Worlds Numberless and Strange
When a human or qephilim dies in the Glass Desert, there's a chance that the spirit will be trapped instead of finding a way to the Roads of Sorrow and, eventually, the Court of Sleep. Driven slowly insane by exposure to their own empty image reflected back endlessly, these sere spirits take refuge in the glass itself, finding surcease from their spiritual pain by remaining unmoving and unfeeling. A sere spirit remains in this uneasy state of suspended existence until a living creature catches sight of the spirit's reflection where none should be, jolting the spirit back to When a human or qephilim dies in the Glass Desert, there's a chance that the spirit will be trapped instead of finding a way to the Roads of Sorrow and, eventually, the Court of Sleep. Driven slowly insane by exposure to their own empty image reflected back endlessly, these sere spirits take refuge in the glass itself, finding surcease from their spiritual pain by remaining unmoving and unfeeling. A sere spirit remains in this uneasy state of suspended existence until a living creature catches sight of the spirit's reflection where none should be, jolting the spirit back to consciousness and, usually, to fury.
Motive: Unreasoning fury
Environment (Ardeyn | Magic): Anywhere in the Glass Desert; occasionally bound in other reflective surfaces
Health: 21
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Speed attacks and defense as level 5 due to reflection displacement; see Combat.
Combat: A sere spirit is never visible directly, but only in a reflection. That reflection is usually in the surface of the Glass Desert, but it could be in any reflective surface. Once a potential victim sees the sere spirit's reflection, the spirit in turn sees him and can attack with a sun-hot ouch (though it appears that the spirit is attacking the target's reflection, the target feels the attack directly). In order to attack the spirit back, the victim must make an attack as if at empty space, using his reflection and that of the spirit to orient the action. Attacking the glass where the reflection happens to fall has no effect.
Once a victim comes to the attention of a sere spirit, he can't simply close his eyes or direct his attention away from the reflection to find safety. As long as he continues to cast a reflection on the surface, he remains a target. A victim might find safety by reaching a place where he no longer casts a reflection, by rendering himself invisible, or by covering the surface of the glass with something that prevents reflections. Interaction: Sere spirits moan and scream in rage. The rare few that retain reason can speak in a sepulchral voice, and they may even negotiate, but he only thing a sere spirit wants is for its corporeal remains to be found and removed from the Glass Desert (or whatever location is keeping the spirit locked in its reflective state). Use: A grieving trading family offers a bounty to find the remains of a caravan lost in the Glass Desert. Unfortunately, the souls of several merchants were trapped and became sere spirits, which haunt the site of the dead caravan out on the glass.
GM Intrusion: When the sere spirit hits and deals damage, it also pulls the character into the reflection, which seems to erase her from the physical world. The character remains as a reflection until she regains at least 1 point of the damage dealt by the spirit