Undeath

The myths surrounding 'Undeath' in the world of Khasur are varied, as varied as the species that populate the realms above and below and their contrasting cultures.
What information arcane and religious scholars have been able to glean over the millennia is hotly disputed between the faiths and different schools of magic.
Among the Humans and Dwarves, Halflings and other common folk, a passage from the Enchiridion Wurdurlac is frequently cited by clerics, paladins, monster hunters and witch burners, justifying their purging of the raised dead and those they often believe to be responsible. They believe it takes an evil soul wielding fel magics to return a husk of a living creature to a semblance of life, but devoid of their own will. This ritual, or state, or phenomenon is called by the learned a 'Quickening.' The passage is as follows:
"It is out of the lore and experience of the ancients and of all those who have studied the powers of the Undead. When they become such, there comes with the change the curse of immortality. They cannot die but must go on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world. For all that die from the preying of the Undead become themselves Undead, and prey on their kind. And so the circle goes on ever widening, like as the ripples from a stone thrown in the water... But of the most blessed of all, when this now Undead be made to rest as true dead, then the soul of the poor vessel whom we love shall again be free. Instead of working wickedness by night and growing more debased in the assimilating of it by day, she shall take her place with Clovus, Ingomer and Magnatrude in the halls of Walhalus and no longer languish in Limbo. So that, my friend, it will be a blessed hand for her that shall strike the blow that sets her free."
-------------------------------------------------------------
Mechanically, the undead in the world of Khasur can originate from myriad sources, but one is commonly known: a Quickening ritual, the very force to live within bound undead, animates a corpse with necromantic magic. They are often uncontrolled, but act according to base instinct, marred with the malintent of their animator. With time, magical and or spiritual energy, sometimes knowledge of forbidden arts, undead can be twisted into a great many horrifying forms and creatures.
They all are unified by one trait, a hunger for living flesh and blood to sustain their existence. Without it, they may fall dormant until accident, supplicant, or willing donor come to reignite the pinpoint flames in their eyes. Because of this, even through magical means of stealth and concealment, even the basest of undead forms can sense a warm, beating heart.

Type

Magical