Memento Mori But on its heels ere the sunset faded, there came a second apparition, striding with incredible strides and halting when it loomed almost upon me in the red twilight-the monstrous mummy of some ancient king still crowned with untarnished gold but turning to my gaze a visage that more than time or the worm had wasted.

Broken swathings flapped about the skeleton legs, and above- the crown, that was set with sapphires and orange rubies, a black something swayed and nodded horribly; but, for an instant, I did not dream what it was.

Then, in its middle, two oblique and scarlet eyes opened and glowed like hellish coals, and two ophidian fangs glittered in an ape-like mouth. A squat, furless, shapeless head on a neck of disproportionate extent leaned unspeakably down and whispered in the mummy's ear. Then, with one stride, the titanic lich took half the distance between us, and from out the folds of the tattered sere-cloth a gaunt arm arose, and fleshless, taloned fingers laden with glowering gems, reached out and fumbled for my throat . . . -- Clark Ashton Smith

The Abominations of Yondo

Denizens of the Wytchlands, the Memento Mori are a diverse and civilized group of intelligent undead, divorced from their savage bretheren by their calm, mild mannered demeanor and their total free will. Withered and Strange The Mori are varied in form, having been risen from the corpses of many races in varied states of decay. they can vary from delicate pygmy-skeletons held together by the barest knots of sinew and muscle to hulking half-giants who still almost resemble their living brethren. No matter the form, though, the Mori appear as hideous reminders of death to most races, leading to the adoption of heavy wax-treated clothing and masks filled with fragrant herbs whilst out in the civilizations of mortal-kind. The Danse Macabre The Memento Mori are often thought of as dour and joyless, though that is not entirely true. They do tend towards leading ordered, regimented unlives and often have difficulty expressing emotions that come easy to the living, but this does not mean they are without creativity or soul. The Mori can be deceptively clever, quietly considering problems whilst others bicker, speaking only when they have something of value to say. Magic often comes naturally to these necromatic beings, though fresher specimins of their kind can be rather durable and proficient combatents. Mori are stoic and utilitarian in public, but in private possess great passions, hopes, and dreams. Subjects of The First Citizen Nearly all Memento Mori were created in the frozen far-north, in a land known as the Wytchlands. The rituals were created long ago by the nation's arch-lich patron, First Citizen Malaxandra, but are now primarily performed by mages authorized by the nation's Council. Though it is known that the lich once took a more direct hand in the nation's affairs, the Wytchlands have been near-fully run by its elected council for the last 325 years.

All who die on Wytchland soil are considered to have forfeited their body to the nation, the old bodies given new souls in the form of Mori. Because of this, Mori are the most abundant citizens in the Wytchlands, but far from the only ones. Mori tend to be unphased by revenants, vampires, wights, ghouls and other sorts of undead but may be surprised to find how violent they are when in the presence of mortals.

Though unfettered by needs like food, water, or air, Mori still have need of warmth and saftey to care for their slowly rotting bodies and the nation as a whole collectively seeks to care for the needs of the undead within its borders. Strangers in Strange Lands The Mori seldom left their homeland in the past, as they focused more on building up a society and civilization than on trying to enter an unfriendly world, but when the ice storms that circled their land were lowered 150 years ago, they could not help but notice (and be noticed by)

the mortals traveling along the land

bridge out of Vint.

After some tense first contact, the

Mori realized just how tempting

trade could be. Some have left the

comfort and regularity of home

to act as liasons of the Council,

traveling down roads built by

far warmer hands. Others

may act as a less regulated

source of magic, ones

who often ask fewer

questions than the kind

you might hire at the

University 1

Mori Names Memento Mori tend to have simple, single word names drawn from their appearance or their ideals, and often in celestial or common. As Mori are created, rather than born, they do not have family names and instead take on titles to help differentiate themselves from others.



Names: Magos, Cratos, Fovos, Tychi, Broad, Whisp, Liber, Demos, Creed, Hope, Psilos, Skepsi, Talon, Asteio, Weal, Fang, Celesti, Kolasi, Law, Shatter, Chant, Nomos,



Titles: the Learned, of the Necropolis, the Farmer,

of the Council, the Carpenter, the Careful, the Broken,

the Silvertongued, of Vivian's Keep, of Vint, the Wormeaten

Memento Mori Traits Your Mori character's undead body has a number of unique traits that are shared between all Mori.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 2.

Age. Memento Mori begin life with dim recollections of their body's past, and thus they could be said to have been born adults. The magics that animate them generally begin to wear out by their fourth or fifth century.

Alignment. Most Mori are lawful neutral. In general, they enjoy practicality and structure and think in large picture terms. Those that are good aligned will often claim that the sacrifice of the few is worth the safety of the many

Size. Memento Mori are Medium size

Speed. Memento Mori have a 30 foot move speed.

Animated. Memento Mori do not need to eat or drink though they are able to do so if they wish to. Instead of sleeping, a Memento Mori may enter a state of inactivity for 8 hours, in which they are awake and aware of their surroundings, to gain the benefits of a long rest.

Negatively Aligned. You have resistance to cold and necrotic damage, and have advantage on saving throws against poison. In addition, Memento Mori take half healing from all sources, and count as undead for all things but spells.

Language. You can speak, read, and write Common, and you can make use of and understand Wytchland Sign. Wytchland Sign is a language developed to enable communication with Mori who have, due to age or condition of body before being raised, lost the ability to speak. Wytchland Sign is freely taught to the living so as to better facilitate trade and communication, though few living have the time to learn such an esoteric method of communication.

Subraces. The Mori can vary greatly based on the condition of the corpses that are raised, and the skill of the ritual's caster. Choose one of the following subraces. Corpse Source This document assumes that the Mori's body came from a medium sized creature. If this is not the case, adjust your character's size and speed as appropriate. The phrase "donor" refers to the creature whose corpse was used to raise your Mori. The New (Mori Diatiros) As a Mori Diatiros, you possess great durability and resilience, and are physically closest to wights, zombies, and revenants.

For much of its history, the majority of Mori were raised from those who wandered too close to the magical snowstorms that surrounded the Wytchlands and didn't heed its warnings. Those who are raised while their body is still fresh, or whose corpses were preserved in the ice, retain most of their flesh and hair, and appear as pale, ice-bitten, walking corpses of their donor's race.

Ability Score increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Tireless. Diatiros treat the penalties from exhaustion as though their exhaustion score was reduced by one, though they still die once they reach six points of exhaustion.

Undead Fortitude. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest. The Old (Mori Archaios) As a member of the Mori Archaios, you possess old knowledge and a withered form. You are physically closest to skeletons, and tangentially similar to liches.

When ancient corpses are raised as Mori, they retain the damage the elements inflicted upon them. When raised, they often lack the nescessary organs for speech. Instead of sinew and muscle, these beings are held together with magical energy. Mori Archaios appear as withered skeletons of their donor's race, some picked clean and bleached white, while others have thin, papery skin stretched tight across stained, blackened bone.

Ability Score increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Dead Men Tell No Tales. Your vocal chords have rotted away, leaving you unable to speak. All vocal spell components become somatic, and you can only communicate through charade and Wytchland Sign.

Knowledge of Ancients. You gain one skill profeciency from the following: Arcana, History, Nature, Performance, Religion, or Survival. You may alternatively choose one tool profeciency.

Lichlike. You know one Cantrip of your choice from the cleric spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it. 2

The Strange (Mori Curiairos) As a member of the Mori Curiairos, you are a testiment to the irregularities of magic. The rarest of all breeds of Mori, you possess abilties that are throwbacks to the more manipulative and violent examples of undead-kind, and you share a number of their primary weaknesses. You are most physically similar to ghouls, ghasts, and vampires.

You are the result of a mistake. Perhaps your ritual was performed incorrectly, or maybe someone attempted to reverse engineer it. The animating force you were given is constantly failing, and because of that you possess a hunger for the vitality of the living and a fear of the sun. Mori Curiairos' forms are revitalized by the blood and flesh of the living, and when properly fed are nearly indistinguishable from their living counterparts, betrayed only by exagerrated teeth, a general palor, and a lack of heartbeat or body heat. When hungry, they appear as deformed, pallid versions of their donor's race. Other Mori look upon the Curiairos with pity, and attempt to keep their kind within the borders of the Wytchlands, where they cannot damage relations between the undead and the living.

Ability Score increase. Your Charisma score increasees by 1.

The Hungry Dead. As an action, once per short rest, you may feed upon a grappled, incapacitated, or dead creature to gain temperary hitpoints equal to 1d8 + your character level, dealing half the amount as damage to the target. This involves either biting them upon the neck to drink of the creatures blood (which is painless and does not awaken them if they are asleep) or consuming a bite of the creature's flesh. This ability only works on creatures with blood.

Blush of Life. While you possess temperary hit points from feeding on a creature, you are visually indistinguishable from a living member of your donor's species.

Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight. 3