Javidan
GM's Eyes Only
Spoilers. This page is written for the GM, and players who read on will learn things their characters don't know.
Dead soldiers raised to keep fighting: the Unbroken Chain's undead army of the Long War. Source: Eberron, the Karrnathi Undead Soldier (Rising from the Last War, p. 295).
Name. Jāvīdān (jah-vee-DAHN), Persian for "the immortals." It's also the name the ancient Persians gave their royal guard, and like the Chain's oldest texts, it's Persian.
What they are. Soldiers who died in battle and were raised to keep fighting, armored and armed as they were in life. Unlike common skeletons and zombies, they think: they hold a line, take cover, follow orders, and make tactical decisions without a necromancer standing behind them. They have almost nothing left of who they were. They feel nothing, stand motionless and silent for days, and kill everyone on the opposing side, civilians included, unless they're told otherwise. A rare few keep their memories and their names.
In Tir Hathar. A wartime creation of the Unbroken Chain, alongside the Iron Maiden. The Chain teaches that the undead are an honoring of the dead, not an abomination. To the Chain, a Javidan is an ancestor still standing guard. To everyone else, they are the war's worst memory. The rite overlaps with the forbidden Unbound school.
Stats¶
First draft, built from WWN's baseline stat lines.
| HD | AC | Atk | Dmg | Shock | Move | ML | Inst | Skill | Save | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javidan | 4 | 17 | +5 x2 | 1d8+1 | 2/15 | 30' | 12 | 2 | +2 | 13+ |
- Undead. It doesn't eat, sleep, or breathe, and is immune to poison, disease, fear, and charm.
- Undying fortitude. The first time it drops to 0 hit points, it makes a Physical save and gets back up with 1 hit point on a success. It doesn't get this save against a critical hit or fire.
- Long War arms. Armed as it fell: blade, polearm, or long gun (+5, 1d10, range 200 feet).
- Disciplined. A squad of Javidan fights as a formation: they hold a line, take cover, and use ranks. They don't check Morale while one of them who keeps its memories is leading them.
Still open: playtesting the numbers; how many are still active, and where; whether the Chain still raises them; and what the Treaty of Tallas says about them, if anything.