Ketaq Gurdin
Ritual Corpse
Ketaq Gurdin
Species
Human, ritually reanimated
Appearance
A narrow, waterlogged body with joints that bend a fraction too far and skin puckered by salt, mud, and ritual cuts. The corpse's posture is oddly formal, as though still waiting to be inspected by a magistrate. Its left hand has been replaced by a rusted fishhook lashed into the wrist with red cord. When it moves, it does not stagger. It advances with careful, economical steps, stopping so abruptly that its clothing continues to sway. The unexpected contradiction is its face, which looks tender and almost maternal when silent, despite the violence done to the rest of its body.
“Her voice is soft, level, and slightly wet, as though spoken through a half-closed door during rain. She pauses before names and sometimes answers in two voices, one hers and one a faint echo repeating the final syllable.”
Ability Scores
Alignment
Distinguishing Features
A rusted fishhook replaces the left hand.
Three parallel cuts cross the right cheek and never stop leaking briny water.
A small brass button from a Port Joli naval coat is embedded beneath the tongue.
Its shadow sometimes points toward the nearest corpse rather than the nearest light source.
The corpse smells faintly of kelp, lamp oil, and freshly split cedar.
Voice
“A low contralto with a careful dockside cadence, softened by exhaustion and interrupted by faint echoes from the other dead.”
Clothing
A soaked gray fisher's coat stiffened with salt, patched canvas trousers, a green wool sash, and one intact leather boot. Several scraps of parchment bearing tide marks are sewn into the coat lining. A faded red cord circles the throat, tied in the same knot used around the ritual stones.
Body Language
Ketaq stands with her shoulders squared and her chin lowered, as if bracing against wind that nobody else can feel. She tilts her head toward nearby corpses when listening, occasionally placing two fingers against her sternum to check whether the ritual pulse is still present. When angry, she becomes perfectly motionless except for the slow tightening of the hook-hand.
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