Undead - 20 - Focuser

Leading an army of undead presents many unique challenges to Necromancers of any caster skill level. First one has to decide on the level of strength/abilities they desire for their undead troops to wield versus their ability to control that demonic will. Creating an unbeatable soldier doesn’t help much if they turn on their masters and eat them moments after being reborn. Weaker willed undead while easier to control usually lack the sort of strength necessary to combat opponents who have perfected the art of slaying such abominations over generations. Some choose to just seed undead that spread viraly either via possession or Viral bites but without any control the spread can usually be traced back fairly accurately by those trained to do so. Then there’s always the chance that an abomination might spawn powerful enough to be beyond the skill level of the Necromancers to control. Necromantic history is rife with tales of novices who were eaten by their resurrected dogs or children. Even grand masters sometimes find themselves on the business end of a particularly uncontrollable undead from time to time.


The elite of the “Inner Council” have spent lifetimes developing tools capable of boosting their control over undead elite while also multiplying the range of their dominance 10 fold. This undead focuser is just 1 example of the fruits of their ceaseless research. Focusing crystals or Crypt Shards as some call them can only be grown under very specific conditions. The shards must be implanted into the brain tissue of a living subject. The brainwaves of the victim when properly urged along via external stimuli creates a gemstone imbued with intense psychic energy that resonates with the mental will of the Necromancer producing the stimuli. Each gem must be tailor made for the Necromancer who intends to wield the focuser. Due to the unique circumstances required for production the subject host must be capable of surviving through the entirety of the process less imperfect gems be formed. Attempting to use imperfect Focusers will lead to the swift brain death of the wielder no matter their casters skill level.


Do to the immense power they provide Undead Focusers are restricted exclusively for use by high ranking Lich only. They are normally seeded into potential areas of conflict decades in advance of combative operations. While Focusers are not designed to participate in direct combat they are more than capable of defending themselves via intense psychic attacks. When they consume the living they take sustenance not from the flesh and blood of their victims but via the fear and pain they extract after physically maiming their victims. Undead Focusers are similar in nature to possessed dead or Terrors. Just being in close proximity to one is enough to drive people insane. Areas where they are stored are often mistaken as being haunted thanks to the ghostly cries of countless women that echo through the minds of passersby. 2 or 3 Focusers in close proximity provides a Lich with enough reach to react in those areas as though they were directly there themselves. Such beings endlessly complicate the hunting of Lichs by Paladin Seekers and have proven to be incredibly successful in hiding their true layers from the living.

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