The Undead

Skeleton's are resurected and controled by a necromancer.They don't have a will of their own.The strongest of necromancers can imbue the skeleton's they resurect with alot of undead energy.These skeletons can make decisions of their own and after the necromancer dies they manage to "unlive" on their own.
These skeletons are rare though,but in some area's with a large concentration of undead energy skeletons are more common.There have been cases of "wild skeletons" being revived in these places due to the lingering undead energies.


Skeleton's don't eat (they don't have a digestive system D: ) but they do need undead energy to stay "undead".So some people say that skeletons "feed" on undead energy.

In combat skeleton's are fast,nimble (their power depends on the necromancer though).Skeletons weakness is that they are fragile, one relatively heavy hit and they break (depends on the skeletons age).But this doesn't really matter for necromancers, they can just re -resurect the fallen skeleton's or replace too badly damaged body parts.This is why most skeletons exist of more then one person(or monsters) remains.

Although they are weak individually their strenght lies in numbers.Because they are relatively easy to control most necromancers can control about 50 at a time, the strongest of necromancers can control an entire army of them.

Skeletons are mostly (used to be) human but any being with a skeleton can become a skeleton after it dies.
examples:human,elf,dwarf,all vertebrates,dragonkind(=dracolich),etc.

Skeletons that have lost their use completely are recycled by turning them into bone dust.Bone dust can be used by necromancers,liches and soul reapers to enhance their power.Those that use bone dust can get addicted to it, death's nephew is one of those bone dust addicts.

Hell yeah! frigging zombies O: ...the one thing that makes kenichi pee his pants O.o.Yes, im serious if i ever saw a zombie i'd need a new pair of pants ....funny? ye laugh idc...you wouldn't freak out if a corpse walked over to you wanting to bite and eat you?no?you are crazy ... (kenichi has zombiephobia ?).

Zombies are reanimated corpses (freshness varies ).Unlike skeletons zombies aren't always controlled by necromancers.Most zombies are wild zombies.Zombies don't die after their necromancer dies,they keep walking and infecting other creatures.So the wild zombie population would keep growing if undead slayers wouldn't hunt them regurarly.(thank you artix?)

A zombie apocalypse isn't that far fetched,some hundreds of years ago the wild zombie population increased dramatically.Whole of lore was crawling with zombies,thanks to a large group of knights,mages,rogues,healer,etc.(even necromancers(who enslaved alot of those zombies) a zombie apocalypse was prevented.But nobody knows what triggered it, so nobody can predict if/when it will happen again and if the next time we can save ourselves again.

More recently (18 years ago) there was a sudden increase in undead energy all over lore.This time all sorts of undead rose up from their graves and attacked whole cities.But somehow the undead dissapeared as quickly as they came.Again lore was safe but zombies remain wandering lore.And who knows when the next sudden zombie plague will be.

Despite popular belief zombies do not only eat brains.Most necromancer however do feed their zombies only brains.Because brains give zombies extra power,zombies however will eat any part of a living creature,dead or alive (not undead).

In combat zombies are tougher then skeletons due to their flesh that acts as a shield and keeps them (mostly) together.Zombies do not feel pain and wont stop moving until theyre brain is destroyed.Zombie heads can't move but will bite if you come to close,so even if the body stops moving DO NOT decapitate a zombie.Only if your desperate and if your carefull not to let the severed head bite you.The body however will not be able to move without its brain so as long as you keep a safe distance from the head you'll be fine (unless there are more zombies around, which is mostly the case with zombies).

Zombies strenght lies in their numbers (like skeletons,a lone zombie is easily defeated but a horde of zombies can consist of more then 5000 zombies.Mostly necromancers use about 100 zombies at one time (if on the move, at home they have thousands of zombies crawling around protecting their domain).

Zombies have alot of weaknesses though.They are very slow (some species can be faster though) due to rigor mortis Once they lose a body part they can't be repaired.Once you finally manage to completely kill a zombie it will stay dead unlike skeletons.Their intelligence is limited to..almost none and they know only how to feed.But necromancers don't mind since they don't have to control them all unlike skeletons.





Like skeletons zombies are mostly former humans but can be of any living creature.Dragon zombies are rare,even more rare then dracoliches.Since dragons can easily defeat hordes of zombies.And necromancers prefer other types of undead dragons that are more reliable.

Ghouls are similar to zombies,they are walking corpses that eat flesh.People used to think ghouls were demons instead of a form of undead.This changed when early necromancers managed to control them and later learned how to make them.These days ghouls have become the favorite undead soldier of many necromancers.

They have the (rotting) flesh that zombies have that serves as protection. They are much faster,stronger and smarter then zombies.They aren't breakable like skeletons are and can think for themselves.Although mostly instinctive their intelligence can be compared to that of hyenas.They behave alot like hyenas too,hunt and scavenge in groups and they have a social structure that is similar to hyenas.


Normally ghoul inflicted wounds do not turn the wounded into a ghoul.Wounds mostly get very badly infected though.But necromancers have found a way to make their ghoul's bites similar to those of zombies.By adding a poison in the ghouls body,the poison spreads and if the ghoul wounds something or someone it will die after a few hours and turn into a ghoul itself.The procedure to make the poison however is complicated and not all necromancers know how to make it.Those that do know the recipe don't always use it because the ingredients are rare.So most ghouls arent contagious but there is no way to tell the difference between a poisoned ghoul from a normal ghoul.So be cautious when fighting a ghoul.

Ghouls mostly rotten flesh,but any corpse will do.Eating dead flesh regenerates the ghoul, this is why wounded ghouls do not have to be replaced.A ghoul that is mortally wounded and can't get enough flesh to regenerate dies and can't be revived anymore.

Wild ghouls have always existed and are the most common wild undead.They are organized in groups of 5-12 individuals.They raid cemetaries and mostly avoid human contact but will kill any human that disturbs them.When desperate they will attack human settlements and kil humans to eat.

Ghouls are also the easiest undead to experiment on. Because of this there are alot of different kinds of ghouls.Necromancers enhance them,morph them and give them magic powers.Examples of these types of ghouls are:ghasts,wendigos,Draugr,etc

Ghast:
A ghast is a sort of super-ghoul,they look more animal like,are stronger ,have more endurance but are slightly less intelligent.Making ghasts is a long process where ghouls are imbued with masses of undead energy and then locked away untill the energy changes their bodies into ghasts.

Wendigo:
Wendigos are a rare form of undead.In the wild they are made when a human eats another humans flesh.Canibalism changes their body,they grow more hair on their body,arms get alot longer,face gets deformed and they become so skinny you can see through their skin.Their weakplace is their heart that you can clearly see.The rest of their body is invulnarable.The heart is cold and blue,they keep growing forever (untill they get killed).So there have been cases of giant wendigo's.They mostly live in snowy areas and can use some frost magic.They sneak up behind a victim, if the victim turns around they hide and become invisible.The next time the victim hears anything it will be too late .Wendigos are very fast and can outrun most other creatures.

Draugr:
Fallen heroes and kings that die can be resurected as draugr.They stay at their grave and protect their treasure .Sometimes they go collect more treasure in their previous hometown.Killing all who they come across,weapons do not work on them.To kill them you must wrestle them back to their grave and burn their coffin and body.A variant is the sea draugr wich is the same only one who died at sea and comes on land to kidnap their relatives and get more treasure.

Constructs
Some necromancers like experimenting..a bit too much.Their undead minions are taken apart,put back together and then taken apart again etc. until it results in a hideous undead monster formed by 2,3,4 sometimes up to 100 different undead.Some call them flesh golems others call them constructs but most people call them "Oh dear gods its hideous wtf is that thing".
Their abilities are undefined,each individual can be totally different from another.Some have brute strenght,some have magical powers others have machines attached to them that they use to attack their target.Some are intelligent some are the dumbest creatures on earth,some are giants some are smaller than a cat and some can barely move let alone pose a threat(some people could get a heart attack just by looking at their deformed bodies though)(these creatures sometimes consist of ghouls,zombies and skeletons all in one or either of these in every possible combination..a necromancer's imagination can be extremely twisted but skeletons and ghouls are easier to work with since they decay less than zombies).

Several examples:

When Wesir, the first pharaoh of Deshret, died his son Inepu tried bringing him back to life.At first the ritual seemed to have worked but there was something wrong ith Wesir.He was not truly alive, his body was still rotting.Inepu gave his father a magical potion to slow the rotting but nothing could stop it.To cover up his rotting body parts Wesir wrapped bandages around himself.Eventually his whole body was wrapped up.He had become the first mummy.

It did not take long for the rotting to affect his brain.Eventually he could not think straight anymore and went wild, killing many of his servants and his wife.His son destroyed him and vowed to never again raise the dead.But the ritual was already known to the public and soon necromancers found ways to control the mummies with or without their minds intact.Inepu was horrified by this and tried to outlaw necromancy, the necromancers fled and spread over the world.Knowing he was responsible, Inepu hunted down the necromancers but the more he killed the more of them appeared.

To continue to protect the world Inepu had to do what he vowed to never do again, he mummified himself.But this time he put a protection spell on his mind and on the rest of his body.He also infused himself with the spirit of the demon that his father had captured long ago.This caused him to be different than normal mummies, not only did he not rot he was also far more powerfull.Its rumored he still hunts mummies today.


Most mummies are still found in the ruins of Deshret but necromancers all over Val have tried and succeeded at the ritual.But due to the immense time and effort mummification takes many necromancers prefer the easier but less powerfull undead, like ghouls and constructs.Sometimes Ancient mummies get uncovered in their tombs, most of these will have had their brain rotten away long ago thus they attack whoever awakens them.

Mummies that still have their most of their mind intact can use elemental magic.This also counts for mummies being directly controlled by necromancers.Many of the Mummy’s abilities depend on who the Mummy was in life. For example, the Mummy of a pharaoh or high priest may be able to assume the form of a swarm of scarab beetles or become a thick cloud of desert sand. The Mummy might even be able to summon plagues of biblical proportions, or even command lesser mummies or other forms of the undead. Lesser mummies are extremely strong and relentless, little more than single-minded killers.All mummies are weak to fire, due to their bandages and the balseming oil.



Female mummy
Inepu mummified

Reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb Ki from their victims.
Some would appear to look as a normal human being while others had a hideous green phosphorescent glow with serrated teeth and long talons. They have difficulty walking because of the pain and stiffness of being dead so they hop instead. They are far more pale and have very dark circles under their eyes.

The hopping corpses are dressed in imperial Qing Dynasty clothes, their arms permanently outstretched due to rigor mortis.They tend to appear with an outrageously long tongue and long fingernails.




After a period of growing stronger, jiang shih would gain the ability to fly, grow long white hair, and possibly change into wolves.These jiang shih can use elemental magic but only of one element.

They are said to be created when a person's soul fails to leave the deceased's body. Usually jiang-shih were created after a particularly violent death, such as a suicide, hanging, drowning, or smothering. It could also be a result of an improper burial, as it was thought that the dead would become restless if their burial was postponed after their death. The jiang-shih were not known to rise from the grave, so their transformation had to take place prior to burial.

Necromancers can control them by placing a cursed talisman on them.

Vampires,reserved.

Liches,reserved.

Risk:Very High
Weakness:Natural and non natural light
Lv:Mostly around lv 50-60
Exp yield:1250 exp for lv 50 wraiths,double for Lv 60 wraiths

When a necromancer attempts to become a lich, things can go horribly wrong.The unstabble undead mana has to be sealed into the phylactery together with the necromancers soul.If this somehow fails or the phylactery breaks before the ritual is complete , the undead mana and the nercromancers soul will fuse together and will create a wraith.

Wraiths have raw magical power twice as strong as the lich would have been.But they don't have the intelligence to control it anymore.

Wraiths are incorporeal like ghosts but far more powerful and rare.Ghosts are purely ectoplasm,wraiths however are also part pure darkness.Which might explain their explosive power.

Or ghosts.reserved.

reserved

Female soul reaper
Death herself

Undead created by necropalypse, based on soul reapers but they decay slowly unlike reapers.More info later.

Dat eye.

More info as it's revealed.

So I finally figured out the mechanics of how undeath works in Val. I never was satisfied with just "undeath energies". Especially since the lack of such an energy in the lore.
For a while I brushed it off as just something to do with souls being trapped in a corpse but then what's the difference between the undead and the living?
The answer lies in White ki. I've already explained how the different kinds of Ki work but I'll summarize the important bits to help explain their part in undeath.

White ki is the life force that allows living beings to be alive.
White ki by itself would run out too quickly. Which is why its broken down into four different colors of ki. Blue for motion, regulating the ability to move and our reflexes. Red for power, regulating our strenght and muscles. Yellow for energy, giving us stamina and the potential to use energy (ki blasts but also weirdly enough mana etc.). Green for health, healing our wounds and fighting disease.

Breaking down white ki is done with the help of Dark ki. Dark ki is also used to counterbalance our white ki. But Dark ki can only break down the white ki thanks to its destructive nature. If the balance between Dark and White ki is upset then the results can be bad.

Too much white ki makes it hard to break it down and our body would be forced to use it in its raw form. We would be extremely powerful and fast, our endurance would be almost infinite and our wounds would heal in seconds. But at the cost of shortening our lifespan drastically. Because once a living being runs out of white ki, it dies.

However, too much dark ki and the opposite happens. We grow weak, our bodies are hard to move, we get tired quickly and we get sick easily. This is what happens to most old people since we barely use our dark ki it doesn't run out as fast as white ki and it slowly destroys our bodies making us look and feel older.

But a human that manages to keep their white and dark ki in perfect balance can live up to 150 years. (Other races have different lifespans) Although its a very hard thing to do.

The amount of white ki that we have is a set amount (Slightly different amounts depending on many variables.) and it depletes over the course of our life. White ki cannot be restored. At best it can be recycled by fusing the right amount of the other four ki. But that process is only known to a handfull of people and even then some ki is lost in the process. (Basically, you can't extend your white ki and be immortal.)


Once your white ki is depleted your soul is released from your body and is swept up in the river of souls that carries it to the afterlife where it is purified and recycled by means of rebirth. (A process set up by Death herself after the first afterlife was broken because it couldn't hold all the souls that died in the wars. (There was no rebirth back then.))
Undeath happens when that process is disturbed. The soul is trapped in a body that is decaying due to the dark ki inside of it with no white ki to stop it from doing so.
Every type of undead is different in how this happens.

The most basic undead, Zombies, are damaged souls that for some reason are stuck in a corpse. Mummies on the other hand have an intact soul, making them much more powerfull than zombies. And allowing them acces to some of their powers they had in life unlike zombies. Mummies still decay however and this causes them to slowly lose their mind.

I'll explain the details of each type of undead in their own post. (Still figuring out vampires and ghouls)

Well, it would make sense that vamps are in the same boat as Mummies, but absorb the White Ki from other living forms through blood and stuff which gives them access to more power, and less crazy or something.

I had something similar in mind but with added origins of necromancers screwing up an experiment with Bloodwolf (the shapeshifting demons) blood. But the specifics of what they were trying to accomplish and how is what I'm unsure about. And also what exactly went wrong. Although While writing this reply I'm starting to have a general idea. I just need to write it down. (but I might be too lazy)