Crimson Bones

Crimson bones look much like ordinary animated skeletons, with two awful differences: they never stop dripping the dark blood that once filled their veins, and living, staring eyes still sit in their skulls. They neither speak nor understand speech.

Crimson bones are quick and agile. Too mindless for weapons, they tear with bony fingers sharp as knives for 1d4 points of damage each attack. Like other skeletons, they take full damage only from bludgeoning weapons; piercing and slashing attacks deal half.

Every melee hit sprays blood: each point of damage dealt gives the attacker a 5% chance of catching the spray. A splashed character must save vs. poison or contract advanced blood poisoning, losing 1 hit point every round until death. Neutralize poison and slow poison work on the taint, and once poisoned, further splashes have no extra effect.

They never check morale. As mindless undead they ignore charm, sleep, hold and other life- or mind-affecting magic, and are immune to poison and disease. Priests turn them as skeletons, and holy water or the touch of a holy symbol burns them for 1d4 points of damage.

Crimson bones exist only to kill the living and strip flesh from bone. Their sole memories are of their own agonizing deaths and the shadow fey responsible, so they attack powrie and other lesser shadow fey before any other prey. They hunt in packs but think not at all, and wary victims can trap, dodge or outwit them with little trouble. Even evil priests cannot command them; only the Unseelie shadow fey and spells such as control undead can steer them.

No one makes crimson bones on purpose. They arise on their own when a human or demihuman is flayed alive by the evil shadow fey of the hidden shadow realm, usually at the hands of powrie or other lesser kindreds, and return seething with loathing for the living and a thirst for revenge.