Deep in the heart of the Sundered Isles, in the centre of a spent volcano, sits a small building far away from any population. Within its austere walls are twelve individuals – the Monks of the Red Moon – tasked with the profound duty to keep the universal laws intact. To this end they found – or perhaps gathered – six individuals and named them disciples. Scalpel, Badal, Skarkin, Kadesh, Daryal and the last Middenheim knight Sir Manjar accepted the quest to find and destroy the Nine Facets of Malakar. After three weeks all six became aware of the great gift bestowed upon them by the monks. Their studies were wide and varied; from weapons training, to thievery, to the more fundamental arts of sorcery.

All, however, were given a basic knowledge of the virulent blood coursing through them… blood that changed them forever.

There are three primal powers in the universe; Creation, the Void and Earthsblood. More commonly known as Rootvile this is the most adaptable and – arguably – the most dangerous of all the primal powers. The great misconception is that Rootvile is evil. This is not true. Rootvile is the by-product of death, the energy left over when a soul dies. It gathers in a vast pool at the centre of the universe, occasionally appearing on Grayhawk from time to time, usually signifying a time of great unrest.

As a substance it is deadly. Contact with the skin is always fatal but ironically the only way to master Rootvile is to sacrifice yourself to it. This usually (though not always) means dying in order to be reborn although sometimes some rare individuals can master Rootvile without death. It is also extremely acidic (see below).

The Monks of the Red Moon brought the party to them via the Fountain of the Dead, a portal they use for various purposes but mainly to project themselves or their disciples forward into battle. The act of rebirth is critical to mastering the primal power of Rootvile. This act cements the soul and body together and creates a primal creature able to wield the multi faceted power in many ways. All of which will be covered here.

There is a distinction between becoming a disciple of the Red Moon and being re-born as a Rootvile creature. The six people mentioned above (five now that Badal is dead) were given the gift by the Monks, their souls altered subtly in order to cope with their new powers. Physically the only outward difference is that the disciples have normal eyes (think of the new characters such as Arian and Odira whose eyes are black). Rootvile gets into every cell and turns the eyes black with the exception of those that the monks alter…they have been masters of this power for thousands of years and know how to complete the change.

The Universe marks primal creatures so that they are easily identifiable. Think of Void users who lose their shadow. With Rootvile it is the blackness of the eyes.

If a body slain by Rootvile (either forced to drink it or killed as it touches skin) it is in a state of temporary Limbo. The soul is kept inside the corpse for one hour for every level of the dead man. After this time elapses the soul makes its journey down the Paths of the Dead to Limbo where it is gone forever.

As you have already seen burying a Rootviled corpse produces the rebirth effect. Should they survive this rebirth (usually a system shock roll) then they too become a primal creature. BUT: only the Monks of the Red Moon or those chosen as disciples (in this case Kadesh, Scalpel, Daryal, Sir Manjar and Skarkin) can perform the Rite of Rebirth.

This is to do with the profound alteration of their souls by the monks and because they freely accepted the quest to destroy the Nine Facets of Malakar. Other Rootviled creatures cannot perform this rite (although in time – and with shed loads of levels – they may work it out).

The time of burial is also important. The training the monks gave the party indicated that the best time to create the re-birth was a couple of hours before sunset. When the sun finally goes down the body is then dug back up for the re-birth to occur. The monks also indicated that a burial at midnight – particularly on a full moon – creates profound effects but this requires experience (levels) and further study.

The most obvious change is the deadly darkened blood flowing through the veins. As discussed the merest contact with your blood will kill a creature. Not only is it highly poisonous it is also incredibly acidic, at least to anything non magical. When the blood is dropped onto magical items it immediately overcomes the sorcery (both spiritually and magically) and renders the item untouchable by any other than a Rootvile creature. The only exception to this is primal magic. The Magical Layers are hierarchical and as such Rootvile cannot always consume or control other forms of primal magic (some items are simply too powerful to overcome).

The Rootvile soul is perpetually nourished by the universe. Since Rootvile is the essence of death the only way to diminish the power is to stop all death! Since that is not very likely it gives the user certain advantages. One of those is the lack of need for food. Another is the virtual limitless endurance; the Rootvile creature can fight for weeks and almost never tire. The only exception to this is casters; once they get close to their magic point limit they will begin to tire.

When two Rootvile creatures come into contact there is an immediate link between them. The blood allows both creatures to share thoughts and power – this is not strictly telepathy, it is more in the way of two parts of the same thing coming together. Both minds are linked so thoughts can be shared. It is also possible for one creature to borrow energy; magic points can be shared between the two creatures if one sorcerer is getting low on points.

Also it is possible for two casters to combine their strength. For example two third level sorcerers can augment a fireball to that of a sixth level caster – thus doing 6d6 damage in the process. There are too many augmentations to go through here but the rule is that both creatures must be sorcerers in order to augment their power although only one of them has to have the spell.

This link is called the Blood Bond.

All undead creatures have an innate fear of Rootvile. Even the most powerful undead creatures (such as lich, vampire and greater devils) cannot influence it. Furthermore the very nature of undead hierarchy means that they will inevitably defer to a Rootvile creature for fear of the consequences. If Rootvile touches an undead it destroys them, eats them away rapidly like the most stringent acid and turns them into dust. To an undead this is the most painful way to die and there is no coming back.

The influence a Rootvile creature has over the undead is spiritual; a dominance that cannot be overcome by the undead no matter how hard he tries. There are rare examples however of undead being imbued with Rootvile itself. The result is an altogether more powerful form of creature able to influence other normal undead – this rebirth can only occur with the intervention of a master of Rootvile (such as the Monks of the Red Moon) or a higher level disciple. Experiments in this area more often than not lead to the total destruction of the undead in question.

Another major advantage of Rootvile for the wielder is that he or she is immune to poison, indeed he is immune to any kind of drug whatsoever. His or her blood would consume any of the normal toxic substances (including alcohol) making them invulnerable to such attack forms.

Worse still for the vampire or the snake or the mosquito that feeds on the blood of such a creature; to them it is instant death!

Being a primal creature the Rootvile will affect spellcasters profoundly. As discussed earlier it is possible for two casters to augment themselves via the Blood Bond but there are other advantages to it as well.

Any primal creature is stronger than a non primal being so therefore it stands to reason that any spell cast by such a sorcerer carries more weight. The easiest example is that of dispel magic. The normal power verses power rolls are modified (usually by 20% in favour of the primal being) making a spell cast by such a creature more powerful. (DM: in game terms this will not increase the actual base numbers but it will modify the saving throws of the victims, again I usually give them –4 against a primal caster).

The most unique aspect of Rootvile is its relationship with magical items. Just as two Rootvile creatures can link (via the Blood Bond) a Rootvile wielder can also bind a magical item to himself. This is naturally done by dripping blood onto the item; the Rootvile then reacts with the item and alters the sorcery within it, thus binding it permanently to the wielder. No other non-Rootvile creature can touch it (that will almost certainly lead to death – saving throw applicable).

It is also possible to bind items that have temporary spells cast upon them. The best example is a weapon blessed by a priest to enable the wielder to attack demons. By binding the item with Rootvile it creates a permanent magical blade bound to the Rootvile creature.

It is also worth noting that an unarmed attack from a Rootvile creature counts as a magical attack. So the answer is yes, you can punch a demon!