Corporeal Undead

In many cultures, the dead do not necessarily stay dead. Given that Non-Corporeal Undead exist and have a storied history in their own, it is no surprise that Corporeal Undead walks the land.

A number of such creatures have been mentioned in many cultures, and all terrify many of those who encounter them. Coming in many different forms, the reasons the dead rise is for a number of reasons, and a number of stories concerning them. Nearly every society & religion have taboos & heavy penalties concerning the use of, creation and even being undead. Those that do practise dark arts or are undead usually involve execution of the individual and destruction of the undead.

For many early societies, death was viewed as the cessation of life along with the body of the deceased body decaying . Usually the spirit or soul of the deceased passed to another existence such as an underworld or heaven of some type. In a few cases the spirit hung around, and could become a Non-Corporeal Undead . Sometimes a spark of the spirit could remain in the body and reanimate for a few reasons. Thus, proper burial and rituals were carried out to prevent this.

Unfortunately a minority of individuals created a series of magical rituals that could raise the dead using a portion of the soul, along with the identification of certain situations that either trapped the spirit in the body. Also, in rare cases the dead returned with another spark, that of something much more sinister, that of the demonic.

Since that time, most of these have been refined and updated.

What has to be mentioned, over time a mix of diseases and parasitical creatures have appeared that can resurrect cadavers.

It is sometimes pointed out that many peoples didn't have a thorough knowledge of what happens when a corpse starts to decay, or the effects of disease & disorders such as narcolepsy. These sometimes cause false positives and sadly all to common.

Found all over the world, almost all cultures have some form of physical dead. Common undead such as skeletons, zombies, vampires, wights, ghouls and revenants are but a few found.. Most are regional in some sense while others are spread throughout every culture irrespective of local traditions.

Multiple variants exist to some degree, and a few have common treads. Common European & Middle Eastern vampires are not mentioned here having their own entries. Causes can vary too. Following is the commonly found dead so far:

General Corporeal Undead

A number of undead can be found in many different forms and many are usually tied into a number of different regions. Some of the most common found are:

• Skeletons. These are one of the most numerous corporeal undead found throughout the world. Since the skeleton of many animals are longer lasting than the soft tissue, these are the part that is reanimated. Necromancers regularly raise these as slaves and a basic form of soldier. They either roam freely, or controlled by the being that raised them. Sometimes found in regions where death and despair happened in the form of dark magic energy spilling out, or suffering took place as in horrendous accidents, plague or battle, they will band together, and sometimes those with a spark of intelligence will gather them into groups parodying what they did in life. In the majority only a bare minimum of spirit is found within each.
• Zombies. Spells and places where extreme negative emotion or explosions of magic took place will create a number of zombies. These are generally the remains of recently dead or partially rotted remains still exist. Sometimes necromancers will call forth the dead like this as seeing dead family & friends risen as such is truly terrifying for the average person. Elements of the spells used to create such undead seem to point to ancient texts from forgotten civilisations and at least one version from an existing religion has a spell exclusively for raising these. The latter seems to be basis for the spell found in Africa, parts of the western Near East and southerly parts of Europe. Tracing it back, most scholars to a religion called Voodoo fount in the western regions of Central Africa. They point out that there is also a warning normally attached that most practitioners argue against using it, but to be aware of how it works and that using it can come back onto the caster, with only the most evil would ever dare to raise those lying in eternal slumber.
• Wights. These undead are the remains of evil humanoids who died violently and are cursed to walk the lands until properly destroyed, along with strong emotions that their lot in life was cut short. They have a habit of attracting lesser undead, to their side, and assembling armies usually to rule over a kingdom of the dead, and conquest constantly forming in their minds. Sometimes those stronger willed than them can dominate them, along with offering them the chance to go forth an conquer as part of a larger power.
• Draugr. Nordic undead with a stench to scare the living unto death, Draugr are from the very north of Europe. These creatures die a death and never buried properly at first. They come from corpses, usually those of warriors, who died usually in shame or outside of local customs, can cause the Draugr to rise. Protecting cairns, Nordic burials , and treasures they are powerful fighters, and when they are tempted to fight, they usually fight on the side of dark masters, usually those that follow those with links to deities of death, destruction and war. They are sometimes known to drink blood and be followers of the goddess named Hel.
• Ghouls. These undead are generally found in the Middle East and are different to many other undead. Believed to have the spark of the demonic in them and a penchant for cannibalism. Found in and near areas where there is a number of corpses to feed on, they regularly make graveyards and the like their homes, along with hunting on regularly travelled back roads, and places where recent battles have took place. They seem to have to separate creatures related to them, the Ghast and the Ghoul King, the latter being much more powerful than the standard Ghoul. They also locally have the name of Ghúl, and when they feed on the living, and make a kill, there is the chance that person mat return as one. On top of this, they seem to originate from outside an ancient city called Nineveh deep in the Abbasid Caliphate.
• Lich. These horrific creatures are effectively undead spellcasters who have received & completed the rituals to return as undead. They are exceptionally rare and extremely deadly. Usually wanting more life, maybe immortality, they get the information from incredibly rare ancient evil texts & grimoires, or from a deity of death. They look to continue to learn more spells collecting them by any means possible, and have reams & reams of material, and whole vaults filled with magic items. Ruling kingdoms hidden away from the world of the living these creatures rules with an iron, albeit crumbling, fist, they have countless minions, mainly undead or specialising in similar fields.
• Demiliches. Demiliches are what usually remains of a Lich that has remained too long on the Material Plane and has all but it's skull remaining that it inhabits. Unless they take care of their body this seems to be predominant fate of most Liches. Still powerful, they will still lead whole kingdoms of the dead and evil minions.
• Boneclaws. These undead are what remains of a potential Lich that fails to fully complete the rituals to become a Lich, and becomes a creature of undeath with powerful talons, limited magic at best, and able to be controlled by those with the means to do it. Usually controlled by creatures with their own agendas, the Boneclaws are used as terror troops and assassins taking out potential threats to the controlling master.
• Boneless. The Boneless are undead created when the internal organs & skeletal system is removed from the remains of a corpse. Used as a form of defence or shock troop to many powerful mages, they can slip in and out of areas that are harder for other undead. A favourite tactic of their masters is to place them on a skeleton or zombie and have it disengage from it when a threat gets too close. The shock it causes can easily turn the tide especially when there is the extra shock of facing two potential threats instead of one.
• Mummies. Some societies and culture mummify their dead, whether through elaborate ceremonies like the ancient Egyptians, or placing a sacrifice in bogs like the ancient Celts. These can sometimes rise if certain wards and protections are placed on their final resting places. Since the latter is usually seen as sacred they will attack & defend it will all their might. Some though are also awoken when it is disturbed seeing their eternal slumber has been disturbed, as well as acts of defilement on their sacred sites. A few see it as their sacred duty to also protect their lords that can be found in the exact same places. In the majority of these they are usually servants, minor nobles, priests or similar.
• Mummy Lords. Exceptionally powerful, Mummy Lords retain a strong essence of their souls in their bodies that allows them a great deal of power. Released onto the world with pacts made between them and either Osiris and/or Anubis, they return to their bodies when their power, resting place, or own remains are threatened by wayward individuals such as adventurers and graverobbers. Some have remained forever in this state to protect their kin from this happening in the first instance and have gathered legions of undead & living servants to their side over the centuries creating hidden empires in the sands. They care not as long as their gods are properly worshipped, and they are too. When one lives it is horrifying if it turns it's gaze on the living, as this can lead to all manner of calamities on all living things within reach.
• Revenants. These are catchall undead usually those who have something left in life to avenge. They those who were executed for crimes they didn't commit, to the demonically tinged looking to cause death & destruction wherever they walk. A general class of undead usually within this overall group. Local tales & customs will usually dictate why it is there.
• Deathknight. Deathknights are an incredibly rare and dangerous foe to encounter. Somewhat resembling a fully armoured & armed soldier in musty decaying finery they are all that remains of a high ranking soldier or paladin that broke their sacred vows in life and cursed to walk the world forever after. Nothing but the killing of everything the living holds dear can truly give them final rest. They carve out small holdings in abandoned places far away from the living they strike out, usually with smaller bands of lesser undead as their henchmen they cause untold damage wherever possible, and selling their blades to powerful creatures, whether Fiends or Liches or Vampires to name a few. This gives them access to resources such as magic & magical items, different types of followers, specific hideouts, and further reasons to attack the living. Greatly feared, though exceedingly rare, they can appear almost anywhere in the world.

These are but just a splattering of what lies out there in many places waiting for the unwary or foolish to encounter. Most times there is little chance of the living to encounter one, and with proper funerary rites, blessings, and taboos, most do not need to fear. All it takes though, according to many a tale, is the one wrong word or turn of phrase, incorrect gesture or thought, then maybe just maybe, one can encounter a Corporeal Undead.

Corporeal Undead are hated & feared by nearly every culture. Many class necromancy as a form of divination but comes at a cost, usually a disregard for life and disrespecting the dead. These cause heavy restrictions on the respective cultures. Also, if the dead can be resurrected what is to stop those with ulterior motives to overthrow the current status quo. At the same time, religious groups such as the Abrahamic religions believe that the dead should be only resurrected on Judgement Day and should by the word of God, not some mortal.

Sometimes Corporeal Undead are viewed as a curse on the living and an allegory for a person or people are sinful needing to make things right. An individual that returns as Undead is sometimes classed as living a life of perdition and needing to be destroyed to rid itself of such, or even to stop the curse.