Margaret Weis - Amber and Iron

The love of the god of death has spread across Ansalon like a plague.

When one of the Beloved of Chemosh enters a community, he is often remembered for a lust for life, not a connection with death. Usually attractive and always confident and charming, the Beloved are the life of the party. They crave flavorful food and strong drink, seek games and rousing conversation. People who stagger home from an evening spent with Chemosh’s chosen, their stomachs full and heads buzzing, might more easily imagine they have spent time with a fun-loving gully dwarf than a chosen servant of the Lord of Bones.

Those who go home from such an evening are the lucky ones, however. A Beloved will inevitably choose one special companion for more special attention. Though it could be a man or woman of any age or profession, it is often someone young and attractive, one eager for a liaison with the Beloved.

The encounter goes much as the victim first intends. The Beloved are passionate in intimate company. When desire has built and the victim is most likely to agree to anything, the Beloved makes a request.

The victim must swear his or her soul to Chemosh.

Many times this request is made lightly, as if such an oath carries no consequences. Other times, the requests are solemn and earnest, with claims that Chemosh is not truly the god of death but is actually one of life unending. If a Beloved does not gain his way immediately, it will beg, plead, and even threaten in order to secure the oath of the victim.

Once the words “I pledge myself to Chemosh” are uttered, the Beloved plants a kiss on the victim directly above the heart.

Death then claims the victim, both in the literal and spiritual sense. At first the victim feels panic and pain as his life begins to seep away, but stillness settles upon the body as the spirit is ripped from still-warm flesh. When the victim’s eyes open once more, a new Beloved of Chemosh rises, ready to bring new souls to the Lord of Death.

At first the new Beloved believes all of the promises of eternal life and youth have come true. It seems a beautiful, impossible dream, and it is just that—an impossible dream—for instead of eternal life, a Beloved finds unending death.

The lusts and desires that led a Beloved down a path of damnation and servitude continue to plague it in unlife. But wine and spirits neither satisfy thirst nor lead to pleasant, mind-numbing intoxication; no amount of food can cure the Beloved’s endless hunger. Though consumed with desire, it can never feel satiated.

The Beloved’s memories, both of its former life and its activities after death, eventually fade away like a dream upon waking. Friends, family, and former lovers are all forgotten. Only its endless cravings and the commandments of Chemosh remain.

Eventually, however, the Beloved of Chemosh discover a terrible pain in their existence. Even as other senses dull, they begin to experience a throbbing pressure. Only killing eases the pain. Poisons, swords, suffocation—it makes no difference. All souls go before Chemosh, and the Beloved’s suffering is eased for a time.

The only subject known to distract a Beloved from its purpose is the mention of a name: Mina. All other interests and activities cease at the sound of her name. All hope to find her. Though most have never met Mina, all know her name and see her in their minds whenever they close their eyes. Her voice echoes in their ears, bringing with it the commandments of the Lord of Death.

Even those aware of the threat posed by Chemosh’s new disciples have trouble seeking them out. Simple spells fail to reveal the wolves among the sheep. Glance among revelers at a village fair, and the Beloved might well be anyone among them. Some keep up the facade of their former lives, so Beloved can even be the acquaintances or loved ones of those who hunt the undead.

Some who look deep into the eyes of a Beloved claim to be able to see the emptiness within, but this is neither certain nor consistent enough in practice to be relied on. Some animals shy away or may even attack at the presence of the undead, but only those who are sensitive or exceptional seem to sense that something is truly wrong.

Physically, the Beloved appear exactly as in life. Though dead, the flesh is still warm to the touch. They breathe, eat, drink, smile, laugh, and weep. The only reliable sign of a Beloved is a mark that can always be found above the heart, a discoloration in the shape of a woman’s lips—“Mina’s Kiss,” they tell those who ask of it, and speak the name with reverence and longing.

Divine magic is the only reliable method of revealing the Beloved, and even this is the province of those whose magic deals with souls or the spirits of the dead. Clerics and mystics who are able to detect the aura of the living, along with the unusual kender who call themselves “nightstalkers,” can see that the Beloved possess no soul, no living aura; that they are nothing more than very lively corpses.

After early failed attempts to stop the threat of the Beloved, some feared they could not be destroyed. Indeed, the Beloved give every indication of true immortality. Both arcane and divine spells have little effect on the Beloved of Chemosh and usually rebound on the spellcaster, while rarely making the Beloved so much as flinch. Suffocation, fire, ice, lightning, and holy water might slow the Beloved, but they do little else. Dismemberment merely inconveniences the Beloved, since the undead being is quickly able to pull itself together again.

Though a Beloved is stronger in undeath than in life, it does not gain any special powers beyond its unaging invulnerability. Thus most Beloved have to resort to mundane methods to bring their quota of souls to Chemosh, since very few possessors of true power and ability will swear themselves over to the god of death.

Lately word has spread that the Beloved do indeed have a weakness— one so terrible that few are willing to pay the awful price to end the threat of Chemosh’s chosen disciples. The laws of balance and magic on Krynn, set down by the Highgod during the Age of Starbirth, does not allow Chemosh to create immortal servants, so the spell that gives life to the dead can be unraveled ... by the hand of a child.

If a child strikes a Beloved in anger, its true nature as an ambulatory corpse is revealed, and it will be consumed in an unnatural fire that will not harm anyone but the failed servant of the dark god. Innocence destroys the Beloved, though innocence is in turn destroyed. Children who witness such a terrible sight will very likely be traumatized for life unless the healing powers of other gods can intervene.

Future The Beloved spread from one town to the next, taking the young and the beautiful, those eager to please or easily swayed by false promises. No one knows how many Beloved are in existence, but it is likely every city has several inside its walls. Though the secrets of their detection and destruction have been revealed, it may be too late to prevent them from fulfilling whatever terrible purpose the god of death has in store.

Having given their souls to the Lord of Bones, the Beloved present a convincing mockery of life. Their purpose is to bring more souls to their dark god.

The Beloved appear to most exactly as they did in life and retain much of their original personalities—though people who know them well might notice odd behavior. The Beloved breathe, eat, drink, and otherwise give all indications they are still alive. Someone who gets close and looks deep within a Beloved’s eyes might see the truth. Its eyes are flat and empty—devoid of either life or hope. Those with the talent to see living auras or with the power to see and communicate with incorporeal spirits (such as kender nightstalkers) immediately notice something is wrong with the Beloved, for they all lack a living soul.