Sword spirit
Pathfinder |
A rare form of undead that stalks the battlefields of Acheron, sword spirits, when visible, resemble whirlwinds of rust and metal flakes, sucking up nearby blades and wielding them against the living out of rage.
Appearance
Sword spirits, or ragewinds, are the spirits of powerful warriors who have perished in battles that they learned far too late were meaningless, leaving behind nothing but the pure frustration of dying for a pointless cause. Rarely found outside Acheron, most commonly Avalas 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 are 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 matter of seconds to 5 minutes for a sword spirit to form its more well-known cyclonic body, usually striking as soon as it is 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 1-3 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 MCII, pp. 102-103
