Krazka the Blightbringer

When Krazka was a young warrior, her tribe raided the villages on the eastern edge of the Golmire Swamp. The villages were poorly defended, so the orcs were able to live well off of stolen livestock and supplies without much risk of punishment. Then, a small group of Leminorean adventurers descended into the tribe’s cave and slaughtered its warriors and their families in a cowardly attack. Krazka was left alone in the hills. She survived through hunting and theft for several months, but then was badly injured when she tried to fight a pack of wolves that came to steal an elk she had killed. Alone and dying in the wilderness, she gave up hope.

In that moment of darkness, the Lord of Plagues appeared to Krazka and offered her a chance at revenge. In her desperation, she accepted the vile god’s offer. Over the next several days, she suffered a slow death as her wounds festered and disease wracked her body. When her body had died though, the pain ended and her spirit lingered on. She had been reborn as the Blightbringer, the champion of the Lord of Plagues, and she would have her revenge against Leminor.

Krazka has spent the last few years gathering the orc tribes of the Greyrock Hills beneath her banner. Those who have not joined her willingly have been conquered and forced into submission, or if they refused surrender slaughtered to rise as plague-ridden zombies loyal only to Krazka and her dark god. Now this horde is marching east towards the countryside of Leminor.

The Blightbringer

Krazka resembles a zombie with disease-ravaged flesh, but the dark god’s blessing has allowed her to retain her cunning and skill at arms even in her undead state. She does not feel pain and her decaying body is infused with unholy might. She can easily cleave foes in two with her oversized war axe, but the blight that she carries with her is even more dangerous. Anyone in her presence risks countless infections that will easily kill even the hardiest men and cause them to rise again as a plague zombie.

Krazka’s Horde

The Blightbringer has amassed a large and dangerous army that she is now leading against Leminor. She seized control of several orc tribes shortly after being blessed by the god of plagues and now commands hundreds of orc warriors. While some of the orc tribes in the hills fought against Krazka’s growing army, most of those who resisted her leadership now shamble in her horde’s vanguard as mindless plague zombies. In addition to orcs living and dead, Krazka’s horde has also attracted other monsters from the Greyrock Hills such as ogres and trolls.

If you are using the AGE system, then the stats for genlocks and hurlocks are a good starting point for orc warriors. Enraged corpses can be used as plague zombies by adding the Spread Blight stunt option found below.

The Blight

The plague spread by Krazka and her plague zombies is an unholy disease that affects all forms of life. Plant life exposed to the blight becomes pale and sickly within hours and dies after a few days. Animals, including humanoids, develop blisters and spasms of pain. Most exposed creatures die within a week and then rise as plague zombies. So far no cure has been found for the sickness, but burning its victims does prevent them from rising as a zombie.

In AGE, a plague-infected creature or zombie can perform a special Spread Blight stunt for 4 SP on any melee attack. The target must then pass a TN 16 Constitution (Stamina)  test or become afflicted with the disease. A character suffering from the blight begins to feel ill and take a -1 penalty on all tests after a number of hours equal to 3 + their Constitution. After each day, the creature must pass a TN 16 Constitution (Stamina) test or have the disease progress. Each day the disease progresses, increase the test penalty by 1 and after the disease progresses 5 times, the creature dies. A creature suffering from the blight rises as a plague zombie 1D6 hours after death whether it succumbed to the disease or was killed by other means.

For D&D 4E, use the following stats for the blight:

The Blight – Variable Level Disease

Those infected by this disease feel ill at first then suffer blisters and intense pain. If a creature dies as a result of the blight, it is likely to rise as a blight infected zombie within a week.

Stage 0: The target recovers from the disease.

Stage 1: While affected by stage 1, the target loses a healing surge and takes a -2 penalty to all defenses, attacks, and skill checks.

Stage 2: While affected by stage 2, the target loses 2 healing surges and takes a -5 penalty to all defenses, attacks, and skill checks.

Stage 3: The target dies.

Check: At the end of each extended rest, the target makes an endurance check if it is at stage 1 or 2.

Lower than Moderate DC: The stage of the disease increases by 1.

Moderate DC: No change.

Hard DC: The stage of the disease decreases by 1.

Defeating Krazka

Leminor’s army is ill-prepared for an invasion from the northwest, so they cannot hope to stop the Blightbringer and her horde without help. Because those who fall in battle rise again as plague zombies, Krazka can rely on attrition to overcome her opponents and the only way to truly end the threat is slaying the Blightbringer herself.

In order to accomplish that, would-be-heroes will need to either fight their way through her horde or bypass it with stealth or trickery. Then they must overcome Krazka in combat. Even then, the Blightbringer will rise again unless her body is either burned or buried in consecrated ground.