Amber and Blood

The War of Souls created a vacuum in the seats of power among the pantheons of both good and evil. Unrest in the realms both divine and infernal has forced the gods to take a far more active role in the world than they have since the earliest days upon Krynn.

The Lord of Death, Chemosh, made the enigmatic Mina his prophet and messenger, creating the nearly unstoppable undead creatures known as the Beloved. Unfortunately for Chemosh, the Beloved proved to be something of a failed experiment. Though Mina created them in Chemosh’s name, the power that created them turned out to be hers. Chemosh found he could not control the undead. (For more information on the Beloved, refer to the Appendix in Amber and Iron, Volume 2, Dark Disciple.) Fortunately for the people of Ansalon, few Beloved are now found roaming Krynn.

After the debacle with the Beloved, Chemosh decided to return to a more tried and true model of disciple, one whose loyalty he could ensure.

Bone Warriors

Bone Warriors are fearsome opponents, extremely difficult to control, even by those who summon them to service. Their undead remains are covered and protected by bone armor. Their souls are bound to the Lord of Death in hatred and anger over their fate. If not controlled by a strong and powerful will, they will attack every living being in sight until there is no one left to kill.

Creation

Among his other duties, the Lord of Death serves an important role as adjudicator of souls. The souls of all who have lived upon Krynn must pass under his watchful eye. Those who strived to do good with their lives pass on to the next stage of the journey. Some may be bound to the service of other gods (such as Morgion) and proceed on to whatever fate awaits them. Some souls who cannot bear to be parted from life—for whatever reason—Chemosh claims for his own. These anguished dead might return to the world as an unquiet spirit, a ghost, or a specter. They might include a husband who comes back to watch over his wife or man who returns to haunt the place where he was murdered.

A Bone Warrior is one of these unquiet undead. In their case, they are warriors who died on the field of battle and who are so filled with hatred of the enemy that they refuse to quit the fight. Their one desire is to return to the world to inflict revenge on those they believe mistreated them. Chemosh will offer them the chance and, if they agree, he will seize them and force the rage-filled spirits to become Bone Warriors in his service.

It is interesting to note that even servants of Light may become Bone Warriors. For example, an elven warrior fighting minotaur in Silvanesti despises her enemy so much that her hatred lives on even after her death. If she cannot let go of her rage, her soul may well fall victim to Chemosh.

The Lord of Death allows the fallen warrior to keep his original body and the skills that go with it. Thus an elven swordsman will still retain his deadly grace, the ogre bandit his brutish strength. Those who knew the Bone Warrior in life will not likely recognize him in death, for Chemosh has quite literally turned the Bone Warrior inside out.

Through a slow and painful process, the soft and meaty innards of the Bone Warrior are drawn inside its skeleton while the bones are reshaped and strengthened to form a hard carapace that protects every part of the body. Chemosh allows his new disciple to feel every moment of this terrible ordeal, constantly reliving the moment of its death, thus reinforcing the rage that binds him to this plane.

A Bone Warrior “lives” in constant, burning agony. It hates the living, viewing them all as the enemy. It knows only pain and rage. It does not require food, drink, sleep, or shelter. Though it still understands the languages it knew in life, the horribly deformed mouth and tongue utters nothing except inarticulate cries of fury.

The Bone Warriors are extremely dangerous. If uncontrolled, the Bone Warrior will attack every living being in sight, making no distinction between friend and foe, until it is finally destroyed. And if the Bone Warrior ever encounters those it counted as its enemy, it will focus on that enemy to the exclusion of all others.

Since mindless rage does little to serve the Chemosh’s purpose, however, a Bone Warrior will almost always be under the control of one of his living servants—either a powerful dark cleric or a Bone Acolyte.

Bone Warrior Powers

Like other undead, a Bone Warrior remains unaffected by many physical and magical attacks. These include: sleep, poison, paralysis, disease, or spells that affect the mind. A Bone Warrior’s bone armor has the hardness of Solamnic plate mail, and it covers the entire body—with only the smallest openings to allow the flesh to move underneath the bone. Swords and arrows do little damage to a Bone Warrior’s armor. The rare weapon that manages to pierce it causes no more pain than the undead warrior already endures.

The pain-fueled anger is the key which grants the Bone Warrior supernatural strength. It is significantly stronger in death than it was in life, though any magical spells or abilities it once possessed are lost in the transformation, and it is incapable of taking any actions that require much in the way of focus or concentration.

Though it does not understand complex strategies, it does retain the warrior’s mind it possessed in life and can utilize battlefield tactics with cunning. Many enemies assume Bone Warriors to be mindless, a mistake a Bone Warrior gladly uses to its advantage. A Bone Warrior follows the orders of the person to whom it is bound, though it will constantly struggle against the will of those who control it, blaming them for keeping it bound to this terrible existence. If a Bone Warrior breaks free, it will first attempt to slay its master.

Bone Acolyte

The Bone Acolyte is a living disciple of the Lord of Death. Protected by unholy skeletal armor, the Bone Acolyte possesses a number of powers granted by Chemosh.

Bone Acolytes were known during the Age of Dreams, and there was a brief (though largely forgotten) time in which they were among the most feared servants of any evil god. Only the Plague Knights of Morgion rivaled the Bone Acolytes in the dark tales spun by the bards of that age. So feared were they that warriors and wizards and clerics devoted themselves to destroying them. Chemosh determined they were not worth the time and effort, and moved on to other schemes. After all these ages have passed, however, the tales of the Bone Warriors are known to only a few wizards and historians. The Lord of Death believes that the time is right for these fearsome undead to return to work his will among the living.

Creation

A Bone Acolyte is a powerful servant of Chemosh. Though he or she might be a dark cleric who calls upon the Death Lord for greater power, the Bone Acolyte is often a warrior of Darkness willing to trade his soul for the power granted to him by Chemosh. The unholy bone armor grants special abilities, though unlike that of the Bone Warrior, the bone armor allows the Acolyte to still enjoy the pleasures of the living.

Typically, one who wants to gain the power of a Bone Acolyte must perform a profane ritual that involves the sacrifice of an elf, an ogre, and a human. The flesh is boiled from these victims to retrieve the true goal—the bone. A terrible craft is required to magically shape the skeletal remains into armor made specifically to fit the Bone Acolyte.

With the armor in place, the initiate must offer his life and his soul to Chemosh and adjure the Lord of Death to grant to him the powers of the Bone Acolyte. If Chemosh deems the candidate unworthy, the best that can be hoped for is a swift, yet painful death. Those who are deemed worthy are granted both dark secrets and divine magical abilities.

Chemosh might, however, grant a warrior in his direct service, such as Ausric Krell, the gifts of a Bone Acolyte without the need of special ritual and craft. But there is a price for anything, and the Lord of Death will claim his servant’s soul should he fall.

Appearance & Personality

A Bone Acolyte is still alive, and without the benefit of his armor he has all the same physical characteristics, strengths and weakness, as before. But when he dons the bone armor, he becomes a nightmare figure. His armor is made of whitish-yellow bone, with unnaturally long spikes protruding from the shoulders, elbows, knuckles and knees, serving to protect the joints. These spikes, being imbued with the divine magic, do not interfere with the Bone Acolyte’s movement. In some instances, they may even enhance it.

The exact appearance of the Bone Acolyte’s armor is specific to person, fitting his personality and history. The only thing all have in common is the symbol of Chemosh, the tattoo of a skull above the Bone Acolyte’s heart.

The Lord of Death provides direction for a Bone Acolyte’s actions, though the Acolyte’s own passions and agenda certainly play a part—as they do for all mortals. A Bone Acolyte might be found guarding a temple or stronghold of Chemosh or on the field of battle, fighting in the name of his god.

Powers

A Bone Acolyte’s primary power is related to his armor. Created with unholy magic, the armor can be summoned or discarded with nothing more than a simple prayer to Chemosh.

The armor enhances the strength of the wearer, making him a fearsome opponent without even considering his other abilities. It also provides nearly complete protection against mundane attacks.

But it is the Bone Acolyte’s ability known as boneshaping that makes him a terrifying enemy. The armor may alter, grow, and change at the direction of the Acolyte. A novice Bone Acolyte may grow a bone blade from his wrist if he is disarmed. A more experienced and powerful Acolyte may draw his opponent into an embrace, then grow a dozen bony spikes to impale the enemy.

Once a Bone Acolyte has acquired mastery of his true powers, he can use his power over bones and direct it at the enemy. By magically exerting his will against a foe, he is able to snap bones from a distance—causing a warrior’s sword arm to become useless or render a wizard unable to use the somatic components of a spell. This gruesome .ability can demoralize an entire enemy force. It is fortunate for Chemosh’s enemies, however, that those of great strength or exceptional will can resist this power of the Bone Acolyte.

The legends from the Age of Dreams state that a truly powerful Bone Acolyte in Chemosh’s service gains one final, terrible power—the ability to liquefy all of the bones of a single opponent in an instant. With no structure to support the body, the unfortunate victim dies almost instantly, leaving behind only a soft and fleshy mound. This dread power can only be used rarely.

Bone Acolytes gain an advantage over others such as dark clerics when attempting to control a Bone Warrior. In addition, a Bone Acolyte may choose his Bone Warrior from the undead army of Chemosh, thus enabling the Bone Acolyte to select a warrior to suit his needs. (A minotaur Bone Warrior who hates elves to fight elves, for example.)

There is one drawback. If the Bone Acolyte does lose control of his Bone Warriors, he will almost certainly be destroyed by them. Chemosh has no use for weaklings.

Though his Bone Acolytes and Warriors have been defeated for the time being, Chemosh was pleased with them and toys with plans to keep creating them. His goal is to supplant Sargonnas as head of the Dark Pantheon and thus his dark clerics will require the aid and protection of strong warriors, while his armies need generals and powerful troops.

With the destruction of Ausric Krell, there are now no more known death knights in Krynn. Chemosh’s Servants of Bone could become some of the most terrifying foes to cast their fearsome shadows over the world. They will undoubtedly be seen again.