Drudge Sentinel

The use of undead by necromancers as guardians of keeps and protectors of secrets has been a mainstay of the school since the first necromancer created the first zombie. Ever since, necromancers have been attempting to create improved undead specifically meant for guarding places and objects, taking inspiration from many different forms of defense in an effort to create the ultimate undead guardian. The drudge sentinel is one of these types of undead- a skeleton created with the unique ability to solidify its bones to the same level of hardness as adamantine, making it totally immune to the attempts of thieves, graverobbers, and explorers to destroy it for good.   Rock Solid Defense The drudge sentinel’s primary function is as a guard, and the most useful guards are those which can’t be destroyed or killed through conventional means. Using a special liquid adamantine mixture in the creation of an otherwise ordinary skeleton allow a necromancer to create an undead servant which can instantaneously coat itself in an invincible layer of unbreakable metal, finally solving the issue of an undead guardian that truly can’t be killed. Such an advancement would normally be highly-renowned, and drudge sentinels would be a sought after creation not just for necromancers, but for those simply hoping for an obedient and unyielding line of defense for their own homes and vaults. But unfortunately, a drudge sentinel is not quite perfect, and does come with one major downside.   An Unmoving Wall When the liquid adamantine stored in the bones of a drudge sentinel comes to the surface, it temporarily hardens; this process is what makes the drudge sentinel impossible to even scratch. However, this solid adamantine has some other unintended effects, namely that once the bones of the skeleton have been coated in the solid metal, they have no way of moving or acting. The time necessary to cause the adamantine to both harden and again liquefy makes it so that a drudge sentinel which has activated its metallic defense has no way of moving or acting before it will likely once again come under assault. As expected, while an unkillable defender is not a terrible idea, it becomes far less useful if it doesn’t have the capability to stop its enemies from simply keeping it occupied while others move on to relieve a vault of its precious goods. For this reason, a drudge sentinel is not a be all end all solution to the question of good defense. When paired with other forms of defense however, such as shield guardians, golems, or more classical undead, a drudge sentinel can be a great hassle for thieves, requiring them to spend time juggling the practically-unkillable dredge sentinel with other, more physically dangerous threats.