Skeleton warrior

Skeleton warriors were undead lords. They were formerly powerful warriors cursed with unlife by magic-users who'd trapped their souls in golden circlets.

Description
Skeleton warriors often appeared as yellowed and cracked-with-age skeletons with chunks of decaying flesh still clinging to their bones, somewhat similar to a lich. Their eye sockets were deep and black, each dotted with a sinister pinpoint of reddish light. Skeleton warriors wore rusted and rotten remnants of clothes and armor they wore in life.

Abilities
Anyone who wore the skeleton warrior's golden soul circlet could control the monster. The control reached, and the controller was able to see through its eyes and issue commands, while the controller's own body was left unable to move or take any other actions. The wearer of the circlet could keep the skeleton warrior inert at will.

The undead creature's nature caused the skeleton warrior to quickly and relentlessly attack the owner of the circlet with swift revenge if the item was lost, stolen, or gifted away unless the new owner of the circlet stopped the skeleton warrior from doing so. If the creature was ever to get hold of its soul circlet, both the skeleton warrior and the circlet turned to valueless dust never to reappear again.

If the skeleton warrior possessed psionic abilities in life, it still did as an undead.

Behavior
Skeleton warriors could often be found near the places of their deaths or burial sites. They usually possessed collections of treasures, trinkets, and remnants of their lifetimes of adventures. However, they did not guard said treasures as the only thing they cared about was recovering the soul circlets.

Skeleton warriors were often created to serve as bodyguards, servants, or workers. Some were too obsessed with the recovery of their soul circlets and were uncontrollable, becoming even more undependable and dangerous. They rarely associated with other types of undead and preferred solitude.

Combat
Skeleton warriors often used two-handed swords in combat and were able to use any other weapon they used in life. They could only be damaged by magical weapons, could not be turned by priests, and had extremely potent magical resistance. The mere sight of a skeleton warrior sent foes fleeing in fear.

Ecology
Skeleton warriors were undead creatures, brought to nightmarish existence by powerful wizards or demigods. As undead, they did not need to eat, sleep, or perform any bodily functions. The most common type of skeleton warrior had their souls trapped by their creators in golden circlets. Their existence was bound to these circlets, and countless skeleton warriors went roaming the Prime Material Plane in search of the accursed jewelry.

History
The 10 century mage Vorusta used a number of skeleton warriors armed with mail of the dead as assassins.

In some cases, a curse of divine magic created skeleton warriors. In 1369 DR, a group of adventures encountered a skeleton warrior sustained by a curse that was placed on the Accursed Tower in Icewind Dale. With his dying breath, Yarmuth the Brown, a priest of Myrkul, placed a curse on the tower turning everyone who died within the structure into horrific undead monsters.

In 1372 DR, skeleton warriors guarded the newly discovered Telarthir's tomb‎‎, the Emperor of the Ninth Dynasty of Lords from a long forgotten ancient kingdom. The skeleton warriors were under control of Telarthir, preserved as a warrior mummy.

Appearances

 * Adventures:
 * The Accursed Tower
 * Novels:
 * The Paladins
 * Video Games
 * Baldur's Gate • Neverwinter Nights • Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale • Neverwinter Nights: Darkness over Daggerford • Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea