Shades & Undead
Shades, also known as "Lost Souls" are the immortal remnant of what remains when a mortal dies in the Brass realms.
After death, a mortal enters the spirit world and from there is intended to eventually enter one of the realms within the spirit world and join its denizens there.
If the soul was very loyal to an ideal or concept, either through actions or beliefs, it might be drawn to a realm such as Hades if they were particularly selfish or Mount Celestia if they lived their life for others.
If the person was an avid worshiper of a deity, they might be taken into the realm of that being and join its followers there, or it might simply join a realm it comes across.
The soul will then inevitable join the inhabitants of that spiritual realm and become one of them. They might become a Demon or Angel, striving to advocate the cause of evil or good respectively, learning the secrets of the universe over centuries and millennia. This process of journey and integration can take a long time, centuries sometimes.
This could be because they still have unresolved business on the mortal world, such as an unrequited love or a concern for their descendants.
Alternatively they might be an evil person that knows where they would end up if they were to descend deeper into the spirit world and as such refuse to move one more step.
The vast majority of these spirits eventually change their minds. This could be because their mortal attachments resolve themselves due to the endless grind of time, they come to learn that continued existence as a shade is dreadfully dull or they simply get curious what fate has in store for them.
If a necromancer or natural phenomenon allows them to enter the material world once again, these souls of the deceased will form themselves a corporeal form.
Almost every undead raised by magical phenomena or necromantic blasphemy is ultimately a shade. A corpse possessed by a shade or a shade forming itself a shell out of spirit-matter, it ultimately does not matter.
These souls are often from different species than the possessed vessel, unaccustomed to the mortal world after centuries of sensory deprivation or simply insane. As such the undead produced can be of wildly differing quality.
Shades are harmed by hallowed ground and cannot reanimate corpses that are buried on hallowed ground.
This happens most often either because a necromancer forcefully binds the soul of a deceased by the use of magic, or because that spirit does not yet wish to move on into the afterlife and returns to the mortal world. This could take the form of a vengeful spirit or an ancestral guardian protecting their descendants.
If a shade is bound to the will of a necromancer the only way to free it is to shatter the chains placed upon it. Luckily this most easily done by killing the necromancer. If only the spirit's manifestation is destroyed, the necromancer is likely able to summon and bind it again without issue.
If the spirit manifests naturally, the ideal way to lay it to rest would be to remove its grudge and attachments, such as fulfilling their final wish or convincing them that they should pass on. Alternatively a spirit can be forced back into the spirit world by force, though this does not stop them from returning if their will is strong enough and is often seen as cruel.
While it is in the material world a ghost will be tangile and physical, no different from how it was in life, apart from being translucent. Swords and axes can disperse it and banish it, but it is held in the material world not because of bodily functions but strength of will.
Most kinds of posessed undead are created exclusively by mortal necromancers as servants, with a few exceptions that have since become self-propagating.
Posessed undead are often dull-witted but hate all life with a passion and thus the resulting undead will relentlessly attack any living being they come across if left to their own devices.
Complete undead are the pinnacle of undead creatures. They are without exception very capable and dangerous and should be treated with extreme caution.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, for example as an attempt to obtain immortality or as a punishment (or reward) by the gods.
The Forms a complete undead can take are myriad. They could be a complete animate corpse or something more exotic like a brain in a jar or a necrotic slime.
Complete undead have the potential to become very powerful, as most of them are immune to the ravages of time.
However, a mortal soul does not mix well with an undead body. Often the undead in question goes insane and their personality is twisted into a dark caricature of what it was before, as the soul is unable to cope with the damage done to it.
Zombies & skeletons are created exclusively by necromancers as chaff and disposable meat-shields. They do not react at all to pain or injury and are stronger than they ever were in life. They don't need food, sleep or drink and they are sufficiently easy to create that they are usually created in groups. They are able to retain some capability of their skills in life, such as being capable of wielding weapons if they were trained to do so in life.
They are very dull-witted, and if left without supervision they will always choose the most direct approach to kill their target, having no creativity or problem-solving ability and not thinking beyond their immediate action. Very often they can be lured into pit-traps or spiked barricades if presented with a living target. They can also be made from the corpses of animals or monsters, to various degrees of success.
Ghouls are intelligent and predatory, often able to learn the language of the land and use advanced hunting tactics. They possess potent claws and teeth which they prefer to any mortal weaponry.
Ghouls have an insatiable hunger for the flesh of the living or recently deceased. They are driven by this cannibalistic hunger and go mad if they are unable to satisfy it.
The bite of a ghoul spreads an illness called 'Ghoul-Fever'. Those that succumb to it themselves rise the next day as ghouls. In this way, ghouls have become a self-propagating scourge.
Wights, also called revenants, are vengeful dead, created when a necromancer animates a mortal's body and enslaves their spirit to serve.
They can also be created when a mortal dies but refuses to pass on, such as if they have an unfulfilled grudge or an oath that they feel duty-bound to fulfill beyond death.
Wights maintain all the skills, memories and intelligence they had in life and gain some new strengths due to their new undead form. However being a wight is torturous and one and all they yearn to pass on to the afterlife. Many are driven insane from this state of being or come to hate living creatures.
Wights need no food or water but in order to heal their own wounds they need to drain the life-force of the living.
Vampires are the victims of the curse of Vampirism.
Vampires are exceptionally powerful in strength, speed and magical ability. They possess the intellect of a living person and the older they are, the more powerful they become. They are also hard to track down, especially since they can look completely human if they wish it.
They are however weakened in sunlight and need to subsist by drinking blood.
Eternals are a highly rare and powerful form of undead. The category of 'Eternal' is somewhat vague because there is many ways of creating them yet there is very few of them; nearly every eternal becomes undead in their own personallized way. It can be achieved through a potent magical ritual or unholy rite or as the result of a pact with a Demon, it does not matter.
Eternals are one and all very powerful, as only the most committed and competent souls can endure the transformation process. After the transformation they are unmistakably an undead, either skeletal or mummified, though losing none of the powers they had in life.
Apart from a disassociation with their former life, eternals face very few downsides from their undead apart from the occasional need to absorb life energy every few months to keep themselves sated. They do not inherently go insane from their undead state, they do not degrade over time and they lose none of their power and may even gain more of it as they strive for greater heights.
Eternals are not only immune to the ravages of time, but often return if their corporeal form is destroyed, for their soul is forever bound to the mortal realms, for better or for worse.
Description
Temporary rather than eternal
Shades are spirits in a state of transition. This is not their intended end-state, but a mere stepping stone one the road to their destined afterlife.After death, a mortal enters the spirit world and from there is intended to eventually enter one of the realms within the spirit world and join its denizens there.
If the soul was very loyal to an ideal or concept, either through actions or beliefs, it might be drawn to a realm such as Hades if they were particularly selfish or Mount Celestia if they lived their life for others.
If the person was an avid worshiper of a deity, they might be taken into the realm of that being and join its followers there, or it might simply join a realm it comes across.
The soul will then inevitable join the inhabitants of that spiritual realm and become one of them. They might become a Demon or Angel, striving to advocate the cause of evil or good respectively, learning the secrets of the universe over centuries and millennia. This process of journey and integration can take a long time, centuries sometimes.
The unwilling and unable
Some souls might be unable to move on into their chosen afterlife.This could be because they still have unresolved business on the mortal world, such as an unrequited love or a concern for their descendants.
Alternatively they might be an evil person that knows where they would end up if they were to descend deeper into the spirit world and as such refuse to move one more step.
The vast majority of these spirits eventually change their minds. This could be because their mortal attachments resolve themselves due to the endless grind of time, they come to learn that continued existence as a shade is dreadfully dull or they simply get curious what fate has in store for them.
Undead
Those shades unwilling to move on linger at the border between the mortal world and the spirit world. They yearn to live once more, even if they have entirely forgotten what it feels like.If a necromancer or natural phenomenon allows them to enter the material world once again, these souls of the deceased will form themselves a corporeal form.
Almost every undead raised by magical phenomena or necromantic blasphemy is ultimately a shade. A corpse possessed by a shade or a shade forming itself a shell out of spirit-matter, it ultimately does not matter.
These souls are often from different species than the possessed vessel, unaccustomed to the mortal world after centuries of sensory deprivation or simply insane. As such the undead produced can be of wildly differing quality.
Shades are harmed by hallowed ground and cannot reanimate corpses that are buried on hallowed ground.
Types of Undead
Incorporeal Undead
Incorporeal Undead occur if shades manifest directly in the mortal world. These beings thus take semi-corporeal form, there but not quite, an apparition, a ghost.This happens most often either because a necromancer forcefully binds the soul of a deceased by the use of magic, or because that spirit does not yet wish to move on into the afterlife and returns to the mortal world. This could take the form of a vengeful spirit or an ancestral guardian protecting their descendants.
If a shade is bound to the will of a necromancer the only way to free it is to shatter the chains placed upon it. Luckily this most easily done by killing the necromancer. If only the spirit's manifestation is destroyed, the necromancer is likely able to summon and bind it again without issue.
If the spirit manifests naturally, the ideal way to lay it to rest would be to remove its grudge and attachments, such as fulfilling their final wish or convincing them that they should pass on. Alternatively a spirit can be forced back into the spirit world by force, though this does not stop them from returning if their will is strong enough and is often seen as cruel.
While it is in the material world a ghost will be tangile and physical, no different from how it was in life, apart from being translucent. Swords and axes can disperse it and banish it, but it is held in the material world not because of bodily functions but strength of will.
Possessed Undead
Possessed undead are created when a corpse is possessed by a shade and are what most people think of when they hear of the unliving.Most kinds of posessed undead are created exclusively by mortal necromancers as servants, with a few exceptions that have since become self-propagating.
Posessed undead are often dull-witted but hate all life with a passion and thus the resulting undead will relentlessly attack any living being they come across if left to their own devices.
Complete Undead
Complete undead are created when mortal souls are bound into their former bodies and animated with undeath, rather than being a form of shade returned to the mortal world to possess a body that is not it's own. This can be done through magical rituals, curses and even rarely through sheer will from a mortal.Complete undead are the pinnacle of undead creatures. They are without exception very capable and dangerous and should be treated with extreme caution.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, for example as an attempt to obtain immortality or as a punishment (or reward) by the gods.
The Forms a complete undead can take are myriad. They could be a complete animate corpse or something more exotic like a brain in a jar or a necrotic slime.
Complete undead have the potential to become very powerful, as most of them are immune to the ravages of time.
However, a mortal soul does not mix well with an undead body. Often the undead in question goes insane and their personality is twisted into a dark caricature of what it was before, as the soul is unable to cope with the damage done to it.
Notable Examples
Below are some examples of the undead. This list is by no means complete, it merely contains some of the most relevant.Zombies & Skeletons
Type: Possessed undeadZombies & skeletons are created exclusively by necromancers as chaff and disposable meat-shields. They do not react at all to pain or injury and are stronger than they ever were in life. They don't need food, sleep or drink and they are sufficiently easy to create that they are usually created in groups. They are able to retain some capability of their skills in life, such as being capable of wielding weapons if they were trained to do so in life.
They are very dull-witted, and if left without supervision they will always choose the most direct approach to kill their target, having no creativity or problem-solving ability and not thinking beyond their immediate action. Very often they can be lured into pit-traps or spiked barricades if presented with a living target. They can also be made from the corpses of animals or monsters, to various degrees of success.
Ghouls
Type: Possessed undeadGhouls are intelligent and predatory, often able to learn the language of the land and use advanced hunting tactics. They possess potent claws and teeth which they prefer to any mortal weaponry.
Ghouls have an insatiable hunger for the flesh of the living or recently deceased. They are driven by this cannibalistic hunger and go mad if they are unable to satisfy it.
The bite of a ghoul spreads an illness called 'Ghoul-Fever'. Those that succumb to it themselves rise the next day as ghouls. In this way, ghouls have become a self-propagating scourge.
Wights
Type: Complete undeadWights, also called revenants, are vengeful dead, created when a necromancer animates a mortal's body and enslaves their spirit to serve.
They can also be created when a mortal dies but refuses to pass on, such as if they have an unfulfilled grudge or an oath that they feel duty-bound to fulfill beyond death.
Wights maintain all the skills, memories and intelligence they had in life and gain some new strengths due to their new undead form. However being a wight is torturous and one and all they yearn to pass on to the afterlife. Many are driven insane from this state of being or come to hate living creatures.
Wights need no food or water but in order to heal their own wounds they need to drain the life-force of the living.
Vampires
Type: Complete UndeadVampires are the victims of the curse of Vampirism.
Vampires are exceptionally powerful in strength, speed and magical ability. They possess the intellect of a living person and the older they are, the more powerful they become. They are also hard to track down, especially since they can look completely human if they wish it.
They are however weakened in sunlight and need to subsist by drinking blood.
Eternals
Type: Complete UndeadEternals are a highly rare and powerful form of undead. The category of 'Eternal' is somewhat vague because there is many ways of creating them yet there is very few of them; nearly every eternal becomes undead in their own personallized way. It can be achieved through a potent magical ritual or unholy rite or as the result of a pact with a Demon, it does not matter.
Eternals are one and all very powerful, as only the most committed and competent souls can endure the transformation process. After the transformation they are unmistakably an undead, either skeletal or mummified, though losing none of the powers they had in life.
Apart from a disassociation with their former life, eternals face very few downsides from their undead apart from the occasional need to absorb life energy every few months to keep themselves sated. They do not inherently go insane from their undead state, they do not degrade over time and they lose none of their power and may even gain more of it as they strive for greater heights.
Eternals are not only immune to the ravages of time, but often return if their corporeal form is destroyed, for their soul is forever bound to the mortal realms, for better or for worse.
Appearance
The most common shape for any kind of undead is a half-rotten corpse, animated by fell energies.Alternatively they might be translucent images, specters of the persons they once were in life.
Rare are the undead that can mimic the living with any great degree of accuracy.
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