Overview

Mortuvians are half-undead remnants—souls forcibly tethered to failing bodies by accident, defiance, or incomplete ritual. Neither fully alive nor fully gone, they wander Postremo Limine with the aura of a corpse and the mind of a survivor. Some say they were meant to be erased, but clung too tightly to existence. Others believe they are the byproduct of a misfired resurrection—rejected by the cycle and dumped into Postremo Limine as punishment or containment.

Their bodies are gaunt and partially skeletal, yet animate with necrotic vigor. They possess darkvision, uncanny resilience to decay and disease, and a cold awareness of nearby death. Some Mortuvians emit a corpse scent that warns predators and allies before they arrive.

Despite their appearance, Mortuvians are cunning scavengers and often serve as bonecrafters, graverobbers, or memory harvesters. Their breath carries remnants of entropy—manifesting as breath weapons that project rot, frost, or soulburn.

“They are the grave’s last whisper. Listen closely... before it breathes on you.” — Diver necromancer

Physical Traits

• Medium humanoid with skeletal or gaunt frames
• Partial exoskeletal structure over limbs or torso
• Pale, faded skin or bone-exposed features
• Long tails (prehensile in some castes) are often wrapped in cloth or scrap
• Hollow voice, rarely raised
• Breath visibly mists in cold air—regardless of temperature

Abilities

Half-Undead Resilience – Immune to energy drain penalties; resistant to disease, mind-affecting effects, and pain-based anomalies.
Corpse Sense – Can detect corpses and gravely wounded entities within a short radius; similar to a limited scent.
Breath of the Grave – Once or twice per day, exhales a breath weapon (rot, frost, or flame) in a line or cone. Damage is minor but disruptive.
Prehensile Tail – A flexible, bone-tipped tail can retrieve stashed items or manipulate objects quickly.
Skeletal Resistance – Natural resistance against physical strikes unless bludgeoning is used.
Sunlight Powerlessness – In natural sunlight, they become sluggish and staggered, unable to attack. This does not include artificial light sources.

Society and Role

Mortuvians rarely form structured civilizations but gather in sects and cults that revere entropy, memory, and the act of “staying.” They do not die easily—and they remember everything.

Hollow Choirs – Spiritual remnants who sing in silence. Believed to channel the dead and anchor zones from decay.
Bone Merchants – Traders of relic fragments, corpse-tied memory stones, and exotic skeletal modifications.
Gravetenders – Solitary Mortuvians who maintain broken burial sites, whether out of respect, compulsion, or something deeper.

Culture

• Emotions are muted but not absent—grief, reflection, and quiet joy are common
• Ritual adornment with bones, etched teeth, or ribwraps made of ancestor scraps
• Value memory over voice—often communicate through carved symbols or shared breath
• Burn incense that repels soul anomalies or lingers as warning markers
• Deep respect for decay, believing it’s not an end, but a form of freedom

Some claim Mortuvians dream only of the moments before they died—and every time they sleep, they wake slightly different.

Threat Notes

• Physically fragile but hard to kill outright
• Dangerous if allowed to breathe near weakened allies
• Immune to most undead-affecting relics
• Known to weaponize remains of other races—bones, flesh, even souls

Related Notes

• Diver patrols in Node G-13 encountered a Mortuvian known as Eyxen, who trades in “whispers pulled from marrow.”
• A Hollow Choir once stabilized a collapsing Soulflow Channel by singing into a sealed tomb for three days.
• One Diver report suggests Mortuvians are “capable of feeding on memory, but choose not to—unless cornered.”