Lich, Blood (Sangrolu)

Description

Appearance

The Blood Lich, or Sangrolu is truly an abomination; a merging of the lich and the vampire. Legends of the sangrolus' creation abound in the tomes of long-dead sages, but most of them agree that the first sangrolu was a vampire who wanted to escape the bounds of the night and forever leave the dominion of Kanchelsis*, the God of vampires.

Sangrolu are created when a vampire creates a variant of the black potion used to turn a mortal wizard into a lich, and drinks it. (See Ecology, below)

Vampires that imbibe this dark potion must still succeed a System Shock check, as must a mortal. However, failure does not indicate death, but rather an eternal curse of decay that can only be slowed by the ingestion of blood.

Thus, there are two types of sangrolu, Broken and Whole. Whole sangrolu are possibly the most powerful and sophisticated undead. They retain their previous vampiric appearance, and do not have the appearance of walking corpses. Broken sangrolu are horrid creatures of tight, rotted flesh shot through with fat, black veins and exposed yellowing bones. They are even more horrible than the typical lich, for the broken sangrolu are forever cursed to decay, with only the blood of mortal to hold back the inevitable.

Broken sangrolu decompose rapidly, losing two Hit Dice per 24-hour period. Their bodies simply fall apart when they reach. The only way to hold back the rot is to drink blood...for every 10 hit points of blood they drink, they regain one hit die. However, even when fed, a broken sangrolu is a monster with tight, wrinkled flesh and burning yellow eyes.

All sangrolu in their natural forms continuously emit a thick mist from their bodies that trails behind them when they move. The mist is heavier than air, and slowly falls from their bodies and washes across the ground like a ghostly waterfall. The mist eventually dissipates, but it adds a distinct, haunting aura to the creature. The mist is supernatural in origin, and is not affected by wind, or even submersion.

Like vampires, sangrolu make absolutely no noise when they move, even if they tread on dry leaves or broken glass.

Combat / Powers

Sangrolu are terrible in battle. They retain the vampiric ability to drain life energy at a rate of 2 levels/HD per hit. Also, they gain the lich ability to induce paralyzation with a touch, if a save vs. paralyzation is failed.

So powerful are the dark energies surrounding a whole sangrolu that it can only be hit by +2 or better magical weapons. Broken sangrolu require at least +1 weapons.

Sangrolu are immune to charm, sleep, enfeeblement, polymorph, cold, electricity, insanity, death, and paralysis magic. Poisons do not affect them.

Sangrolu are not hindered by the weaknesses of a vampire. Wooden stakes are no longer a threat. Running water is...running water to them, and sunlight does no more damage than the wind to a whole sangrolu. (Broken sangrolu will rot away one hit die per round of exposure to direct sunlight.) Also useless are mirrors, as the sangrolu are quite able to see their reflection, and are not bothered by the relective glass at all. Holy symbols retain their effectiveness, but only by a priest. The faithful masses can no longer depend upon them against the Blood Lich.

Whole sangrolu still regenerate three Hit Points per round, but broken sangrolu do not. If one is brought down to zero hit points, it does not take on a mist form, as it has no coffin to retreat to. However, a sangrolu can only be permanently destroyed if it's phylactery is emptied (See Ecology).

However, sangrolu do have an aversion to pure lead. Any contact with this metal will do 1d4+2 points of damage to them per round of contact. Non-magical lead weapons will do half damage to them.

Finally, sangrolu no longer require coffins, nor do then need to sleep during the day. They may enter any structure without being invited.

Sangrolu are turned as Liches, but with a -6 penalty to the roll. This penalty is negated if the holy symbol used in the turning is made of pure lead.

Sangrolu have a staggering array of dark powers available to them. They retain the vampiric ability to Spider Climb and take the form of mist. They cannot transform into a wolf or bat, nor can they summon these animals. Whole sangrolu retain the vampire's Charm ability, but do not the lich's fear aura. Broken sangrolu lose the Charm, but gain the fear aura.

Sangrolu of both types can drink the blood of living beings (but only the broken require it). A sangrolu may hold hit points of blood equal to 10 times it's Hit Dice. Both kinds can derive great power from the blood they take. Whole sangrolu retain the blood until they use it for some purpose. Broken sangrolu must continually replenish their supply because of decay. Broken sangrolu lose 20 points of blood (as well as two hit dice) to rot per 24-hour period. All sangrolu may use stolen blood to gain many powers and abilities:

1. A sangrolu may call upon the inherent life energy in its stolen blood to add power to its spells. Thus;

   Blood Spent	Effect
   FOR EVERY POINT OF BLOOD SPENT	The spell's range and area of effect are increased by 10%
   FOR EVERY FIVE POINTS SPENT	The spell's damage is increased by one point per die. The spell's casting time is decreased by one, and the spell imposes a -1 to all saves against it.
   FOR EVERY TEN POINTS SPENT	The spell's duration increases to the next unit of time upward. Segments become rounds, rounds become turns, turns to hours, hours to days, days to weeks, weeks to months, months to years, and so forth.

   NOTE: A sangrolu may not spend more points of blood than it has Hit Dice in a single round.

2. The necrology of a sangrolu twists the blood it takes and bonds it to the creature's dark essence. Thus, any being that drinks the blood of a sangrolu must save vs. poison or become the lich's absolute slave. Each consecutive time a creature drinks a sangrolu's blood, a cumulative -2 penalty to the save is added. The only way to break the servitude is to cast a successful Remove Curse on the victim (against the sangrolu's Hit Dice), but only after the victim has imbibed a flask of holy water. This process is painful to the slave, and a System Shock check must be made, or the slave will permanently lose 1 point of Constitution, whether or not the process was successful.

3. After taking a creature's blood, a sangrolu may enter a trance, whereby it delves into the lifeforce of the blood it has taken to learn information about the victim. This must be done within one hour of drinking the blood, any longer means the blood is no longer whole and has mixed with that of the sangrolu. The trance demands absolute concentration, during which the creature is immobile and (relatively) defenseless.

   In the trance, the sangrolu enters the spirit of the victim, which is still contained in the stolen blood, although it is fading. The sangrolu may gain the answer to a number of questions from the victim's blood, similar to the way a necromancer speaks with dead. There are a number of limitations to this ability:

   • A. Technically, the sangrolu may ask one question for every four levels/HD it possesses. In practice, it may only get one answer for each hit point of the victim's blood that it has drained.
   • B. Each question takes at least a full round to ask and receive answer (long answers are up to the DM as to how long they take). Bear in mind the blood is only fit for questioning for 6 turns after drinking.
   • C. The questions will always be answered truthfully. There will be no deceit, for the sangrolu is not questioning an intelligent creature. However, information cannot be gained from the blood if the victim didn't know it at the time the blood was taken.

   Sangrolu can get around the time limitation by keeping the victim's blood in a container for later use. As long as it is kept in liquid form, and is kept pure, it will remain useful for questioning.

4. A Sangrolu may spend the energy in stolen blood to repair damage to itself. Whole Sangrolu may "heal" one hit point by spending two points of blood. Broken sangrolu must spend four points of blood for one hit point of healing. In any case, only four points of damage may be repaired per round, and this is cumulative with the Whole sangrolu's regeneration ability.

Trailing Mist

The sangrolu's trailing mist is far more than a supernatural oddity. The mist is actually a part of the creature's physical form and dark essence. If the sangrolu remains still and concentrates, it may control the direction of the mist's flow, and may see and hear normally in any location where the mist is present. Sangrolu may extend the mist 10 yards from themselves for every Hit Die they possess, and may create one such "tendril" of mist for every 4 Hit Dice. They may only concentrate their senses on one tendril at a time, however. The mist tendrils move at a rate of 10, and may move across any surface. The mist's nature prevents it from moving through empty air, and it must remain attached to a surface. The surface may be vertical or upside-down, and the mist can move through any space that is not airtight, such as keyholes or window shutters.

In addition, a sangrolu may actually grant it's mist temporary sentience, and a peice of the lich's own nether energy. By concentrating and spending a certain amount of blood, a sangrolu may create one or more Crimson Deaths from its trailing mist. These creatures are independently intelligent, but totally subservient to the lich.

The cost of making these creatures is 10 points of blood for every Hit Die the creature(s) is to have. This energy is transferred from the lich to the Crimson Death, so if the Death is destroyed, the points are lost. Normally, the blood cost limits the number of Deaths a lich can make, but no sangrolu may have more than five Deaths in existence at any one time. Each Death takes a full round to manifest, and only one may be created at a time.

A Death may be manifested anywhere that the sangrolu's trailing mist is present. It may then move about on it's own, and may travel any distance from it's creator. Curiously, a Death created this way cannot exist if a body of running water, even as small as a brook, lies between it and the lich.

Except for the changes noted above, the monsters otherwise conform to all statistics given for Crimson Death in the Monstrous Manual, Pg. 253.

The Deaths can transfer all blood that they take from mortals to the sangrolu that created them. In this manner, sangrolu may perfrom "remote feeding." Blood transfer is on a one-for-one basis.

When wearing another form (and thus not emitting trailing mist), a sangrolu cannot create mist tendrils or Crimson Deaths. It can, however, maintain Deaths previously created.

Shapechanging

While they cannot transform into animals by innate power (spells are another matter), sangrolu do possess incredible control over their physical forms. In addition to mist form, a sangrolu can alter it's features to appear as any humanoid creature. So great is this control that the sangrolu can even alter its fingerprints.

Sangrolu emit no mist when they have altered their forms. This is useful for disguise, but also hinders another ability dependant on the trailing mist, described below.

Whole sangrolu may enter and leave mist form instantly. If it beats an opponent at initiative, it may attack (spell or melee) and take mist form before the opponent can retaliate.

NOTE: While broken sangrolu may still alter their forms, their curse of decay forces them to spend a point of blood for every round they remain in another form (except mist). Also, broken sangrolu require a full round to change to or from mist form.

Physical Attacks

The physical attacks of a sangrolu combine the chill and paralyzation of a lich with the energy drain of a vampire. Barring any skill as a Fighter, sangrolu normally attack once per round for 1d10 points of damage, 2 drained levels, and paralyzation if a save is failed.

As if this wasn't bad enough, a sangrolu may increase it's attack rate and damage by spending blood.

Damage is increased on a point-for-point basis, with a maxiumum of 10 spent points per attack (Thus, if 7 hit points of blood are spent, one attack's damage is increased by 7). The sangrolu uses its stolen blood to increase its power, and can deliver incredibly hard blows. The blood is spent before the attack is delivered, and is lost even if the lich misses.

The lich may increase it's number of attacks, as well. For every 5 points spent, the monster gains an additional attack. A max of 25 points may be allocated to increased attacks in a single round.

Finally, the sangrolu may increase its Strength, already 18/00, to even greater levels by spending blood. Three points of blood must be spent per point of Strength, per round. Thus, raising Strength from 18/00 to 19 for five rounds costs 15 points of blood.

Procreation

The final horrid ability of these undead (not counting it's spellcasting ability) is Procreation. Sangrolu can create undead in much the same way as normal vampires. They must drain a victim of all its blood, and then have the victim drink some of the sangrolu's own blood. Then, the corpse must be kept out of the sunlight for three days and nights, as it transforms. On the third night, the corpse will rise again as a vampire under the sangrolu's control.

Sangrolu-born vampires are different from the normal variety. They are more bestial in nature, and will be called Feral Vampires from here on. Their fangs are longer and sharper than a normal vampire's, their ears are sharp, and their brows are more pronounced. Their limbs are slightly longer than normal, and more muscular. Feral vampires are absolutely hairless.

Feral vampires are named such because their every habit reminds me more of an animal or beast than a human or demi-human. In truth, they are as every bit as intellignet as they were in life, but the dark aura of the sangrolu has changed their nature drastically. Feral vampires are basically a cross between vampires and ghouls. They are cannibalistic, seeking not only the blood of the living, but the very flesh and bone of the living as well.

Ecology

Sangrolu are created when a vampire that has achieved at least 18th level as a Wizard creates a special variant of a lichdom potion, and drinks it during a complex ritual.

Sangrolu make use of a phylactery, the same as other liches do. However, the phylactery must be an object capable of holding a pint of the prospective vampire's blood. The blood is what contains the soul of lich, and the creature will be destroyed if the blood is ever emptied from it. The blood will remain liquid as long as it remains in the enchanted container.

The potion is created with the same spells used in the normal version. The ingredients are different, though. The sangrolu potion makes no use of poisons, as vampires are immune to such substances. Instead, the potion is a mixture of blood and ashes. The blood comes from about 13 different creatures of magical or extraplanar origin, and the ashes come from ancient trees from graveyards, the corpses of the wicked, or similar sources.

Habitat / Society

Sangrolu lairs show quite a bit more thought to the environment than those of normal liches. While "average" liches desire seclusion, sangrolu want a ready supply of blood handy.

Whole sangrolu lair themselves outside but near large cities. Typically, a whole sangrolu will inhabit a large country estate, a lonely abandoned barn, or any other place near but outside a populated area. They need never actually venture into a city due to their ability to create Crimson Deaths to feed for them, but they try to remain no farther than 10 miles from such places.

Broken sangrolu need blood much more badly than whole, and tend to more drastic measures. Broken sangrolu tend to set up temporary lairs in places of large populations, but that will escape the notice of the world at large. They will typically take over (or lair in) a prison or asylum, a large ship at sea, frontier villages, or sewers of large cities. Sangrolu also tend toward kingdoms or provinces where slavery exists, to easily purchase supplies of blood.

One curious characteristic of the blood lich is that if they take the blood of a single, certain type of creature for an extended period, they will begin adopting mental characteristics of that type of creature. This is probably because the sangrolu's own personality fades over time, and it more readily adopts the mindset and nature inherent in the blood it takes. If a sangrolu spends a year feeding primarily on the insane, the lich will start to exhibit signs of mental illness. If it takes the blood of children long enough, the mental age of the lich will drop. Just after the transformation, a new sangrolu must spend at least a few years on a certain "diet" before exhibiting this personality adoption, but as the sangrolu gets older and it's own personality fades, this time becomes steadily shorter.

*Kanchelsis (sp?) can be found in Monster Mythology.