Corpsewalker

Those who profaned the grave by hastily rushing towards it.

Written by Acturus Albani

The word corpsewalkers, also known by the name deathtakers, ghouls or Bastards of Orcus, refers to an outlawed profession within the borders of the Kingdom of Crendameth. The bulk of these individuals' work came in the form of assassination, sabotage, espionage and infiltration in service of the Sunseeker Empire, which invaded the Kingdom over five hundred years ago. 

Corpsewalkers could transfer their own consciousness and vitality to a freshly killed humanoid capable of rational thought, granting them full control of that body until it was destroyed or the individual willingly or forcibly returned to their own body. The specifics of how this was achieved have been lost to time or heavily censored by the current authorities, yet it is known that this ability had its limitations and required extensive training and preparation to perform.

The profession's unholy history was ended by Elmeyon Crendameth when he reestablished the Kingdom, severely punishing those who would dare practice it.

Career

Qualifications

Surprisingly few requirements had to be met in order to become a corpsewalker. The only two conditions, however, were rare enough for most people to be disqualified almost immediately, these being an innate connection with necromancy and the dead, while also being completely insensible to the atrocities against nature that they would be asked to commit. Once both were discovered in an individual, they were trained relentlessly until they could consistently transfer their consciousness to a corpse and control it with ease.

Career Progression

Deathtakers held no ranks among themselves, choosing to revel in the chaos they caused instead of worrying about internal politics. Word of mouth, however, served as a way to earn respect inside their ranks, with such individuals being considered as superior or greater than their peers. All corpsewalkers answered to the reigning Seeker, the name given to the rulers of the Sunseeker Empire in Ar'Nuhûn.

Payment & Reimbursement

Corpsewalkers were usually paid handsomely, though a faction within them argued that, because of their drastically shortened lifespan, being rewarded in coin was pointless, as there would be little they could enjoy. Because of this, they were given a large property where to live in and an exemption from all taxes so long as they continued serving the Empire. If a deathtaker asked for something, and it was within reason, it was given to them.

Other Benefits

Corpsewalkers lived in infamy, having only themselves as company. They were shunned by all but a few members of the Seeker society, holding a unique position within the societal scheme, wherein they were above most commoners yet below the established nobility.

Perception

Purpose

The main purpose of the corpsewalkers was to instill fear when capturing defiant settlements or would-be separatists with their underhand tactics and unnatural magics, usually to great effect. Keeping the population in line and allowing little to no place for any thoughts of upheaval was their primary function.

Social Status

Deathtakers were scorned and by almost all of society under the Sunseeker Empire's occupation. The profession itself was though of  as cursed or something for those who had been damned, with few viewing it as a noble or viable undertaking.

Demographics

Less than one percent of the population had any contact with the magic necessary to corpsewalk. Their numbers never breached the two hundreds.

History

Corpsewalkers appeared soon after the Empty Lord landed in the eastern shores of Ar'Nuhûn, with them facilitating his conquest of the fledgling Kingdom of Crendameth. These first deathtakers quickly recruited (or forcibly recruited) a number of talented individuals to grow their reduced ranks, allowing the Sunseekers to make short work of those who would oppose the new domain.

Perhaps their most famous (and garish) accomplishment came in the form of how they took the city of Coreul, later becoming the city of Cerule, located in the current-day Duchy of Aricus. When the people refused to open the gates for the Empty Lord, waving the Crendameth banner proudly above the city's main gate, the Seeker, impatient as he was, ordered the execution of some of the prisoners they had taken for such an occasion, which would later be catapulted over the walls and into the city. Corpsewalkers had already taken hold of the freshly killed bodies, rapidly killing unsuspecting guards and unprepared townspeople. Whenever a deathtaker was struck down, it was not long before they took another body. Soon, the banner flown was the eclipsed sun instead of the shining star.

After this tactic was used, invaders needed only say that they carried soon-to-be-culled prisoners before any given settlement considered resisting their occupation.

Throughout the Sunseeker's rule over the country and beyond, corpsewalkers were kept at hand to quell insurrections as soon as they started happening, becoming more of a mercenary organization as these cropped up with less frequency. Once Elmeyon Crendameth reclaimed his ancestral throne, however, corpsewalkers were banned. Known corpsewalkers were executed when found, and anyone caught practicing the vile art would be severely punished.

Operations

Tools

A corpsewalker needed few implements to carry out a job. Namely, they only required a dark signet, a small metal band made of Ar'Nuhûnium, to perform their signature life transferal to a dead body. Anything else was a bonus to the individual corpsewalker, who was given free reign in the way they approached their operations.

Materials

Corpsewalkers supposedly required large amounts of the six-petaled potion, a concoction made from the corrosive substance obtained from deathbloom flowers, in order to carry out their tasks effectively. Of course, there were other components required for the deathstealer's spells, yet there have been few consistent reports accurately detailing their inventory.

Workplace

A corpsewalker thrived in urban environments, for it was there that they earned both their reputation and their salary. However, there were also instances where their services were required elsewhere. 

There are rumors of a lodge that served as the de facto headquarters for these individuals. If such a place truly existed, it has yet to be found.

Provided Services

Deathtakers specialized in infiltration, sabotage and assassination, usually being employed exclusively by the Seekers. They were known to take up mercenary jobs in the latter days of the Empire's dominion over the continent.

Dangers & Hazards

The most notable hazard present to a corpsewalker was the impact the act of transferring their living consciousness to a dead body had on their mind's, body's and spirit's integrity and stability. An individual would slowly start losing their mind as time went on, needing constant reminders of who they were, where they found themselves, etc, with their identity becoming a scattered assortment of many of the bodies they had taken or with them simply forgetting that they were alive, or what body was originally theirs. A deathtaker's body suffered just as much but not as quickly, with it beginning to waste away after about a year of practicing the forbidden art.

Another constant risk for the individuals that these individuals faced was the possibility of their original bodies being destroyed while they corpsewalked. Should this happen, the deathtaker's conscience was trapped in the hijacked corpse, oftentimes being unable to transfer themselves back into their own deceased body. Even if this were to happen, the body would eventually fall prey to decomposition, ending the corpsewalker's life. 

A variation on this occurrence would be if the hijacked body was destroyed while the deathtaker was controlling it. For strong-willed individuals with a solid connection to life, this would forcibly eject their being and return it to their bodies, usually arriving in great pain that could only be subsided by corpsewalking again. On lesser wills, or less prepared individuals, this would drive the essence of their being to nonexistence, leaving their original body in a comatose state.

Alternative Names

• Deathtaker

• Ghouls

• Bastards of Orcus

Type

Illicit

Demand

Their services were almost always required when the Sunseeker Empire lorded over the realm.

Legality

Corpsewalking and those who practiced it were outlawed shortly after Elmeyon Crendameth reclaimed his throne, twenty-six years ago. Known deathstealers were captured and executed by the King himself, forcing those with lesser renown to go into hiding. 

Nowadays, corpsewalking is heavily penalized, with the offending party being arrested and sent to Luxastrum, one of the most-well guarded prisons in the entire Kingdom, where they are to be incarcerated for no less than fifty years. Because of the Duchy of Adyma's policies, most of what happens within Luxastrum is unknown to the rest of the realm.

Related Locations

• Ar'Nuhûn