Monsters: Wight-spirits and Greater Wight-beasts

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Wight-Spirits

Wight-spirits—sometimes called wight-wraith or barrow-spirits—are vestiges of malicious will, intangible remnants of evil presences, too ephemeral to be even considered creatures at all. They roam the places infused with corruption and taint of death, usually intimately related to, although occasionally being simply summoned to any sufficiently tainted place that resonates with their ill will.

Wight-spirits lack form, even the immaterial shape of incorporeal undead. They often also lack active memory, they might recall key events and some random smattering of past experiences but they rarely form new memories, or if they do, they are fleeting and vague, often distorted by the mirror of the past. They are also extremely limited in their ability to influence the surrounding world or be influences by it. They can whisper to particularly sensitive individuals—children, dying, drunk, drugged, sick, insane, meditating, magically talented, or those engaging in meditation and spirit-seeking trances, although the communication tends to be one sided. They can, in the right circumstances, possess corpses, albeit their lack ability to animate them on their own—the power to rouse the dead must come from elsewhere, usually the lingering corruption of necrotic energies already accumulated in the surrounding land or the corpse itself. Occasionally, they manage to slip inside a body as it is brought to life or unlife by a powerful caster, giving the new undead unexpected sapience and remnants of personality, or a hidden dangerous passenger to a revived mortal. At times, multiple wight-spirits seem to ride a single being that was particularly strong in life, forming a more powerful entity.

Free wight-spirit are easy to ward off and banish for a time—anything that repels evil or undead works, even methods that are too weak to actually get rid of true undead—but they are quite hard to eliminate permanently. Only cleansing the very land they roam of deathly corruption and taint of evil will destroy them.

Greater Wight-Beasts

Where wight-spirits roam, wight-beasts often arise, if there is sufficient necrotic corruption spreads across the land. When a particularly big and powerful animal, including dire beasts, dies and becomes corrupted, it might attract many wight-spirits and become a greater-wight beast. Such monstrosities might lead packs of lesser-wight beasts, groups of more than two greater-wight beasts are almost unheard of, being clear marks of extreme corruption extending its tendrils into the lands of the living.

Greater Carrion-Wings (CR 4) form out of dire ravens and big vultures. Size Medium; Init +3; Perception +10; AC 18 (+3 Dex, +5 natural); hp 30 (4d8+12); Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +7; DR 5/magic and silver; Atk beak +7 (1d8+4 plus energy drain); Str 18, Dex 16, Con —, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 17; CMB +7; CMD 20; Skills Fly +10, Knowledge (arcana) +8, Knowledge (religion) +8, Perception +10, Stealth +10. Special Abilities Carrion-mark subject doubles damage from bleeding and dying, and has a –4 penalty to saving throws against death effects, negative energy levels, massive damage, and coup d'grace attempts.

Greater Wight-Fangs (CR 5) are corrupted dire wolves and particularly large wargs. Size Large; Init +8; Perception +10; AC 19 (+4 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size); hp 42 (5d8+20); Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +8; DR 5/magic and silver; Atk bite +9 (3d6+10 plus energy drain and trip); Str 24, Dex 18, Con —, Int 15, Wis 19, Cha 19; CMB +11; CMD 25 (29 vs. trip); Skills Acrobatics +9 (+17 jumping), Intimidate +12, Knowledge (arcana) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +12, Stealth +8. Special Abilities Grasp of the fallen victim, after failing three saving throws (DC 16) is physically dragged under the ground and buried.

Greater Foulgores (CR 6) are corrupted dire boars.  Size Large; Init +7;  Perception +10; AC 21 (+3 Dex, +9 natural, –1 size); hp 57 (6d8+30); Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +9; DR 10/magic and silver; Atk gore +11 (3d8+12 plus energy drain); Str 26, Dex 16, Con —, Int 15, Wis 19, Cha 19; CMB +13; CMD 26 (30 vs. trip); Skills Intimidate +13, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (religion) +11, Perception +13, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +11. Special Abilities Foul vapors can be used twice per hour and lasts for 2d4+1 rounds.

Greater Bile-Bears (CR 7) form out of grizzly bears and some smaller dire bears.  Size Huge; Init +7;  Perception +15; AC 22 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +10 natural, –2 size);  hp 66 (7d8+35);  Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +10; DR 10/magic and silver; Atk 2 claws +12 (1d8+9 plus grab), bite +12 (1d8+9 plus energy drain); Str 28, Dex 16, Con —, Int 17,  Wis 21, Cha 19; CMB +16 (+20 grapple); CMD 30 (34 vs. trip); Skills Intimidate +14, Knowledge (arcana) +13, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (religion) +13, Perception +15, Sense Motive +15, Spellcraft +13. Special Abilities Dread roar DC is 17.

Greater Grave-Claws (CR 8) are tigers and mountain lions corrupted into undeath.  Size Large; Init +9; Perception +17; AC 23 (+5 Dex, +9 natural, –1 size);  hp 94 (9d8+54);  Fort +7, Ref +8, Will +11; DR 10/magic and silver; Atk 2 claws +13 (1d6+8), bite +13 (1d6+8 plus energy drain); Str 26, Dex 20, Con —, Int 17, Wis 21, Cha 21;   CMB +15; CMD 30 (34 vs. trip); Skills Acrobatics +17 (+25 jumping), Intimidate +17, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (religion) +15, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Spellcraft +15. Special Abilities disturbing hiss saving throw DC is 19, rake (2 claws +13, 1d6+4).