The Strange
It's said the sorcery required to turn a living creature into a soulshorn was fashioned by Lotan, and that the displaced soul actually slips into the keeping of the Sinner, empowering Lotan with each soulshorn created. If true, every soulshorn is a crack in Lotan's prison.
A human or qephilim that uses a specific necromantic sorcery to expunge its own soul without killing itself (that last bit is the most difficult part of the process) becomes a soulshorn. A soulshorn appears to be a living creature—it even breathes, eats, and sleeps—but it is considered an undead creature all the same, because one automatically reanimates after it dies, returned to perfect health every time. Many soulshorns have lived for hundreds of years, accumulating more and more powerful dire sorcery each year, increasing their mastery of ancient knowledge, secrets of prior ages, and offensive sorcery.
Though powerful, soulshorns are not divine nor meant to live forever. The longer a soulshorn survives, the more erratic and outright insane it becomes. Many become megalomaniacal, which usually leads to their eventual downfall. Some become drooling idiots, with only occasional flashes of sorcerous power. Those that live the longest are the ones who retreat from normal society and find a lair in an ancient citadel, qephilim ruin, moon, or skerry along the Borderlands.
Motive: Unpredictable
Environment (Ardeyn | Magic): A soulshorn's hidden lair could be almost anywhere.
Health 39
Damage Inflicted: Major wound (8 points)
Movement: Short; long while flying
Combat: Most soulshorns can attack with bolts of flesh-decaying energy against single targets at long range, or emit a necrotic pulse that attacks all selected PCs within short range. Soulshorns can fly when they move, and they can remain invisible each round they spend their action concentrating on staying unseen.
Individual soulshorns may have also learned unique spells that provide them with additional abilities. For instance, some soulshorns learn how to enslave powerful spirits or create golems. Finally, a soulshorn may also use a variety of cyphers and Ardeyn artifacts both offensively and defensively.
Regardless of other abilities, all soulshorns can attempt to feed on a target creature's soul to empower themselves.
When one does, it focuses on a foe it can see when it makes any kind of attack. Any damage inflicted on the selected foe by the soulshorn increases by 4 additional points of damage. The soulshorn restores the same number of points to its health. This attack sometimes allows the soulshorn to learn information about the target at the same time.
If killed, a soulshorn returns to life and full health seven days after its death, unless its remains are burned in the interim. If its remains are burned, the soulshorn is truly dead.
Interaction: Soulshorns attempt to keep their "undead" status secret, given the stigma of having given one's soul to Lotan. More important to most soulshorn is keeping their resurrecion power secret. A foe who does not burn a defeated soulshorn is a foe who propagates a helpful lie.
Use: As the PCs break into what appears to be a vacant ancient qephilim tomb, they see disquieting symbols of necromancy painted on the floor and walls. If they press forward, a soulshorn (or its guardians) emerge to slay the intruders.
Loot: The inner sanctum of a defeated soulshorn might contain 10d100 crowns, 1d6+3 cyphers, and at least one artifact.
GM Intrusion: The soulshorn's attack knocks the character down and or armor.