Crypt thing

Crypt things were a rare kind of intelligent undead bound to protect a specific burial site.

Description
A crypt thing resembled a human-sized skeleton wearing dark robes. Their empty eye sockets contained eerie points of red light.

Combat
What made crypt things most dangerous was their ability to teleport adversaries away. Otherwise they attacked with their bare, skeletal hands. Aside from the common immunities of the undead, only weapons imbued with magic were able to hurt a crypt thing. Due to their strong attachment to the place they guarded, priests were unable to drive them away with their holy power.

There were rumors of a type of crypt thing that paralyzed its opponents and made them invisible at the same time, instead of teleporting them.

Society
On rare occasions, a corpse rose as a crypt thing on its own accord and was driven by a desire to protect the graves of its descendants. More often, such an undead was created by a priest or wizard with the help of the create crypt thing spell. Only one crypt thing was found at one burial place, but it sometimes commanded a group of less powerful crypt servants.

The bones of a crypt thing could be used in the creation of a potion of undead control or especially effective pipes of haunting.

Homelands
According to the sage Elminster, crypt things existed in the ruins in the Undermoor, the area of the Underdark below the High Moor and Serpent Hills. They could also be encountered in the dreaded ruins of Shoonach.

Crypt things also dwelt in the Abyss, both in the endless black sand of the Layer of Desert, as well as in the realm of Orcus, where there existed a whole Valley of Crypt Things. As an exception to the rule, 24 of them sat together, each on a throne, at the sides of this vale.

Notable Crypt Things

 * Damien Morienus - a former master of the North Tower of the Host Tower of the Arcane in Luskan. He was turned undead by the demons he himself summoned. He was discovered haunting his Accursed Tower in Icewind Dale circa 1369 DR.
 * A pair of crypt things safeguarded the Toryvhallen crypt within the catacombs of Ascalhorn. One of them possessed a girdle of stone giant strength, while the other held a ring of shocking grasp. Both were capable of teleporting intruders to either outside the main gates of the fortress-town or to the pillories in its central square. The latter action was only ever taken when an intruder displayed intent to vandalize or rob the crypt.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * The Accursed Tower &bull; Castle Spulzeer &bull; Hellgate Keep


 * Card Games:
 * AD&D Trading Cards


 * Video Games:
 * Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster