Green Lady
Following is the Green Lady, one of the monsters I wrote up for my article on "Men & Monsters of Polynesia" for Gygax Magazine Issue #4 (astute readers may note that it is stat'ed for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons system, which is what that old school publication used). This creature is very different than many sort of undead that generally appear in role-playing games and I was inspired to post it here after mentioning it during our "d-Infinity Live!" show on "Everything Except Zombies."
A Green Lady will often simply take back to the heart of its lair and then slay any child it abducts. If in its deranged state it thinks that a particular child is its own, however, the monster might attempt to care for it. This misguided effort will cause much distress to the child, usually kill it within about a week, and cause it to become a dependent undead creature that is half as powerful as a Green Lady and similar in appearance to it.
The touch of a Green Lady rots the flesh of its victims, inflicting a horrifying 2-14 hit points of damage upon a successful hit. A Green Lady is not affected by Sleep, Charm, Hold, or Cold-based spells, or by paralyzation or poison. A Green Lady can be turned as if it were a spectre, holy water will inflict 2-8 hit points of damage for every vial-full that strikes it, and a Raise Dead spell will destroy it unless it makes its saving throw versus magic. Combat damage alone will not destroy a Green Lady and any apparently dispatched in this way will rise up again on the night of the next full moon (although this does not apply to its half-strength progeny). A Green Lady can only be permanently laid to rest if it or its remains are subjected to a 10-minute ritual that involves an attempt to turn undead sufficient to affect a spectre (or a natural 20 in the case of a Cleric normally not powerful enough to do so).
