Phantoms of Akiviras

Nighttime on Akiviras is dangerous, because of the arrival of the Phantoms. When the sun sets, a mysterious fog sets in across the land. With this fog come the Phantoms, quietly hooting their discordant tunes as they kill with complete impunity until the return of the sun.

Origins

The Phantoms of Akiviras were first encountered by humans during the Wraith King's invasion of the continent in 1377. These early Phantoms enjoyed all the lethal capabilities of their later versions, and also displayed much more of an intelligence and sense of organisation. Though this was never confirmed, it is believed that the Wraith King held some form of mental dominion over the creatures, possibly to the point of them all forming a hive mind with the King at the centre. Following the death of the Wraith King, a profound change came over the Phantoms. It is believed that they may have 'died' in a sense, or somehow suffered a serious loss of mental facilities. They became mindless husks of their former selves, where they have remained to this day.

Description

Phantoms resemble otherwordly, translucent triangular creatures with ridges down their back and varying numbers of streamers extending out behind them. They possess a single large eye on their underside, which emits a sickly green spotlight for searching the ground. The light changes to red when it catches a target. They also have two small stick-like appendages growing from the point of their bodies, function unknown. While they are visible, they hoot a strange discordant melody from an unknown orifice. This melody is reported to induce insanity in mental patients, but no tangible effect has ever been proven.

Abilities

The arrival of the Phantoms begins as soon as the sun sets. A mysterious fog creeps across the land, enshrouding the land to a height of 1.5 miles above sea level. The Phantoms begin to appear within the hour. They generally hover 70-120ft off the ground, but may dip to no more than 50ft or ascend almost to the height of the fog barrier. For the duration of the night, the Phantoms drift aimlessly through the sky, their spotlights searching the ground for humanoid victims. If a person is caught by these creatures, the spotlight turns red as the Phantom begins to descend upon the victim with alarming speed and ferocity. The swiftness of the attack brings such fear that the victim must save versus death or be paralysed with fear. The touch of a Phantom drains the very life force from the victim, generally killing the person within a minute after initial contact. Victims are left as nothing more than bones and dust, and their souls are cracked beyond resurrection. The Phantom then ascends back to its previous altitude and no longer searches for prey, possibly in a 'food coma' of sorts.

Surviving a Phantom Attack

There are several ways to avoid or drive off Phantoms, but they are all difficult and fallible. The first and most obvious method is to avoid drawing their ire. Most people avoid venturing out after dark, and sailors spend as much time as possible on the water as the Phantoms seem reticent to venture beyond the coastline. It is also possible to escape the Phantoms before they reach their target. Westmen have a popular execution method known as Phantom's Run, where a long path is laid between two shelters. The convicted must run the gauntlet, attempting to reach the other side before they are consumed by the Phantoms. Those who make it (which is seldom) are set free. Another method to surviving a Phantom attack is to drive them off with silver. The touch of this precious metal drives them away and causes them to assume their 'food coma' state, though it also ruins the metal in question. This includes being struck by silver weapons (AC 0 for hit determination), though the silver is then ruined. Magical silver loses one plus of enchantment for every touch. The caw of a chicken is also said to drive away Phantoms, which has led to many places keeping large flocks of chickens running rampant in their communities. The final method of surviving a Phantom attack is the fabled power of the clerics to slay the creatures. This is the only known way of permanently killing the creatures, though nobody is quite sure what spell or combination thereof is required to kill them.