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Moredhel

Appearance

"The worst thing about the soulless is they look just like you and I, one can never know and one never remembers when they've passed in your midst."
    Since Moredhel are a corruption of the human spirit, they are usually indistinguishable from their human counterparts. They dress as they had before they were changed, they still eat and sleep, and they possess all the memories they had from before they were changed. To a detect undead spell they appear to be fully alive, this is because it is the positive energy of life within them that has been tainted; they are not truly undead.
    Moredhel possess the power of obscurity. They are so unassuming that they are effectively invisible to the casual eye and unless one were to speak directly to you or perform some other act that demanded attention, you would likely never know they were there. More still, memories of a Moredhel are slippery and quickly fade from the minds of those that were not spawned by the Dark God. Existing only in ones present and short-term memory, even a battle against a Moredhel where a dear companion was slain is quickly forgotten - though the death of the companion remains a fresh memory for many years to come.
    Old Moredhel who have been reborn many times begin to lose their skin tone and become gray in pallor. Their hair becomes streaked with gray and distinctive features from before they were changed, such as birth marks, begin to fade along with their memory of who they were before they were changed.

Combat

Most Moredhel approach combat with the same precautions as a human, though once engaged they can be savage and frenzied. Moredhel prefer to wield weapons, wear armor, and frequently employ tactics against their foes that are within their military training. Since all Moredhel served in the Dark God's armies, all are battle hardened and possess a modicum of tactical ability. Weapons carried by Moredhel are usually poisoned. A Moredhel caught without weapon will attack with its bare hands and teeth, but doing so stirs the corruption within them, changing their hands to claws and distending their mouths into gruesome jaws. These changes slowly subside after the combat is over, even in death.
    Disease (Ex): Creatures bitten must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ Moredhel HD + Cha. bonus) suffer from a disease called The Losing. The disease incubates for one day before beginning to ravage the hosts mind. Each day that passes thereafter the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ Moredhel HD + Cha. bonus) or suffer 1d4 points of Charisma damage. The Losing causes creatures to become increasingly psychotic, unable to distinguish themselves from their surroundings until at its end they sit in a comatose stupor, trapped in bodies that they don't recognize as their own flesh and oblivious unable to tell an object from a creature.
    Berserker Rage (Ex): An imprisoned Moredhel or one that chooses to use its natural weapons in combat, enters into a berserker rage like that of a barbarian. While raging the Moredhel temporarily gains +4 Strength, +4 Constitution, and a +2 morale bonus on Will saves, but it suffers a -2 penalty to AC because of its recklessness. Entering into a berserker rage is a full-round action for a Moredhel. A Moredhel can maintain its rage for as long as needed, but afterwards it is fatigued for 10 minutes while its body recovers. A Moredhel cannot "take 10" or perform skills which take longer than a standard action to perform and which are based on non-physical ability scores (Int, Wis, Chr) while raging.
    Forgotten (Su): The memory of a Moredhel, even in the most extreme circumstances is limited to the viewers short-term memory. Engaging in any task that requires concentration or focus, such spell-casting outside of combat against a Moredhel or even normal conversation if the Moredhel is out of sight, causes the loss of memory of the creatures participation in past events and eventually of the circumstances surrounding the entire encounter. One could take notes during the encounter describing what the Moredhel did; but only the act of writing it down would be remembered, not the circumstances surrounding it.
    In casual or uneventful circumstances, such as passing by a Moredhel on the road, a Spot check is required to even notice the presence of the Moredhel. Moredhel always receive a roll of 10 on all Hide and Move Silently checks, unless they directly engage or pose a direct threat to the observer.
    There is no saving throw against a Moredhel's forgotten effect, though modify memory and similar spells can retrieve the memory of a Moredhel's passing from obscurity. The effect can lead to some odd paradoxes of memory which we leave as an exercise for the Dungeon Master to arbitrate. Moredhel and other spawn of the Dark God are immune to the effects of forgotten.
    Reborn (Su): Unless a Moredhel suffers more than 50% of its damage from acid, fire, or holy water then it will rise from the dead after 1d10 minutes. Rising from the dead is a full-round action during which all wounds on the Moredhel are healed, severed limbs are regrown. Each time the Moredhel rises from the dead its Constitution increases by one. A Moredhel's Constitution cannot be raised by more than twice its Hit Dice in this fashion; thus a typical 5 HD Moredhel with no class levels can at most have a 23 Constitution score. The process of returning to life is incredibly painful, causing the Moredhel to screech and wail aloud as its wounds rapidly heal. Most Moredhel will try to avoid dying since the process is so unpleasant.
    Moredhel Traits: Immunity to mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects), sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease and poison. Moredhel are not at risk of death from massive damage. Moredhel cannot be raised from the dead, although a resurrection can bring one back to life. Moredhel do not age and do not suffer the physical effects of living a prolonged life.
    Vulnerability to Imprisonment: Moredhel that are subject to imprisonment quickly undergo a drastic transformation. The orbits of their eyes widen, their fingers distend into claws, their mouths project into jaws, they begin to salivate excessively, their breath hyperventilates, their hair whitens to gray, and a feral demeanor takes hold of their body. A Moredhel savagely attempts to escape captivity regardless of at what cost to themselves.
    Skills: Due to the nature of their forgotten power, all Moredhel receive a +5 circumstance bonus to all Hide and Move Silently skill checks. At the same time, the forgotten effect is an impediment to any Moredhel who wishes to exercise Diplomacy or other skills which require lengthy interaction with creatures that are affected by the power.

Habitat/Society

Moredhel tend to travel in groups of their own kind or with other spawn of the Dark God, often playing the part of mercenaries or bandits. Though most are warriors there are also a significant number of Moredhel that employ their talents to assassination.
    Moredhel are bitter and solemn individuals. They despise the world for the loss of their creator for it has made them outsiders to the natural order of existence. Within, the absence of their creator is an acute emptiness that most Moredhel futilely attempt to fill by distracting themselves with selfish activities. Since there is no joy in their hearts, relationships with other Moredhel rarely advance beyond casual association or necessity. Moredhel do not love and are infertile. Their role in general society is minimal.

Ecology

Moredhel consume food and drink as any other human might. They sleep, breath, and attempt to live out their lives in a fashion that benefits them, typically at the expense of others. When truly dead, a Moredhel's body crumbles to ash.

History

Moredhel are creatures who use to be mortal humans. There is no record of their existance by more than a couple years predating the time of the Black Scourge (~AC12858). They are a creation of the Dark God, a being now banished from the Multiverse to beyond the Veil. During the Black Scourge, they served in the armies of the Dark God as shock troops and elite assassins.

Variants and Resources

Rumors abound that humans were not the only creatures to trade their souls to the Dark God in return for true immortality. It is said that dwarves and other humanoids spoke dark vows in return for the gift, though surely no elf would corrupt their spirit with the taint. The existence of such beings has never been confirmed and if they exist at all they are surely a minority.

Behind the Scenes

Moredhel make interesting combatants and lackeys of greater villains. They are relatively good at infiltrating a city, though they would make a very poor choice for diplomacy. Moredhel work best at being brutes that are hard to track down. Individual Moredhel make difficult recurring villains because they cannot develop a rapport with the player characters. They might make a particularly villainous speech, but no one will remember it. Rather than speeches, a Moredhel villain might send letters, things the player characters can refer to again and again. A moredhel villain might ridicule and insult its opponents for their inability to remember what it had done.
    Consider the following situation: A group of player characters witness the brutal death of a merchant in the middle of a busy market. Before they can intervene the criminal has slain its target and flees on foot, disappearing into an alleyway. Some player characters might follow the moredhel into the alleyway, only to suddenly realize they don't know why they just ran into the alleyway; they don't remember the Moredhel fleeing there. Other player characters begin asking witnesses about what they saw. The witnesses know they saw a man killed, the body is right before them, and they remember the victims cry of pain, but none of them remember what the murderer looked like.
    "How could I have been right there and not remember the face of the assailant," non-player characters and player characters alike might ask. Don't discourage this line of inquiry or attempt to provide an detailed explanation, allow the players to draw their own conclusions. Avoid describing in detail the assailant except in terms of what the players can reasonably deduct afterwards: they know their opponent wields a long sword or some slashing weapon because they have slashing wounds, they know their opponent is Medium-sized because a shorter creature could not have cut them from the same angles, and so forth.