Famine (Death's Horseman)
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This section contains canon info from officially published sources |
Famine was one of Death's Horsemen. The Horsemen were the undead servants of Death (Lowellyn Dachine), created as extensions of his essence through negative energy during the Shrouded Years in response to the Drowning Dreams. Death hoped to use them to permanently wipe out Azalin and prevent him from ever being restored to corporeal form. To this end, the Horsemen launched a wave of terror and destruction upon the land to drain Azalin's essence from his subjects. Ultimately they failed, and the newly restored Azalin destroyed them all and averted the return of their energies back to Death. However, the actions of the Horsemen did leave a lasting mark: the Dark Powers made Death into a true darklord, one of the tiny domain of Necropolis[1]
Potential Canon Information
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This section contains Potential-canon info, revealed by the creators from never-published sources |
Famine appears in the unpublished adventure manuscript Death Undaunted. In that module, Famine is described as an emaciated husk bedecked in decayed burial shrouds, his mouth has no true voice but instead creates speech out of wood crunching and flies droning. Famine rides a steed of similar nature. His aura can instantly cause food to shrivel away and people to suffer the effects of starvation. He seeks Azalin's soul focus and will cause the death of either Wat Brambledon, Petris, or Barton to get what he wants.[2]
Homebrew Non-Canon Information
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This section contains Homebrew non-canon info, created by fans |
Descriptive Text
“A sudden chorus of terror erupted ahead of me in the marketplace. Mad panic flashed through the crowd. People trampled each other to flee and rushed the outer stalls, savagely tearing food out of each other’s clutches and desperately stuffing it down their own throats. Nearer at hand, I watched a row of smoked ducks blacken and shrivel before my very eyes. As the crowd thinned, I saw the source of everyone’s terror. An emaciated corpse sat slumped in the saddle of an equally wasted horse. The horror snatched up a halfling child, dragging him kicking and screaming onto the saddle. Just like the smoked meat, I watched the flesh shrivel from the child’s bones! The monster defiantly addressed the panicked crowd.”
“‘We seek a fiery eye,’ it said. Its voice was horrible. ‘Give it to us, and the suffering of this innocent will end.’”
—Witness account, Rivalis, August 755 BC[3]
References
- ↑ Gazetteer II p. 24, 138
- ↑ Death Undaunted p. 15-17
- ↑ Descriptive text from John W. Mangrum's Teeny Tiny Tales of Terror project (contributed by John W. Mangrum), from posts on the Fraternity of Shadows message board.
