A heucuva (pronounced: /hjuːˈkuːvɑː/ hyoo-KOO-va[5]; pl: heucuva[2] or: heucuvas[1]), or huecuva,[1][4] was a powerful type of undead.[2] They were the damned spirits of clerics, druids, monks or paladins who forsook their vows or committed heresies.[1][2]
Description[]
Heucuva resembled skeletons in appearance. The main distinguishing feature was that heucuva often wore the tattered robes of their previous life as priests.[1][2]
Personality[]
Huecuva were corrupted caricatures of their previous lives, spreading disease instead of healing and seeking to kill all those that lived. They possessed only faint memories of their past lives.[1][2]
Combat[]
Heucuva did not use weapons in combat, instead attacking with their powerful and sharp finger bones. They were strong enough to rip a chunk out of wood in one swipe. If struck, a target was infected with a terrible disease called huecuva blight. This disease was fatal unless a cure disease or a remove disease spell was used to heal the victim. Due to their intense hatred for good-aligned clerics, heucuva ignored all other targets until the cleric was slain.[1][2]
Abilities[]
Heucuva were immune to all spells that influenced the mind and most effects that affected the living. They were also immune to poison. Up to three times daily, heucuva were capable of polymorphing themselves. They used this ability to avoid detection or to ambush a target. Infravision revealed a polymorphed heucuva's true form. Heucuva were skilled in the casting of divine spells, especially those of the Death and Evil domains.[1][2]
Like other undead, heucuva did not eat or drink. Heucuva did not retain the ability for speech, and instead were reduced to howling and lamented wailing.[2]
Society[]
Homelands[]
Heucuva were usually encountered in locations with little to no light, such as underground or within crypts. Heucuva preferred warmer climates; they were extremely rare in colder locations. As damned priests, heucuva decorated their lairs to resemble the abbeys and temples they once were a part of, using the corpses of their victims as parishioners. Some heucuva collected treasure from their victims, placing them on a mock alter as offerings. Occasionally, some heucuva did not seek out and settle in lairs, instead roaming the countryside in the dark on a mock pilgrimage.[2]
Beyond the Prime Material plane, huecuva could be found in the Domains of Dread.[6]
Relationships[]
Some heucuva acted as servants of the deity Kiaransalee.[7]
Usages[]
Heucuva bones could be ground into a powder and used as a component in the creation of magical items that were used to corrupt spirits or control undead creatures.[2]
Appendix[]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
Adventures
Novels & Short Stories
Card Games
Organized Play & Licensed Adventures
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 188. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 David "Zeb" Cook, et al. (1989). Monstrous Compendium Volume Two. (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-8803-8753-X.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Don Turnbull (1981). Fiend Folio. (TSR Hobbies), p. 51. ISBN 0-9356-9621-0.
- ↑ Frank Mentzer (January 1985). “Ay pronunseeAYshun gyd”. In Kim Mohan ed. Dragon #93 (TSR, Inc.), p. 26.
- ↑ William W. Connors (1996). Monstrous Compendium - Ravenloft Appendices I & II. (TSR, Inc.), p. 70. ISBN 0786903929.
- ↑ Eric L. Boyd (November 1998). Demihuman Deities. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 24. ISBN 0-7869-1239-1.