The Animate Dead

Undead is a term that applies to creatures which are dead, but remain moving or are possessed of some sort of consciousness. Typically most undead are roughly equivalent in intelligence to the lower animals, driven by the most basic hunger: to feed. Most undead feed on the living, whether it be blood, brains, or other particular hungers. The undead will typically hunt and kill living human beings in order to devour them.

Undead, other than vampires and ghosts, are generally not acceptable as player characters. If you have an idea about other types of undead being brought into play as potential character types, please email the Council.

Undead Weaknesses

Any form of undead generally cannot set foot onto holy or consecrated ground, is burned by holy water or at the touch of religious tools or sacraments. All undead except the elemental undead share a weakness to fire, being easily combustible and burning quickly. Benediction (see Faith for more information) will stop, and drive away undead seeking to harm the faithful.

Common Undead

Zombies

Zombies are humans or animals raised from the dead by an animator, a vaudun practitioner, or a necromancer. Although they may appear human and have some of their memories at first, zombies quickly lose their memories and begin to rot. Zombies do not need to eat, but if fed meat, zombies will rot more slowly or not at all. Despite not being supernaturally strong, zombies are able to use their entire strength without concern for exhaustion or damage. They typically obey their creator's orders absolutely. Zombies are able to operate in daylight, but prefer night, and will hide during the day if permitted.

If an animator's corpse is raised as a zombie, it will arise as a flesh-eating zombie -- uncontrollable, much faster than a normal zombie, and with a taste for human flesh. The zombie can only regain its memory and personality by eating human flesh. In another instance, if the victim of a murder is raised as a zombie, the zombie will rise and then actively seek out its murderer. The zombie will then kill the murderer after attacking anything that has gotten in its way. Maximiliano believed this was because zombies, lacking souls or consciences, are unconflicted about the desire for vengeance which most humans would be. Whether or not such a zombie is then capable of being questioned and controlled like other zombies is unclear. A third way to get homicidal zombies appears to be by raising the corpse of a person who consumed human flesh during their life. In this case the zombie may come out of the ground more life-like than usual, but will deteriorate while their hunger grows, insatiable by normal food. Sending such zombie back to their grave may not allow them to lie back to rest, although it will trap them at least temporarily under the weight of the ground.

Ghouls

Ghouls are undead scavengers who hunt in packs, typically near the cemetery where they dwell, and eat the flesh of the living and dead people. Ghouls have animal or child-level intelligence and typically haunt cemeteries that are no longer holy ground, either because of the passage of time or because of some unholy ritual. Ghouls regard non-ghouls as either potential food or "something to run from".

Characteristics of Ghouls:

• Ghouls are undead beings who feed on the flesh and blood of dead or undead creatures.
• They are pack animals, and will not normally travel any great distance between cemeteries and usually do not attack living beings unless the potential prey is wounded and defenseless, but in large numbers ghouls can be bolder and more likely to swarm a live target.
• Easily afraid of fire.
• Their intelligence is only slightly above that of an ape; they are capable of human speech but communicate with one another through high-pitched squeals.
• Can be injured through conventional means, but cannot be permanently slain unless decapitated, burned alive or delivered a similar destructive blow.
• Unlike zombies, ghouls' bodies are not in a state of decomposition.
• Ghouls have physical strength greater than that of normal humans, being able to rip a human body limb from limb.
• Their skin is paler than it would have been in life, giving the impression it was dipped in silver-gray paint; their teeth and fingernails grow, the latter becoming long black talons, and their eyes glow a crimson red.
• Ghouls are not active during the daylight hours, but begin activity earlier in the evening than vampires.
• When they eat they will disembowel their food, cracking open the prey's rib cage to eat the internal organs.

Vampires

Vampires are undead creatures who die during the daylight hours and return to life with the setting of the sun. Read more about vampires here ».

Ghosts

Ghosts are technically considered to be one of the undead, being as they were once alive but now are not. Read more about ghosts here ».

Skeletons

Skeletons are similar to zombies in that they are a type of animate dead, but differ broadly in a number of different respects. First, although they are not supernaturally strong or fast, they are superhumanly strong and considerable faster than zombies and humans. Second, Skeletons cannot typically be animated except by necromancers who specialize in bone, and perhaps a few demons, ghosts, and vampire have the power to raise and command skeletal undead. Third, Skeletons cannot speak or answer questions, have no memories of their prior life, and do not rot.

Servitors

Intended as a catch all term for undead creatures which are bound to a necromancer by that necromancer's powers. Servitors are typically stronger than other forms of undead, as well as more intelligent and are capable of carrying out their masters instructions.

Rare Undead

There are a number of other types of undead creatures which periodically are encountered throughout the world by knowledgeable necromancers. These creatures are considerably rare and little is known about how they are created, formed, or why and what they do.

Liches

Liches are said to be a vampire like undead creature, who in life was well versed in Animation magic or a powerful Necromancer. Using spells or rituals to bind their intellect and souls to a magical object known as a phylactery, liches achieve a form of immortality. Liches are known to use magic and to be able to command other undead, including vampires, and are completely clearly cadaverous, bodies desiccated or completely skeletal.

Mummies

Mummies are the corpses of human beings which have been preserved according to ancient traditions which are found around the world, but which owe their fame to Egypt. While variations of the process are found globally, most mummies are created by powerful priests, magicians, or necromancers who adhere to the traditions and procedures found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, known as The Book of Coming Forth by Day. Mummies are typically bound to a single location, charged with the protection of ancient tombs and safeguarding the treasures of the departed.

Elemental Dead

The elemental dead are creatures which have been killed by some powerful effect involving the elements, or which died from exposure to the elements. When these creatures return from the dead, they are often brutally vengeful creatures, with greater than normal intelligence and a number of powerful abilities. These undead creatures despise the living and act to kill any living thing they can catch. They have not been seen in nearly 300 years by anyone that's lived to tell the tale.

• Lavawights were usually killed by fire, or burning in their life and have power over fire
• Shapes of Fire are undead creatures, an evolution of the Lavawights, which were slain by powerful fire magic, or being sacrificed to one of the Gods of Fire or Volcanoes.
• Shadows of the Void are undead creatures, typically the evolution of Winterwights, which were slain by powerful cold magic, or which were deliberately left exposed to winter and frigid conditions.
• Wintewrights are undead creatures which died due to low temperatures, such as freezing to death.

Necroelementals

Some powerful magicians, witches, or other beings have the power to kill elementals. If the slain elemental does not immediately discorporate, there is a chance that a powerful necromancer or a truly powerful animator might be able to bring the elemental back as a necroelemental.