Reginar the Necromancer

Nearly a century ago, a mage by the name of Reginar plagued Trast's western valley, entering the burial grounds of every settlement in the night and raising their dead. At first it wasn't clear what was happening, as the townspeople would awake to find ever increasing numbers of graves vacated. Eventually, however, Reginar was caught, and a bounty was placed on their head. Many tried and failed to stop them, until one group of adventurers put an end to their scheme. Reginar's motivations were never fully discovered.
The mage left a number of necromantic artifacts behind. Unfortunately, many of these have been lost in the time since their defeat. 
As a result of these events, the people of the western valley adopted cremation as their primary means of interring the dead, in order to safeguard against another necromancer following their example.