A humanoid in blurred gray tones settles in the shadowed corner of a dimly-lit room and disappears from view._ **Poor Players.** Some people are driven to perform. They crave the adulation of their peers, the attention of strangers, the promise of fame and the immortality it brings. Unfortunately, not every such artist has the talent and perseverance to succeed. Whenever a minstrel flees a stage pelted by rotting produce and ends their life in despair, or an actor’s alcoholism leads them to an early grave after a scathing review, a bleakheart is born. Once a bleakheart rises, it seeks to spread hopelessness and create new bleakhearts. **Walking Shadows.** Bleakhearts exist on the fringes of the societies where they once lived. When they are not skulking in the dark, the citizenry ignores them as they would any other drifter. They linger around taverns, theaters, and other places the living visit for entertainment. Sometimes the sight and sound of merriment rouses the bleakhearts from cold despair to hot rage. The resulting carnage invariably leads to the destruction of the originating bleakheart and the creation of several new ones. **Familiar Faces.** A bleakheart gains grim satisfaction in causing distress to the living, especially those who have recently experienced joy. By day, they lurk in deeply shadowed areas of settlements, usually around places of entertainment, and skim the thoughts of passersby. When a bleakheart detects someone who is elated, it follows them home for further observation. While its victim sleeps, the bleakheart probes their mind, causing the victim nightmares about the subject of their happiness. Once the victim awakens, its joy turned to pain, the bleakheart disguises itself as the personage who once brought the victim joy and reveals itself. Even while magically disguised, a bleakheart appears disquietingly out of focus. **Undead Nature.** A bleakheart doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.