[I used one of these guys in my Age of Worms game, to replace the inevitable noble ghoul character in Wolfgang Baur’s adventure. Noble ghouls are fine and all, but a solitary undead rogue in 3.5 would have been mincemeat to my party. The vitreous drinker was a suitably durable and creepy replacement. My version streamlines some of its abilities, notably the spectral ravens, which are too good in the original.]
Vitreous Drinker This hunched, robed figure is human shaped, but its
skin is covered with hundreds of bulging eyes. Its mouth is agape, and its
tongue is disturbingly long and prehensile. Ravens perch on its shoulders and
hover about its body.
A vitreous
drinker is a horrible undead creature made from the body and soul of a spy or
voyeur—anyone who watched others without their consent. They are animated by a
violent desire for secrets, and will gladly kill for them. More often, though,
they turn their victims into unwitting agents, clouding their vision with
magical cataracts that allow the drinker to see through the victim’s eyes
whenever it wishes. As such, vitreous drinkers will often conduct hit-and-run
attacks to create multiple windows into the world. If pressed, or if prevented
from fleeing, they use their spectral ravens to deliver deadly touch attacks
while lashing out with their gnarled hands and piercing tongue.
Vitreous drinkers
typically work alone—they make minions, not allies. A vitreous drinker may sell
its secrets to the highest bidder, infiltrating mortal society in disguise so
as not to give away their horrific nature or weaken their clientele with their
awful visage. Such urban drinkers make spies from the dregs of society;
beggars, thieves and vagrants with milky eyes are common in cities where a
vitreous drinker dwells. Occasionally they will partner with the clerics of an
evil god or some fiend in pursuit of higher knowledge, but such alliances last
only as long as the drinker feels it has some information to gain.
A vitreous
drinker stands as tall as a human, and their withered frames are typically slightly
lighter.
Vitreous drinkers are sworn foes of Fawfin’s church, especially hated by the occult dragons who make up the higher ranks of the priesthood. This animosity is so deep that their presence is one of the few things that can incite Fawfin’s followers to military action.
Shores of Swords 