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| General notes I would provide a map to show where this is all taking place, but that would be pointless. It is, without exageration, in the middle of nowhere. I am in the wastes of Croppell, an area that some people call "The Nestlands." Look for a walled and more-or-less abandoned city in the middle of it. Now destroy that city and make sure you collapsed the mine in the process. Thank you. The creatures in these mines are undead, but I am unsure if the term "zombie" is appropriate. When I picture a "zombie," I see a stumbling corpse that cannot think for itself and depends on its necromancer/master for all of its thoughts. What I have found is, unfortunately, a type of creature that functions like a living being. They think for themselves, they act as individuals. I think there is a chain of command, as they wear different armors and this may show rank. I have seen no evidence of there being a "master" or other living being that (telepathically or otherwise) commands them. Their skin is orange in color. My sketches are that color not just because of my limited supplies, but because that is actually their flesh tone. There are stitches on their bodies, which I think is medical in nature. I will speculate on this later, but I believe that they are centuries old and this may be the only way to repair wounds or injuries that have been accumulated over this time. |
| Origins? They were obviously once human. Their features appear typical of Croppellians and Sefinians. They are not elves or dwarves, that much is obvious. They may have been made from the original residents of the town, but I am unsure. I know virtually nothing of the mines' history, let alone what happened to the miners' village. I am assuming that they were created by the Order of the Dark Gods during the Dungeon Wars. This area has been off-limits since then due to Sand Dragon nests that were only recently "purged." No one has been here but dragon hunters, and I doubt a hunter would just deposit a horde of undead creatures here for the fun of it. The only logical conclusion is that these are Old Order creations. This is why I need to assume that the undead are at least five centuries old. "Blood-Dust" There is some type of dust that is caked in their veins. This "blood-dust" is, to be frank, rather disgusting and breathing it in is not the best of ideas. This may be the compound responsible for the creature's present state. I believe that their bodies were drained of blood and this was added, or something was added that turned their blood into this powder. This would also explain the origin of their pale orange skin. |
| Armor Their armor is fairly diversified. I have seen gladiator-styled fighters (who may have been gladitators for all I know), many in chainmail, but most wear overlapping sections of thin plate mail. The "gladiators" have the least armor and, as can be expected, the most stitched-wounds. I have not seen any creatures with a shield, as most wield two weapons at once. Weapons Their weapons are even more varied than their armor. Knives, knife-swords and other small bladed weapons abound. Battlestaff-type weapons and pole-arms are common as well. All of them have a short sword or similar weapon. Longer, curved swords are very common, and two shorter bladed weapons are often carried with one of these. They also utilize strange ranged weapons. These devices resemble crossbows but fire what appear to be more conventional arrows. The "horns" that the string connect to appear to be sharpened and may function something like a pick-axe in a melee fight. I have not seen them load an arrow into these, so I am unsure how quickly this can be done. They do not carry many arrows, however. Fighting in mine tunnels is somewhat restricting, after all, so ranged combat with something that primitive would be limited. |
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| Weaknesses I'm sure this will be the section most people would like to focus on. They do not feel pain, nor do they generally respond to a wound unless it forces them off-blance. The stitches are their weakest points, quite obviously. Crippling damage to the neck or head is your best bet. Dob't try to decapitate them with one swing of your sword -- if you try that, you are clearly an idiot who has no idea how thick a spine is. I generally use ranged fighting when possible, but I doubt an arrow or crossbow bolt would do the same damage as Betty. (Don't ask -- if you know me, you know what I mean.) |
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| Clerics and paladins? While I do not trust the Clergy (who have a monopoly on religion and the policing groups), they supposedly have abnormally good luck against zombies. They claim zombies are weakened by their "holy auras" or some nonsense like that. I think it has something to do with their armor or holy symbols, to be frank, but that is another matter entirely. The point is this: I am not sure if clergymen would have any advantages against these things. So unless a cleric is reading this book, we probably will never know. Also, if you are a cleric, I am sorry for my earlier remark on your total control over most local police forces. But, yes, you need to fork over control immediately. Start with Drezmore -- they were the ones with the brains to invent the rifle, so they can handle themselves just fine. |