Rusalki

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Rusalki (sing. Rusalka) are dangerous undead entities that may appear near rivers or seas in Betrayal at Krondor. They can first be encountered in Chapter 1.

Overview

Rusalki are the restless and often deadly spirits of drowned girls that have returned to the bodies of water where they died. When people are near, particularly young men, the rusalki will attempt to lure them close enough to kill them. They usually, but do not invariably, manifest after dark. They can also possess spiritually aware humans if summoned without sufficient precautions.

Due to their violent actions, rusalki are largely viewed with fear and hatred across Midkemia. Though their primary motivations are revenge upon the living and escape from the gates of death, individual rusalki can exhibit foresight and cunning when not in battle, laying plans and preying on the good will of those who might be able to hide them from harm. They also show sympathy toward other rusalki, attempting to sway mortal sympathy toward them and denying their depredations. Rarely, a rusalki may be completely self-possessed and genuinely mean no harm.

When Scouting near a place where rusalki lurk in ambush, the party may sense "something evil" in the vicinity as a prelude to the attack.

Appearance

As spirits, the rusalki have an ethereal presence and appear semi-transparent. Usually they take the form of a young girl, with tendrils of seaweed dangling from her arms. The party sees them as ashen-faced, with staring, lifeless eyes.

Their sprites are similar to those of Shades, but blue instead of gray.

Mythology

Beyla, the high priestess of Eortis, refers to them as "sisters of Eliaem" and cautions that many are wily and difficult to locate. Finding them, therefore, requires cleverness.

Lims-Kragma

An old woman in Darkmoor believes that the rusalki hate Lims-Kragma for stealing their chance at adult life: "The Goddess of Death their first kiss... They hate her so." Beyla notes that some find ways to conceal their presence for fear of being sent to the goddess's halls. However, she assures the party that defeating a rusalki does not slay her but instead frees her from an unnatural binding to the living world, and teachings from the goddess's temple suggest that neither rusalki nor Shades need fear her.

While possessing a human medium, a disguised rusalki cannot contact the dead: "Lims-Kragma holds those you wish too tightly."

Owyn Beleforte, facing rusalki in battle, regrets not having studied more about Lims-Kragma and temple magic.

Eortis and Killian

The quiescent sea-god Eortis has some interest in rusalki, since they are associated with water and are therefore under his purview. They may also be of concern to Killian, who took over Eortis's duties since the latter vanished in the Chaos Wars.

Artifacts

Eliaem's Heart is said to grant the power to summon a rusalki lover. In practice, it can summon rusalki to aid the party in battle.

In Battle

Rusalki have a long range of motion and powerful attacks, and can hit targets with bursts of magical energy even at close range; those who fight them must take care to be shielded from harm or to frequently replenish health. They take no damage from Fetters of Rime, though the spell freezes them in the usual manner, and are immune to Despair Thy Eyes and Touch of Lims-Kragma.^[1]

Rusalki can be used to the party's advantage with the River Song spell, which can be used summon a rusalka ally four times per battle. Each allied rusalka will take independent action against enemies during her turn and will remain until destroyed or until the battle ends.

Like Shades, rusalki sink into the ground and out of sight when defeated. While the party never feels sure that the vanished spirits are gone for good, defeated rusalki will not return.

Rusalki Quest

If the the party visits Silden while critically ill or injured and travels to the Temple of Eortis for aid, they are offered a chance to perform a duty of obeisance in exchange for healing. Beyla, the high priestess, recounts complaints that the rusalki lingering near local rivers "have become disturbed" and suggests laying them all to rest to win Eortis's favor. Eortis affirms the quest by healing the party as they leave, whereupon they will not be able to return to the island until the duty is completed.

After defeating the fifteen rusalki lurking on the banks of the River Rom between Silden and Sloop, including the one possessing Madame Haphra, the party can return to Beyla in any time of sickness or injury and be completely healed.

Eliaem's Heart

While traveling through the Green Heart, the party may encounter a mysteriously non-hostile rusalki who asks them to retrieve Eliaem's Heart from a moredhel spellcaster who is using it to control other rusalki. To do so, they must defeat both the spellcaster and the four rusalki he controls. If the party returns to the mysterious rusalki with 13 Inventory spaces free and gives her the Heart, she thanks them on behalf of herself and her kin, giving them travel advice, Rations, and a mysterious shell -- which, she says, has value they might never be able to imagine.

Other mentions

• An old woman in Darkmoor whose husband and son were killed by evil spirits invites the party to return after nightfall to learn about the rusalki. They find her surrounded by candles, swaying and mournfully chanting what she knows of the undead: "Innocence lost. Lost. Spring blossoms robbed of carnal bliss, the Goddess of Death their first kiss. Their first kiss. They will shrink away from her touch, they hate her so. Hate her so. Find the Magic Touch or you too may feel her icy kiss."
• If the party declines the sales pitch offered by Madame Haphra's husband, he hisses "May you then sleep with the rusalki" before slamming the door.

Trivia

• Although the term "Magic Touch" seems to evoke Touch of Lims-Kragma, rusalki are immune to that spell.
• The game's strategy guide ascribes the disturbance among the rusalki along the River Rom to an agent of the Crawler who stole an Eliaem's Heart from his master and used it to protect himself while fleeing north along the river.^[2]
• In Slavic folklore, a rusalka (pl. 'rusalki') is typically a feminine spirit associated with a body of water. Elements of danger, tragedy, and uncleanliness were added in modern versions, which usually present rusalki as the unquiet ghosts of young women bound to the waterways in which they met untimely deaths, doomed to drown others in turn until their lives are avenged or their spirits cleansed.

References