Sorrowsworn

A sorrowsworn is a creature that preys upon feelings of grief and loss. [3] [2] They are held to be either a breed of tanar'ri demon [3] from Dolurrh , the Realm of the Dead, [1] or a shadow creature from Dolurrh, the Shadowfell , where, though they resemble undead demons, they are in fact manifestations of the Shadowfell and fragments of death incarnate. Three kinds are known: soulrippers , the stealthy assassins; reapers , the brutal slayers; and deathlords , their dread leaders. [2]

Description

A sorrowsworn is a gaunt humanoid standing some 12–15 feet (3.6–4.5 meters) tall and weighing 500 pounds (230 kilograms). It has hooked claws for hands, a dusky black hide, and slender bat-like wings emerging from its back. Its face is a demonic, skeletal visage contorted into a mockery of utter grief, with a wide toothy maw and two short and twisted horns upon its high brow. [3] Reapers and deathlords dress in robes. [2]

Powers

At a whim, the sorrowsworn demon can exude an aura that provokes creatures within 30 feet (9.1 meters) to suffer intense feelings of despair and personal loss, constantly imagining the worst bereavements and failures they've ever known or could dread to know. Those of iron will might shrug off such thoughts; the rest are overwhelmed and distracted and weakened by them. [3]

When in battle or tormenting a victim, a sorrowsworn demon hisses and whispers incessantly, both in voice and in the mind. It can affect one thinking being at a time, to a distance of 60 feet (18.3 meters), and can change the subject of these mutterings to provoke different responses. If it whispers of past losses, whether real or made-up, a victim will become dazed as they think on these. If it speaks of the great emptiness of history, of genocide, massacre, tragedy, and pointless sacrifice, a victim may become dangerously confused. If it promises future sorrow or taunts its victim with the futility of fighting against the inevitable, they will become stunned with fear. Only a strong will can ignore these whispers of loss. [3]

A sorrowsworn demon is also a mind-reader, using detect thoughts to raid the memories and thoughts of its intended victims for true losses and fears to taunt them with, making them more vulnerable to its whispers of loss if they are caught within its aura. As a demon, it can also communicate via telepathy to any within 100 feet (30 meters) who speak a language in common, enabling it to transmit its cruel whispers. [3]

As a master manipulator of the mind, the sorrowsworn demon is well inured to similar tactics, possessing an unholy will and a resistance to spells. [3]

In addition to such supernatural powers, the sorrowsworn demon can also detect magic , become invisible or impossible to detect , or teleport anywhere at will. Thrice a day, it can dispel great magic , cause idiocy with a touch , and cause an unholy blight . Once a day, it can make a victim feebleminded or fog their mind , shift to another plane , and create a weird and deadly phantasm . However, it lacks the power other demons have to summon others of its own or lesser kind. [3]

The sorrowsworn demon is innately good at stealth and survival, and is well-practiced in deceit, intimidation, and knowledge of lore and magic. It has extremely keen senses and obscenely great strength and resilience. [3]

Shadow sorrowsworn have a bleak visage that instills fear in their foes, making it harder for them to fight back. [2]

Combat

Sorrowsworn 4e

A sorrowsworn demon prefers to prey on its victims from hiding, using its skills and magic to remain unseen and unknown as its spies on its targets, reading their minds and gauging their strength. It then appears suddenly among them, using its powers to weaken them before finally slaying them. [3]

A sorrowsworn demon favors a +2 glaive , striking brutal blows to swiftly fell its opponents and follow through to another or to smash items they hold. They also fight with their claws. [3]

Shadow sorrowsworn fight similarly. Soulrippers stalk and ambush their victims; with a flutter of their wings, they teleport, surprise, and grievously strike their targets, or just rush in and claw them apart. Focusing on one at a time, reapers make devastating scythe attacks; if a foe is knocked out or slain, the reaper is healed. Meanwhile, deathlords go for hit-and-run attacks, teleporting and passing through walls to reach any foe; as soon as they've attacked, they're gone again, teleported and turned insubstantial as a shadow. Their mournful whispers daze any being beside them and their scythe weakens their foes. [2]

Shadow sorrowsworn fight with claws or scythes. Such weapons crumble to dust with the sorrowsworn's passing. [2]

Activities

Sorrowsworn prey upon folk who've suffered great loss or sorrow. [3] [2] They coax them to ever greater depths of grief, and consume such feelings. They only appear after a battle or war has come to an end, to feast on the sorrow that saturates a land with the cutting short of its youth and potential. [3] Thus the Last War was good to them and now they've come to prowl in those realms that suffered the highest losses and most destruction, namely Aundair , Breland , Karrnath , Thrane , and especially the Mournland that was once Cyre . [3]

They come to past battlefields and make their lairs in close-by ruins where they can feed on the despair that hangs over such places. Their lairs are bleak places, such as dank caves and thorn-filled pits. Small cavities in these places house gruesome trophies and body parts, each with a grim tale behind it. [2] They're also attracted to great cities like Sharn where many refugees settled after the Last War. [3]

They often lurk about hospitals for the wounded, orphanages for those left without parents, the homes of bereft people, and at mass graves. Such places offer the greatest density of souls suffering loss to feed upon. [3]

Some sorrowsworn, who come from the Shadowfell, are servants of the Raven Queen . They are dispatched to kill great mortals who've cheated death or her clutches and take their souls. With innate knowledge of what their victims value or regret, they harass them with whispers of previous failures and their coming fate. A few serve other entities with power over death in a similar fashion. [2]

They also shield the Raven Queen from the schemes of nightwalkers and fight against death giants who don't obey the queen. High-ranking shadar-kai and other servants of the Raven Queen can become sorrowsworn by some means, granting them a form of the immortality they desire. [2]

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