Mummy

Mummies are undead creatures created from a preserved mummified corpse animated by a divine force.

Description

The most common mummy appears as a humanoid creature, wrapped in old strips of linen, damaged by rot and age. However different types of mummified creatures exist. THey stand somewhere between 5 feet and 7 feet tall. Many mummies carry a distinct aroma of ingredients used in their creation. Such smells are emitted by cinnamon, ginger, saltpeter, roses, myrrh, frankincense, lye, wormwood, and pomegranate. Other mummies—particularly those preserved by non-manmade means—carry less pleasant smells of upturned earth, decay, and vegetable rot. Rarely, mummies can smell of bread or yeast, wine, vinegar, and even roasted meats.

Variants

• Creature Mummy: These are made of corpses of animals and non-humanoids, such as centaurs, tlincallis, crypt cat. Creature mummies vary greatly and are similar to regular mummies, however, some mor exotic creature mummies are preserved via being left in hot environments being baked by cruel sun, being dry-frozen, sealed in tar, various salves and magical substances, or even preserving magics or curses.
• Crawling Apocalypse: A creature that resembles a giant mummified octopus.
• Greater Mummy: These are mummified priests of a god who were imbued with dark magic.
• Huecuva: Huecuva are created from divine or oath-bound creatures who have failed in their vows.
• Mummy Lord: Mummy lords are often potent spellcasters. They are found as guardians of the tombs of high lords, priests, and mages.
• Pale Master Mummy: A powerful type of dangerous mummy that can be summed via summon greater undead spell.
• Salt Mummy: Ancient corpses of humanoids preserved by being buried in or near salt. Salt mummies were generally very evil when they were alive.
• Warrior Mummy: A stronger variation of a common undead mummy, proficient in close combat and warrior skills that can put living warriors to shame.
• Web Mummy: A creature animated by tomb spider' eggs laid into humanoid corpses.

Abilities

Mummies cause fear in the living on sight, and any creature they touch is affected by a rotting curse called mummy rot. The rot, if left uncured, can kill its host within 1-6 months. WIth each passing month, the victim suffers from the disease, their skin rots more and more, and the natural healing rate significantly slows down. This affliction can be alleviated via the cure disease or break enchantment spells, while cure wounds spells of any sort are completely useless. When a creature dies from the mummy rot, the disease destroys the corpse within twelve seconds, leaving extremely little time to return them to life by magical means. A fully rotted corpse can not be resurrected by the raise dead spell. Among other diseases that are carried by various mummified creatures are deadeye, heartsting, deathbite, and palsy.
All mummies spread terror, forcing event the bravest creatures to flee in terror or be paralyzed by the looming dread.
These undead creatures can only be harmed by magical or enchanted weapons, and even these tools are only partially effective. Like many other undead, mummies are immune to spells and effects such as sleep, charm, hold, poison, and paralysis, while cold is completely useless when wielded against them. Fire, both magical and mundane, as well as holy water, poses significant danger to mummies.
A mummy can be returned to life by a cleric with the use of the resurrection spell. However, it depends on the priest's abilities and the mummy's age. Remove curse does not affect them, while spells such as wish can return mummies to life.

Behavior

Mummies are the undead guardians of tombs and vaults of honored dead (such as kings or nobility). They patrol their homes with dedication, remaining alert for signs of tomb robbers or others who would defile their assigned lair. In their state of undead existence, mummies feel hatred for all living things, attacking every creature in their way indisciminately.

Combat

Mummies are granted great physical strength, and their scabrous touch carries a virulent curse that acts as a disease, known as mummy rot. Mummified creatures use their natural weapons with the unnatural undead strength to clobber, pummel, claw, or bite their opponents. However, more exotic mummified creatures retain some of the fearsome abilities they have in life.

Ecology

Most mummies are not created by magical means and are simply embalmed nobles, heroes, and other important individuals. In some cases, mummification and being turned into undead guardians is reserved for criminals or transgressors who wrong a powerful leader or priest. After being interred, these mummified creatures are known to spontaneously rise from tombs when their final resting place is disturbed. The forces that aid in the creation of these creatures can be unspeakable dark magics or greed of the interred person in life, unwilling to suffer grave robbers in death. This powerful feeling of greed can tap into the energies of the Positive Energy Plane, transforming them into the walking dreadful undead beings.
Due to their connection to the Positive Energy plane, mummies exist simultaneously on both Prime Material and Positive Energy planes.
Like other undead, mummies are not natural creatures, do not need to eat or drink, and have no predators or natural enemies.

Habitats

Most commonly, mummies can be found in dry desert locations on Elaris. Sealed inside ancient tombs, catacombs, burial chambers, and puramids' cores. Most tombs that hold mummified individuals are interred within complex crypts with traps and numerous rooms filled with the treasures, relics, and favorite items they possessed in life. These possessions often include pets, foods, and aromatic oils. Tombs that are evil creatures' final resting place often include the mummies' slaves and family members killed and interred with their cruel masters.

Creation

The spell mummy creation animates a corpse into a mummy, but only for a short period of time. Traditional mummies are created via a long and arduous process of mummifying a body. The corpse that is to become a mummy isfirst soaked in a preservative substance, such as a carbonate of soda. The soaking is done over the course of several weeks. Then the body is covered with aromatics, such as spices and raisins. The body's heart, brain, and live are often removed and preserved in separate canopic jars and stored not far from the mummified body within the tomb. The body is thoroughly preserved wrapped in linen cloth strips that sometimes hold gemstones affixed between the sheets. Some mummies, often monstrous mummies, linens are dyed and soaked in additional preserving salves and tinctures of herbal nature.
When mummies are created to serve as eternal guards via necromantic magics, the mummy wrappings are inscribed with magical symbols, and the ritual culminates in a dark magic incantation that creates the undead creature. The sentry mummy becomes animated when specific conditions indicated in its creation are met. These conditions typically are trespassing in the mummy's tomb, theft, or offenses against the mummy's loved ones.

Relations

Raised animal mummies are known to serve as undead minions to more powerful beings, mummies, or other dangerous forms of intelligent undead, while monster mummies often are created to specifically serve as eternal guardians.
Yuan-Ti communities create malison mummies to serve as protectors often stationed within the snake cities, hideouts, and temples.

Usages

Mummy dust is a valued spell component used to create items enchanted with rot and disease, such as breath of life or undead summoning, and mummy bone is one of the known material components used in certain spells such as scare.
A coloring powdered pigment used in certain locations known as "mummy brown" is originally created out of crushed and milled mummy remains.
Dust of the mummy is a powdered poison, sometimes used in trap making. The poison is the byproduct of the embalming process, distilled out of organs removed during the mummification. When inhaled, the dust of the mummy causes an infection of the mummy rot disease. The effect of the poison can be elicited with a dose of mummy rot antidote.
Mummy wrappings are a rare commodity, valued at 40 gold pieces.

History

WIP

This is a stub

This article will be expanded upon in the future

This is a

Good Article

Table of Contents

AD&D 2e Statistics

Size

Medium

Alignment

Lawful evil (humanoid mummies)
Neutral evil (creature mummies)

3.5th Edition Statistics

Size

Same as in life; typically medium

Type

Undead

Alignment

Usually Lawful Evil

Challenge Rating

5

4th Edition Statistics

Size

Medium

Origin

Type

Humanoid

Keyword(s)

Alignment

Unaligned

Level

Mummy Guardian

8

Shambling Mummy

8

Coldspawned Mummy

10

Moldering Mummy

10

Mummy Tomb Guardian

11

Royal Mummy

12

Mummy Lord (Human Cleric)

13

Yuan-Ti Abomination Mummy Lord

14

Scroll Mummy (Grisgol)

15

Ssra-Tauroch Mummy Lord

17

Shambling Mummy (ToH)

18

Ancient Ziggurat Mummy

21

Giant Mummy

21

Decay Mummy

23

Decaying Mummy

23

5th Edition Statistics

Size

Medium

Type

Undead

Alignment

Lawful Evil

Challenge Rating

3

Pathfinder 2e Statistics

Level

Mummified Cat

0

Decrepit Mummy

2

Bog Mummy

5

Mummy Guardian

6

Ice Mummy

8

Bog Mummy Cultist

9

Mummy Pharaoh

9

Iroran Mummy

10

Mummy Prophet

13

Quoppopak Mummy

13

Drowned Mummy

17

Size

Mummified Cat

Tiny

Decrepit Mummy

Medium

Bog Mummy

Medium

Mummy Guardian

Medium

Ice Mummy

Medium

Bog Mummy Cultist

Medium

Mummy Pharaoh

Medium

Iroran Mummy

Medium

Mummy Prophet

Medium

Quoppopak Mummy

Large

Drowned Mummy

Medium

Alignment

Mummified Cat

Neutral Evil

Decrepit Mummy

Lawful Evil

Bog Mummy

Lawful Evil

Mummy Guardian

Lawful Evil

Ice Mummy

Neutral Evil

Bog Mummy Cultist

Neutral Evil

Mummy Pharaoh

Lawful Evil

Iroran Mummy

Lawful Neutral

Mummy Prophet

Neutral Evil

Quoppopak Mummy

Neutral Evil

Drowned Mummy

Lawful Evil

Traits

Mummified Cat

,

Decrepit Mummy

,

Bog Mummy

,

Mummy Guardian

,

Ice Mummy

, , ,

Bog Mummy Cultist

, ,

Mummy Pharaoh

, ,

Iroran Mummy

, ,

Mummy Prophet

, ,

Quoppopak Mummy

, ,

Drowned Mummy

, , ,

General Information

Vision

Darkvision, Lifesense

Activity Cycle

Nocturnal

Diet

None
Omnivore (animal mummy only)

Intelligence

Low (humanoid and animal mummies)
Average (monster mummies)

Language(s)

The languages it knew in life

Favored Climate

Arid

Favored Terrain

Desert, subterranean, arctic, barren

Appearance

Skin Color(s)

Dry, desiccated

Eye Color(s)

Motes of light

Typical Build

Typically Humanoid

Distinctions

Desiccated husks wrapped in linen burial wraps, pungent spice and decay smell