Crimson Knight

The Crimson Knight is technically a vampire. Sort of... sources disagree. They are undead, they drink blood, seems straightforward to me

— Jasper Cameron, Leader of the Bronze Ravens

Excerpt from a recovered journal found in the library at Outh Mead.
We should have listened, but how could we know. We were prepared for the hazards of the desert. The Harpoon Cactus was known to us, our scouts voices were laced with magic to combat a Desert Lyrebird leading us astray. We had water, we were prepared for everything, at least so we thought. What could prepare us for what I can only describe as a Crimson Knight.
It came shortly before dawn. Blending into the red, jagged nature of the landscape as if just another rock. Out sentry was dead before he knew what was happening. Only the cry of his dying Hauler Tortoises alerted the rest of us that something was wrong, and that is a sound and sight that will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life...
A full grown hauler tortoise, tipped onto its back and its belly cracked open, like an egg, with.... something feasting... drinking... slurping from it. As the first rays of sun broke across our camp we witnessed the horror, watching the blood flow and the armor of this creature grow before our very eyes. The spikes on the pauldrons grew before our eyes. Then that horrible slurping sound stopped, and as it raised its head and turned to us, I knew, it was flee or die.
I sprinted towards a camel, favoring the speed over the defense of the tortoises that had proven useless. Slinging a water skin over my back and pulling down my sun visor, i headed straight into the rising sun. What became of the rest of my caravan, I dont know, but I pray that some made it out, and for those who didn't that their deaths were quick.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Take a vampire, and if you can, imagine stripping all the flesh and muscle from it, leaving only the skeleton behind. But keep it alive.... well, undead. Drive it into a blood rage. Now make any blood it "consumes" crystalize into armor around the skeleton. That basically sums up the Crimson Knights.

Genetics and Reproduction

There isn't any natural reproduction for Crimson Knights. Rather, new nights are made when a vampire violates the laws of the Clan of Blossoming Fangs. A vampire is cursed, and then staked out in the desert, where the local wildlife strips the flesh from its bones. What is left is an animated skeleton vampire, driven into a mindless blood rage similar to a vampire that has not fed for some time.
Of course, once the flesh is gone the bonds have little purpose, being quite loose. And so a new undead monstrosity is unleashed upon the world. A newly "birthed" crimson knight has little to distinguish it from a regular skeleton besides its fangs and greater strength and agility. However, once it finds its first victim the difference becomes clear.
The creature will bite its prey, similar to a vampire, but with no place for the blood to go it spills over the rest of the skeleton. In the desert heat, and with the aid of magic, the blood of the victim starts to transform into a crystaline armor, covering first the rib cage, and spreading out from there. As the armor grows, so do does the strength and ferocity of the knight that wears it. While they are thankfully limited to the area rumored to contain entrances to the buried City of Sleeping Skulls they are, without a doubt one of the most dangerous denizens of the Myrdhor Desert.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While lacking any flesh that one would expect to provide senses, Crimson Knights appear to have the same uncanny senses that many undead do. Glowing lights in the sockets act as eyes, and it retains its vampiric ability to find sources of fresh blood.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Vampire

Geographic Distribution

• Myrdhor Desert