“My blood remembers you. Every heartbeat you take, I hear it. Every breath, I taste it. When you fall... I’ll rise from what’s left.”
— Bean Barsol, the Crimson Echo of Vohkren’s Grief
When your body is destroyed, your feral demonic hunger refuses to die. As your heart stops, your blood ignites into a crimson mist and your soul tears free, becoming a spectral shadow of hunger and wrath. That crimson shadow lashes toward a creature within 30 feet of you.
The target WILL be branded with the Mark of Crimson Echo, a faint sigil shaped like a burning blood drop that pulses beneath their skin.
While the mark persists, your spirit binds itself within the host’s body — feeding quietly on their vitality and whispering in their mind.
While Bound
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You can communicate telepathically with the host and subtly influence their emotions and instincts. Your whispers might sound like their own thoughts, or a second heartbeat inside their head.
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Once per long rest, you can attempt a Minor Possession. The host must make a Charisma saving throw; on a failed save, you seize partial control of their body for up to 1 minute before being expelled.
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You cannot directly kill or harm the host while possessing them — their lifeforce instinctively resists you, forcing your control to break if you try.
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You can, however, manipulate the host’s actions, tempt others, or influence their choices to lead them toward self-destruction or conflict.
Rebirth
When the marked host dies by any means other than your direct control, your crimson essence devours their fading soul. A swirling mass of black mist and glowing blood erupts from the corpse, reforming your body in its place.
You return to life at full hit points, but the price is steep:
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You lose all Soulcurrent, Devourer, or absorbed powers.
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You forfeit any abilities gained through possession.
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You can never use Crimson Echo: Soul Possession again.
Your reborn form retains fragments of the host’s thoughts, voice, and instincts — faint traces of their humanity now mixed into your demonic hunger.
End of the Mark
The Mark of Crimson Echo can only be removed with Remove Curse, Greater Restoration, or Wish. Removing the mark before the host dies severs your soul from the material plane for 1d4 weeks before it re-forms in shadow.
At Higher Levels
When cast using a spell slot of 6th level or higher, you can mark up to two creatures instead of one. You may shift your awareness between them as a bonus action (once per long rest), but still cannot directly kill or harm a possessed host.
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