The Undead

In all folklore across the world, there have been numerous accounts and descriptions of "The Undead", horrible abominations of life, and mockeries of death. They take the form of bones, rotting meat, even ethereal figures unable to rest and cursed to haunt the living. It is only the nature of the unnatural to inspire such awe from those who have had the misfortune to encounter them.

How they are made:
There are many ways to raise the dead, and equally as many ways for the dead to spill back onto the Earth. While this journey may not be undertaken by all who have died, there are also ways to force the spirits of those who want rest back to the mortal coil, even unwillingly in some cases.

Necromancy:
Quite easily the most infamous way to make the dead un-dead. Necromancy can be performed in a variety of ways, and require a variety of resources to undertake; certain scrolls, ingredients, or even bits of the caster's soul. There are only one defining feature of this art. Throughout all incarnations, it requires the body of something once living. Once the body is there, there are certain ways to bring back its functions, creating a new being.

Possession:
Another way to raise the dead, this one differs from Necromancy in a few ways, most notably that you dont technically need the body of the dead in order to have something "Possess" it. Possession can take many different forms, such as possessing the bodies of the living, possessing inanimate objects, or even possessing the bodies of the dead in a similar way to Necromancy, except the spirit possessing the body can be freed via damage or other magical means. There are only a few reported incidents of one spirit possessing multiple bodies or hosts.

Summoning:
This is one of the darkest forms of raising the dead, as it also can be used for something much more sinister. While requiring more ingredients compared to Necromancy or Possession, it has the most powerful and dangerous outcomes. Based on the ingredients used, you could summon a mere spirit, and lower forms of summoning do exactly that, briefly summoning the apparitions of the dead who lack a body in order to meet a loved one, or summoning ghosts that could foretell brief bits of the future for the more powerful incarnations. However, the most rare and powerful ingredients could be used to summon a Demon or even an Angel, depending on the ingredients used. Due to the dangerous implications of summoning, accidents that may result in a failed spell for the lower forms of summoning, could result in disaster, from explosions of power, all the way to natural disasters for the higher forms.

Draugr:
Most Draugr appear less as a rotting corpse or bandaged Mummy, and instead rise as more of a dry husk lacking life, eyes illuminated with an eerie glow and with a horrible, rancid smell. They are usually described with a "Superhuman strength", although the validity of some claims may be up to question.

Undead from Norse Mythology, one of a few select Undead that may rise from the grave without outside help. Most Draugr inhabit more Northern locals, and are usually regarded as something to be feared or slain. Draugr differentiate from many Undead due to their nature, being evil or dissatisfied with death. As such, when Draugr rise they tend to share certain qualities, such as Greed, Envy, or Hatred(Usually for the living.). Their Greed causes them to rise from their graves to assault would-be grave robbers, and their Envy causes them to feel immense jealousy for the living, causing them to attack. They are reported to have an insatiable appetite, whether it be for flesh, or material possessions. Draugrs tend to rise if left in a sitting or standing position, indicating they are ready to get up and move. The most common method to dispatch a Draugr is to decapitate them. To prevent Draugrs from rising, you can do multiple methods, ranging from locking the feet together to prevent movement, or the most common method, sealing them in a tomb which is then bricked up.



Skeletons:
All Skeletons share the same appearance, i.e. reanimated bones, although some of the more "lively" skeletons may appear to have glowing "eyes", not real ones, but more of two floating points of light that hover inside the eye socket. Many lack a defining smell, and the bones seem to be connected by some sort of unseen force, allowing them to move similar in a way to humans.

Skeletons are the remains of the living, usually repossessed and given new life from either Necromancy or Possession, with Necromancy being the most common way to raise this Undead. Skeletons are notable in the way that there is no way for a skeleton to rise on its own, requiring assistance from the other previously mentioned ways. If brought back through Necromancy, it will be at the command of the original caster, however when not commanded it takes an "un-life" of its own, being an entirely new being that lacks the memories of the original body, or spirit inhabiting it. If brought back through Possession, it is more like a puppet of the spirit, allowing the spirit to manipulate the living world through the bones of the dead. Skeletons are durable, yet fragile in their bones. A sword or arrow may not cleave through the hardened bone of the skeleton, however, blunt weapons are much more effective against them, being able to pulverize their bones, and once most of the bones are destroyed, the spirit is either destroyed in Necromancy, or separated in possession. Either way, if the bones were Possessed or Necromanced even once, they cannot be brought back with Necromancy ever again, but can still be possessed.



Dullahan:
Undead that are Irish in origin, commonly described as a headless rider atop a horse of varying description, depending on the way the Dullahan were raised. If raised through Necromancy, the horse will have the undead or skeletal features of the rider, whilst if raised through possession, the horse can be any horse that is able to be rode, although often black in color.

There are three distinct types of Dullahan, their power and skill differing using the three ways to revive Undead. First, when a case of possession occurs, the "rider" is often a suit of reanimated armor, with no special connection to the horse they ride besides the classic rider-mount dynamic. Then, a step up from that is Necromancy, which involves rising the spirits of the rider and horse simultaneously, making them both in sync with one another and more combat-effective, and finally Summoning, which raises a Dullahan more akin to the actual legend, ones known to use human spines as whips, and the ability to call upon the soul of a target while completely still and sever it from the body. Dullahans tend to be defeated when their horse is destroyed, and all known Dullahans have a weakness to gold, however the stronger the Dullahan, the more potent the gold is to them.



Zombie:
One of the more common types of undead, often described as rotting corpses or decayed flesh, these undead can often be smelled long before they can be seen, and they often shamble from place to place, depending on how decayed their legs are. This type of undead includes a surprisingly high diversity of looks, all based on how decayed the flesh is.

Zombies are often considered the weakest and most common undead, as there is only one way to bring one back, being the usage of Necromancy. Unlike some other iterations of Undead, Zombies always lack sentience and wills of their own, requiring to be ordered around by their Necromancers, and in the case where this is no longer possible, often go feral. Zombies, however, work best in herd tactics due a special ability they have, known as "infection". Zombies have the ability to infect other corpses through saliva, as long as the corpse has a few organs intact within them, meaning that they cannot raise bodies that are too damaged. As such, they cannot infect other living beings, however their bites and scratches are still dangerous, as they often lead to near-fatal infections if left untreated due to regular disease being spread by a corpse. Zombies are usually destroyed when either most of their few remaining organs are spilled, or the more effective way, being set on fire. The decaying flesh means that they work as excellent tinder, making fire the most effective way to dispatch of zombies.