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Mohrg

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Mohrgs were vile undead creatures that took the form of skeletons containing only their animated viscera, including a tongue-like organ with a paralyzing touch. They arose from the bodies of unrepentant mass murderers and were driven by a desire to continue their killing and by a hatred for the living.[1][2][3]

Creation[]

They were the risen corpses of mass murderers and others who'd committed similar crimes,[1][2][3][4] such as serial killers,[5] villainous rulers who'd caused genocides, and cruel generals who'd left countless slain before falling in battle themselves—these were no common killers,[6] but shockingly wicked even in life.[3] They must have never atoned or repented before they died[1][2][3][4] and must be fully committed to taking more lives at the time of death. Their killing sprees cut short, they rose again to continue the task. Oddly, those executed by hanging were more likely to rise as mohrgs than by any other means of death; sages had no idea why, but some supposed it was because hanging was often seen as the most dishonorable form of execution.[4][7] Moreover, of the so-called civilized races, human and half-orc murderers were more likely to rise as mohrgs than any other, for they had both the capability and the capacity for murderous rage required.[3] They would return in a state of undeath of their own volition,[8] from mere minutes after death[4] to at least three days.[5][7]

A mohrg could also be animated using the create undead spell, but only by the most powerful casters.[9] In this case, any corpse could be used, not just a mass murderer.[4] The demon price Orcus could summon mohrgs to his aid,[10][11] as could a practiced thrall of Orcus.[10]

Description[]

A section of mohrg viscera in a jar.

A section of mohrg viscera in a jar.

A mohrg appeared as a gaunt, even skeletal corpse with a ribcage stuffed with its internal organs, which writhed sickeningly. Most notably, the tongue was long, cartilaginous, and ended in claws. Typically, mohrgs stood 5–6 feet (1.5–1.8 meters) tall as they had in life, and weighed around 120 pounds (54 kilograms).[1][2] There were easily mistaken for particularly gruesome zombies or ghouls.[1] The viscera were bloated and foul and carried an unholy stink of death. The stench clung for hours to the hands of those who dared touch them, making it difficult to eat. [12]

Personality[]

Morhgs had an overriding hatred of all life,[1][2][3] one that tortured them through their eternal existence, seemingly as a curse, punishment, or damnation for the killings they'd committed in life.[3][12] Yet, tormented by it, they yearned to live again themselves.[1][2] They seldom associated with religion or deities, regardless of their nature. They were most often creatures of chaos and evil; a good mohrg was almost unthinkable.[3]

Activities[]

They might continue to lurk in the place where they felt wronged[8] or were slain, such as a former ruler in his ruined keep or a general on their last battlefield.[6] Some exceptional mohrgs might travel and adventure, most only to kill and advance some dark goal, but others, just perhaps, to seek atonement.[3]

Abilities[]

The very touch of their grisly tongues could cause a being to be paralyzed for one to four minutes if they lacked the fortitude to resist.[1][2][3]

Those slain by a mohrg rose from the dead a day to four days later as zombies in all respects, lacking whatever gifts they'd had when alive. Such zombies were controlled by the mohrg.[1][2][3]

Though appearing similar to zombies themselves, mohrgs moved much faster, as fast as a living human. They had fast reflexes, could move quickly around a battlefield, and had great skills in stealth.[1][2][3] They also had exceptionally strength and agility.[3]

Unlike some undead, mohrgs had no particular hunger or craving.[13]

Tactics[]

A hapless sorcerer paralyzed by a mohrg licking his nipple and no doubt wishing he'd worn a shirt.

A hapless sorcerer paralyzed by a mohrg licking his nipple and no doubt wishing he'd worn a shirt.

In battle, morhgs struck their prey with their bony fists and grabbed hold with ease, or else lashed them with their paralyzing tongues.[1][2][3] Those who mistook them for slow-moving zombies were often taken unawares.[1][2] They favored stealth and fast reflexes to take their targets by surprise[14] and preferred to first swiftly disable a foe through paralysis or grappling, then slam them with their limbs to slay them.[3][14] When facing greater numbers, a mohrg tried to paralyze as many as it could before grabbing and it would slip through ranks of well-armored foes to get at the more vulnerable.[14]

Society[]

She's got guts: a mohrg barbarian, ghoul ranger, and mummy sorcerer go adventuring.

She's got guts: a mohrg barbarian, ghoul ranger, and mummy sorcerer go adventuring.

Morhgs might be encountered alone or in gangs of up to four, and these gangs might have from five to ten zombies with them.[1][2]

Mohrgs favored being fighters and barbarians. In undead forces, mohrgs served well as front-line combatants or as behind-the-lines assassins or scouts, if they could keep from killing long enough to complete a mission.[3] Advanced mohrgs often became the stealthy killers known as lurking terrors.[15]

Relations[]

Ghouls respected mohrgs for their power and "vision", whatever that was,[16] but mohrgs saw them as no more than foot-soldiers in their war against the living.[3] Similarly, mohrgs and wights respected one another for their shared hatred of all life, though wights found mohrgs too savage even for them.[17][3] Meanwhile, mummies had little patience for mohrgs, as they did most other undead,[18] and mohrgs thought them to be dullards and brutes.[3] Finally, mohrgs respected vampire spawn for their own vision, but felt they were too dependent on the living,[3] while vampire spawn thought themselves superior to all other undead, including mohrgs, but would take them on in a bodyguard role.[19]

Usage[]

Undead grafts: zombie arm, mohrg tongue, and eye.

Undead grafts: zombie arm, mohrg tongue, and bodak eye.

An undead graft of a mohrg's tongue, created with a ghoul touch spell and valued at 24,000 gp, could give even a living creature the mohrg's paralyzing touch, thankfully without replacing their own tongue.[20]

Lands[]

Circa 1372 DR, in Faerûn, lone mohrgs might be encountered in the Channath Vale, Dambrath, and Veldorn,[21] while lone mohrgs or gangs of them might be encountered in all levels of the Underdark.[22]

In Thanatos, a layer of the Abyss and the dominion of Orcus, numerous hordes of undead, each including many mohrgs, roamed the Plains of Hunger on the hunt for living victims.[23]

History[]

Once, a brutal murderer was imprisoned by the Selskar Order in the Tower of the Star in Andalbruin in the Frost Hills; they did not know the true extent of his crimes and thought to only keep him captive for a few months. But the order fell to the forces of the troll warlord Harska Thaug in the Year of Rumbling Earth, −585 DR, and the prisoner died, alone, forgotten, and starving, before rising again as a mohrg. It roamed the dungeon for a time, before a party of adventurers ran afoul of it and managed to trap it in a cell, at the sacrifice of one of their own fellows, who rose as a mohrg as well. This pair had been there fifteen years as of 1373 DR and sought escape.[24][note 1]

In the Year of the Scourge, 1150 DR, a mohrg servant of Malar the Stalker known as Borran Klosk led an army of undead to assault the cities of the Vilhon Reach, who were joined by the Emerald Enclave druids and the Alaoreum Mountains dwarves. The armies clashed in the Battle of Morningstar Hollows in Turmish, and Borran Klosk was defeated and captured by Eldathyn priests. Unable to slay the mohrg,[25] they bound him in a prison below the city of Alaghôn.[25][26]

A number of mohrgs were encountered in the ruins of Myth Drannor around 1369 DR, in the passages beneath Castle Cormanthor and in the Elven Catacombs further down. These were most likely artificially animated mohrgs in service to necromancers that sought to control the dungeons, such as the drow of House Freth (who left them to guard the gauntlets of necromancy), the dark naga Gulrithi, the moon elf lich Thyaast Ammath, an unnamed lich who'd claimed Sylmorrir and other treasures, and an unnamed master wight who wielded the sword Woundwulf. An unidentified wizard interred in the Catacombs with a staff of flame was one of those transformed into a mohrg.[27]

Some time in the 1360s DR, an ex-member of the Night Parade known as Lord Tyles found and occupied a lost Netherese outpost in the Vast. There, a mohrg, a ghast, and a mummy were kept as part of a sand trap to incapacitate those adventurers who victim to it.[28]

Inadvertently released from his imprisonment beneath Alaghôn in the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR, the mohrg Borran Klosk launched a new campaign against the Vilhon Reach. He summoned drowned ones from the Whamite Isles for a new army of undead that would overrun Alaghôn, and he schemed to use the artifact called Taraketh's Hive to ruin Turmish's ecology for hundreds of years. Thankfully, the Emerald Enclave and Haarn Brightoak defended Alaghôn and defeated Borran Klosk.[26]

The lich Akempus of the ruins of Northkeep manufactured mohrgs and other undead for servants and bodyguards. In the early 1370s DR, he sold undead work gangs each comprising a mohrg and a few controlled zombies to unscrupulous masters around the Moonsea, delivering them via the Northkeep Portal, but they remained loyal to the lich and his dreams of conquest.[29][30] Avehola Longfingers, one of the Cloaks of Mulmaster, was one of his unwitting customers.[30]

At the Assassin's Nest in Mulmaster circa 1374 DR, wherein the Golden Skulls were based, four mohrgs were kept as guardians of the treasure room.[31]

Notable Mohrgs[]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ The 3rd-edition rules for the mohrg state that its spawn are only zombies under the mohrg's control, not any greater undead, but "Prison of the Firebringer" has this mohrg spawn another mohrg. This may be in error, or the sacrificed adventurer qualified as a mass murderer as well.

Appearances[]

Adventures

City of the Spider Queen • Mysteries of the Moonsea: "Assassin's Nest" • Dungeon #94, "Spiral of Manzessine" • Dungeon #101, "Prison of the Firebringer"

Novels & Short Stories

The Jewel of Turmish

Video Games

Neverwinter Nights • Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor

Organized Play & Licensed Adventures

Swan Song • Per Our Usual Arrangements… • Book Knowledge • Feast of the Moon

External Links[]

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet and Monte Cook (October 2000). Monster Manual 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 137–138. ISBN 0-7869-1552-1.
  2. ↑ 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 2.14 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 189–190. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 36–37. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Ari Marmell (October 2005). “Birth of the Dead”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #336 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), p. 44.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mark A. Hart (June 2006). “Funeral Procession”. In Erik Mona ed. Dungeon #336 (Wizards of the Coast) (336)., pp. 19, 20, 23, 24, 32.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 David Noonan, Will McDermott, Stephen Schubert (May 2005). Heroes of Battle. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 39, 41. ISBN 0-7869-3686-X.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 134. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Monte Cook (October 2002). Book of Vile Darkness. Edited by David Noonan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 35. ISBN 0-7869-3136-1.
  9. ↑ Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 185, 186, 195, 215. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Monte Cook (October 2002). Book of Vile Darkness. Edited by David Noonan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 72, 138. ISBN 0-7869-3136-1.
  11. ↑ Ed Stark, James Jacobs, Erik Mona (June 13, 2006). Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 73. ISBN 0-7869-3919-2.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Jim Bishop & F. Wesley Schneider (March 2004). “Eye of Newt and Toe of Frog: Using Power Components”. In Matthew Sernett ed. Dragon #317 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), p. 48.
  13. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 9. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 136, 139. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  15. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 54–55. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  16. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 35–36. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  17. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 40. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  18. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 38. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  19. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 39. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  20. ↑ Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (October 2004). Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 80. ISBN 0-7869-3433-6.
  21. ↑ Thomas Reid (October 2004). Shining South. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 82, 91. ISBN 0-7869-3492-1.
  22. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick (October 2003). Underdark. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 114–116. ISBN 0-7869-3053-5.
  23. ↑ Ed Stark, James Jacobs, Erik Mona (June 13, 2006). Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 131. ISBN 0-7869-3919-2.
  24. ↑ Richard Baker (August 2003). “Prison of the Firebringer”. Dungeon #101 (Paizo Publishing, LLC) (101)., p. 39.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 121. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 150–151. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  27. ↑ Stormfront Studios (2001). Designed by Mark Buchignani, Ken Eklund, Sarah W. Stocker. Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Ubisoft Entertainment.
  28. ↑ Jeremy Vosberg (November 1994). Per Our Usual Arrangements. Living City (RPGA), p. 20.
  29. ↑ Skip Williams (2003-02-05). “Portals of the Moonsea: Northkeep Portal”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2004-02-23. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Skip Williams (2003-02-26). “Portals of the Moonsea: Mulmaster Portal”. Perilous Gateways. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2004-02-23. Retrieved on 2018-12-05.
  31. ↑ Darrin Drader, Thomas M. Reid, Sean K. Reynolds, Wil Upchurch (June 2006). Mysteries of the Moonsea. Edited by John Thompson, Gary Sarli. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 106. ISBN 978-0-7869-3915-2.
  32. ↑ Richard Baker, Ed Bonny, Travis Stout (February 2005). Lost Empires of Faerûn. Edited by Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 145. ISBN 0-7869-3654-1.
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