Elder Anthram

The founder of the Ashen Covenant movement, as well as the high priest of his own Orcus cult, Elder Arantham is a figure of grotesque mystery. A passionate and charismatic speaker, he can stoke the fires of fanaticism in his followers to a conflagration of unprecedented levels. Everyone in the Covenant, and indeed nearly all who have heard of him, acknowledge his claim to the title of exarch, for he does indeed appear to commune with the Blood Lord.
Little is known about Elder Arantham before he started the Ashen Covenant movement. His followers know he was once a high priest in Bahamut’s Church, and that he turned to Orcus after a crisis of faith, but beyond that, none can say.
Elder Arantham’s notoriety began when he set out to uncover a copy of the ancient ritual that transforms apostate priests into foul undead creatures called huecuvas not to punish, but to voluntarily subject agreement to the vile transformation. In a ceremony witnessed by his fellow cultists, Arantham shed the last of his humanity and, as he proclaimed, “the last lingering stench of my prior misguided beliefs.” Word of the priest’s zealous embrace of undeath spread in whispers and hidden messages throughout Orcus’s sects, and his cult swelled with new worshipers, their souls stirred by Elder Arantham’s powerful sermons of Orcus’s dark glory.

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Arantham appears tall from a distance, but this is due to his slender build and skeletal form; he’s of roughly average height. The priest is entirely skeletal, with barely a trace of flesh remaining on his body. He still has hair atop his head that is a stiff and faded gray somewhere between the hair of a dying person and a clump of moss. His eye sockets gleam with an inner gray-green light; his bones have the faintest sickly green tinge to them, and his teeth are perfectly white. Elder Arantham wears a ceremonial robe of snowy white hue, trimmed in the traditional black and red of Orcus. When going into battle, he wears a shirt of scale atop it. An amulet of black wrought iron, bent into the shape of a horned skull, hangs from his neck.

Male Human Huecuva | Chaotic Evil | Cleric 13 | hp 86
Str 12 Dex 13 Con 14 Int 20 Wis 20 Cha 20
BtH + 13 | AC 17 | Attack Slam 1d6+ 1 plus disease

• Special Abilities

Control/Turn Undead, Disease, Polymorph 3/day, Spells, hit by only silver or enchanted weapons

• Languages

Common, Infernal, Draconic, Elven, Celestial

• Equipment

magic items, unholy symbol of Orcus

• Spells (6/6/6/5/5/3/2/1)

0- detect magic x2, fire bolt x2, hex x2 1st- anti-missile cape, curse, cause light wounds, death blow, infection, torment of the grave 2nd- aid, banishment, desecrate, divine wisdom, spiritual weapon x2 3rd- bestow curse, cause blindness or deafness, cause serious wounds, dispel magic, divine insight 4th- deific protection, freedom of movement, harming circle, life drain, warding 5th- agonizing doom, cause critical wounds, vampiric touch 6th- create undead, harm, 7th- unholy word

• Disease

The heucuva attacks by swiping with one of its hands; the sharp finger bones are capable of tearing into wood. A victim must roll a successful saving throw vs. poison or be afflicted with a disease. With a failed save, the victim suffers a daily loss of 1 point of Strength and Constitution. A cure disease spell must be cast on the victim to prevent death and restore the lost points.

• Polymorph

Heucuva are able to polymorph themselves up to three times a day. They may use this power to assume a nonthreatening shape in order to get close to an unsuspecting victim or avoid an undesired encounter when pursuing a specific prey. Huecuva may assume the form of people they met in the recent past, such as a victim or a member of the party that encounters the monsters. If the heucuva are in their lairs, they may assume their old (living) appearances. Groups encountered on the surface may appear to be pilgrims in procession. Such disguises fool only those who view the world solely via visible light; heucuva appear the same as other skeletal undead if looked at with darkvision. Normally, heucuva are incapable of speech; they can only moan or wail, but Elder Anthram has been blessed by Orcus with speech.