CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Shallow coastal waters, salt and fresh <instead of standard blue for water, perhaps use the shallow shade from the GH maps>
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Pack
ACTIVE TIMES: Night
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Low (5-7)
TREASURE: [M]
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
REACTION MODIFIER: -3

NUMBER APPEARING: 2-24
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVEMENT: 6"//12"
HIT DICE: 5
THACO:15
NUMBER OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE PER ATTACK: 1-10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Stench, disease, spell use
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Spell immunity
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: Medium (6 feet tall)
MORALE: Fanatical (20)
EXPERIENCE VALUE: 130 + 5/hp

Drowned ones (also known as sea zombies) are the animated corpses of humans who died at sea.
Although similar to land-dwelling zombies,
they are free-willed,
and are rumoured to be animated by the will of the god [Nerull the Reaper].

Physical Appearance: The appearance of drowned ones matches their name:
They look like human corpses that have been underwater for some time --
bloated and discolored flesh dripping with foul water,
empty eye-sockets,
tongue protruding from between blackened lips.
Their visage and their stench of decay are so disgusting that anyone seeing a drowned one or coming within 20 feet must save vs. poison.
A failed saving throw indicates that the character is nauseated,
and attacks and defends at -1 for 2-8 rounds.
On land,
drowned ones move slowly,
with a clumsy shambling gait.
In water, however, they can swim with frightening speed.

Combat: Like most undead,
drowned ones have an abiding hatred for the living,
and attack them at any opportunity.
These attacks often show surprising cunning
(for example, luring ships onto the rocks, then attacking sailors as they try to save themselves from the wreck).
Drowned ones take advantage of their swimming speed by attackings ships as they lie at anchor --
climbing aboard the vessel and trying to drive the sailors overboard, where they can deal with them more easily.

    Drowned ones attack with the weapons typical of sailors:
short swords, daggers, hooks, clubs, etc.
Because of the unnatural strength of the creatures,
these weapons all do 1-10 points of damage.
The putrid water that drips from the drowned ones contains many pathogenic bacteria,
so any successful hit has a 10% chance of causing a severe blood disease in the victim. <make link>

    The water-logged condition of the creature's flesh means that fire and fire-based magic do only half <1/2> damage.
Lightning, electrical, and cold-based attacks do double damage.
Drowned ones are immune to sleep, charm, illusion and other mind-altering magics.
Because they are created by the direct will of a deity,
they cannot be turned like other undead.

    Many of the humans who become drowned ones were clerics while alive,
and they retain their clerical powers as undead.
There is a 50% chance that each drowned one encountered is a cleric of level 1 to 4 (random determination).
These creatures are granted their spells directly by Nerull,
and only receive baneful spells.

Habitat/Society: Drowned ones congregate in loose packs.
Their only motivation is hatred for the living.
Being undead,
they have no need to eat, <x>
although they sometimes rend and chew the flesh of their prey (this is probably just to strike terror into others).
    Underwater,
drowned ones are active around the clock,
and are often found in the sunken wrecks of the ships in which they drowned.
They are only active above the surface during the hours of night.
Drowned ones normally stray no more than 100 yards from the water.
If the wind drives a sea fog onto the coast,
however,
they can roam inland as far as the fog reaches.
When the fog retreats,
or when the sun is about to rise,
they must return to the water.
Dwellers on foggy coastlines usually fear the fog,
although they might not know why;
in some areas (for example, among the Amedio coastline),
human sacrifices are often cast into the fogs when they roll inland,
in the hopes that the drowned ones will take the offerings and leave everyone else alone.
    Drowned ones communicate among themselves via a form of telepathy,
and have no need of a spoken language (other than for spell-casting).
The verbal components of spells are spoken in hideous,
sibilant whispers.
    Perhaps because the Azure Sea provides a steady supply of raw materials (in the form of Amedio pirates, and freebooters in general),
drowned ones are most common in the shallows of this body of water.
The waters around Flotsom and Jetsom Islands,
Fairwind Isle,
and the Olman Islands are prime "breeding grounds" for these hideous creatures.

Niche: Drowned ones consume and produce nothing.
They interact among themselves only to make their killing more efficient.