Vvrael warlock
The Vvrael warlock's figure is tall and thin, with stark proportions that call to mind sharp, unforgiving angles. His features are stoic, however the eyes held in that pale, rigidly handsome face are full of fury and malignant intent. The creature seems to move in slow motion, each gesture full of drama and elegance. But the appearance of languid grace is insubstantial. Experience soon dispells this illusion and reveals the true nature of this enemy, whose movements are both lightning quick and deadly.
Hunting strategies
The Vvrael warlocks are anti-magical creatures who feed on mana, making them immune to both spells and indirect spell effects.
>incant 702 You trace an intricate sign that contorts in the air while forcefully invoking Mana Disruption... Your spell is ready. You gesture at a Vvrael warlock. A Vvrael warlock laughs darkly as he absorbs the magic! Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds. The black void has almost sucked all air out of the area! A Vvrael warlock exults while reveling in the violent vacuum!
Despite being immune to magic, they will still take damage from weapon/armor flares.
A Vvrael warlock swings a midnight black spiked whip at you! AS: +486 vs DS: +489 with AvD: +24 + d100 roll: +82 = +103 ... and hits for 11 points of damage! Hit glances off your hip. ** Your spiked full leather shoots a blast of water at the Vvrael warlock! ** ... 25 points of damage! Internal organs bruised. The Vvrael warlock is stunned! The guiding force leaves a Vvrael warlock.
The Vvrael warlocks are able to cast the Itchy Curse, which can lead to them dropping their whip and taking your weapon. If this is the runestaff of a pure it will be very difficult to retrieve the weapon. The solo options include killing it with an animate or disarming it with the disarm maneuver.
Other information
Vvrael warlocks are extraplanar beings, though lore-wise they were just corrupted sorcerers. They are located on Planes 2 and 3 of The Rift.
An example of their dispel ability.
A Vvrael warlock focuses a wave of black anti-mana at you! The silvery luminescence fades from around you.
The Vvrael warlocks have caustic blood which will cause injuries when you hit them with weapons:
You swing a weapon at a Vvrael warlock! AS: +XXX vs DS: +XXX with AvD: +41 + d100 roll: +66 = +XXX ... and hit for 89 points of damage! Hard hit shatters weapon arm. The Vvrael warlock screams in agony as his right arm falls to the ground! A viscous black liquid sprays out from the open wound, covering you with caustic acid! ... 30 points of damage! Acid hits you full in the left eye! Nothing left but a smoking socket!
The Vvrael warlocks might give themselves nerve damage if they cast too many spells:
A Vvrael warlock appears to be going into shock! ... 10 points of damage! Electric shot gives the Vvrael warlock a really bad cramp. The Vvrael warlock is stunned!
They have a mana and stamina drain maneuver they can perform even when they are unable to cast spells:
A Vvrael warlock draws his hands in close to his chest, cupping a rippling black sphere of chaos. The ebon ball writhes, as if charcoal snakes slithered over its surface, turning and twisting between the warlock's palms. With a sudden gesture the warlock thrusts his hands forward, hurling the black sphere directly at you! You twist away from the black globe, but your movement is a moment too late. As the dark orb grazes you, you feel it wrenching the essence from your body, draining your mana! The sphere passes by, leaving a smear of oily black anti-mana that swirls and glimmers where it touched you. Roundtime: 3 sec. The last of the anti-mana crawls over your skin, pooling on your chest like a sheer black mirror. Ever so slowly, the pool seeps away, vanishing into nothingness.
When you are dead they will cut your heart out, leaving a rank 3 chest wound:
A Vvrael warlock focuses a wave of black anti-mana at you! A Vvrael warlock stares into your eyes. CS: +360 - TD: +166 + CvA: +6 + d100: +90 - -5 == +295 Warding failed! The Vvrael warlock suddenly transforms into a horridly grotesque image, inducing utter terror in your soul! A gut-wrenching fear twists deep into your soul. You turn pale and then fall limp to the ground, killed by some inconceivable fear! It seems you have died, my friend. Although you cannot do anything, you are keenly aware of what is going on around you... You mentally give a sigh of relief as you remember that the Goddess Lorminstra owes you a favor. ...departing in 20 mins... The Vvrael warlock raises his arms and throws back his head in exultation! DEAD> A Vvrael warlock seems to speak, however, the words blur into a low hiss laced with a puzzling mix of both menace and a compelling allure. DEAD> Reaching into the dark folds of his robes, a Vvrael warlock draws forth a thin ebon dagger. Raising the blade high over his head, the warlock plunges it into your chest! While his body shudders in ecstasy, the warlock thrusts his hand into your corpse and draws forth your still warm heart! DEAD> A Vvrael warlock moans, his tone as sorrowful as it is haunting. It carries whispers of death along with a tempting possibility of mystery and understanding.
- Ambient Messages
An ethereal light washes over you as you sense mana collecting around and in you! Roundtime: 3 sec. You feel the magic alien to you slipping away... The Vvrael warlock flashes with a bright white ethereal light! The Vvrael warlock howls in agony! A Vvrael warlock floats into view, his long strides moving him with no vertical motion of walking. A Vvrael warlock strides in! A Vvrael warlock pauses a moment as his eyes swim black with anti-mana. A Vvrael warlock focuses a wave of black anti-mana at you! (spell cast) Thunder crackles as a Vvrael warlock raises his arms and murmurs low invocations. (spell cast preamble) Accompanied by a cloud of shadows, a Vvrael warlock moves toward you menacingly! Bits of darkness sheer off in small pieces, revolving around him like angry hornets, then diving back into the collective mass. (spell cast preamble) A Vvrael warlock's form wavers, almost as though you are seeing him as a reflection on water. Suddenly, the image coalesces into two burning pits of fire, which gradually resolve into the creature's dark, malevolent eyes staring intently at you! (spell cast preamble) Lifting his hands, a Vvrael warlock extends his fingers, their length growing out toward you like approaching snakes. They begin to whip about and sprout new branches while anti-mana flickers between them like a crackling web! The warlock's eyes glitter with brittle malice, his gaze never leaving you. CS: +360 - TD: +XXX + CvA: X + d100: +46 - -5 == +XX Warded off! Abruptly, his fingers retract into their normal state, and the creature nonchalantly closes his hands as though he has done nothing more than waggle his fingers at you. A Vvrael warlock shakes with black rage, shaking off the forces controlling him! (stun break) A Vvrael warlock suddenly wavers, murmuring strange, unsettling phrases as his image splinters into a shattered appearance, as though you are looking at him in a badly cracked mirror. In the next heartbeat the ragged schisms fuse, and he is as menacingly real as he was before the disturbance.
Behind the Scenes
The ghost of the Ashrim royal mage Malaphor said that the Vvrael witches and warlocks were sorcerers of this world who had been corrupted with the anti-mana of the Vvrael over the millennia, like Terate himself though not nearly to the same extent. They had found their way to the rift themselves, though obviously not through the Eye of the Drake. The Vvrael itself is an extra-planar sentience.
The word "Vvrael" is probably loosely based on "Vritra", the Vedic serpent demon of darkness, who was slain by Indra with a mace forged by the artisan god. In the Vvrael quest this was to be the mace of Eonak held by Risper. It is interesting to note that Shiva is essentially the later development of Indra, where there is a future story of a demon who cannot be harmed by anything with arms attempting to kill all of the gods at the top of the holy mountain, which is then defeated with a vast swarm of hornets and wasps. This may be the root of the greenwing hornets, vaespilon, and the "angry hornets" messaging on the Vvrael warlocks. Shiva is the god who meditates constantly on top of the mountain, like Koar, and is the destroyer of demons. His attendants are called the "gana".
References
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