Atropal

Atropals were a race of unfinished immortals modeled after the gods, who had since become undead abominations. Existing solely to spread death and destruction, atropals roamed across the planes, hunting down any prey that came their way. Others were sealed away in forgotten delves.

Description
Atropals resembled ghouls to some extent, with pale red skin, long tongues, and razor-sharp teeth. Most of the flesh of an atropal was rotted, with swollen joints and exposed bones. Unlike ghouls, however, atropals lacked eyes, having instead empty, skin-covered sockets.

They resembled the avatars of the elder evil Atropus.

Combat
Atropals were very durable, as well as dexterous, and when in a fight they could use this to outlast their enemies. When forced into a direct fight, however, atropals were armed with several powerful abilities. One of these was the atropos burst ability, which allowed an atropal to sap the life force of their foe, though, being undead, they did not heal from this but rather gained additional energy, which they sometimes then used to attack a living creature with necrotizing touch, which not only injured the victim but hindered their competence as well. Atropals also had a unique ability known as shroud of death, which allowed atropals to repair other undead creatures while bringing harm to the living.

Atropal Scions


An atropal scion was truly one of the most perverse undead creatures. A piece of godly flesh could become a "godling" itself, unless destroyed. If given unlife, the "atropal scion" became an unformed monster, resembling an overgrown dead fetus, sometimes with an umbilical cord still attached. Despite its appearance, an atropal scion was actually extremely intelligent and powerful.

An aura of cold surrounded an atropal scion, so numbing that it could draw life from the living. The scion's very gaze could cause death and they were dangerous spellcasters. Once unleashed upon a world they would quietly gather power until ready to make their claim to complete domination.

History
Sometime in the late 15th century DR, an atropal was found drifting in the Negative Energy plane by the lich Acererak and was brought to the Tomb of the Nine Gods in Chult to be nourished to godhood via an artifact known as the Soulmonger, which caused the onset of the death curse.

Notable Atropals

 * Xingax, an atropal scion and a mad scientist.
 * Atropal in the Tomb of the Nine Gods, an atropal found by Acererak he planned to nurse to godhood.