Savage Bloodshadows: Blood of Tarrian Wilderness Creatures
“Sometimes the mist isn’t mist. Sometimes it’s waiting for you to remember someone you’ve lost.”
Bog Wraiths are not truly ghosts, though many mistake them for restless spirits. They are amorphous entities born where death, Chaos, and the swamp’s strange geothermal energies mingle. Their bodies are little more than translucent masses of black water, peat, and drifting vapor that vaguely resemble the people they have recently killed.
At a distance they appear as lonely travelers wandering through the fog. Only when they draw close do the illusion unravel—their limbs stretch impossibly long, their faces melt like wet clay, and empty mouths whisper names stolen from the memories of their victims.
They feed on despair rather than flesh. A victim who flees in panic often finds themselves hopelessly lost until exhaustion or the swamp itself claims them.
Habitat
- Warm fog banks
- Sunken graveyards
- Forgotten battlefields
- Steam vents where visibility is poor
Behavior
Bog Wraiths almost never attack immediately. They stalk for hours, whispering familiar voices and creating phantom lights to lure prey deeper into the marsh.
Rumor
“Never answer someone calling your name after sunset.“
Bog Wraith
Medium Aberration (Wild Card)
Bog Wraiths are manifestations of sorrow, despair, and corrupted swamp magic. They are not true undead, but semi-ethereal entities composed of black water, peat, mist, and lingering memories. They delight in isolating travelers, leading them astray before draining away their hope—and eventually their lives.
Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d8, Spirit d10, Strength d8, Vigor d8
Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d8, Intimidation d10, Notice d10, Occult d8, Stealth d10, Survival d8
Pace: 6, Parry: 6, Toughness: 8 (2)
Special Abilities
Aquatic: Bog Wraiths ignore movement penalties in swamps, bogs, and shallow water.
Fear (-2): Anyone seeing a Bog Wraith must make a Fear check at -2.
Ethereal Form: The Bog Wraith may become incorporeal as a free action. While incorporeal it:
- Can pass through vegetation, water, mud, walls, and creatures.
- Cannot make physical attacks.
- Cannot be harmed except by magic, magical weapons, or supernatural powers.
Marsh Camouflage: +2 to Stealth in swamps, marshes, fog, or heavy vegetation.
Mist Form: While in heavy fog, steam, or mist, attacks against the Bog Wraith suffer -2.
Soul Drain: Instead of causing normal damage with its claws, the Bog Wraith may attempt to sap a victim’s spirit.
- Fighting attack.
- Victim resists with Spirit.
- Failure: Fatigue.
- Raise: Fatigue and Distracted.
- Fatigue caused this way ignores armor and may Incapacitate, but cannot kill. Victims reduced beyond Incapacitated remain unconscious for 1d6 hours.
Unnatural Resilience: +2 Armor. Not affected by poison or disease.
Attacks: Claws Str+d6, AP 2
Special Powers
Whisper of the Lost (Special): As an action, the Bog Wraith whispers in the voice of someone the victim once loved. Choose one target within Smarts ×2. The target makes a Spirit roll at -2. Failure: Distracted, Vulnerable, Must spend its next action moving toward the voice unless it succeeds on another Spirit roll. Raise: As above, plus the victim is Shaken.
Lost in the Mists: Once per encounter the Bog Wraith may summon supernatural swamp mist. Creates a Large Burst Template centered anywhere within 12″. The mist lasts 5 rounds. Within the mist: Visibility reduced to 2″; All Notice rolls suffer -2; Bog Wraiths ignore these penalties.
Bog Step: As a free action while standing in mud, water, or thick mist, the Bog Wraith may disappear and reappear from another patch of swamp within 12″. This is not teleportation so much as melting into the swamp itself.
Weaknesses
Sunlight: In direct sunlight: Pace reduced by half; Loses Mist Form; Spirit reduced one die type.
Sacred Ground: Cannot willingly enter consecrated ground.
Tactics
Bog Wraiths almost never fight fairly. They stalk prey for hours, using Whisper of the Lost to separate companions. Once a victim becomes isolated, the wraith envelops the area in supernatural mist, strikes with Soul Drain, then slips back into the fog before retaliation. They repeat this process until the victim is exhausted, terrified, and hopeless.
Adventure Hooks
A Quahog pirate captain offers to guide the heroes through the Boiling Swamps—but only if they first destroy the “Mist Mother,” an ancient Bog Wraith haunting a submerged battlefield.
- Travelers disappear every full moon near a ruined causeway. Survivors insist they heard dead loved ones calling from the fog.
- A Bog Wraith has begun impersonating a recently deceased swamp guide, leading entire caravans onto the backs of sleeping Behemoths.