in this debate it could even threaten to shatter many faiths or the cosmos as a whole.

Undead Philosophy

In many settings, undeath is tied to a philosophy of nihilism, destruction, and death. Gods and other powerful extraplanar beings who endorse undeath often favor murder, selfishness, tyranny, and devouring all. Such gods may see undeath as being as appropriate as dead to them if such undead condemns souls to an empty, tprtured existence or if such undead dedicate themselves to the destruction of other life.

Yet this does not have the be only philosophical view point of undeath. Undeath can be more than just embracing death, in fact it could be the opposite—which is the part that annoys the death gods of repose. Undeath can be a means of embracing life. Someone who voluntarily becomes undead does so to preserve themselves for their own intentions or goals. It may be the denial of growth—an important aspect of life, but also the denial of cessation. Even if there is an afterlife, souls often do not keep their memories or much of themselves over there, so such a valuable thing as knowledge and memories is something an undead may wish to preserve. Undead who feel they can cast off the worries of things like mortality may begin to embrace life in a new way, they may become fearless and possibly even hedonistic, they may not mourn the pleasures of a living body, but instead relish the experiences their undead bodies offer to them. They may start to wonder how they survived so long alive with the burdens of the living body such as defecation and disease. These undead see undeath as something closer to life than to death, an undead creature is not a walking corpse, but a body refusing to die.

There are undead who emphasize the pursuit of knowledge and events to come. An undead researcher may wish to see a cosmic phenomena that only occurs once every several thousand years, the founder of a movement may wish to become undead to see that her movement does not fall into corruption. An undead craftsman is the one of only a handful of people who is exceptionally skilled at a very rare trade or skill, and knows that with his own passing it means the extinction of this skill. The survivor of a dark time and place in history decides to become undead so that she may preserve the memory and awful lessons learned so that such an event would not happen again. These people become undead to do what the living cannot do, a purpose that extends common life and is greater than one’s self, and thus is worth clinging onto life as long as one can.

Some find a strange romance in undeath that views it as a kind of transcendence or apotheosis, one that unfortunately captivates many evil creatures, but could also be compelling to the good as well. A good creature may see undeath as a liminal existence to be embraced, a strange transformation that could potentially open one’s potential and consciousness. In most methods of undeath, it only brings madness and torment, but that does not mean that the methods can be altered to evade such pitfalls.

There of course is one of the most compelling reasons for undeath—the fear of death itself. It may seem cowardly or selfish to deny death to some, but others would insist it’s only a natural or a well-deserved reaction depending on what goes on the outer planes.

Most undead people do understand that undeath does not guarantee an eternal existence. The day may come when the Material Plane draws its last breaths, and when that happens nothing can save the phylactery from destruction. Even before that there is still the chance of being slain or some accident occurring. It may not happen for centuries, millennia, or even millions of years, but it could still happen eventually. Some undead are not afraid of the inevitable after a long and rich unlife, others would still be in denial of this happening. Most don’t worry about it because it is far beyond the horizon that perhaps the world would be unrecognizable by the time it occurs.

Undead and Society

In most societies, undead who co-exist with the living must hide their undead nature or face terrible consequences. They may have to wear heavy clothing, avoid touching others so they won’t notice their lack of body heat, and wear items that make them undetectable. Such a person likely has some allies who know of their undeath and are willing to do things on their behalf that are difficult to do without revealing their undeath—or in the case of vampires, also during the daytimes. Undead who must feed would have a more difficult time remaining unnoticed; they will have to find ways to keep their feeding a secret. A vampire might drink blood from his allies or attempt to subsist on animal blood. A ghoul might attempt to subsist on butcher scraps, animals, or hire adventurers to bring the cadavers of slain goblins or orcs to them.

Incorporeal undead can simply hide from the living and only show themselves to select individuals. Some incorporeal undead might have a presence that is hard for the living to ignore, such as an aura of coldness or despair. Such undead stay in abandoned places that they can call their domain, but their aura might catch the attention of do-gooder clerics and paladins.

Undead can still remain productive members of a society of living, whether they secretly or openly co-exist with the living. There are jobs that undead can do that are too hazardous to the living. An undead person might handle diseased bodies or refuse, or deal with poisoning vermin. Undead can do work that would exhaust or injure the living such as tending to a drawbridge even in the very early hours of the morning or tending a massive contraption in a factory that has to be watched for days on end when operating. Undead can be adept at being guards, skeletons can remain standing in the same place for days, even weeks, perhaps years observing and interfering when necessary.

Undead who are more intellectually inclined can become like vast libraries of knowledge and experience themselves. They may be able to recall events that happened many generations ago and teach lost skills to new generations. If such undead are lucky, they may be highly revered and serve as advisers or councilors.

When the living and undead openly interact, it may change laws and customs to adjust. There hopefully would be rights given to the undead, and undeath will likely be seen as an extension of one’s life so they can keep assets that would otherwise be given to inheritors. This can cause some ire in heirs, especially when it comes to royalty; a king may become a lich to secure his place on the throne, which would encourage other royalty to kill him for the throne if he isn’t planning on letting it go. In this case, a country might forbid undead from royal titles or put a limit to the undead’s hold on the throne.

Undead who may spread disease might be given accommodation to control disease spread, or be restricted away from the living. Undead who feed may have to register with authorities how they plan to fulfill their needs and be regularly visited to make sure they keep with their promise. Incorporeal undead may have the most difficult time with interaction, but if one sticks to a haunt, it could be registered as the undead’s property, or if it overlaps with someone else’s property, an agreement has to be made.

There is of course the option of undead living in their own settlements that fit their needs but may be inherently hostile to any living members due to the lack of accommodations for the living and possibly disease. Such necropolises may be hidden in places away from the living such as in extraplanar locations or within demiplanes. What could such a settlement be like? If it is in another plane, it might haver perpetual shadow that does not harm undead that aren’t too fond of light. It might have no farms, but have livestock—possibly even sentient livestock if the undead there aren’t interested in goodness. Since undead usually do not need to breathe and are usually immune to poison and disease, undead citizens might be careless in hygiene and handling poisons; a building might have a terrible poison gas problem due to one of the occupants doing alchemical experiments, but nobody notices. Undead have all the time in the world, so the pace of life might be slow and less organized much like how some think of elven society. A holiday might span a month, a scholar might have centuries of study before becoming a master, a transaction may take years to complete. A necropolis might have no vegetation and be blighted, however it is entirely possible for one to have some vegetation or even be rich in it—after all plants are not just for eating. Depending on if undead rot or not, detrivorous creatures might be pests to undead. Instead of rats, cockroaches, and bedbugs being common household pets, common household pests might include carrion beetles, maggots, or even vultures—but it is a problem can be solved with smart application of poison or necrotic energy.

Ethics of Creating Undead

Although this guide mainly concerns the undead themselves, it is worth speaking of the type of necromancy that creates many undead in the first place. Such necromancy is often shunned or taboo, and in many settings is considered an act that if done enough times can render a necromancer evil. Like non-evil undead, there can be ways to work around aspects of such necromancy that may be considered evil.

Mindless undead are temporary—and do not have the souls of the deceased nor entropic energies, they are little different from constructs except they are animated from the echoes of life in the way the Speak with Dead spell does. When using the spell Animate Dead or Create Undead this way, such undead creature may return back to death after the time it is controlled is over.

Mindless undead that somehow do have the soul of the individual are treated with respect. There might be people who voluntarily will allow their remains to be animated, even if it means disturbing their own rest, they are happy to be taken back to the land of the living once in a while.

Mindless undead do have the original soul or the soul of another dead, but are still temporary and are laid to rest once their job is done. Animate Dead and Create Undead spells can be modified to “dismiss” the spirit once it’s service is over to continue its journey in the afterlife. Such undead cannot be made if the soul has already been taken by the outer planes.

The necromancer can contact the deceased for permission for use. The necromancer may pay the deceased’s family, give last words to family, or some other form of payment to convince the soul to return for awhile.

In some cases, the dead may be yearning for vengeance. A necromancer who comes across the bodies of many slain innocents may tap into their rage and give them the vengeance they desire so much.

Undead NPC Examples.

These examples of non-evil undead NPCs are meant to give inspiration to making them. They can also be re-created as player characters since all of them have class levels.

Mr. Bodoni- human skeleton, level 2 rogue

Mr. Bodoni is the shopkeeper of a shop known as "Curio Cabinet", a quirky but unassuming little store near the sea surrounded by other shops, taverns, and boats. People are often alarmed at Mr. Bodoni's...boney presence. Fortunately the city is rather cosmopolitan—there is a weird person in each corner of the city, and Mr. Bodoni wears an amulet that protects him against turning and smites.

Mr. Bodoni has a habit of spilling out skeleton puns whenever he deems necessary, which is often. If his deathly appearance isn't enough to invite a sword in between his ribs, the agony from his puns sometimes does the trick.

Mr. Bodoni is not the owner of the shop, merely the one who handles transactions. It is unknown who the real storefront owner is, but Mr. Bodoni hints that the shopkeeper is the one who discovered him—and perhaps animated him— in a dungeon years ago in a deadly trap. Mr. Bodoni does seem to remember who he was before he died, but does not wish to speak of it. He is only glad that he has a second chance, and somehow is glad that *nobody* can recognize him anymore.

Personality Traits: You don’t need a working body to enjoy life, you just gotta be humerus! I really don’t like spooking my patrons, but a little interaction and they ease up and find they can see right through me!

Ideal: Zest. Life is meant to be enjoyed and lived, and to have fun and pleasure, but I am not fond of having lazy bones!

Bond: I owe the shopkeeper my second chance. Any other adventures would have destroyed me, but she saw that I was not going tibia numbskull!

Flaw: I did something terrible in life, so I went into a dungeon to see if I could redeem myself with some great act. I never made it and the monster has been slain already. My undeath is a shield from my past life. I’m sorry I have no pun for this…next topic…

Yates Gildann- human ghoul, level 8 ranger (hunter)

Sometimes a minion in an undead army suddenly breaks free from the bond of their master. This is what happened with a certain ghoul in an evil necromancer’s horde of undead. Said necromancer was surrounded by so many undead minions, the fact that one ghoul was too busy feasting on a nearby dead ogre was of no concern to him, so the undead army marched on to destroy the city. The ogre’s flesh happily occupied the ghoul all day and night, and by the time the necromancer and his army was slain by heroes, the ghoul was still there—munching happily. Later when the ghoul was finished, he gradually gained his self-awareness as the necromancer’s hold was no longer upon him. His hunger was sated enough that he could pursue somewhere else. He managed to evade the many dangers in the land he was left in, yet maybe his ghoulishness made him seem of little concern to evil forces that thrived there. Over time he started to remember his past life, and started to recoil in disgust about his new appetite and habits, and realize that had happened to him.

In life, Yates was a lowly, common human peasant of little status. He lived a steady life of toiling fields, praying for abundant harvests, and hunted for food on the side. He had a wife and children who loved him.

Upon remembering his previous life, he scurried in the night to see what became of them, and then faced the awful tragedy—his whole family, and many others where he lived were brutally slaughtered by the evil necromancer’s undead army. His children’s corpses were of no use to the necromancer, and his wife was likely just another skeleton that was smited in the most recent battle. Yates could only cry—or at least try to cry upon the ruins of his home, his family.

There are many undead whose sorrow turns them to evil, but there are also many undead whose sorrow points them to a path of justice and heroism. Yates would conceal his undeath underneath clothes and herbs to move into the city that slaughtered the necromancer to find more answers. He managed to pass himself off as a living person interested in dispatching evil necromancers, but the clerics were able to detect his undeath. Fortunately they had heard his intentions and sorrow already, so he was able to reveal his state to them, and they in turn agreed he could be an asset to them. Over the years, Yates has turned his skill in hunting into becoming a full-fledged ranger, he stalks the wilds for evil necromancers and other monsters who abduct the minds and souls of other creatures. His appetite for flesh has been tempered to feast on animal—and occasionally humanoid carrion left after a fight between orcs and adventurers. His undead state seems like an anathema to nature, but his actions and habits seem to fit well within it, to the point where the natural world around him has accepted his presence and graced him with its magic.

Personality Traits: I will be a walking warning to those who raise the dead to be their minions. My background as a farmer and hunter makes my condition as a ghoul a little easier to deal with.

Ideal: Freedom. Anyone who desires to take away the will of another creature is my enemy—even a bard who charms other frequently is likely to meet my arrow.

Bond: My grief for what that monstrous tyrant did to my family drives me to continue my own wretched existence.

Flaw: I refused to be resurrected by the clerics who offered it to me. I am ashamed of it, but somehow becoming a ghoul has freed me even from the bonds that held me in life.

Sir Kudgrouck Ironmantle-half-orc ghost, level 8 fighter (champion)

Sir Kudgrouck is a ghost knight, sworn to fight evil alongside his beloved sister. Unfortunately, Sir Kudgrouck is a half-orc, while his sister is a dwarf, so Sir Kudgrouck continued his service past his expiration to continue fighting alongside his sister and the family who raised him.

Kudgrouck was a half-orc abandoned near a cave as a baby by his parents. A group of passing dwarves noticed the child and came to his aid. Some were frightened due to the child being of orcish blood, but others insisted that the right thing was to raise him. The dwarven Ironmantle family who discovered him decided to raise him with permission from the dwarven elders, who were cautious but knew that half-orcs were not inherently evil. Kudgrouck was raised alongside another dwarf, who would be his adopted sister named Dradrelyn—she became a cleric of Haela Brightaxe, the dwarf goddess of fighting evil. Kudgrouck himself would become a strong and valiant warrior, but trust in him was still not universal. He and Dradrelyn became very close, and fought many evils that threatened their homeland from time to time. His valor was later rewarded by giving him the title of an honored knight-even more remarkable due to his orcish heritage.

But while his sister didn’t seem to age as decades moved on, Kudgrouck started to loose his strength and health due to old age. This greatly saddened him, and his adopted family began to regret adopting him in the first place if they knew he would live such a short life compared to him. Others who were more used to interacting with humans and shorter-lived races knew the pain but knew that it was still the right thing to do.

So Kudgrouck decided he would not be done. He decided to fight alongside his sister, and for the cause of fighting evil beyond his normal lifespan. This was something other dwarves were reluctant to allow him to do, since such things were often associated with evil. Yet he swore to fight next to his sister and to defend his family, and his homeland for as long as he could muster. Such oaths are usually simply words, but his valor and drive made them true.

Sir Kudgrouck haunts his armor and weapons, he fights as a warrior resembling an animated armor-until the enemy realizes he isn’t just a mindless construct. He can resist being turned by his sister, and has learned various techniques that take advantage of his incorporeal existence. Existence as haunted armor has brought about a curious annoyance, in which a foolhardy person would try on his armor only to be possessed by him. Sir Kudgrouck cannot control it when he possesses someone who wears his armor, it just happens as long as they don his armor.

Personality Traits: I will do all I can to fight the evils of this world. I owe my whole life and unlife to my family and clan.

Ideal: Loyalty. Loyalty is given to those who deserve it, and when they do deserve it, I do all I can to honor it.

Bond: I will go to Hell and back with my sister, if she was trapped there I would also go there to save her.

Flaw: I sometimes get jealous of the long life gifted to dwarves compared to my own.

Nyx Aternas-dragonborn vampires, level 14 paladin (oath of vengence)

Centuries ago, her kingdom was invaded by demons and she was among the slain. In more current times another demonic invasion was brewing, and so Nyx crawled back from the netherworld to continue what she could not accomplish. Many other warriors in the battle might have wished to return as well, but a special set of circumstances came together so Nyx was able to rise with her relatively intact corpse.

During life, she intimidated her demonic foes by sinking her teeth into their flesh. Her large, powerful draconic jaws tore her foes apart and sent others fleeing. Little did she know that each bite would "taint" her body in some way slowly. Perhaps if she wasn't killed, she would have become corrupted with the evil essence of the Abyss. Instead, the blood slept in her body, even after it was consecrated and preserved through gentle repose, but one day it would break those spells that prevented reanimation. Nyx was the only slain in that battle to be able to rise back to the world of the living—but as a vampire, still thirsting for the blood of her enemies and those who would dare try to destroy her homeland, and those who commit great evils. She changed her name to one befitting her new life. As just about every adventurer knows, there is little shortage of evil blood out there.

Her conviction and faith in Bahamut steel her mind against the pitfalls of her condition, and quest for vengeance. She no longer craves demon blood, but still has the hinderance of craving any sort of blood, along with the hinderance of being harmed by the sun. Despite these issues, she has proven herself a valuable asset by the descendants of those she fought alongside with and the righteous cause of Bahamut. Yet one can see that perhaps she does teeter dangerously between bloodthirsty monster and righteous avenger, but she does so beautifully. Only a god of righteous giant predatory monsters can appreciate such a thing.

Personality Traits: I relish it when my enemy is scared of me. My duty is to the greater cause of justice is my reason for persisting in this world.

Ideal: Purpose. Purpose is the most important thing in anyone’s life, without it we would be lost and life would be meaningless. Laws and freedom are meaningless without purpose.

Bond: I fell in battle centuries ago, and I am ashamed of it, I hope that by defending the descendants of those I fought with, I can reinforce my bond with my people and strive for lasting peace.

Flaw: I really like drinking the blood of enemies and biting into their flesh. I see no problem sinking my teeth into an orc or gnoll—and that scares my allies too, but I will not sink my teeth into another dragonborn or even dragon.

(Note: This character is based on the first character I made for 4e- a warlock/vampire dragonborn raised to undeath by her otherworldly patron. Since she has a lot of vengence stuff tied to her, I thought about re-creating her in 5e as an Oath of Vengence paladin. If the vampire thing is too much, I have considered re-creating her as a revenant instead. Also thinking of giving her the ability to convert demon blood into radiant energy.)

Eliaskeh-tiefling necropolitan, level 16 artificer (gunsmith)

Eliaskeh was denied many opportunities in her mortal life—because she is a tiefling. She started school late, she was bullied, she was mistreated by her peers. Her family decided to homeschool her, but they did not have many resources or money to help their child. Eliaskeh would begin her studies at a much later age than her human and halfling peers. Despite being force to start late, her intellect and curiosity blossomed greatly. She befriended a curious rock gnome who taught her the tricks and trade of tinkering and making. She combined this with the hellish magic in her veins and some studies of wizardry to become an artificer.

She was often absorbed into her tasks, into making the next greatest thing, into experimenting and tinkering with her arcane inventions. Unfortunately, what she dreamed of was difficult to get. She would go on adventures to gain money and inspiration, but her flighty nature and voracious curiosity went against her ability to be organize her life and be able to invest more money in greater works. As a result, she would often spend years tinkering without any income from it, she would spend years on end dreaming and scattering ideas. But then the years would start to catch up with her, even before she was middle-aged she started to feel the cold grip of death beyond the horizon. Due to her late start, lack of funds, and voracious curiosity, she began to seek undeath.

Eliaskeh knew it was going to be yet a few more years of dedication, but would it be worth it? What would the world think of such an abomination as an undead tiefling? Either one alone was enough for most people.

After spending time researching at Candlekeep, she came upon lore about a city of undead in the Shadowfell. She found that they did a ritual that would be an ideal alternative to lichdom, that would make a mortal undead with little other effects, ill or beneficial. She would use her magic wiles and guides to venture into the city of undead, and the world would presume her missing for the next century.

While in Nocturnus, she met with a wide variety of social misfits and outcasts like herself. She befriended another necropolitan who introduced her to the wonder of a developing invention-firearms. She began tinkering with firearms in exchange for her new friend to refine her skills in clockwork mechanisms. Their budding friendship would result in her gaining a thunder cannon of her own and development of arcane clockwork mechanisms that tweak with the weave in ways similar to the gestures of a spellcaster but can be done more stealthy (but they still require a caster!).

Personality traits: I feel more comfortable in this land of undead misfits than I ever had in the Material Plane. I am determined to make the best use of my undeath.

Ideal: Progress. We must do what we can to constantly improve and transform our innovations and magic.

Bond: I owe my mentor everything and am lucky to have met her.

Flaw: I still kick myself often for being a late bloomer. I still think it’s my fault.

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