RedBliss – Pox Artichect
Ninth Gate, Necro-Demon, First Order
If Blood Is Currency, How Much Are You Willing to Spend?
RedBliss was a terror birthed from the Void, a being of unrelenting hunger and malevolence. She was no mere demon but a Necro-Demon, a Pox Architect of the Ninth Gate, sculpting plagues like an artist wields a brush. Her touch did not kill outright—it rotted, corrupted, and lingered, forcing her victims to exist in perpetual decay, their flesh sloughing away in slow torment. For eons, she haunted the Void Beyond the Shadowgate, serving as one of the First Order, the highest rank among her kind. It was not enough. RedBliss craved dominion over the mortal realm, a throne built upon bones and suffering. When the Shadowgate yawned open during the First Age Great War, she led an army of the dead and damned, pouring through the breach in a tide of pestilence and nightmare.
The Siege of Flesh and Bone
RedBliss did not conquer through force alone. She whispered to the desperate, the fearful, and the ambitious, offering them power beyond imagination. She taught kings and warlords the art of binding the dead, showed apothecaries how to craft plagues that would spare their own bloodlines, and turned healers into instruments of suffering. Cities burned, but more terrifyingly, they did not stay dead. Every battlefield became a recruitment ground, each corpse rising in her name. The Great War of the First Age saw entire civilizations crumble beneath her necrotic hand. And yet, for all her power, the tide eventually turned. The Arbiters of the Star Chamber, celestial enforcers of balance, descended upon Ertha. They wielded blades inscribed with cosmic law, severing RedBliss’ influence from the world. When her forces crumbled, she retreated toward the Shadowgate, knowing the battle was lost. But RedBliss was no coward. She made her stand. Arbiter blades clashed against necrotic talons, the land itself cracking under the weight of the battle. In the end, the Arbiters triumphed. RedBliss was beheaded, her corpse left to rot at the threshold of the Void.
Her Book of the Dead, however, remained.
The Book of the Dead
A relic of unparalleled darkness, the Book of the Dead is not merely a grimoire—it is an artifact of sentient hunger. Forged in the black fires of the Void, its pages are stitched together from the flayed skin of forgotten souls, each entry written in a language older than stars.
The Cost of Knowledge
The Book does not simply grant its secrets—it demands a price. To open its cover, one must pay the Blood Toll, an offering of fresh blood. The deeper the knowledge sought, the greater the toll. A single drop for a whisper. A handful for a spell. A life for dominion over death itself.
Each time the Book is opened, it translates its contents into the language of its possessor, ensuring that anyone—regardless of knowledge or skill—can wield its power. But this is not an act of benevolence. The Book wishes to be used. It is a vessel of void-born hunger, feeding upon the life force of its owner.
The longer one studies its pages, the more the Book feeds. As the possessor grows in power, they also weaken, their soul unraveling page by page. And when the Book has consumed all it can from a master, it does not simply discard them. Their name is etched into its final pages, their soul forever trapped in its unholy lexicon.
One of Two
The original Book of the Dead was crafted by RedBliss, but during the Second Age, a Mad Wizard sought to purge its evil, to extract whatever wisdom could be salvaged. In the end, his mind fractured beneath its influence, and a copy was made.
Neither Book is pure, and both are cursed.
The two Books were scattered at the dawn of the Third Age, hidden within the ruins of civilizations long lost. Their last known locations are:
Asyel Keep – A fortress lost to time, swallowed by the Wastelands.
Eastguard Ridge – A cursed monastery, its halls echoing with the whispers of the damned.
None know which location holds the original Book and which holds the copy, but both possess equal power and equal hunger.
GM Tips
RedBliss as a Monster/NPC
Linger as a Specter – RedBliss is not truly dead. The Void does not forget its servants. If a GM desires, her soul may still whisper from the Shadowgate, offering pacts, secrets, or guiding players to the Book for her own nefarious ends.
Resurrected Horror – Should the right rituals be performed, RedBliss may return. Perhaps a cult seeks to restore her, or a desperate scholar unknowingly awakens her essence from the pages of the Book.
The Book as a Game Element
A Player’s Ultimate Temptation – The Book of the Dead is an artifact that rewards short-term power at great cost. Every spell, every command over the undead, draws the user closer to becoming part of the Book itself.
Tracking the Toll – GMs can create a Blood Toll Counter, where each use of the Book decreases the user’s maximum health or shifts their morality. This adds tension and horror, making every decision weighty.
Two Books, Two Destinies – With two copies in existence, GMs can introduce an imposter artifact, a race to recover the real one, or even a twist where both must be destroyed together to truly erase its power.
The Book as a Campaign Arc
The Hunt Begins – Players uncover rumors of the two Books, racing against cults, necromancers, or Voidborn remnants seeking to reclaim them.
The Corruption Spreads – A noble or scholar has fallen under its sway, using its power to rule with an undead fist. The party must break their bond to the Book before they become its next page.
Destroying the Indestructible – Legends say the only way to destroy the Book is to cast it into the Hollow Crown, where it will be devoured by the Veil of Nyzorith itself. But such an act risks tearing a new rift into the Void…
RedBliss and the Book of the Dead are not just monsters or magic items—they are story catalysts. Whether as a cursed object, a forbidden prize, or a looming threat, this artifact offers infinite potential to weave tales of horror, temptation, and ultimate sacrifice into any campaign.
Would your players pay the Blood Toll?