The Cursed of the DungeonVerse

The Deranged

The Deranged are would be heroes who barely survived and escaped the grasp of a dungeon, but not its influence. The touch of the alien intelligence of a glowing sentient rock combined with trace exposure to essence condensed beyond a safe level scars a person. The Deranged are also known as Dungeon Tainted, or the Dungeon's Rejects. They have three common traits: essence taint, essence mutation/minor, and insanity. The essence taint and mutation are tied to the elemental aspect or primal type of the dungeon where they were cursed. 

Narras the Cinderscar, Deranged Knight

Narras attempted a raid against an unknown dungeon with a team from his former chivalric order. The raid went poorly and Narras, badly burned and disfigured, alone survived. While still technically a human knight,he has gained the Fire elemental type in addition to being human. This is the manifestation of his essence taint. He has the general weaknesses and strengths typical to fire type creatures, but has no manifested fire abilities. His essence mutation is worse, as the magic and heat fused his armor to his body and he can no longer remove it, his skin is now armor. Madness has followed as the magical flames scarred his soul, his mind, and spirit. He is violent and dangerous, and despite being wrapped in metal armor that seeps with elemental heat, to himself, he is exposed and naked.

The Desperate

The Desperate are similar to the Deranged, but have a huge difference.They didn't escape their dungeon experience, they were released. The Desperate are heroes who unknowingly, unwillingly, struck a bargain with the dungeon that released them. They have a task or goal to complete before their time runs out and the distant cores summons them to return, or cuts their essence link, leaving them to starve for essence. They have the same essence taint and essence mutation, but instead of going insane, they have a mental connection with a self-aware magic bauble. For those facing them, there is no real difference between Deranged and Desperate.

Haleith the Shadowmonger, Desperate Rogue

Halieth and her team took refuge in an Obelisk House, and by the time the sun rose again, she was the only survivor. She has no recollection on how she escaped from the Haints in the house, but has primordial night terrors about them and their cold touch. She has since been on a mission to recover a series or random items, being willing to bribe or buy them, or threaten or kill to recover them. To adventurers this woman is obviously shadow touched, and insane considering how she seems to be chasing random trash like copper bits, a belt buckle, or even a dented pewter goblet. She's been killed six times and keeps showing back up as the dungeon reconstitutes her and sends her tortured spirit and conjured flesh to recover random items that had been looted from the house.

The Exiled

The Exiled are what happens when a magic user, noble, or other skilled essence user gets the failed dungeon run experience. They retain their minds, but have a stronger taint from the dungeon, and their mutations are harder to conceal. Called Exiled, these individuals tend to wander off away from their old circles and associations, as they are no longer the people they were before, and still hear the voice of the dungeon. Some are mad, some are acting on dungeon imperatives, but generally, exiles are leaders and elites among the cursed.

Disiry, the Exiled Duchess of Vipers

Disiry lead an expedition into a verdant/grotto dungeon and came a breath away from being plant fertilizer, unlike the rest of her team. The dungeon kept her for a year as a sort of combination pet, flower pot, and entertainment. It eventually released her into the verge of its demense to wander like a wild madwoman. She retains her noble reinments and weapons but her hair has been replaced with flowering grass and she is quite insane. What separates her from the others is that while being a cracked pot, she retains her skills and essence abilities as a forestal (nature magic heavy ranger). She has gathered a band to follow her, two-thirds are typical bandits and raiders while the remaining third is a mixture of dungeon deranged and desperates.