Sword spirit
Pathfinder |
A rare form of undead that stalks the battlefields of Acheron, the sword spirit (when visible) resembles a whirlwind of rust and metal flakes, eagerly sucking up nearby blades and wielding them against the living out of pure rage.
Appearance
Sword spirits (also commonly known as ragewinds) are the conglomerated spirits of powerful warriors who have perished in battles that they learned far too late were meaningless or hopeless, leaving behind nothing but the pure frustration of dying for a cause they had no true chance of advancing. Rarely found outside Acheron, most commonly Thuldanin in particular, these beings are significant and thankfully rare threats to travelers, wandering with no goal but to slay the living, especially those that act with strong purpose. These malevolent tempests feel nothing but hate and bloodlust, trapped in a perpetual cycle of rage they direct onto any with a truly significant cause of any degree. Though they can speak, they rarely bother to do so; when they do, their voices sound as the howling of a shrill autumn wind.
As they're most commonly in a state of intangibility, often times the only hints at the presence of a sword spirit are a chill in the air coupled with a sudden unexplained despair or anger towards one's purpose. From this state, it can take anywhere from a moment to a handful of minutes for a sword spirit to form its more well-known cyclonic body, usually striking as soon as it's able. Though undead, and thus not truly in need of any sustenance, sword spirits can feed upon the devotion and strength of purpose of those they kill, growing stronger with each feeding. Those fed upon in such a manner are doomed to rise within the next 3 days as undead themselves, most often either as ghouls or spectres, if not blessed by a sufficiently skilled priest beforehand; such undead still hold bare snatches of their former minds, but feel nothing but a bitter emptiness as a result of their life's meaning being literally stripped from their essence.
Reference
- Monster Manual II, pp.173-174
- Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix II, pp.102-103
