The Lampades
The Underworld — Servants of the dark and keepers of the dead
Children of the Dark Flame
The Lampades of Lumeris
The Lampades are the nymphs other nymphs do not discuss lightly. They are the servants of the Underworld, the keepers of the dark, the ones whose bond is not to forest or water or stone or sky but to the boundary between the living and the dead. Where other Nymph kindreds tend the living world, the Lampades tend what lies beneath it — the caverns where the dead are remembered, the passages where souls pass through, the darkness that is not empty but full of things that no longer breathe.
They are not evil. This needs to be said, because other races assume it. The Lampades are the most solemn of the Nymph kindreds — their humor is dark, their patience is geological, and their compassion is expressed in ways that living races find unsettling. They do not fear death because death is their element. They do not fear the dark because the dark is where they work. What they carry is not cruelty but understanding — the particular knowledge that comes from tending the passage every living thing will eventually take.
What they bring to Lumeris is the magic of the threshold — necromancy practiced not as exploitation but as stewardship, the ability to speak with the dead, to illuminate the darkness that defeats other sight, and to wield the psychic force that is the Lampades' particular gift. Their lanterns burn with a flame that casts no heat but reveals truth, and in that light, nothing hidden stays hidden for long.
Origins
The Underworld
The Lampades came from a world they do not name — not because they have forgotten it, but because the name is a word that living mouths cannot shape. It was a world of vast caverns and underground rivers, a realm where the surface was a rumor and the dark was the only constant. The dead of that world did not pass on; they accumulated, and the Lampades arose as the beings who could speak with them, tend them, and guide them toward whatever came next.
Their civilization existed in the dark. Their homes were caverns lit only by the spectral flames they carried — lamps that burned without fuel, casting a light that revealed the dead and the hidden but left the living untouched. Their communication traveled through the psychic resonance of their lantern-flames, each Lampade's flame a particular frequency that others could read across miles of stone. A Lampade's lantern was her voice, her memory, and her bond, all at once.
When their world's dead began to vanish — not passing on, simply ceasing to be, as though something was consuming them — the Lampades felt it as a silence where there had always been whispering. The dead stopped speaking. The caverns went truly dark for the first time in their history. The Lampades gathered their lantern-flames and crossed the Veil, carrying the last echoes of the dead they had tended. In Lumeris, they found new caverns and new dead, and they took up their work again — tending the passage, keeping the dark, and ensuring that the dead of this world would not vanish into nothing.
The Form of the Dark-Born
Physical Appearance
Lampades stand between five and five and a half feet tall with builds that seem to absorb light rather than reflect it — lean, shadowed, their edges slightly indistinct in a way that makes them difficult to focus on in dim conditions. They move with a stillness that other races find unsettling, each motion deliberate and minimal, as though they are conserving not energy but presence. A Lampade who wishes to be unseen is simply not seen, and other races eventually accept that she was there all along.
Their coloring is the darkest of any Nymph kindred. Skin tones run to ashen grey with deep purple undertones, absorbing light in a way that makes their features difficult to read in anything brighter than candlelight. Their hair grows in dark violet and black, with tips that glow with a dim spectral flame — the outward sign of the lantern-fire that burns within every Lampade. Their eyes are their most striking feature: large, luminous, glowing softly in darkness, most commonly in shades of violet and spectral blue. In total darkness, a Lampade's eyes are the only part of her that is visible — two points of dim, knowing light.
- ◈Stand between five and five and a half feet tall with builds that absorb light — lean, shadowed, edges slightly indistinct
- ◈Skin tones in ashen grey with deep purple undertones that absorb light rather than reflecting it
- ◈Hair in dark violet and black with tips that glow with dim spectral flame — the outward sign of the inner lantern-fire
- ◈Eyes large, luminous, and glowing softly in darkness — most commonly violet and spectral blue
- ◈In total darkness, only the eyes are visible — two points of dim, knowing light
- ◈Carry a spectral lantern whose flame casts no heat but illuminates the dead and reveals hidden things
- ◈Move with deliberate minimal stillness; a Lampade who wishes to be unseen is simply not seen
- ◈Bare skin is cool to the touch, and their presence carries a faint scent of cold stone and extinguished candles
- ◈Naturally attuned to the psychic and necromantic — can sense the presence of the dead and the dying
A Lampade in the light is not weakened — she carries the dark within her — but she is always listening for the whispers of the dead, always feeling for the threshold that is her charge. The bond is not a root or a tide or a wind. It is a flame, and flames do not hold. They illuminate.
Communities of the Dark Flame
The Underworld Orders
Lampades society is organized around Orders — communities of Lampades whose lantern-flames burn at the same spectral frequency and who tend the same regions of the Underworld. Each Order is led by a Lantern-Mother, the eldest Lampade whose flame has burned longest and whose connection to the dead is the most complete. Orders meet at crossroads of the Underworld — where multiple passages converge — and their gatherings are silent, for the Lampades communicate through flame, not voice.
The Torchbearers
Illuminators of the Dark
The most outward-facing Order, responsible for maintaining the lantern-flames that light the passages between the surface and the deep. Torchbearers are the Lampades most often encountered by the living — they guide those who must descend, illuminate paths that would otherwise be lethal, and retrieve those who have become lost in the dark. They are regarded with quiet gratitude by every race that has ever needed to go underground.
The Veilwalkers
Guides of the Dead
The most sacred Order, responsible for tending the passage of the dead from life to whatever comes next. Veilwalkers do not interact with the living — their work is entirely with the dead, ensuring that souls find their way and are not consumed by the nothing that took the dead of their homeworld. They are the Lampades that other Lampades regard with the deepest reverence.
The Emberwhispers
Scholars of the Dead
The most learned Order, responsible for speaking with the dead and preserving their knowledge. Emberwhispers are the necromantic scholars of the Lampades — not raisers of armies but keepers of memory, who converse with the dead to recover lost knowledge, resolve unfinished business, and ensure that what the living have forgotten, the dead still remember. Their counsel is sought by scholars and rulers alike.
When Orders meet at an Underworld crossroads, the gathering is called the Dimming — a synchronized dimming of all lantern-flames until only the Lantern-Mothers' flames remain lit, a gesture of deference to the dead whose passages they tend. It is the closest thing the Lampades have to ceremony, and it is conducted in absolute silence.
The Way of the Dark Flame
Culture & Society
Lampades culture is built on memory and threshold. Memory because the dead remember what the living have forgotten, and the Lampades are the keepers of that memory. Threshold because their charge is the passage between states — life and death, light and dark, knowledge and mystery. Their ethics are simple: tend the dead, keep the dark, and never let a soul vanish into nothing. A Lampade who abandons her charge — who lets a soul be consumed — is not punished. She is simply extinguished. Her lantern-flame goes out, and she becomes as the dead she failed to tend. The Lampades regard this as justice.
Their relationships with other races are the most distant and misunderstood of any Nymph kindred. The Dark Elves earn genuine respect — two peoples who understand the dark from the inside. The Lampades regard the Underworld-researching scholars of other races with cautious tolerance, willing to guide but not to be studied. Other races find them frightening, and the Lampades do not discourage this — fear of the dark is, in their view, a reasonable survival instinct. Their warmest relationship is with the dead themselves, who are, in the Lampades' experience, more honest than the living.
A Lampade who shows you her lantern-flame — not to guide you, not to illuminate a path, but simply to let you see it — is showing you something she shows almost no one. The flame is her voice, her memory, and her bond with the dead. To see it is to be, briefly, within the circle of her charge. It is not a gift of light. It is a gift of dark, and the dark it gives is the dark that keeps you safe.
Game Mechanics
Base Racial Stats
Starting Attributes
STR
+2
Strength
INT
+5
Intelligence
DEX
+3
Dexterity
CON
+2
Constitution
WIS
+4
Wisdom
CHA
+3
Charisma
SPL
+5
Spellcraft
HP
+2
Health
Keepers of the dark flame — +5 INT and +5 SPL.
Lampades carry the knowledge of the dead and the magic that burns without light.
Racial Traits
Underworld Torch
Carry a spectral lantern whose flame illuminates the dead, reveals hidden things, and dispels magical darkness.
Necrotic Touch
Channel the energy of the dead through touch, dealing necrotic damage that bypasses physical armor.
Psychic Whisper
Communicate telepathically with any being within range, and sense the psychic residue of strong emotions in an area.
Dark Sight
See perfectly in all forms of darkness, including magical darkness that defeats normal darkvision.
Soul Lantern
Once per day, summon a spirit of the dead to answer a single question truthfully, as the dead remember it.
Advantages
- +Underworld torch — spectral lantern that reveals the dead, hidden things, and dispels magical darkness
- +Necrotic touch — melee attack dealing necrotic damage that bypasses physical armor
- +Psychic whisper — telepathic communication and emotional residue sensing
- +Dark sight — perfect vision in all darkness, including magical darkness
- +Soul lantern — once per day, summon a spirit to answer one question truthfully
- +Death sense — detect the presence of undead, the recently dead, and the dying within range
- +Shadow resistance — reduced damage from necrotic and psychic attacks
Disadvantages
- −Light sensitivity — prolonged exposure to bright sunlight causes discomfort and reduced abilities
- −Social isolation — widely feared by other races; penalties on initial social encounters
- −Cold presence — their demeanor reads as unsettling; difficulty building rapport quickly
- −Fragile frame — lower physical resilience than combat-built races
- −Underworld dependency — abilities slightly reduced when far from any subterranean or dark environment for extended periods
- −Burden of the dead — carrying the memories of the dead can be psychologically taxing over time
Permitted Classes
Starter Classes
Advanced Classes
The Chronicle Ends… For Now
Final Lore Summary
The Lampades are the servants of the Underworld and keepers of the dark — nymphs whose bond is to the threshold between the living and the dead. Born in a world of vast caverns and accumulated souls, they crossed the Veil carrying the last echoes of the dead they had tended and took up their work again in the Underworld of Lumeris. Organized across three Orders — Torchbearers, Veilwalkers, and Emberwhispers — they tend the passage of the dead with a devotion measured in silence, not years. Solemn, knowing, and carrying the knowledge of those who have gone before, they illuminate the dark that defeats all other sight, and their lantern-flames burn with a light that reveals truth rather than warmth.
They are the voice of the silent dead.
They are the flame that lights the dark.
They are the Lampades — solemn as the grave, patient as the dark, and bound to the threshold that gives them purpose.