Around his person is an anti-scrying field, which allows him to avoid discovery by the Society For Freedom. Covelli now has a band of Undertaker thugs which he grows less and less able to control as time progresses. He no longer has the power to defeat them in battle, and he knows it. His continued success depends on keeping the Undertakers fed with electricity. As he does so, they continue to grow and multiply, smaller undertakers splitting from the parent every few weeks. This has led to more and more generators being needed, which continue to grow in size. His shop is avoided at night, an eerie whine emanating from behind its closed doors and shuttered windows. The city guards never approach it by night. Rumors abound as to what he is actually doing there at night. Recently the Undertakers have taken to snatching people from the streets by night, partly for food and partly as they seek new parts and brains for information. One of the Undertakers has taken on the role of leader of the growing band of creatures. He is already 14 hit dice in size, with appropriate magic use of a 3rd level mage and growing at the rate of 1 hit die every other week. This concerns Covelli greatly. Secretly he seeks a better way of controlling them and searches for a weak spot. He realizes too late that he has made monsters that he cannot control. They are beginning to sense this as well, and grow more and more impatient with him, wanting more and more electricity for their 'family.' Covelli is planning his escape, placing many items in his portable hole. Once ready for leaving, Covelli will teleport out of Brin for the Mountains of Doubt or perhaps to Seestadt or Innlandstadt. He just wants out before the Undertaker band turns on him. If he leaves, with no one to operate the generators, the Undertakers will cause havok in the town. The town guards know more about the mystery of the disappearing townsfolk than they let on. They know that the horrors come from the sewers, but are afraid that if this is known they will be forced to face them below. One town guard described one of the creatures seen coming up through a manhole and snatching a guard up and enveloping him before he could do any real damage to it. They have put fear in the hearts of the guards, who spend their time at night almost in hiding, and always in well lit areas, which the Undertakers try to avoid. The creatures do not like light, but take no damage from direct sunlight. They do fight at a -3 when in sunlight, due to the large light gathering eyes that they have, which are temporarily blinded during the day. Covelli hates the Society For Freedom, and only used it as a source of power not accessable to others. He detests Sendell because of the control of people that he posesses, which Covelli sees as wrong. Sendell has used his influence spells to change the minds of city councilmen in Grunburg to accom- plish his own ends, even if his intentions are good. Covelli values personal choice above all else, and fights to protect it for himself and others. His motivations are not all noble, however. He is very greedy and hordes away hundreds of thousands of gold pieces in his portable hole. The hole is disguised as the liner to his hat. The hole has been enchanted so as not to radiate magic when closed. One of the Undertakers has struck out on his own, finding the way out of the sewers as the city's filth runs off into a forest stream. It will bear its first young soon. The young of the Undertaker will remain with its parent until it reaches 2 hit dice, whereupon it takes off on its own. Undertakers have no male and female gender, reproducing asexually. This particular Undertaker is especially odd in that it likes water, and has taken up residence in a forest lake not too far from Brin, feeding on fish and fishermen alike. It has 6 hit dice, and is able to capsize a small fishing boat and devour its owner. The Undertaker has 3 fishermen's brains and thus knowledge of the area as well as fishing in general. It likes to attack with nets as well, using them to good advantage. Like a plague, the Undertakers have begun their slow infection of the land. They are like living undead in nature, though they cannot be turned by priests. The creatures have a love for cheese. Several cheesemakers have been killed. This could be said to be their weakness. They especially love the stinkier varieties such as limburger, making for a characteristic scent when they are near. When Undertakers move, they leave a trail of ooze that often smells of this limburger. Any dog worth its feed can sniff one out by this odor. They hate tomatoes, as the acid is very harmful to them. They take up to 1d6 per tomatoe thrown at them. These last two characteristics can make for some amusing situations if used right by the dm.
|