Undead, part 1.

Hey Guys, in honor of Halloween, I'm going to publish some articles on how undead are used by the campaign setting. Let me know what you think.

Intro

On Terra (the name of the campaign setting, if you’ve forgotten), undead are creatures created by alchemy rather than by rituals carried out by priests of evil gods. This means that being undead in and of itself isn’t Evil, although the process of becoming undead often drives the subject psychotically insane or robs the subject of free will, which often leaves the creature open to becoming a pawn of whatever evil influence he or she should come under.

Creation

Most undead are created intentionally through a variety of alchemical techniques and treatments the trigger the transformation. Compared to other esoteric knowledge, the formulae needed to achieve transformation are relatively easy to acquire and implement. This leads to a depressingly large and regular occurrence of undead on Terra. For example, the Skull King of Barrenton once raised an army by poisoning a well with a water-based treatment he had created himself. Half the world away and several years later, the Demon Oni-Kiro released a vaporous treatment potent enough to turn every creature with 5 miles into a zombie within a matter of hours (including Oni-Kiro, in this case).
As already mentioned, subjects often become psychotic during the process of zombification. Some also mutate unexpectedly, leading to a variety of interesting results. For example, some zombies become supernaturally strong, while others grow fangs or extra arms. In general, 1% of all undead mutate during transformation. These mutations are in fact what gives rise to Vampirism, Ghoulism, and other specialized forms of undeath. Often these specialized forms have ways of perpetuating themselves without alchemical means, which is unfortunate because the science of alchemy has yet to produce a reliable way of creating these specialized creatures and the world would be relatively free of them, but for their ability to reproduce.

Quirks and Habits

Undead are susceptible to suggestion for the first few minutes after they transform. During this period, they imprint tend to imprint on a face, much in the same way a baby bird does, and thereafter follow its commands. However, as Derrik the Dread Terror of Knotwood Forest found out, such a bond can be broken if the zombies’ natural instincts are not sated often and well. This bond can also be subverted by way of a clever disguise or illusory magic. With the right tools, it is not hard to convince a zombie you are its master. Zombies given contradictory orders or who find themselves in the presence of two identical masters usually become uncontrollably insane. Undead who have no master usually pursue their instinct to feed and kill as best they can. However, there have been cases of individual zombies regaining some sense of self when strongly presented with evidence of their previous life. Most are totally unreachable, however.

Next Article: Incorporeal Undead!