Malfator, Undead and the Innate evil or "Dark" of the Northern Province

            Malfator, the god of Suffering, Deceit and Slavery, is also the benefactor and progenitor of undead.  The "Brother" of Leah'Dah, and one of the original Ascendants of Pholtus, a God and god-killer by his own power and right.  Worshiped by the evil and the mad, and fed by the Negative material Plane, Malfator's one desire is to return the world to darkness by erasing the coming of Men and the Light.

Malfator has Three Aspects, or Avatars that walk the world in real bodies.  They have been seen, and appear as young men in graveclothes.

Malfator has only ever really been heard, as he can speak through all undead who can speak, and he takes note of enemies.  Innate Evil are not related to the deity in this way as it is a confusion of the powers of nature that allow them to walk the world again, pulling strength from other realms to animate their bodies and minds, so when they speak it is with their own voice, but the created and the minor machinations of that dark energy are like eyes ears and mouths for the God.  It is not uncommon for sages and wizards to have a skull animated in such a way to converse with and aid in research.

 

The classes of undead are generally understood in the following way;

 

Class I

·        Some weaker spirits and Created Undead.  

 

·        Characterized by limited or very low level Negative Planer Flux, ie.  No Permanent Damage, or limited non-permanent damage, like a normal wound.

 

·        Generally 1 hit kill creatures, or apparitions.  Skeletons, Animal Zombies etc.

 

          While it does take Negative Planar Energy to animate these things, they have for the most part, not been raised up by Malfator.  They are more like small lights that illuminate a world of darkness, and Malfator can at times, sense things through them, only very dimly.  A second level student of the School of Necromancy in the Hidden Tower, cannot proceed to 3^rd level without first raising a construct; a marriage of the Physical world and the negative material world by the young magic users power alone.  There are many such creatures in the world at large, lifted from eternity by trespassers to their resting places, or by the will of deviant scholars.

 

Class II

 

·        The most common Innate Undead.  Ghouls, Ghasts, Revenants, Mummies, Crypt Things, etc.

 

·        All Constructs, Animations and Spirits that discharge NegP flux.    

 

·        Do not absorb or discharge experience or memory.

 

·        Often have special attacks and defenses.

 

·        Require silvered or enchanted weapons.

 

These are the primary vehicles of Knowledge for Malfator and he routinely navigates existence in these vessels.  These entities are often grown from lesser forms of undeath, that have grown on the living, as each time they damage or kill a living thing, the “Hole” through which they pull their power from the negative material grows wider and the energy that comes through comes through faster and in greater amounts.  It is not uncommon for an animated guardian to grow into a dangerous and uncontrollable evil through mere accident.  As with Ghast’s and Mummies, the more they “Feed” on the living, the more they want to, the darker they become and the more Awake they feel.

 

Class III

 

·        Uncommon to rare creatures.  Wraiths, Wights, Ghosts, Vampires, 

 

·        Typified by intelligence and sometimes High Intelligence.

 

·        Attacks drain experience, memory and NegP flux damage.

 

·        Varied special attack forms and defenses.

 

·        Must use enchanted weapons to affect.

 

These creatures do the Heavy Lifting of the “Dark” in creation.  Class III Undead actively seek to destroy the Light.  Malfator rarely inhabits these entities.  Wights for instance, are responsible for though almost complete dissolution of the Dwarves Greatest engineering achievement in the Norther Province, the Loch.  Countless miles of underground roads, and wells and forts all underground and all controlled by Elemental Magic which the Dwarves weald like words.  Because of the packs of wraiths, the Loch has been closed and its countless entrances sealed, and it is now a place of forgotten wonder where only fools or the very brave dare go.

 

Class IV

 

·        Unique Evil.  Greater vampires, Specters, Bansheess, Lichs.

 

·        Genius or dire malevolence.

 

·        All attacks are lethal to life threatening.

 

·        Varied special attacks and defenses.

 

·        Only artifacts or Powerful magic weapons can permanently harm them.

 

These beings have a “Foot” of existence squarely in the Negative Material and so are very hard to truly destroy.  They have routine dialog with the master of their existence, Malfator, and are more the puppet masters of Evil in the Prime Material Plane than Malfator himself. For instance, Oovardiis is a very powerful Lich-like creature that has perhaps transcended even that.  So powerful that he created 9 Simulacra.  It took the Early Humans and the Ancient Elves to unite to bring down One of those Simulacra.

 

Class V

 

·        Extraplaner and Divine.  Aspects of Malfator, Malfator, the Angel of Sin, Netholar and the strange things that live in and roam the Negative Material Plane.

 

·        Genius level intelligence.

 

·        Varied attacks and defenses.

 

·        Unknown how to harm or defeat.

 

·        Eternal, extra dimensional.

 

While the Angel of Sin was known to have had a Portion of its existence wrapped up in the being Innis Gainsover, a Greater Vampire that was renowned in the Fallen City of Freewinds.  Most of that being exists in constant conflict with the Light in the Inner Planes.  Malfator acts in the world of the player characters through influence and his three “Aspects”, though he is more an elemental fixture of the afterlife.  And Netholar, is more like saying Violent Natural Acts, when referring to tornadoes and forest fires, only referencing the Negative Material Plane, and if those things had an intelligence behind them.  How do you kill those things?