I was reviewing the new release and noticed raiigs all over the place.
It’s my understanding that raiigs are faithful defenders who continue to defend even in death. Whereas krags are elemental priests who died in an element antithetical to their patrons.
Did I misread that?
Raaigs are usually former priests of forgotten gods, or ancient religions. Their faith (despite often never having worshipped anything that could grant them spells) is strong enough that it sustains them to defend their place of worship. Most Raaigs are leftovers from the Green Age.
Krags are as you summarised them. A Rain priest dying in Silt, or a Fire priest being drowned in Water would be examples of Krag creation circumstances.
As the Dead Lands were devastated during the Cleansing Wars (the late Green Age), an awful lot of Raaigs may have been created as the Champions first put the region to the sword. Krags would be much rarer in the South, given the Obsidian Tide wasn’t antithetical to all elements/paraelements. Many if not most high level clerics who were killed by the flood of molten obsidian would have arisen as Zhen, rather than Krags.
Welcome to The Arena! The Dead Lands are more or less frozen in the late Green Age, undead abound
Hi there!
Your understanding of raaigs & krags is correct.
Digging through Faces of the Dead Lands, there are only 2 named NPC raaigs (the former troll-king Yorg-yanak and the Dead Lord Harkor), and then 3 sets of “generic” raaigs: some chimeras, some elves, and some assistants of Harkor.
Raaigs are listed as “Very Rare” in Terrors Beyond Tyr, but so are Paraelelental Beasts, Kraglings, and Muls, so YMMV regarding what that actually means.