The Impure

## **Summary:**

Souls that are shattered/ corrupted and fueled with both Ethir and Rittic but have more percentage of Rittic over Ethir though some possess more ethir. An example for a rittic based form would be 70% Rittc and 30% Ethir and a Ethir based would generally be 60% Ethir and 40% rittic.

The more Rittic within the undead the more powerful they will get. The Ethir within these undead is what gives them a choice and a sane mind though an undead can easily switch between the two depending on how angry the undead will get which is easy. Undead can be triggered into an immediate range depending on the presence of ethir in their surroundings.

## **Weaknesses:**

Holy or blessed items will force undead to keep their distance which renders up to 10 feet away from that object. There are no effects besides forcing undead to keep their distance.

If holy water is thrown onto an undead the speed and strength of the undead will decrease by a decent margin, making the impure slow and sluggish, with weaker strikes when attacking. Holy water only affects lower ranked impure/ undead. impure such as Berserkers, Viscounts, and slayers won’t be affected by the holy water.

In the case of using a silver weapon against an impure, the results will greatly affect the lower ranks of the dead. For example, with holy water, Berserkers, Viscounts, and Slayers won't be affected by silver as much as the lower rankings. Silver will create a decaying effect in them, though this’ll take time even on the lower level undead and would ICly take at least 3-4 slashes to fully decay a limb.

Blacksilver will have the same effects as standard silver though slightly more increased and is able to deal damage to the higher ranking undead. It’ll take about icly 5-6 slashes against the higher tier undead and 2-3 against lower ranking undead. This does not mean that you can slash the armor that the undead is wearing and say that the decaying effect will work, no. It must be the bone of the undead.

When in the presence of a god, around 20 feet, any undead would be forced to run away lest they decay quickly and perish for a second time. As an undead is combated by grace, when close to a god their bodies begin to decompose and within a window of 5 OOC minutes. If they continue to be in the presence of one, they will simply die. However, the impure form of Dwells are capable of staying in the presence of gods and are not compelled to flee due to their balance of ethir and rittic.

## **Common knowledge**:

impure are commonly seen as feral beasts even if they show signs of being ‘friendly’ or ‘caring’. Their origin is largely unknown. It is said that even the gods struggle to figure out how the dead are able to come back to life. The impures in hordes are by far the biggest threat known, which means most folk will kill undead just to lower the numbers, however there are some hordes which roam the ashlands and close to the mountains. If ever encountering a horde, the common consensus is to turn around as fast as you can before being killed off or becoming one of them yourself

## **Impure ranks that are freely playable:**

### **The Dead**

Similar to a Gravewalker, though they retain their previous strength from when they were alive, these undead make up the numbers for undead and normally attempt to find other undead to create bigger hordes to increase the length of their post-mortem lives. Undead will attack almost anything depending on how they’re treated. Unlike its counterpart the gravewalker these undead will focus on killing anything that has Ethir inside of them. These dead are not particularly strong, being mostly decaying flesh and skeletons, and can be killed by any means of attacking them until they perish.

### **Dwells**

When someone passes on, similarly to other undead, there is a chance for their Ethir and Rittic forces which balance eachother out to create a near perfect 50% rittic and 50% ethir ratio. When this occurs, the forces balance each other out and create an undead similar to a gravewalker, though have no strong compulsions aggressively or passively. This type of undead often follows around gravewalkers, feeling compelled to protect them from harm, although rather than attack anyone attempting to aggress on a gravewalker they will simply protect them by taking the blow - as they are unable to wield weapons. Otherwise, they maintain the traits of a standard undead without the desire to attack ethir beings.

## **Impure ranks that require approval:**

### **Werezombies**

A full form werewolf, werecat, or werebear that has perished in their fully transformed state. Instead of simply returning back to their normal bodies, their souls cling back to their decayed bodies. Filled with the thirst for the hunt as the hunter’s instincts take control of what remains.  Though they’re not nearly as strong as they once were. Lacking any capability of regeneration for all levels. Their speed being cut down by half, along with strength for that matter.

### **Amalgamations**

When several people, typically warriors or knights in a battle, fall in combat, their souls may cling to the battlefield and lead to a tethering between them due to their common goal. This tethering of souls draws the decomposing bodies of warriors into one larger collection of bones and decaying flesh in a general humanoid shape. These undead maintain their fighting souls, often having slow and lumbering movements due to the unnatural disposition of the amount of souls within. These undead are capable of wielding typical melee weaponry, with the average skill of a footsoldier, though despite being a combination of multiple soldiers they are not particularly strong and avoid accumulating in large groups. These undead range from 6’5” to ~6’8”, due to the combining of bones.

### **Haunters**

Haunters are the result of a high-level mage passing away by a multitude of means, however they must be experiencing strong emotion as they die. This emotion is overwhelming and prevents the soul from passing on, bringing the soul of the mage back to their corpse. Minor changes occur, such as the bottom half of the skeleton severing off, however due to the high concentration of Ethir in the mage and equally high presence of Rittic, the ethir takes form as a gaseous, semi-permeable force around the top half of the skeleton to allow it minor levitation. As a result of the high amount of ethir, the balance in a Haunter differs from a regular undead, being around 60% ethir and 40% rittic, and this makes them far less violent and bloodthirsty than other undead. However, Haunters are drawn to groups of undead due to their high concentration of Rittic, though do not match them in the slightest - being considerably weaker on average. In contrast, Haunters are still able to use the magic that they used in life despite its ethiric-nature, although their skill is lowered by 1 level.

### **Berserkers**

Berserkers are a one man army that are able to take on groups of 10 to 15 people alone. These undead are made through wanting revenge as a soldier, as their soul does not proceed from their corpses post-mortem due to their sheer overwhelming rage. Their bodies warp considerably, bones densifying to be able to withstand greater damage and deal greater damage proportionally - able to dent plate in a few hits and bend swords with ease. These undead are capable of wearing armor wielding weapons, but remain around the same height they were when they were alive.

## **Impure ranks that are staff only:**

### **Viscounts**

When a high-ranking member of royalty or someone with immense power passes away, typically in battle, their soul may refuse to pass on from the mortal realm and as such will linger around their body. Due to their mass influence and power in life, when their soul tethers itself to their dying body, the body transforms and warps into a six-armed tall figure with a vast ribcage as protection. These undead possess the ability to unusually command other undead within its general vicinity, able to order them to their whim. While not strong in the slightest, being weaker than the average undead, Viscounts are able to stand at a large 7’5” to 8’ tall. The ribcage is able to be opened by the Viscounts, and are able to entrap any unfortunate soul to get close enough to try and attack, and their arms are able to disjoint and extend themselves longer than an average man’s could.

### **Slayers**

If someone was to die, often Blighted Arts users, who are overwhelmed with enough anger to want unhinged destruction of all things around them possess the power to tether their soul back to their body, similar to a Berserker, while also drawing in more Rittic from their surroundings to increase the concentration in their bodies, up to 90% rittic and 10% ethir. This enhanced rittic equally enhances their violent tendencies tenfold, while also having their bodies strengthened and warped in unnatural ways. The high concentration of rittic also creates three Rittic Crystals across the bodies of the Slayers, having one in the skull, one in the gut and one larger crystal in their chest. If all three crystals are destroyed, the Slayer immediately dies.

However, Slayers are incredibly strong, able to crush plate with ease and lift up to three tons without much effort. Their rittic concentration creates an immense rage within the undead, constantly, which leads to them attacking anything with any amount of Ethir. This includes other, lower undead. As such, many undead have a natural aversion to Slayers, and so they are not often seen with large groups of them. While able to attack powerfully, Slayers come in at 7’5” on average, however they are quite slow for their size and will take a decent amount of time per attack.

Slayers have a natural aversion to holy objects due to their rittic nature, and as such will immediately cower and flee in the presence of one.