Divine Divinity: Skeleton Monster Gallery

Myrthos, 2002-08-15

Adventurers have always loved new adventures and new exciting times. Most of them died by the hand of a monster, bigger, stronger or even smarter than the adventurer. From those that survived many tales could be heard and many of those tales have been listed in the Rivellon Book of Monsters, of which we bring you an excerpt today.

Skeletons
Once they were beings of flesh and blood, once they might even have been nice. But now the blood has dried up, their veins have vanished and the flesh has been eaten away from their bones. They should have been death and buried. However, by some mysterious force they are able to roam again in the darkness of their catacombs. Killing everything that comes their way. When you encounter them make sure to look around as they rarely walk alone. Be prepared for more coming your way, once you killed the first one.
You will soon find out that there are not only many skeletons, but also that there are different ones. Not only is there a hierarchy in skeletons, with the bigger ones on top, but also the skeletons in one place are not necessarily the same as in another. Reports from adventurers have taught us that there are at least 3 distinct groups of skeletons, each with their own hierarchy, pros and cons.

The Skeletal
The first group of skeletons are the skeletal. Compared to the other groups they can be considered to be the weakest. One place you will encounter them frequently are the catacombs of Aleroth While descending through the catacombs you will notice that the opposition gets stronger and harder to kill the further you descent.
Notes from adventurers have taught us that you might encounter the following different skeletals, although one never knows if the notes describing other skeletals are not lost somewhere......

• Skeletal Warrior
  The warriors are melee fighters, the easiest of all skeletons. They wield their blunt club-like weapons and come straight for you, without caring much for their existence or yours for that matter. They will nearly always come in packs.
  

  skeletal warrior video (172K, DivX)

  
  
• Skeletal Archer
  The archers are just as weak (or strong) as the warriors. The difference between them is that they try to kill you from a distance with their bows. As such they pose a greater threat than the warriors because you will have to dodge their arrows first before you get close enough to kill them. On the other hand, you can always shoot back, if you happen to be carrying a bow as well.
  

  skeletal archer video (224K, DivX)

  
  
• Skeletal Guardian
  Rising high above the warriors and archers is the skeletal guardian. Besides being bigger and stronger the guardian also wields a fiercely looking axe. There have been reports of these axes being magical and doing extra spiritual damage, so you better stay away from them if you can. Luckily They tend to guard alone and you will not have to deal with many of them at the same time. However, where there is a guardian, there are also warriors and archers.
  

  skeletal guardian video (274K, DivX)

  
  
• Skeletal Conjurer
  You will immediately notice that you encounter a conjurer. Not only do they have wings, but they also start summoning other skeletals the moment they see you. If you don't try to take them out first you will find yourself surrounded by real and summoned warriors and archers, so you better try and prevent that.
  

  skeletal conjurer video (437K, DivX)

  
  
• Skeletal Lord
  The fiercest of all skeletals is the skeletal lord. Those adventurers who survived them had tales about them being bigger and tougher than any other skeletal and about the fireballs they magically hurdle towards you. Even though the skeletal lord tends to be a loner, most adventurers rather face a group of warriors and archers than a single skeletal lord.
  

  skeletal lord video (304K, DivX)

Advice for the adventurer
As skeletals don't have any flesh, veins or intestines, it's useless to try and poison them. It just doesn't work, just like spiritual damage has no influence on these mindless creatures. What does work is making a bolt of lightning coming their way. Some of them can't even stand a bolt of fire very well. These boney figures quickly collapse when they are hit by either one of those.
Also be aware that the skeletals don't have any additional armor, so they are not so hard to hit actually, but especially the skeletals higher up the hierarchy can stand a lot more damage and inflict a lot more

The Steel Skeletons
Rumor has it that in one of the abbeys in Alleroth a far more dangerous breed of skeletons roam the area. Although they appear to have similar hierarchy, with warriors, archers, guardians, conjurers and lords, they are different in many other ways. One of those differences is that these skeletons have their bones hardened by steel. Nobody really knows how that is possible, the reports are contradicting themselves on this matter, it might just be that they have been knights in a previous life and that their steel armor from the days that they were still walking above the ground has somehow mixed with their bones. It all remains to be speculation though.

steel skeleton video (537K, DivX)

Advice for the adventurer
What we do know is that the steel skeletons are not so easy to kill as the skeletals. Not only does their steel protect them much better from your weapons but it also protects them from any fire spell you throw at them. On the other hand the steel also seems to act as a conductor for electricity, so if you happen to have some lightning spells handy then you will see they are dropping much quicker.
But like all skeletons, poison and any spiritual damage remains nearly without effects, so don't bother with those.
Oh...and beware of the archers, they like to turn their arrows on fire. It becomes real messy when one of those hits you and your clothes start to burn.

The Infernal Skeletons
Only a few reports are known on these skeletons, what is known leads to belief that they are a very dangerous bunch and only a few adventurers actually managed to survive them. It's unknown how many different infernal skeletons there are but there have been reports of warriors, guardians, conjurers and lords. We might never find out if there are any more than these.
Like their name implies, they really love fire and as such can't be harmed by it either. Anytime they are able to hit you, they will try to set you on fire as well, some protection for that might be wise. As far as protection goes, the infernal skeletons are not carrying any armor, but are very fast, so they manage to dodge your attacks far better than the other skeletons and armor would only slow them down.

steel skeleton video (643K, DivX)

Advice for the adventurer
What it boils down to is that they are harder to hit, harder to kill and they hurt you a lot more than any other skeleton will. They aren't even as vulnerable to lightning as the steel skeletons are, not to mention that they still are just as resistant to poison and spiritual damages like all skeletons.
You better avoid meeting them, but if you can't, be sure to pack those healing potions or you might end up as the one lying on the ground.

None of the videos have any relevant sound. All videos are in DivX 5 format. If you don't have, it get it here.