Virulak Villager

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.