The Land: The small Core domain of Keening surrounds a single, lonely mountain, which rises steeply just east of the Shadow Rift and north of Tepest. Keening seems to have no living inhabitants. At the base of Mount Lament lies a decaying town that once might have housed ten thousand people, but the living no longer dwell here - only zombies.
Cultural Level: Presently, Keening has no cultural level, but the town at the base of Mount Lament was built by a chivalric society.
The Folk: Keening is inhabited by zombies whose emotionless daily routine mocks the habits of their former lives. They attack any living being who dares to interfere with their existence.
The Law: A banshee called Tristessa lives upon the mountain, and she is the ruling power in Keening. When Tristessa wails, travelers can hear her chilling moans the moment they cross the border.
Native Player Characters: There are no native player characters from Keening.
Encounters: Characters traveling through Keening have a 35% chance once per day and twice per night of encountering 1d4 zombies.
Further Reading: Details on Keening and Tristessa were originally featured in the game accessory Darklords.
Tristessa
Banshee, Chaotic Evil
| Armor Class | 0 | Str | - | ||||
| Movement | 15 | Dex | 13 | ||||
| Level/Hit Dice | 8 | Con | - | ||||
| Hit Points | 64 | Int | 15 | ||||
| THAC0 | 13 | Wis | 13 | ||||
| No. of Attacks | 1 | Cha | 9 | ||||
| Damage/Attack | 2d10+8 (death touch) | ||||||
| Special Attacks | Death wail 3 times per (paralyzing during sunlight), crippling touch, spell-like powers | ||||||
| Special Defences | Need +1 or better weapon to hit, detect living creature | ||||||
| Magic Resistance | 50% | ||||||
Background: Mistakenly thought to be a drow, Tristessa was a powerful shadow elf priestess of Lolth in the now abandoned underground kingdom of Arak. Tristessa was banished to the surface with her newborn baby for unknown crimes against her people. Exposure to the sun killed them both, but Tritessa's spirit was absorbed into the Mists, and the dark powers granted her the small land of Keening.
Current Sketch: Tristessa constantly searches for her lost child. She has gone mad with grief over the loss of her baby, often destroying those she encounters with her pitiful wail.
Closing the Borders: To close the borders of Keening, Tristessa creates a wall of wind. No creature can Hy or walk through this wall or diminish it in any way.
Combat: The banshee can sense the presence of any living creature in her domain, and she will seek them out to beseech their aid in locating her lost baby. She usually attacks only those foolish enough to begin an ascent of her mountain, or those who attack her first.
Any who encounter the banshee must make successful saving throws vs. paralyzation with a -2 penalty or flee in terror. Any creature who hears Tristessa's wail must make a successful saving throw vs. death magic or die, becoming her minion. At will, she also can choose to cripple with her touch. Any body part she touches warps and twists, causing 1d8 points of damage. However, the deformity slowly fades away if the victim leaves Keening.
When the dark powers granted Tristessa the domain of Keening, she was given the following drowlike abilities three times per day: dancing lights, faerie fire (area of effect increased by seventy square feet), and darkness (at will). The banshee can move these effects around at will, and their ranges are one hundred eleven feet beyond the norm. (These abilities have only further confused reports of her true racial identity.) She has the following priestess abilities three times per day: clairvoyance, detect lie, suggestion, and dispel magic. She can also use the following spells at will: levitate, know alignment, and detect magic.
Holy water inflicts 2d4 points of damage to Tristessa, but dispel evil merely forces her to return to her lair for 1d4 hours. She is turned as a special undead, though priests and paladins suffer a -4 penalty in these attempts.
