Flesh Ripper

What exactly causes the Undead of Apoc Earth to rise from their graves and reign down fear and terror on the living remains uncertain. However, they rise nonetheless, countless thousands, each unique and different and dangerous. There are some Undead, however, that are far more fearsome and terrifying than the others.

What exactly occurs to make a corpse into a Flesh Ripper is unclear. As with other Undead, countless legends describe the process. While the details may vary according to tribe, society, and culture, there are a few consistent facts within each. Almost all of the legends agree that it takes a soul of a person who was outstandingly cruel. This soul, in life, must have caused great physical pain to those around him.

The nature of these acts is not specified. Other legends say that the soul must be one who experienced great physical and emotional pain, and suffered from it for a long period of time before dying. However, all of the legends agree that pain must be a central feature to the individual’s life. As to where the chains that are bound to their forearms come from, many legends believe that those were chains that bound the soul to the other side, but were somehow broken, allowing the being to return to the mortal realm.

Flesh Rippers always hold some form of sentience, and the legends say that particularly strong willed individuals will even retain a good deal of their memories from life. This makes them much more dangerous than your "run-of-the-mill" zombie, as Flesh Rippers can think and plan. Flesh Rippers live to cause pain, and if possible, will refrain from killing an enemy out right, preferring to torture them as long as possible. Since they retain their sentience, the torture is always purely physical. Flesh Rippers are notorious for breaking not only the body but the mind of their victims as well. If possible, a Flesh Ripper will drag out the torture for weeks or months, causing as much pain as possible to their victim. It is rumored that Flesh Rippers feed off of pain, both mental and physical, and they employ torture as a means to obtain sustenance. This rumor can be confirmed somewhat as Flesh Rippers have never been observed consuming human flesh, as other undead do.

Flesh Rippers tend to establish lairs, where they set up their torture chambers. Usually this is somewhere close to either their home in life or their place of burial. They can also manage to control lesser Undead to small degree, but this is limited. While they tend to be solitary, there are rumors along the Flux Front of the NAU and the IDF that Flesh Rippers are being employed by Flux lords to serve as interrogators and prison wardens, torturing the poor souls who are captured alive and draining information out of them. If these rumors hold any truth to them, then the horrors that await one inside of these Flux prisons would be unimaginable.

Tactics: Flesh Rippers are difficult creatures to face. They possess mild psychic powers and sentience, unlike other Undead. Flesh Rippers also have telekinetic power over their chains, which are spiked and usually end with a savage weapon of some kind. With this in mind, you should only engage a Flesh Ripper as a last resort.

The chains of a Flesh Ripper have a surprising reach. Given open settings, these chains can lash out at distances of at least twenty feet. These barbed chains can also constrict and are incredibly dangerous. When engaging a Flesh Ripper, keep them either at range or engage in closed quarters quickly. Flesh Rippers are not particular well armored and are susceptible to most weapons.