New Shades are gathering...

[Jack the Reaper]

This one reminds me of The Soldier and Death. Immortality isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Terry Pratchett expanded upon this concept in Reaper Man

[Jack the Reaper]

And now for someone who is not a darklord, but one of my earliest creations:
Nemesis
Master assassin, torturer and seducer, Nemesis is a slim but powerful man (actually a pureblood yuan-ti). He has white skin tattooed with mystic runes, silky black hair, snake eyes and sly smile, and is usually dressed in dark robes, hood and eyes mask. He runs a school for mystic assassins in Hazlan. His touch can inflict intense pleasure or extreme pain, both he uses for conditioning his usually female disciples into deadly, devoted assassins, nicknamed the Nemesisters (think Mord-Sith). Combining mastery of mystic and martial arts, Nemesis is one of deadliest persons in Ravenloft, often sought by darklords and other powers. His current mistress and right hand is the female drow Nissa.

[Jack the Reaper]

Sama, the False Prophet
Sama has milk-white eyes, but is not blind as many assume. From young age he pretended to be gifted by prophecy, fooling his community with vague or self-fulfilling predictions and convincing them to obey all his orders lest disaster befall them. In order to preserve his power, he told his community that the end of the world is coming, and led them into underground caves where they could survive the cataclysm. His domain now is a vast underground city, built around Sama's shrine. The denizens believe the upper world is ruined, poisoned and inhabitable. Sama summoned monsters to wander near the city, making sure nobody ventures out to expose his lies. He has the power to inflict permanent blindness and deafness.

[Jack the Reaper]

François de la Bourguignon
Francois is the chairman of the Société des Gourmets in Dementlieu, a club of rich, decadent nobles dedicated to acquiring and consuming rare, exotic meats. They send hunters and adventurers to bring them animals, monsters, humanoids and even fiends from all over the realms, to make exquisite dishes from. Some of those meats affect their eaters in strange ways, change their bodies or giving them powers or curses. More than everything else, they savor the taste and effects of celestials' meat (it purely tastes heavenly), and will go to any length to acquire it. (Inspiration: Neil Gaiman's Sunbird)

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

(Inspiration: Neil Gaiman's Sunbird)

I would have guessed The Freshman.

[Jack the Reaper]

I would have guessed The Freshman.

I didn't know about this, but I wouldn't be surprised if Gaiman was inspired by it.

[Jack the Reaper]

I always loved the Darksword novels, so now it's time for...

Mansor, the Warlock
Mansor is a DKarn-Duuk - a most powerful war sorcerer from the world of Thimhallan, where magic is part of life (see Darksword novels). His domain is a Magocracy composed of the city of Karath and the landscape beneath. Karath is an arcane city built on an enormous rock, floating in the sky surrounded by permanent storm clouds. Mansor, his Duuk-Tsarith enforcers, and many evil, powerful magic users from other worlds live in Karath, each dwelling in his or her own estate. It is a place of high magic, dark sorcery and endless power struggles. The denizens on the landscape live in squalor in the shadow of Karath, supplying the mages with food, slaves and experiment subjects, and scavenging the refuse falling from above, which often include magical items. (Inspiration: Darksword novels and Alphatia from Mystara setting)

I'll be glad to hear ideas for a proper curse for him.
Also, if anyone happens to have the Darksword Adventures RPG (a.k.a Phantasia), please let me know. It's really hard to find, I asked Margaret Wise and even she doesn't have a copy of it anymore

[Jack the Reaper]

Ha, I've just got Ulraunt's Guide to the Shadowfell, and it turns out there is a similar flying city there, named Thulthanthar. What a coincidence.
I will still keep my Karath as a Ravenloft domain, and I think the connection to the Darksword world make it more interesting.
BTW, this book has the best illustration of Markov I ever saw

[Jack the Reaper]

Joram, the Blasphemer
Joram was a priest once, but his personal tragedies made him turn against the gods and anything holy. He cursed the gods and went on an unholy personal crusade, during which he defiled temples, desecrated holy places and objects, tortured priests to force them utter blasphemies and break their vows, and made himself the bitter enemy of every faith. Eventually he was captured and burned at the stake as heretic, but his undead husk regained an unholy life. His domain is wasteland of ashes, coals and smoke, full with burned ruins of various temples and churches, inhabited by blasphemous undead and abominations. Joram will try to break the faith and spirits of any newcomers, make them turn against anything sacred to them before devouring their souls.

Now I need your advice. What kind of undead could he be? Is there an undead related to priests and blasphemy? Heucuva seems like a natural choice, but do you have any other ideas?

[The Lesser Evil]

The problem with huecuva is that they're not very intelligent (Int 4ish). Ancient dead/mummies also traditionally correspond to priests, but that option seems out given that he was burnt alive. If you have the Sword and Sorcery Studious 3.X monster books Creature Collection or Creature Collection Revised, the Forsaken Priest fits what you are going for, as Forsaken Priests are the undead remnants of clergy whom led their flock to blasphemy in life. The template gives the Pleasing Illusion special ability, whereupon the fallen priest is able to disguise himself in a beautiful illusion appearing alive and also speak suggestions (as per the suggestion spell). In addition, a Forsaken Priest gains formerly lost priestly abilities (but with the Death and Evil domains) and, most appropriately of all, can only be truly slain after their crimes are exposed and they are denounced on holy grounds.

If he wore armor a lot, a Grave Knight (Pathfinder Bestiary II) with a fire-based Ruinous Revivification ability might work. Fire-based undead (a rushlight, a pyrogeist from Pathfinder AP #130, an effigy from the 3.0 MMII) could be appropriate, though they don't really lend themselves to social interactions.

[Jack the Reaper]

Thanks! It shouldn't be difficult to make him a unique intelligent heucuva, but I checked those forsaken priests you mentioned, and they also may fit, though they are more insidious creatures who work in disguise, Friar Whelm's style. I want Joram's undeath and evil to be apparent, so I'll have to give it some more thought.

A grave knight (Pathfinder's death knight, actually) won't fit, as he wasn't a knight and didn't wear armor. The fire-based undead can easily be found in his domain.

[Jack the Reaper]

Here is another challenge...

The Unborn
She was stillborn, but somehow her ghost lingered in the world, incorporeal and invisible. She grew and matured as a living girl would, existing unseen among the living, feeding on memories and life force she drained first from babies, then from children and eventually from adults; but those memories only made her hungrier for the real life she never had, and hateful toward the living. Her floating domain, the Ghost City, can manifest at nights everywhere. It is a spectral city haunted by ghosts who were never alive, possibilities that never materialized. Visitors will find the city empty at first, but gradually will notice vaguely familiar faces and shapes, and encounter ghostly versions of themselves and their beloved as they could have been had other choices been made. Combined with the memory drain by the Unborn, such an experience can easily lead to madness and lose of identity.

Do you know about any kind of undead fitting this description, or should the Unborn be a new type?

[Mistmaster]

This have a serious problem of free will, in my hopinion; I can't see how the darklorship is deserved.

[Jack the Reaper]

She chose to be evil and steal lives and memories. She wasn't forced to do it - she could have played the role of a guardian angel, imaginary friend etc. Granted, she had a disatvantageous starting point, but so is everyone who was born to an evil family, crime ridden neighborhood etc. This excuse is not accepted by the Dark Powers.

[Mistmaster]

Usually undead are of evil alignement; are Unborn exception? Did she willingly stole memories or that is the way Unborn feed, and she could not help it? And actually, my Dark Powers do not work that way.