The Duragh

(pronounced Du-Rack)

Resurrected by the land to exact vengeance in it’s name. Functionally immortal and very, very scary.

What is a Duragh?

Simply put, a duragh is an undead druid.
The duraghs came to be when an unlucky druid was first involuntarily resurrected by their respective forest in a time of great need. The forest will almost never create a duragh to defend itself; they are nearly exclusively made to exact revenge.
It is for this reason that duraghs are dangerous to adventurers and should be avoided at all costs.

The Undead Origin

Duragh are druids buried in their homeforest, resurrected for the purpose of exacting revenge.
They die their final deaths under one of two conditions: Their mothertree is killed, or they complete their final mission.
Very few survive an encounter with these monsters once they have been determined to be in the way of the final mission. While they retain all memories of their life, being against the natural order as they are, they are stripped of the languages of plants and animals. Some lose the ability to shapeshift completely.

Identifying a Duragh

There are four varities of Duragh. Identification is key in determining how best to deal with whatever predicament you may have found yourself in when regarding these creatures

Minor/False Duragh: A druid buried outside of their homeland is never at peace. If they remain buried outside of their homeland for 322 years, they will be awoken by the nearest forest and told to go home. (Research has turned up nothing to why 322. Must have some significance, but I cannot say I have spoken to any trees recently).

Though strickly speaking these are not "true" Durughs, having not been resurrected with any specific purpose other than poiletly being asked to leave a forest in which they don't belong. However, they are still undead druids and are creatures of note.

They are usually more poilte and can be reasoned with, as they retain all memories of their life. However, they do still retain much of the power they possessed in life and any intelligent adventurer would avoid picking a fight with a druid who is minding their own business.

Identification:

Wooden Masks

Average Height

Capable of reduced wildshaping

Usually physically stronger than a standard druid

Siabrae:

Siabrae are the one form of Duragh that haved been resurected by their homeforrest to protect, instead of inact revenege. They have no final mission, other than to become judge, jury, and executioner of all civilaized individuals who trespass on their land.

Siabrae are druids who faithfully (or stubbornly) refused to flee their sacred lands and managed to do something few other druids did. They took the corruption of their land into themselves, and today, these druids are blighted, undead parodies of their former selves. Undeath is unnatural, but the forest Gods are uncommonly pragmatic and will resurrect an Archdruid if needs must.

These powerful duragh have embraced undeath, bolstered with the strength of the wounded-but-still-living- world beneath their feet. They are filled with bitterness for their brethren, whom they regard as cowards. They believe the drudic faith was meant to die for the truth and glory to emerge. They do not respect creatures that aren't "of the wild" and are wary of all humankind.
.

Identifcation:

Painted bone mask or animal skull.

Horns that are a constant on its body even if it wildshapes

Animal or tree like features

Carries a quarterstaff and still has the ability to cast magic

Major/True Duragh:

Larger, more powerful, and indisputely more dangerous than their minor counterparts. These are druids, oftertimes archdruids, buried in their homeforest, ressurected for the purpose of exacting revenge upon whoever is harming their home.

They die their final death under one of two conditions: their mothertree is killed, or they complete their final mission. Very few survive an encounter with these monster once they have been determined to be in the way of their final mission. While they retain all memories of their life, they have none of the same powers. Against the natural order that they are, they cannot shapeshift, and they are stripped of the languages of plants and animals.

Identification:

Stone Masks

Tall, often breaching 7ft

Animal features such as antlers, hooves, wings, etc.

Often accompanied by a (somewhat bizarre-looking?) animal companion (?)

Bane Duraghs:

Extremely uncommon.

These blights on earth are created from slain archdruids that died angry. Their graves are cursed until they return, plants will wilt where they walk and they are kept alive primarily by their rage.

They have been known to ignore their final mission and seek out their killer.

Rarely created due to their highly destructive inclinations, their abilities are not well-recorded but they are rumored to posess magic impossible for living creatures to use. It is difficult to determine whether or not they retain knowledge of their lives as they are not ones to sit down and chat as the moment their rage ceases, so do they.

Bane druaghs maintain a constant state of anger, some might argue out of fear of loosing their final tether to this mortal coil.

If sighted, run.

Identification:

Painted bone masks, or animal skulls.

Tallest of three types.

No animal companion.