Virulak Necromancer

Virulak necromancers are often intrigued by the interplay between poison and undeath, testing toxins on their dead flesh or, more commonly, on hapless living victims. This virulak necromancer was once a sorcerer but now considers their bloodline irrelevant.

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.