CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any land environment (old battlegrounds)
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Military unit
ACTIVE TIMES: Night
DIET: Nil
INTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: Incidental
ALIGNMENT: LE
REACTION MODIFIER: +3

NUMBER APPEARING: 2-8
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVEMENT: 9"
HIT DICE: 7
THACO: 10
NUMBER OF ATTACKS: 3/2 (as F7)
DAMAGE PER ATTACK: 1-10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Strength drain
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +2 or better weapon to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (6' tall)
MORALE: Fanatical (20)
EXPERIENCE VALUE: VII | 1000 + 5

Swordwraiths are the spirits of warriors cut down at the
height of battle, and kept from the dissolution of death by
their own indomitable will.

Physical Appearance: Only seen at night, or underground
where the sun never shines, swordwraiths appear
as warriors, garbed in armor and armed with assorted
weapons of war. Although the armor and weapons are
unremarkable, the flesh within appears insubstantial.
Under certain lighting conditions, all that can be seen are
two glowing eyes within the shadow of the helmet.
‘ Swordwraiths reek of mold and decay, but this scent is carried <DSG: odor rules>
by their armor and weapons, not by the creatures
themselves. They are surrounded by an aura of intense
cold--uncomfortable, but not enough to cause damage.

Combat: Swordwraiths, when they were alive, were
hardened warriors, and even as undead they retain their
knowledge of strategy and tactics: They fight small-unit
engagements with textbook precision, knowing exactly
when to attack, give ground, and counterattack. They’re
intelligent, and speak the common tongue of humanity,
and therefore they might accept parlay. . . but only if it’s
asked by someone they consider their military equal.

Swordwraiths attack as normal warriors would, with
their varied weapons. No matter what weapon is used, the
damage is the same: 1-10 hp. Each hit also drains 1 point
of strength from the victim. If a victim’s strength reaches 0,
death occurs. Strength lost to a swordwraith’s attack can
only be regained by complete REST (1 point per day of total
inactivity), or through a wish, limited wish or equally
potent magic.

Swordwraiths can only be harmed by +2 or better weapons.
They are totally immune to sleep, charm and other
mind-affecting magic. They are turned as vampires.

Habitat/Society: Swordwraiths were once professional
soldiers: officers and mercenaries, or others for whom
fighting was all there was in life. Though slain on the field
of battle, their will was such that they were unable to leave
behind the trade of violent death. In many cases, their
stubborness is such that they won’t admit-even to
themselves-that they are in fact dead. Swordwraiths are
totally free-willed, and feel no kinship towards other
undead (in fact, they hate the “mindless lack of discipline”
that characterizes most other undead).

The creatures are active only at night, or underground
where the sunlight cannot reach. Their bodies were typically
interred in barrows or burial mounds. During daylight
hours, intruders into such barrows may meet
swordwraiths preparing for their nocturnal activities.

Swordwraiths congregate in small units and councils of
war, planning and executing midnight raids on settlements
near their battleground resting places. They are
also likely to attack any traveling party unwise enough to
spend the night within their territory (the “lawful” part of
their alignment refers to loyalty within their group-to
other swordwraiths and to no one else). Swordwraiths
gather no loot and occupy no captured territory as a result
of these raids. They fight because fighting is all they know.

If swordwraiths have a credo that they “live” by, it would
have to be “Mercenaries don’t die; they just go to Hades to
regroup.” They speak the common tongue of humankind.

Swordwraiths are common in the Stark Mounds region --
probably as a result of ancient territorial wars between
Geoff && Sterich, or their forebears -- but they can be found
in any other parts of the world that boast old battlefields
and war graves.

Niche: Swordwraiths consume and produce nothing.
Their only victims are travelers who wander into their territory,
and the occupants of nearby settlements.