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Today, I, Casimir, present another fey creature newly arrived to—or perhaps recently noticed by—Midgardians: the deathless. Unlike my previous showcase of moon knights, deathless owe their allegiance to no others than themselves. My report brings these lich-like fey out of the shadows, which may literally save your soul, dear reader.

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Obsessed with Immortality

The Great Retreat changed much on Midgard, especially among the elfmarked and the few elves remaining. While some continued their normal existences, many who remained became fearful of the dangerous world the elves had abandoned. Among the latter, some reasoned they needed to extend their lifespans, even to the extent of eternal life enjoyed by several fey lords and ladies. Seeing no practical path to fey lord or lady status, these elves found a ritual to achieve immortality.

This ritual suspends aging. News of it spread among those with fey ancestry, sometimes without warning about the ritual’s price. First, the ritual drains fey essence, leaving the creature who performs it with a deathly pallor. More importantly, though, the ritual forces the creature to find a soul within one year and repeat this process five times to gain true immortality.

Tomierran Haunts

Whether from wood or porcelain, a deathless crafts five nesting dolls in its former likeness to store the souls it collects. These fragile effigies pose an inherent threat to a deathless. When deciding on the best place to store their dolls, many deathless recognized they could still access the Tomierran Forest, which presents numerous dangers to outsiders. Also, as an odd quirk of the rules against logging the forest enforced by the Church of Yarila and Porevit in Reywald, the deathless enjoy additional protection from mortal humanoids. Finally, the deathless benefit from lairing in the Tomierran, because when they die, they return fully formed near one of their nesting dolls.

One would assume the deathless would destroy dolls belonging to other deathless to prevent rivals from achieving immortality, but they seem remarkably blasé about the counterparts’ attempts. If they witness intruders determined to destroy another’s effigies, they might even repel these intruders. After all, an intruder might prove a viable soul for their own purposes. Generally, deathless only conflict with each when they target the same soul for harvesting.

The Search for Souls

Deathless must obtain worthy souls to fill their effigies. In practice, this means that deathless don’t go on killing sprees. Wiping out five commoners does little to complete their march toward immortality. The deathless must target victims with some notable quality, which makes their deaths more noticeable.

Deathless rarely choose targets from the same location, and they typically wait months before resuming a hunt, unless they chance into an appropriate soul quickly after their previous one (or should they become impatient to fill their fifth and final vessel).

Zobeck, the Seven Cities, and other densely populated areas make the best hunting grounds for deathless, as these metropolises are rich with extraordinary artisans, weapon masters, or politicians. The deathless avoid sparsely inhabited regions such as the Northlands and the Rothenian Plain, and they steer clear of the Magocracy of Allain or other such locales where magic would undoubtedly ferret out their plots.

Nightbrook Court Allies

Deathless have discovered that “remarkable” doesn’t correspond to “good” or “upright.” A relatively important devil or demon will also suffice. Though finding such souls proves more difficult than acquiring a mortal soul, many deathless have discovered an easy route to these souls through night hags. The Nightbrook Court in the Shadow Realm has taken special interest in deathless activity after learning of deals brokered by their infernal sisters. Under the guise of shadow fey, the night hag Ladies of Nightbrook make bargains with deathless for souls they have collected. The deals that night hags make assure them of expanding their influence among the Shadow Courts, allowing them to access even more foul souls for harvest.

Incidentally, during my research, I’ve noticed very few shadow fey undertake the deathless toward immortality. I must conduct further investigation to confirm my suspicion the shadow fey leaked the ritual to help destroy their hated Summerlands rivals.

A Brush with Deathless

An encounter with these fey is a harrowing experience, as with but a touch, they drain vitality from their victims. While physical recovery is quick, the mental damage leaves quite a mark. I learned this first hand, as I had the misfortune of becoming the target of a deathless. I guess that makes me remarkable! Luckily, a party of adventurers I sought to interview arrived uncharacteristically early, preventing me from losing my soul.

And with this report, I, Casimir, bid you adieu for the moment. After my ordeal, I find the need to take a break.

New Magic Item: Soulbound Effigies

As a final gift to readers, I offer information about the deathless’s soulbound effigies. Presumably, you would take advantage of such magic while you work to restore the soul contained within them to their proper place. This porcelain or wooden doll is made in the likeness of a mortal creature of fey ancestry. This might be found nested with four others like it in a set, or alone. Up to four of the five dolls in a set contain a soul stolen by a deathless.

SOULBOUND EFFIGY

Wondrous Item, Rare  (Requires Attunement)       3,000 gp

The remarkable soul contained within this porcelain or wooden doll is tied to a skill, a specific weapon, or other proficiency determined by the GM. While attuned to a doll, you have proficiency with its associated skill, weapon, or other proficiency. A doll has 3 charges.

In addition, as a bonus action, you can expend 1 charge and call upon the soul within the doll to provide guidance, granting you advantage with the associated skill check or attack roll with the associated weapon. The doll restores 1d3 charges nightly at midnight.

If an effigy is found in a set, you can attune to only one doll to gain its powers. Alternatively, if you have all five dolls together, you can attune to the set, rather than each individual doll, and gain the powers of all souls in the set. Each doll recovers charges separately.

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