Ancient Mariner

Long ago an evil seafaring race plied the phlogiston; it is gone now, and ancient mariners are its restless dead. Roughly humanoid, it has a slightly too-long neck, a squat torso, and bulging eyes and jaw, and its wavering voice sounds as if it comes from far away. It is partly see-through and dressed in the gaudy finery of a buccaneer, looking exactly as it did when it died, so each is unique, perhaps with scars, an eye patch or a peg leg. Any weapon it carries is just as ghostly and does no harm.

Its icy touch deals 1d6 cold damage and drains one level, reducing Hit Dice, class bonuses, spellcasting and the like. Only magical weapons can hit it. It is immune to sleep, charm, hold, cold-based spells and all mind control, and priests turn it as a wight.

Anyone slain by its drain rises as a mariner shadow, much like an ordinary shadow, utterly obedient to the mariner. Those killed by these shadows simply stay dead. A mariner shadow keeps its old appearance, now translucent, and its gear turns ghostly with it, untouchable by the living and unusable by the shadow.

They exist only in the phlogiston and will never enter a crystal sphere, probably because the phlogiston powers their ghost ships. A group always has a captain with 6+3 HD, turned as a wraith, with 1d20 mariner shadows serving as crew, drawn from many spacefaring races; big ships may carry more. If the captain is turned, the whole ship breaks off and flees.

A captain's greatest power is making objects as insubstantial as itself, by touching one and concentrating for a turn, after which any mariner or shadow can handle it; this is how their hoards grow. Doing the same to a starship takes a full day. Human-built vessels such as galleons and caravels are favored. Fed by part of the captain's undead energy, the ship becomes translucent and immaterial, moving as if driven by a 5th-level caster. It is immune to all physical and magical attacks, passes through solid objects and holds no air, yet the ghostly crew walk its decks and climb its rigging normally. A captain can power just a single vessel, though it may release one and claim another.

If every mariner aboard is destroyed, the shadows vanish into true death and the ship turns solid, ready to be boarded and searched; its starhelm has a 50% chance of still working. If only the captain dies, the mariner with the most hit points takes command.

Unlike most undead, they are bound to no place or person and can roam the phlogiston and swap ships at will. Their original race must be long gone, for they resemble no people known in any crystal sphere.