Banshee

Sometimes named a groaning spirit, the banshee is the ghost of a wicked female elf, which is a rare thing in itself. She drifts as a glowing image of her living self, bright at night but 60% invisible by day. Most look old and withered; one in ten died young and keeps her beauty. Her hair is wild, her clothing torn rags, and her face twisted with anguish while her eyes burn with hatred. She cries out often, which earns her the name.

Seeing a banshee forces a save vs. spell. Those who fail run in terror for 10 rounds, with a 50% chance of dropping whatever they hold.

Worse is her keen. Once per day, and only after dark, she wails, and every creature within 30 feet must save vs. death magic or die instantly, faces frozen in horror. Her touch inflicts 1d8.

She is incorporeal, harmed only by +1 or better weapons, and has 50% magic resistance. Charm, sleep, hold, cold and electricity cannot affect her. Each vial of holy water deals 2d4, a dispel evil destroys her outright, and priests turn her as a special undead.

She senses the living up to five miles away, and anyone lingering within five miles of her lair will be attacked when night falls. Animals and weak folk die by her touch; adventurers and demihumans face her keen; anything strong enough to shrug it off she leaves alone. Survivors of her first wail watch her retreat to her lair, only to return each night and keen again until everyone is dead, has left, or she is destroyed.

Loathing the living, banshees settle in desolate wilds or old ruins, hiding by day and roaming by night. Once she chooses a lair she never leaves it. Her treasure often mirrors what she loved in life, from gold and gems to fine art or potent magic, especially if she haunts her old home.

Her cry sounds exactly like a suffering human or elf woman, and many gallant knights have died rushing to help. Banshees are brilliant and fluent in many tongues, among them elvish, common and several other demihuman tongues. Now and then one turns her powers on enemies from her mortal life.

A banshee is a blight that kills indiscriminately and delights only in misery. Her wailing poisons plants as well: delicate flowers die, trees grow warped and sickly, and thistles and other tough weeds spread. Within a few years the land for five miles around her lair becomes a waste of twisted trees, thorns and bleached bones.