Varculak

Varculaks, also known as soul wights, are undead that occur when a humanoid dies with an intense desire to continue living. The longing turns to anger as life slips away, but the varculak’s will is strong enough that the soul doesn’t pass on into the River of Souls for Pharasma’s judgment. Instead, a portion of the mortal essence passes away, leaving behind a soul with little memory of who it once was, and locked inside a half-living body. What remains is grim determination and rage. Among occult scholars, this state is known as “the Curse of Varcul.” The legendary first varculak, once a human named Varcul, supposedly existed thousands of years before the Gap. Some say he still does, and varculaks make a deal with him to continue living—a bargain they don’t remember.

A varculak looks much as they did in life, except limbs and sensory organs outside the human norm wither away and turn to dust. Lashuntas, for example, lose their antennae, while kasathas lose their extra arms and strix lose their wings. (Some speculate this effect is related to the fabled Varcul and his erstwhile humanity, or he requires his “offspring” to make these sacrifices.) Eyes undergo a notable change, the orbs giving way to points of cold light, which can be of any hue. Except for this alteration, a varculak who has eaten or rested recently can look almost alive, but becomes pale and drawn quickly between periods of refreshment, and varculaks never look so much like corpses as when they sleep. These changes prevent them from passing for a normal member of any humanoid species.

Most varculaks are creatures of deep passion. They have a sense of life as fleeting, and they seek not only to experience what it has to offer, but also to give it purpose. Varculaks are rarely idle. If anything, they can be obsessive and, having died once, are averse to fewer risks than the living. A lucky few remember some important task they left unfinished in their previous life and make that their purpose. In this way, many varculaks end up reintegrating with the society that death temporarily separated them from.

Some varculaks, however, remember only the circumstances of their death. This one recollection can lead a varculak who died violently to focus on vengeance, seeking those responsible. That done, a varculak can become obsessed with the chain of blame, condemning nearly anyone for even a tenuous connection to the varculak’s death. If a mercenary killed such a varculak, the undead seeks first that mercenary, then the mercenary’s entire company, then those who hired the mercenary, and eventually even those responsible for the conflict that led to the varculak’s demise or the manufacturer of the weapon the mercenary used for the deed. A varculak on such a path of destruction is more likely to face a second and final death than to reach the path’s end.