The Bloodwraith
8-Bit fanart by King Bendix
Name: The Bloodwraith
Creature Type: Life Elemental; Apparition; Outer Being
Has Soul: Yes
Appearance:
The Bloodwraith is not unlike conventional ghosts in appearance, albeit much more red and moist as opposed to others of its ilk. It's a semi-ethereal entity, the solid and semi-solid bits largely composed of blood and coagulated clots of red drippings. The rest is a mixture of red fumes and sanguinary steam. It can be touched and certainly felled by perusal of conventional weaponry such as swords or maces.
The wraith sports two arms, attached to which are large clawy hands with seeping talons. It doesn't have nor does it require any legs for it floats and levitates as its mode of locomotion.
The aforementioned arms, along with a throat and head, are attached to a torso. Said torso appears to be made of torn flesh and remnants of bone and sinew whereas the head is nothing more than a skull drenched in haemal fluid, in most cases missing its jaw. The overall features of its 'face' are largely concealed by what seems to be a hood or cowl made from the same flowing substance as the bulk of the creature. The only thing a possible victim can clearly perceive when gazing at it are its glaring, red eyes that stare into the soul of its prey.
It moves swiftly and elegantly through the air up to an altitude of about five meters. If it weren't for all the matter attached to it weighing it down, it would surely reach up to ten or fifteen meters.
Whenever it flies from place to place, it does not only emit a pungent odour of iron and half-rotten meat, it also leaves a slight trail of the blood it's largely composed of on the floor and anything it touches. While this can make it easy to track by either smell or sight, none would willingly want to go after such a horror.
Abilities:
Passive: Flight
The Bloodwraith can fly and levitate in place, as its it's primary way of traversing any given distance. This makes it highly evasive and hard to combat.
Haemal Talons:
The Bloodwraith strikes forth with its claws, rending flesh and bone of its victims. If any make it out alive from the assault, they need to consult a healer or priest to remove the ensuing sepsis or bloodburns which are a side effect upon touch.
Bloodburn:
The Bloodwraith touches its prey or sprays blood at it to burn the skin and flesh in searing pain. While not deadly per say, the agony is highly incapacitating for less steadfast warriors.
Sanguinary Howl:
The Bloodwraith howls in a cacophony of nausea-inducing retching, expectorating blood and flesh pieces. This instills fear in most and harms all who come into contact with it.
Curse of the Red Hand:
The Bloodwraith touches its victim with its full palm outstretched, leaving a bloodied hand print on wherever it connects. This curse ensures that the wraith will find its prey wherever it may hide for eternity and causes ardent burning from time to time to keep it weakened. To remove the curse, one has to cut out the portion of the skin that is affected, remove it and burn it to ashes. Most who try this die from secondary infections or blood loss, however.
Backstory:
When the two bandits Mellius and Gerion fled from the Imperial Guard in order to evade conviction and containment, the two of them had the idea to swim to an island just off the coast to the north of Solitude, west of Broken Oar Grotto.
However, when they arrived and noticed a stranded boat, they immediately knew someone else had landed on the isle as well.
Notwithstanding this obvious fact, the bandits strode forth, only to discover a bloody ritual being conducted circumjacent to a bonfire containing a curious idol in its center. Upon approaching the unsightly cultists who indulged in the procession, Mellius and Gerion were apprehended and brought to a cave in which resided the apparent cult leader.
In an unfortunate turn of events, Gerion was bewitched by the unholy priest and after some incantations and a bloodied marking on his face, a malicious entity clawed out of Gerion's body as his skin burst, spraying bits and pieces on the cave's walls.
Thusly, the Bloodwraith was born. A traumatizingly vicious apparition, created from Gerion's soul that quickly left a curse mark on Mellius and then proceeded to slay the cultists in a brutal display of beastliness.
Legends around the Solitude dungeon say that on moonless nights, a maddening howl reverberates throughout the walls. The howl of the Bloodwraith still seeking its prey.
This creature first appears in:
Tales of Darkness - The Red Hand
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