all afflicted with the lazarus plague succumb to it. Whether they have some innate immunity or just an indomitable will to live, some continue living on despite it. Well, not living, so much, as persisting in a state between life and death.

Like all those afflicted by the plague, the ravaged wither and atrophy. However, their muscles and tissue at some point cease their decay. The end result is that ravaged have tight, gray skin with a dessicated appearance. All of their hair falls out, and their eyes become dark as the night.

Needless to say, the appearance of the ravaged is quite disconcerting. Some use this to their advantage to intimidate people, but most try and hide their appearance under baggy clothing and deep hoods. Few places willingly harbor the ravaged. Most, understanding that it’s not the poor being’s fault, just urge them along, but some places kill them on sight.

One notable exception is the Kamit pyramid-city Nertiti, now also known by the sobriquet “The Necropolis.” While most of the death-worshipping dwarves believe the ravaged to be terrible mockeries of death, the pharaoh of Nertiti decided that the ravaged are actually blessed by death, walking two worlds at once. He actively sends envoys abroad to seek out the ravaged and invite them to a new home. There are even rumors that the pharaoh is trying to infect himself with the lazarus plague, sure that he’ll become a ravaged.

Encounters with the Ravaged

Nostorin was once the son of the mayor of Lieberton, until he was stricken with the lazarus plague. He was abandoned in the middle of the forest, left for dead, so as to minimize the spread of the disease, but he did not die. He tried returning home, but when they saw him he was run out of town and would have been killed if he hadn’t found a good hiding place.

He’s been living on the fringes of society for several weeks now, careful to hide his identity, and has heard rumors about a “promised land” of sorts for people like him, a city in the desert called The Necropolis. Unfortunately, it is far away and the lands between here and there are still being ravaged by the plague. Any who recognized him for what he is would likely kill him on sight.

Thus, Nostorin needs some able bodied escorts. He has a small amount of money to pay them, as he managed to sneak into his old house and take his things. The PCs could come upon Nostorin fleeing for his life after being discovered, or might be approached by the cliché “mysterious stranger” in the corner of the tavern.