Dread warrior

A dread warrior was a special type of undead created by necromancer Red Wizards of Thay from the bodies of warriors shortly after their deaths.

Personality
Partly due to being created so soon after death, dread warriors maintained a minimal amount of intelligence. They retained their warrior desire to fight, were capable of speech, and even thinking for themselves. However, they were by no means sophisticated. Complex orders would confuse them.

Abilities
Dread warriors were more durable and powerful than the average normal undead. They could be turned by clerics in a similar manner to shadows.



History
Dread warriors were invented by Szass Tam, the Zulkir of Necromancy among the Red Wizards of Thay, for the purpose of invading Rashemen. They formed a part of Cyric's Legion, one of his largest military units.

Myrkul's Legion, a force made up entirely of dread warriors, was unleashed upon Rashemen in 1357 DR. It was ultimately turned back, many of them falling to the nature spirits of the land and the spells of the Wychlaran. The magic of the nature spirits disrupted the necromantic spells within them so much that some dread warriors even turned on their own comrades, destroying entire companies, or more often simply misinterpreted orders.

After Szass Tam ascended to power in the years following the Spellplague of 1385 DR, dread warriors continued to be created by Thayan necromancers. In the 15 century DR, dread warriors were common soldiers among the armies of Thay. They were usually commander officers of the armies of more common undead.

Society
When not engaging in combat these undead were kept in "cold storage" within barracks and dungeons.

Occasionally a dread warrior would break of the control its Thayan masters had over it. Whenever this occurred the dread warrior would wander the countryside in a twisted caricature of their old lives. They would terrorize innocents, challenge passerbies to fights, and sometimes even break into homes to steal food despite the fact that they could no longer eat.

Relationships
Dread warriors operated exclusively as soldiers within the armies of Thay. They were primarily the retinue of the zalkir Szass Tam, who was reluctant to use them as domestic servants. He loaned a few of them to his trusted allies, a few of which were known to use them in such a way, but that almost always resulted in sharp rebukes from Szass.

Notable Dread warriors

 * Ukulsid