Shu'Gah Morticia Bones

### Notable Features

Wears a sugar skull mask and covers her golden skin in white and teal body paint.

"Some people say I put the Romance back in Necromancer. But really, who doesn't like a bit of romance? Enjoy life while you can! Eat, sing, dance, romance! Nobody should live forever."

-Shu'Gah Morticia Bones

## The Final Breath

Shu'gah, like all Shabti, was originally created to atone for the sins of her mortal master. Her earliest 'memories' are of eating, drinking, partying, murder, and all manner of terrible debauchery... followed by incredible fear. Fear of repercussions. Fear of the Gods. Fear of death. And so that woman's last breath was the first for Shu'gah... a first breath filled with the pain and suffering of a sacrificial lamb.

Shu'gah spent several centuries drifting aimlessly through the planes, shunned by the God her creator followed in her stead. But it was through a miracle, or perhaps a chance stroke of good luck, that Shu'gah followed the divine song drifting through the darkness. Heard beyond the embittered fear and tears and heard the pitter-patter-patter of the beating heart, the celestial chorus somewhere, somewhere far away, and followed it.

After centuries of lifelessness, she was truly alive. She dug her way out of her coffin and rose from the dirt, the sun shining on her golden skin.

## Necromancing the Song

With a natural inclination to the undead arts, Shu'gah spends a great deal of time working with the dead and undead alike. She comforts those in fear, guiding their lives towards a good ending, wishing to ensure that no more creatures like herself are created from the fear of mortals. Though she possesses the ability to create undead herself, she instead prefers to be diplomatic and work with those that already exist, even going so far as controlling the mindless ones. Despite her inclinations towards necromancy, she holds very little regard for Urgathoa or for Pharasma, viewing them both as dangerous to the mental and spiritual health of mankind and complacent in the creation of effigies born to suffer. Instead, she follows the teachings of the gods of festivities and song, such as Thisamet, believing life should be enjoyed while it is lived to the fullest with friends and family.

## Appearance

Preferring to dress in bright and vibrant colors, such as her favored teal, Shu'gah wears expensive and festive clothing bordering costumes. Her skin, normally a brilliant gold, is most often covered in white paint and decorated to resemble party skeletons. When not wearing her sugar skull mask, her face is painted in a similar fashion. Unlike most Shabti, she is actually quite short, just over five feet in height. Whether this is because her creator was short or because her creation was rushed she is unsure. But her short stature does very little to dampen her bright and bubbly personality.

## Relationships

Having only been wondering the earth for a century and a half and spending the majority of that 'finding herself,' Shu'gah has very few personal connections to people. She spends a great deal of time working with families of the departed or with undead. She enjoys an on-again-off-again performance position with a traveling undead band that calls themselves the 'Bone Daddies.' However, their fanatical worship of Urgathoa leads to quite a few dramatic band break ups.

## Journey to the Painted Dungeon

Newly arrived to Babel and looking to establish herself in name and business, Shu’gah traveled to the local tavern hoping to arrange some performances and set out a business advert.  For some reason people thought Funeral Celebrants were a bit ‘spooky’ so it was always good form to have a good relationship with the locals.

While there she discovered the tavern apparently had a rat infestation problem, as well as a glass that wasn’t even dirty but apparently needed to be cleaned anyway problem.  The rats brought very little trouble for her, and most of them were scared away by spooky skeletons or fatiguing strikes of ghostly-deathy-ness.  It was the voice that drew her attention, and for the second time in her life (well, probably more by now honestly) she followed a voice into the darkness.

Specifically, this time into the darkness of a trap door below a tavern.  She was slightly surprised to find a small room beneath the tavern, the only feature in the room a massive door detailed with a variety of language and a moving painting.

She greets the Huldra curiously, trading pleasantries and her interest in the dungeon piques.

### **The Hall of Lust**

Entering into the dungeon, the first thing she discovered was a massive entry hall.  She looks around with raised eyebrows at the 50 foot high ceiling, massive moth-eaten carpet, and giant broken stone thrones lining the walls.  “Well, somebody was tall.” she muses, striking out into the hall, following the Huldra bouncing painting to painting.

The hall seems to go on forever, with very little change.  After perhaps an hour she finally runs into another person--a strange red woman with curling horns, leathery wings, and very little clothing.  An odd thing considering how cold it was in the dungeon.

“Hello!  Miss, you look rather chilly, are you lost?”

The demon smiles a positively sinful smile, “Ah, finally, I was starting to think I’d never find another traveler in this place…” she leans forward in such a way that puts her full assets on display.  She’d be attractive if Shu’gah was into hot demon ladies.  Which she really wasn’t, “Are you here for wealth and glory?  Or… something more?”

“Um… I’m here for stuff, yea.”

The demoness launches into her tempting spiel, leaning against the wall and flaunting her shape as she speaks, motions smooth, seductive.  Shu’gah stops paying attention at some point, zoning out and thinking about what she was going to have for lunch at around the third offer of money, fame, fortune, men, woman, glory… blah blah blah blah.

“Sorry, I think you have the wrong girl.  I’m really not interested in any of that.  But thanks for the offer.  Good luck on your nex--oh, she’s gone.  How rude.”

She isn’t *really* surprised when the demon woman vanishes as soon as she says no.  But really.  It was pretty rude.

The Huldra scampers ahead into more paintings and finally, FINALLY, she finds an open door leading into a small room.

### **An Embarrassing Dip**

Annnnnd the room was empty save for a pool of water.  Groaning at just how booooooring this dungeon was she approaches the pool, expecting a leaking pipe of something.  What she wasn’t expecting, however, was a forty foot deep pool of water with a pile of freaking TREASURE in the bottom.

She gapes, looking at the Huldra watching her with interest in one of the paintings of a lovely landscape, “You seein’ this?”

Rubbing the chin of her porcelain mask she circles the pool, “Well, it doesn’t look like there’s anything weird in there… other than treasure… which is kinda suspect in and of itself, ye?”  she says to the Huldra who only shrugs, a strange grin on her face.  Shu’gah squints at her suspiciously, “Right… well… there’s only one way to find out.  LET’S GO!”

She closes her eyes and leaps into the water!  Blinking a moment later as the water splashes around and she finds herself… up to her ankles in water.  The image of the treasure ripples below her feet and she clears her throat, a rosey tint to her golden skin beneath her mask, “Well… I knew that would happen.”

And quickly continues on as the huldra laughs at her.

### **Defacement**

Traveling to the other side she sighs, cracking her shoulders. “Well, which should we go to?” she approaches the left one, reaching for the doorknob.

“Oh… are you… going through that one?  I’ll, um, meet you on the other side.  Yea.”

She turns, surprised, “You’re not coming in this one?  Are you--oh, she’s gone.  What’s with no one saying good bye around here?”

Shaking her head she steps inside and freezes, eyebrows raising.  The room is full of nothing but paintings. But all of them have been… ruined.

Blood covered some, others drawn over with scenes of disembowelment and quartering, still others covered in vicious, ugly words threatening the Huldra.  She shudders, closing the door behind her and walking up to one of the paintings.  She waves her hand, muttering to herself, as she uses her cantrips to try to clean the blood.  Her frown deepens behind her mask as the painting stays defaced.  Turning away, she understands now why the Huldra wouldn’t go inside.  She walks straight for the exit, keeping her eyes on the door, and refusing to look at the mirror next to the door.  If the paintings were so terrible… she refused to see what foul things the mirror would show.

### **Treasured Memories**

She finds the Huldra outside the room in--the room with the trap door.  She blinks, looking around in confusion, unsure how she got back to the starting point when she had simply been walking in a mostly straight line.

“You’ve completed the dungeon!  Congrats!” the Huldra’s voice shakes slightly as she motions to a pile of treasure near the trap door, “the Dungeon picked these out for you!”

She is pleasantly surprised to find a Darkwood Buckler, Masterwork Studded Leather, and a Masterwork set of Embalming tools.