Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror: V is for Vile

[Mangrum]

Viruses, vampires, and Vistani -- here's the letter V.

Done! Valpurleiche (hanged man) [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Vampire, Barovian [Monster Manual] Pic
Done! Vampire spawn [Denizens of Dread] Pic
Done! Vassalich [Ravenloft Gazetteer II]
Done! Vasuthant [Monster Manual III] Pic
Vilewight [Book of Vile Darkness] Pic
Vine horror [Fiend Folio] Pic
Done! Virus, Phagian, combustion [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]
Done! Virus, Phagian, crystal [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]
Done! Virus, Phagian, petrification [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]
Virus, Phagian, phobia [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]
Done! Virus, Phagian, psionic [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]
Done! Virus, Phagian, shadow [Ravenloft Monstrous Compendium III]
Done! Vistani tradesman [Denizens of Dread, etc.]
Done! Vistani captain [Denizens of Dread, etc.]
Done! Vistani performer [Denizens of Dread, etc.]
Done! Vistani seer [Denizens of Dread, etc.]
Done! Vistani recluse (fatah) [Denizens of Dread]
Voidmind creature [Monster Manual III] Pic
Vorlog [Denizens of Dread]
Done! Vrykolaka (plague vampire) [Denizens of Dread]

Valpurleiche (Hanged Man): Medium Undead, CR 9, chaotic evil. A form of revenant, the vengeful undead corpse of someone wrongfully hung for crimes they did not commit. It strangles its victims, can animate rope, and regenerates – it can only be harmed by weapons of the same type it was accused of using in the crime for which it was killed. I’m strongly considering making this one a template, but that doesn’t affect the blurb.

Vampire, Barovian: Template Undead (Vampire), CR +2, any evil. The standard MM vampire. Drains blood and life energy. Strahd and his vampire brides are prime examples.

Vampire Spawn: Medium Undead (Vampire), CR 4, any evil. Lesser vampires created by a vampire’s secondary draining attack (life energy for Barovian vampires), or because the victim wasn’t powerful enough to transform into a true vampire. They are stagnant, disposable creatures that exist solely to serve their creator. Seven variants are presented, but a single blurb for the standard MM (Barovian) vampire spawn will do just fine.

Vassalich: Template Undead, CR +1, any evil. Lesser liches created to serve a master lich. These spellcasters lack the power to become true liches, so they trade eternal servitude for eternal life. Basically a scaled-down lich in most respects. They can advance in level only by having their lich master donate XP, but they can theoretically upgrade to full lichdom if they reach 11th level, gain possession of their vassalich phylactery, and create their own lich phylactery.

Vasuthant: Small Undead, CR 2, chaotic evil (and Horrific Vasuthant: Huge Undead, CR 17, chaotic evil). A roiling ball of shadowy nothingness. It grows in size and power as it feeds on life. It can pull creatures into its mass, then drain their Strength while it crushes them. Absorbs light, and completely unharmed by light and sunlight (including spells from the Sun cleric domain). Has a limited degree of control over reality, allowing it to reroll a die roll or force a foe to do the same. Horrific vasuthants have a variety of spell-like abilities and stronger influence over time and reality: three times a day, it can take a “do over” on its last turn.

Vilewight: Medium Undead, CR 8, neutral evil. A particularly nasty wight, created from those who delved too long in the black arts. Its intestines rupture from its gut and act as flailing tendrils. Drains energy and creates spawn like a regular wight, plus it can fire off beams of negative energy. Bites from its intestine maws spread a supernatural disease that prevents carriers from being able to see living creatures.

Vine Horror: Medium Plant (Aquatic), CR 4, neutral evil. Human-shaped algae colonies, often mistaken for rough-featured, green humanoids. The algae’s hive mind makes these creatures nearly as intelligent as humans. They can animate vines and squeeze through tight crevices. Malicious, territorial hunters. In Ravenloft, they’re generally found in the Boglands of Darkon, created by the same forces that create shambling mounds (see S is for Sinister) and other mandragorian plants.

Virus, Phagian: CR 5. Supernatural diseases created by the late Invidian wizard Phagius the Unclean sometime in the mid- to late-600s (during the reign of Bakholis). Phagian viruses are quasi-living diseases that manifest supernatural (and lethal) symptoms, and possess a dim sort of will to exist and spread, which makes them more difficult to cure. In terms of game mechanics, Phagian viruses are hazards like slimes and molds, not actual creatures. Symptoms manifest in three stages. Generally, the first is cosmetic and brief, the second damaging, and the third fatal.

Combustion Virus: “A combustion virus causes the cells in the body of its host to continually increase their levels of activity until they grow wildly out of control. Unless cured, the victim begins to literally smolder and, ultimately, dies an agonizing death as she burns from the inside out.”

Crystal Virus: “A crystal virus spreads more slowly than other Phagian viruses, but its effects are just as monstrous. Victims of this disease slowly crystallize, suffering through a slow death as their lungs lose the ability to take in air and their blood hardens in their veins.”

Petrification Virus: “A petrification virus slowly calcifies its victims into a hard, stonelike material. Disturbingly, survivors of this disease have claimed that they remained conscious for months after their bodies had completely petrified.”

Phobia Virus: “The phobia virus is the only one of Phagius’ creations that is not necessarily lethal to its host. This disease attacks its host’s mind, causing the victim to develop crippling fears. Although the virus cannot kill by itself, the insane fear it breeds in its host may lead to desperate behaviors that are all too fatal.”

Psionic Virus: “A psionic virus continually restructures the synapses of its host’s brain, opening new pathways in the victim’s mind. In the short term, a psionic virus can be empowering, since it causes the victim to develop psionic gifts, even if she never possessed them before. However, the infection inevitably continues until even the strongest mind can no longer withstand the psionic pressure building within it.”

Shadow Virus: “Perhaps the strangest of all of Phagius’ diseases, this virus exists partly in the Umbral Curtain. The infection begins by destroying the host’s shadow, then converts the host’s body into yet more shadowstuff. If the virus is left unchecked, the victim becomes an undead shadow herself.”

(The Umbral Curtain is to the Plane of Shadow as the Near Ethereal is to the Ethereal Plane.)

Vistani: Medium Humanoid (Human, Vistani). Ravenloft’s supernatural gypsies. You know the score. The Vistani below are example NPCs for ease of use.

Vistani Tradesman: Male Kamii Vistani Expert 1. A “typical” Vistani. This particular fellow is a skilled metalsmith.

Vistani Captain: Male Equaar Vistani Ranger 8. The male leader of a caravan. Tough in a fight, but no magic to speak of beyond his evil eye and ranger spells.

Vistani Performer: Female Naiat Vistani Bard 3. A Vistani entertainer, skilled at dance and the violin. Her bard spells focus on enchantments and crowd control.

Vistani Seer: Female Canjar Vistani Sorcerer 6. A sample raunie/fortuneteller. Her spells focus on divinations and enchantments.

Vistani Recluse (Fatah): Template Humanoid (Human, Vistani): A Vistana who has turned her back on her Vistani kin, choosing to live in solitude, communing with unseen spirits. They become physically feeble, but they become exceptionally powerful diviners and masters of the evil eye.

Voidmind Creature: Template creature, CR +1, lawful evil. A creature that has been forcibly transformed into a semi-autonomous puppet that acts as a spy for the mind flayers. Illithids create it by removing a creature’s brain and replacing it with special, psionically-charged slime. A voidmind can extend a long, prehensile tentacle and blast foes with a spray of acidic, stunning slime. A voidmind’s three masters can scry through its senses, control its actions, and manifest their psychic powers through it as well. Used to infiltrate and help manage the slave races in the tunnels beneath Bluetspur. A similar, but not identical, concept to that found in “The Man Who Lost His Mind.”

Vorlog: Template Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid (Vampire), CR +1, any evil. (Sample is a human bard 6). The recipient of a vampire’s failed Dark Kiss, trapped between life and undeath, created when a master vampire is destroyed in the midst of creating a vampiric “bride.” The bride lives on as a vorlog. Vorlogs appear normal, but are strong and charismatic. They can drive nearby animals into a rage, and drain Wisdom with their attacks. However, they are tormented by the loss of their vampire master, and must create empathic links with living surrogates to combat their lonliness. A vorlog’s surrogate slowly wastes away as the vorlog feeds on its spirit. Vorlogs also have some undead immunities. A vorlog is damaged by sunlight and, like a vampire, recoils from holy symbols. A vorlog eventually starves if denied a surrogate.

Vrykolaka (Plague Vampire): Template Undead (Vampire), CR +2, chaotic evil. Debased, plague-ridden vampires that resemble ghouls with long, barbed tongues (rather than fangs). Price Mircea of Sanguinia and his spawn are the most noteworthy vrykolakas.

[vipera aspis]

Valpurieiche

The man was running down the street screaming about something; his garb and colourful language marked him as a dockworker.

"He's back! He's back! The Shoreline strangler has returned!" shouted the rather wide-eyed man.

I quickly spepped infront of him.
"You there, describe him; what did he look like?"i questioned.

"He was tall, dark of skin. His neck...HIS NECK WAS BROKEN! It just lolled to the side with the same noose just dangling off."

"And where did you see him?" i asked.

"By the shipping yard. Jus' squeezing the life out a' some boy! Thing was, he wasn't using his hands; it was the ropes. They jus' kept snappin' off of crates and wrappin round this boys neck. And the strangler jes kept watching, like the boy deserved it or something-"

"and your positive the events played out as you said?" i interupted.

He nodded his head, looked around wildly and grabbed me by the sholders.

"He's back! He's back to kill again! The Shoreline Stangler has come back from the dead to kill again!" shouted the crazed man.

I placed my gloved hand over his mouth to keep this quiet for now.
"Actually, if what you say is true; and if my deductions are correct: the man you saw tonight never killed anyone in life." i stated.
"which does spin a rather grim tale that we now have two killers walking the streets. One vile and undead seeking revenge, the other clever and hiding like a viper."

-The Murder Mysteries featuring Alanik Ray

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Vrykolaka

Prince Mircea has invited me to the Castle. I am in high hopes that he has chosen me for his bride. His looks are legendary. His features exquisite. I will make him a good wife.

My parents are feared for me, however. They suspect that the tales of the misshapen beast at the Castle are true, that the creature with the lance-tongue haunts the battlements. The Prince assures me in his letters that such monstrosities do not exist and that he only seeks to meet with me.

Vrykolakas do not exist, he writes, and that is enough for me.

Oh, sweet prince, only three more days until we meet, I can bare not the wait!

-From the diary of Mildred, daughter of Baron Hurk.

[Korumil]

Vasuthant

The old priest shivered before he began, recalling memories his ancient mind had struggled to suppress. His vestments were tattered and unkempt, his holy symbol lie caked in dust on the table.

"The seal has been broken only once. Once since the beginning of this world. Its cage was forged of the souls of angels, eight slain to save us from ourselves. The lock spun from an innocent's heart. We faltered once, for the blink on an eye, and the cage was split."

At this point the man seemed to shrivel, to shrink and his eyes to darken as he thought of the creature they set free.

"At first it was so dark, we thought it was magical but our prayers did nothing remove it. It wasn't until Eziah screamed that we fully realized what we'd done. The darkness was blacker than the thickest pitch and yet we could still make out something darker moving within it. I am filled with shame to this day, but I scrambled on base instinct to the kitchen. I hid in a cabinet until I could no longer hear the cries of my brothers, may their souls find peace."

He turned to face us and his cheeks were streaked with tears, his sunken eyes full of disgrace and horror.

"As I fled the temple, I witnessed the remains of my brethren. Their bodies withered and their faces frozen in terror, as if their very souls had been torn from them while they still lived. Our god did nothing to save us, perhaps because it was I who set it free. I set it free..."

The old man fell to the floor and began beating his fist against the stone, cursing himself for releasing that horror upon his fellow men.

[cure]

VIRUS, PHAGIAN, PSIONIC

“Swiftsinger afforded us a most dangerous means of improving our chances against his erstwhile master. There was a sickness of fell Invidian creation that would open to us unimagined potentialities of the mind. And so behind our eyes an ever growing power was kindled. It came at the price of blinding headaches, which lengthened like the shadows of the dying day. We faced, thus armed, and undid, by the skin of a worg’s fang, the mentalist lich, a old flourish of mine being the difference. Arrangements had been made for us to be cured, but the disease had a lover’s hold over me and I had no wish to forsake the strength swelling within my head. And so my mind exploded. An experience, I assure you, not to be repeated.”

-Harkon Lukas in pleasant before dinner conversation

[cure]

VAMPIRE, BAROVIAN

“I have survived the nights of seventy-two winters, many of them passed in Barovia, and that is something. I have scattered the ashes of my wife, my children and my children’s children. Long ago and in a far away place a Vistani seer foretold the manner and the hour of my death. Events, I believe, have proven and will prove her true. And so I have invited you here. For a price I will tell you all that I have learned of Count Strahd von Zarovich. But know, as you already should, that you court eternal damnation by not quitting me and this land at once. So you be brave fools then. Good. Swear then by the light and upon your undying souls to carry me a week hence beyond the choking mists that surround this village and that have held me for twenty years, take my body with all haste to Darkon where a priest of the Eternal Order must grant me final rest, cremate my remains and scatter the ashes. My story begins with my birth in this very room. As a young man I escaped the shadow of Castle Ravenloft to become a force for good and justice. I have fought at the side of Ivan Dragonov, George Weathermay, Gondegal, although he was not yet then the man he would become, and many others who you would not know. And having seen and survived more than any man should, I retired. But I bore with me a copy, a gift from the good doctor himself, of Rudolph van Richten’s Guide to Vampires, a work that you will need. A man of my reputation in possession of such a tome attracted the personal attention of the count who entered this place unbidden. Perhaps the old woman’s prophecy saved me. Perhaps the devil Strahd could read in my eyes that I spoke truth, that I had not returned to hunt him and his ilk. He feasted on my blood, long minutes of the most delirious fright, yet paling in comparison to the horror to come. Laying his hands upon me, he took from me the competences, the abilities, the dearly bought experience of a lifetime that made me a dangerous man to his eye, stopping only a hair’s breath from consuming my soul. And I was conscious of the loss, of all that was being ripped from me, in those terrible seconds which bespoke an eternity of vile lusts and merciless enslavement.”

-Sasha Valentin conspiring with powerful adventurers

[alhoon]

Vassalich:

From the burned down remains of Demnadon's notes:

"4th April:
The cough is getting worse. I cannot sleep well at night. The priests of the eternal order will not help an aging sick man! As if I'm the common peasant they're use to babysittinh! They fail to see my importance. I will get over that ailment without their help. I have already started getting treatment and medicines until I manage to use my arcane powers to deal with that sickness.

23th April:
I'm usually with fever. I need minor spells to keep my head clear and work on my projects and spells. I shouldn't have tried to use my enchantment spells on the cleric to convince him. How could the simpleton so easily shake it off? He told me straight that he suspects me for using spells on him and that if I show my face again there I'll regret it.
Morons! I'm one of the protectors of this realm. I'm a brilliant mind.
The basics of the magic formula I'll use to cleanse myself are starting to crystalize in my mind.

16th May:
Doctor Wandon doesn't seem very optimistic about me. The painkiller herbs are not as effective as when I started my treatment. He hinted that I should start make preparations on how I will split my fortune. As if I'll let the vultures that surround me lay hands on my hard earned treasure and occult tomes.
I manage to keep my mind mostly clear with spells and some treatment from a minor priest that I managed to bribe. I'm tired, but I should go on.
On another note... it seems that in order to live on, I should actually steal the years that life owes me. Someone must pay the price. Can I sacrifice someone so young as that child? Perhaps there is another way.

2nd June:
I cough up blood, I'm getting physically weaker. I have to stay at bed at least half the day. If I didn't have my magic I would be unable to get up at all. I have to continue, I have to go on.
I wish I had the time to do it another way. I have to go on. It was harder than I thought to slice the throat of that child but I needed her blood. She would probably become nothing more than her parents; a muddy, ugly peasant with a horde of kids.

9th June:
Am I getting insane? Has the fever finally started addling my mind? I can hear whispers calling me. I can feel as if my mind is "touched" sometimes. The voice calls my name at night when I cough in pain, promises to take away the pain, rains doupts on my plans telling me that my ritual won't work, that I have sacrificed a kid for nothing.

18th June:
I passed out yesterday. The Doctor tells me that I have a couple of months, maybe three. He warns me that I'll get even more weak. Fool! I won't lay down and die. I'm almost done. I'll be healed using the stolen blood from that girl, Gods bless her. I'll live on and put to shame the doctors and the priests. I have to go on, I have so many things to accomplish.
The voice is getting more persistent. I won't lose my mind! Never that! He (it seems to be a male voice) keeps on hinting he has the way.

21st June:
How was that possible? I failed! I failed! I have murdered a girl and I'll die in my bed in a couple of months! It cannot be! Not me, Gods not me! I have to go on!
That damned voice has gone silent. Come to me you thrice damned fiend! Speak to me!"

25th June:
The price to pay is steep. But I will live forever. I'll be a servant but to a master of magic so great that it clouds my feverish mind. He has been preparing for me, he knew that I will fail. He hinted that I'll lose some power for a time, but he promised it will be restored in time. What else can I do? "

[cure]

VAMPIRE SPAWN
-Over the distant but insistent caterwauling of the cats, which were attempting to claw their way through the heavily shuttered windows and well secured doors of our rented abode, Dr. Stubbins cried out: “Harm so much as a hair upon my head and my mistress will be your deaths.”
-Ray drew deeply upon his pipe before replying: “To silence us, I have no doubt that she shall try to destroy us. But you do realise that in the event that you escape us, she will snuff you out, like the feeble flame that you are, for having betrayed her existence?”
-Horror filled the eyes of the halfling as he whispered without believing the words, “She wouldn’t. She couldn’t.”
-After a long silence Ray stated: “All that is left to you is revenge. Tell us all you know of her, withholding nothing, and we will see that your mistress shares the fate to which she has so unkindly damned you.”

-“The Wrethfetin’s Blood” from The Casebook of Alanik Ray, Dr. Arthur Sedgewick

[cure]

VIRUS, PHAGIAN, PETRIFICATION

“Where the Nightmare Lands had once stood we found a roiling wall of mist and something hardly less strange, a forlorn statue of a man dressed in rotting cloth. The figure was lifelike in its every detail and was akin in appearance to the tattooed men said to wander that accursed realm. Our amazement only grew when a raven tore itself free from the stone and spoke. It said that disease had petrified its companion. It insisted that he still lived, offering disturbing evidence to that effect. And it beseeched us to save him. That, however, proved to be beyond our power.”

-Juno Luteum, Darkonese adventurer

[cure]

VIRUS, PHAGIAN, SHADOW

I could not bring myself to share Drakov’s enthusiasm. Darkon, even if the Rex was gone, was not a fruit ripe for the picking. As ever, the conflict began well enough but soon took the grimmest of turns. The sun that we fought under was blotted out as a storm gathered at the enemy’s back. And at its head, reaching far into the sky, floating towards us upon the wind, was a shadowy horror the likes of which none of us had ever seen . . . or even imagined in our most twisted dreams. I learned subsequently from a Lamordian doctor that it was, or at least had the shape of, a sea monster, supposedly of sailors’ invention, whispered to be able to drag whole ships down to their doom. He named it a kraken. Our ranks did not break before it, though it might have been better that they had. The thing bore down upon me. Its presence drove my charger mad. Then it struck with one of its immense, intangible tentacles. The chill of death pierced my heart and my armour was as chains hung about a drowning man. I crashed to the ground, unable to lift myself, even as the terrible spectacle unfolded above me. My lieutenants were similarly laid low. The storm was then upon us, mercifully banishing the abomination from sight, but the rain nearly drowning me and the winds sweeping away my army. A lieutenant, himself badly weakened, found me and dragged me away. But he now lies dead beside me, by his own hand, and I will likewise join him. For although our strength returned, we soon realised that our shadows were dissolving. And this was followed implacably by our flesh.

-From the last will and testament of General Demietri Kreig

[cure]

VIRUS, PHAGIAN, COMBUSTION

Led by her dark dreams she came to the seaside and found the beached whale, its immense and steaming bulk covered with lesions. With a terrible groan and a frightful whoosh the creature exploded into flames. In its ashes she covered herself and set forth to raze from existence all 'intelligent' life.


-"Le culte de la nature", L'encyclopédie des croyanaces

[cure]

VISTANI PERFORMER

-The old man asked, “Stranger, where are you from? Are you not an outlander?”
-The young man replied, “Yes, you could call me that. I am of a land far, far away, beyond the Mists. But how have you guessed this?”
-The old man said, “Look around you, look at these men, look how they gaze upon the dancing Vistana girl, and tell me what you see.”
-The young man answered, “I see longing and loathing.”
-The old man warned, “Take care friend, in your eyes there is but longing. And that could be your death . . . or worse. For her and her people are the devil's own.”

Conversation overheard in Vallaki

[cure]

VISTANI RECLUSE (FATAH)

The captain asked, "Lord Aderre, why do you send only foreigners to hunt the Witch of the Mantel Woods?" Malocchio replied, "I am not wasteful." The soldier betrayed no sign of understanding his superior so the latter continued, "Adventurers are perfectly expendable and are paid - at least in gold - only for success." The fellow nodded slightly, vaguely, evidently only somewhat less puzzled. The black clad master brought the conversation to an end, "What matters is that if your sword ever fails me, I shall make a point of sending you to match wits with her and you can be sure that you will live out your slight existence as a rotting puddle of slime."

-From the journal of Gesmas Malaturno

[cure]

VIRUS, PHAGIAN, CRYSTAL

“Trust me my good doctor, music is what these patients need. And you say that they are crystalizing? The ever righteous Lord Esben turning to glass? Tend to your other wards. Setting bodies arringing, striking the right note, liberating shackled spirits, tis bard's work.”

-“The Shattering,” Murders by Music, Baron Evensong

[cure]

VISTANI SEER

“Only a fool curses lightly another. Usually it is a waste of good breath. When it is not, he sets in motion events that he cannot foresee, that are unlikely to spare him, that answer to an all too alien sense of justice. The curse worth uttering is a passionate demand for a definite future that is the stuff itself of a rigorous, poetic, retributive justice. And that is the curse upon the tip of the raunie’s tongue, sharpening it, blackening it, making it a thing of terror.”

-Arturi Radanavich speaking to Rudolf van Ritchen