Virulak Villager
Level 3Abilities
As long as the virulak villager and their allies aren't outnumbered by enemies, the virulak villager is immune to fear.
A creature with void healing draws health from void energy rather than vitality energy. It is damaged by vitality damage and is not healed by vitality healing effects. It does not take void damage, and it is healed by void effects that heal undead.
Trigger The virulak takes piercing or slashing damage from a melee Strike Effect The virulak squirts a jet of poisonous ichor from the wound. The creature making the triggering Strike takes scaling persistent poison damage.
Saving Throw DC 19 fortitude Maximum Duration 4 rounds Stage 1 1d10 poison damage (1 round) Stage 2 1d12 poison damage (1 round) Stage 3 2d10 poison damage (1 round)
Requirements The monster's last action was a successful Strike that lists Grab in its damage entry, or the monster has a creature Grabbed or Restrained Effect If used after a Strike, the monster attempts to Grapple the creature using the body part it attacked with. This attempt neither applies nor counts toward the creature's multiple attack penalty. The monster can instead use Grab and choose one creature it's grabbing or restraining with an appendage that has Grab to automatically extend that condition to the end of the monster's next turn.
Description
A village of commoners raised to undeath by a mass poisoning might continue to go about the settled routines of life, posing an eerie scene for living creatures who enter their village. Virulak villagers prefer to attack with an advantage of numbers, but even a lone villager can pose a problem for unaware or inexperienced travelers.
When a creature dies from poison, it sometimes rises as a virulak: an undead being infused with lethal venom. Most virulaks are solitary creatures with memories of an excruciating death. Occasionally, a mass poisoning produces numerous simultaneous fatalities, increasing the chance of many virulaks arising at once and working together in a dangerous mob. Entire villages might rise as virulaks when forced to subsist on food so spoiled it has become toxic or from an intentional scheme to poison the settlement.
Virulaks retain the intelligence and memory they had in life, but their agonizing death by poison transforms them into bitter mockeries of their former selves. Poison seeps from their fingertips and solidifies into hard claws. Virulaks are known for a cynical and ironic sense of humor. They delight in poisoning the good spirits and reputations of those around them, dealing psychological blows that mirror the venom in their bodies.