Undead
What stands at the precipice between life and death? Nothing but the gods, and the Undead.
History
The Undead are not native to the land of Ransera, as they were not made by the Dragon Gods that brought the world into being before the Age of Wonders. They came at the end of that age, during the Rift Gate Wars when the arrogance of the Hytori caused a tear in the veil allowing the monstrous and eldritch to flood the world.
When the rift was opened the first Lich entered Ransera from the depths of Apocrypha, the Shrouded Realm which belongs to Lyren the Lord of Mysteries. His name was Quetharax, and it is said when he spoke his words brought those who heard him to madness or new enlightenment. He was described as a being frozen in time, his body rotten yet the decay never progressed centuries after his passing into Ransera.
He created for himself a home in the lands that are now known as the Deadlands, and from that place, a new form of creature emerged. Creatures called monsters, abominations, a mockery of life itself. He built towers of glass that sang songs so beautifully it made even the deaf weep, and his works attracted attention from the powers that warred with one another over the years. Many would approach Quetharax for the knowledge to turn the tide of a battle, or for a weapon that could annihilate their foe. Each person who came to him, Quetharax gave freely what they asked. He taught mages how to refine their craft, he gave warriors manuals and techniques from different realms and other dimensions. He gave kings artifacts that could bend the will of their subjects to their own, and for all of this, he asked for nothing in return. Yet he did collect a price.
For each favor, for every tidbit of knowledge and wisdom, Quetharax gave something else. A sliver of an idea, a concept that would sever the tie the person had with the world, and in so doing take them down a path that they could never return from. Those affected by his artifacts found they could not pass on into the cycle constructed by Wraeden, and their souls lingered in spiritual form to wander the lands in anguish, trapped in purgatory not of their making. Those who accepted knowledge from distant lands became obsessed when they found their mortal limitations held them back, and so they sought ways to break free of it. Curiosity born of the gifts from Quetharax spread like wildfire, and the undead became more and more widespread century after century. Knowledge, much like a plague, is spread between ignorant men and women, and once they are infected with a knowledge they cannot hope to comprehend, inevitably they turn into something… else.
The city of glass towers fell some time in the Age of Wonders, before the War of Light and Shadow, and Quetharax himself vanished without a trace. What was done though could not be undone, and the undead were now free in Ransera. There were now places where the undead would form naturally, especially areas steeped in blood and regret such as battlefields or places of healing. Methods of creating undead were also spread, and those who first accepted the gifts from Quetharax became the Progenitors of their respective species.
Age of Wonders
The undead came into the world throughout the Age of Wonders as the consequences of the knowledge from Quetharax became apparent. At first, those that untethered themselves from the natural laws of Ransera were hunted down as monsters. They were burned, persecuted, and shunned. Friend and family alike drove out their kin who fell down such a path, and so the first undead were forced into colonies deep underground and in remote areas of the world. They built towns, villages, and cities of their own, but could not avoid persecution whenever they were found. Often the small lives they built for themselves were uprooted and burned, no mercy shown to the abominations that gave up their souls to become undead. Some sided with Shaeoth during the War of Light and Dark, for the Hytori of Sol’Valen gave no refuge to things so obviously eldritch in nature. Though small, a portion of the forces of the Dark were made up of undead warriors who fought for the chance to have a place of their own.
Age of Conquest
During the Age of Conquest, the undead began to thrive. They carved a part of the land for themselves and created the Undead Empire which rose to power alongside the Kingdom of Lys. Some in this time thought that the age of persecution of the undead was over, especially when a young and charismatic Kaitos Diraegon established friendly relationships with the Empress. A sharing of knowledge then led to both peoples prospering, and when the time came the Undead Empire supported Kaitos and his budding empire as they built the Clockwork Legion
Age of Clockwork
The fates of the Undead Empire and the Clockwork Empire were entertained. The two were synonymously one, with the Empress offering fealty to Kaitos and continued aid in all his pursuits. When he announced his intent to ban the worship of gods, the undead were all too happy to agree. What had the gods done for the undead? Along with the Clockwork Legion, the undead helped to construct the Godspire, and when the calamity of the Sundering occurred their race as a whole was gravely affected.
Age of Sundering
The Undead Empire was no more, and the few that managed to survive were once again faced with a world that despised their very existence. During this time the undead founded colonies, spreading to different points across the world to wait… to survive. In some areas, these colonies thrived, while others died out completely.
Age of Steel
In the current age, the undead have begun to rise once again. New cities are built in secret, small settlements at the fringes of society have begun to pop up in places where they are accepted, or at least not outright persecuted. Remnants of the Undead Empire are said to still exist in the Heartlands, a place that is more myth than truth. Most undead try to blend in when possible, living among their living counterparts, or lingering in remote areas with others of their kind.
What is Undeath
The undead exists on a spectrum, from fully sentient creatures able to grow and reproduce to mindless monsters that wander, consumed by their cravings until they are no better than feral beasts. How the undead comes into being can be vastly different depending on the type of undead in question. It all begins though with the nine natural tethers that bind all living creatures to Ransera. In a broad sense, any who becomes untethered from any of the nine natural laws can be classified as an undead, because the state of undeath is to exist in a place unbound from a part of Ransera itself.
The Nine Tethers of Ransera
The nine tethers are the natural laws that govern Ransera and all those native to it. By design, this includes all of the mortal races, the plants, animals, and even naturally born spirits that are linked to the land. Only the Dragon Gods, and by extension their children, were an exception for to be divine is to naturally be able to influence and bend the nine tethers as they see fit. It was never intended that creatures inside of Ransera would be able to untether themselves, and thus why the undead represented a sudden and abrupt change to Ransera as a whole.
The nine tethers can be broken down into 3 categories: the three mortal tethers, the three natural tethers, and the three divine tethers.
The Three Mortal Tethers
These are the things that bind mortals to their lives, to their cultures, to their concepts of self. These tethers are what allow living creatures to exist and move through the world and interact with Ransera in meaningful ways. To lose these tethers means to lose the ability to interact with Ransera normally, which can be jarring or even maddening if unprepared.
The Physical Tether
All creatures born inside of Ransera possess a form of physicality or a way that they are able to directly interact with the physical world. This can be with a flesh and blood body, a body made up of the natural elements and even bodies of pure aether which most Spirits possess. Those that break this tether find they are unable to interact with the world around them, but also cannot be influenced by it.
The Mental Tether
The ability to think extends from sentience to sapience and all levels in between. The mental tether is what allows creatures to have self-awareness, or in the case of animals or smaller life forms, it is what allows for their natural instincts to form and influence their actions. This tether in particular is of great importance to the sapient life on Ransera, for the knowledgeable, the more reflective, and the more contemplative a being is the stronger this tether holds them. To lose this tether is to lose the ability to control the mind, steadily eroding thought and even instinct until there is nothing left. After enough time a being that loses its mental tether will simply cease to function until they waste away to nothing.
The Spiritual Tether
A soul is what gives a creature its identity, it shapes and influences all other tethers, and this is often considered the most important of the three mortal tethers for it is what links a creature back to the infinite possibilities of the Aetherium. To untether the soul is thought impossible, but were it done it would mean freeing the soul from the limitations placed upon it. Dipping into the aetherium freely, however, it would also mean losing the protections put in place by the Dragon Gods. To become untethered spiritually is to become open to all that lies within and without the aetheric sea.
The Three Worldly Tethers
There is a natural cycle to the world put in place by Wraedan the Dragon God of Death and Raella the Dragon Goddess of Life. When two conceive a child, that child is born and given a physical form, a mental process, and a spiritual connection to the aetherium. As time progresses that child lives, learns, and grows. Once life has reached its peak it begins to degrade, decaying as weakness fills places where strength once resided until eventually death comes and the soul is escorted by the black dragons to their place of rest, or back into the cycle once more. The Three Worldly Tethers are the links that bind mortals to this never-ending cycle, and to break these tethers is to reject the natural order itself.
The Tether of Vitality
Life, the energy which children overflow with and the elderly remains on fondly. Vitality is what breathes life into the world and is characterized by boundless intensity. It is what spurs men to action, and encourages two mates to continue their species. It is the source that pushes creatures forward. To become untethered from vitality is to lose the essence of life itself, which for most means to make a quick march toward the grave.
The Tether of Decay
That which lives must also decay. An opposite, yet sister to the tether of vitality. The tether of decay is what gently pulls all life forward, breaking it down so that it can rest and once more return to the cycle to be born again. Some consider the act of decay to be an evil thing, but it is simply the natural process of returning to the source. The physical breaks down into nutrients for the new seeds of life, and as one decays in old age it lets focus shift from the physical which vitality favors, to the mental. Through this tether, many of the greatest minds found their most profound discoveries, for when faced with the inevitable end of life one begins to truly question what that life was worth. To lose this tether is to lose the ability to weaken, which is also to lose the ability to understand and appreciate the wonders of life as it was meant to be experienced.
The Tether of Growth
A representation of the cycle itself, the tether of growth is what is formed between the tether of vitality and the tether of decay. As one lives one grows, not just physically but also mentally and spiritually. From their first steps to their last a child changes day by day and minute by minute. To lose this tether would be to lose the ability to change, and become stagnant. They would no longer age, no longer decay, but neither could learn or become more than what they were the moment this tether was cut. It is rare that one unbinds from this tether, and often it is done as a curse. Unable to live, unable to die, unable to change. Stuck while the rest of Ransera continues to move forward.
The Three Divine Tethers
These are the laws that govern Ransera as a whole, and all those that live within it. To break free of these tethers is to tread in the realm of gods, for these are the walls that the Dragon Gods put in place to create the world. While magic such as Traversion and Aeternus allows some measure of manipulation of these laws, to become untethered is to no longer belong fully to Ransera.
The Tether of Time
Time is the domain of the Dragon God Velar, and it is he and his dragon flight which guards it. To be tethered by time is to experience the flow of the past, present, and future in a linear fashion. It is to conceive a series of events in proper order, and the future cannot affect the present or the past. Then to be untethered by time is to exist as a man on a shore, watching as the rest of his kind sail down the river while being unable to join them. Though similar to the tether of growth, those untethered to Time itself are not simply stagnant. They become unable to distinguish the past, present, and future and experience them at once. Few are those who can live in such a way, and eventually, they plead for release from Velar and his dragons.
The Tether of Space
The defining of three dimensions, and the concept of distance. These are more are what make up the tether of space. To become untethered is to no longer see two points separated, but rather to be able to move between points as if there were no separation at all. Those who are able to comprehend this can move with ease to make every Traversion mage envious, but at the cost of never being able to define boundaries again. Like with the tether of spirit, to be unbound by the space defined by Ransera is to exist in a place reachable by all who have the means and the intent. It is to be fully exposed, even to things beyond the veil who can simply reach out and grasp the untethered as they wish.
The Tether of the Aetherium
The Aetherium is the embodiment of all that can be and all that is, but often the concepts of the aetherium are filtered through Ransera and the Dragon Gods, and even the Mistlords to an extent. Vast concepts such as Justice or Death are made understandable within the bounds of Ransera, but that is only true for those who remain tethered to the Aetherium that forms Ransera. To be untethered is not to be able to dip into the aetherium freely, it is to no longer be bound to the definitions of the Aetherium put in place by the divine powers. It is to expose oneself to the vast possibilities that exist outside of what is definable within Ransera, to concepts that bend reality, to ideas that are so foreign, so alien that no being but a divine could possibly comprehend it. During the awakening of an Outsider the individual is briefly untethered from the restrictions placed on those born inside of Ransera, thus allowing an outsider to absorb concepts and ideas that are different or even counter to what is normal inside of Ransera. That is just a temporary thing, however, and the Outsider once more becomes infolded in the protections of Ransera, but brings with them something from outside. To be truly untethered is to never be able to see the limitations of the world again. It is madness, and it is often death to any mortal who is foolish enough to try.
How to the Undead Work
Becoming untethered from one of the nine laws of Ransera is not an overly complex thing. There exist certain Blood Lines of Undead that carry the traits of the Progenitors from which they originate. This undead can reproduce in similar ways to the living, and mixing of undead and living has happened on occasion. Undead can also be created through the use of magic such as Necromancy and even Artificing, though the complexity of creating true undead and not simply thralls or golems is quite high. Then there are certain parts of Ransera that have been tainted, places where nine tethers grow weaker, and thus undead can form within them. All undead however share similar traits. They possess either ichor, miasma or are sustained by something other than flesh and blood.
Ichor
The origins of Necromancy are vague at best, but it is a common and mostly accepted belief that it originated with Lyren, Mistlord of Knowledge, and the Undead. Perhaps it was Quetharax himself that delivered this knowledge or perhaps aided the residents of Ransera in refining their art. Those who practice Necromancy are well familiar with ichor, for it is one of the foundational materials required for necromancy. The ichor created through the world magic is, however, an imitation of the true thing. A synthetic form created to be handled by the living, and thus safe for use in both healing and raising the dead.
For that undead that possesses it, ichor is their lifeblood. It flows in their veins, thick and grey with a pungent smell similar to rotten meat when exposed to air. it is what allows the undead with physical forms to consume materials and absorb them, letting them feed back into their bodies as nutrients and sustain them mentally, physically, and spiritually. An undead without ichor is just a husk, a corpse, an empty doll. To the living ichor is corrosive, causing burns and sores upon contact with skin. It often leads to inflections if wounds are not treated quickly, and if raw ichor makes its way into the body it can lead to the person becoming undead themselves.
In tainted areas of Ransera, where many lives have been spilled or that have been artificially corrupted, pools of ichor can be found like vast lakes in a sea of withered wildlife. Trees that drink in ichor become twisted and gnarled and bleed the greyish blue sap which is highly valued for its use as a lure for undead. The living that becomes infected by ichor undergo a slow transformation, and depending on the type of undead the ichor came from it is even treatable. It is best, however, if the living stays far away from ichor if at all possible.
Miasma
Miasma has a similar function to ichor and is the embodiment of those undead that lack a physical form such as wraiths or ghosts. All living things possess an astral form that acts as protection for the mind and soul as well as the strings that puppet the body. Transposition mages are able to briefly separate their astral and physical forms to explore the slipspace and beyond, but inevitably must return to their physical bodies. If they do not, then the astral body slowly decays. Decayed or fraying astral bodies are the source of miasma. As it breaks down it attacks aether from the environment, drawing in whatever energy it can to sustain itself. Heat, light, emotions, and anything else which has a high aetheric frequency the astral form can use to sustain itself, which is why ghosts and wraiths tend to be associated with cold spots and high negative emotions.
Miasma's look and properties can vary depending on the type of undead that it originates from. Ghosts tend to emit ethereal tendrils of white smoke which chill the area around them. Wraiths tend to look like living shadows, their miasma black or deep shades of red or blue, and elicit strong feelings of anger, fear and despair. The properties of miasma depend heavily on the undead's needs and the source of aether that they feed on. Miasma can also be artificially made through Alchemy using Lyrethillium to break down raw aether and adding in properties they desire.
Magic
Some undead use neither miasma nor ichor to sustain themselves. Instead, they use a form of magic, such as a rune or a magical artifact to keep themselves perpetually animated. Vampyre's with their rune of Vitalis and an example of such a case. They possess blood and still appear alive and full of vitality, yet it is the rune of magic that allows them to continue living.
Becoming an Undead
There are three commonly known paths to becoming undead. The first is to be a living creature exposed to ichor or miasma. In tainted areas of Ransera, where many lives have been taken or that have been artificially corrupted, pools of ichor can be found like vast lakes in a sea of withered wildlife. Trees that drink in ichor become twisted and gnarled and bleed the greyish blue sap which is highly valued for its use as a lure for the undead. In places where the undead gather miasma is often thick as fog. Prolonged exposure to miasma can cause a living person to slowly lose their connection with reality. They begin to hear things, and see things that may or may not be there. If someone were to die in one of these areas then they will be raised as an undead, either ghosts or zombies are the most common depending on whether they were infected more by the miasma or by the ichor.
Battlefields become places where miasma naturally collects as many souls, torn and filled with regret leave their physical bodies but their astral bodies are already frayed and decaying due to the trauma. The longer a battle or even a war lasts, the denser and denser the ambient miasma becomes, and the more ghosts begin to be spawned from the area. Those who walk these battlefields, even centuries later, inevitably become infected by the miasma and carry it back with them. This is how ghosts became more prominent over the years, as places where ghosts reside become new centers of undeath and thus more ghosts can be created from them. Because of this the Black Dragon flights actively work to expunge these areas, freeing trapped souls in a ghostly form to return to the cycle and dispersing the miasma before it becomes too widespread. The more haunted a location, the more widespread the effects.
The second path is to be turned undead through magic or other means. Necromancers, Alchemists, and Artificers each have tools that allow for this, and the things created from these practices are often monstrous abominations. The level of sophistication of each undead is entirely dependent upon the mage's ability, and some undead created turn against their masters and seek to live their unlife unrestrained. This is considered the taboo path, for while simple thralls can be overlooked, creating true undead which can generate ichor or miasma to infect others is a high crime in most civilized areas.
The third path is to be born as an undead, from one of the pure lines that reach back to the age of wonders. These undead are always intelligent and do not suffer some of the limitations that the non bloodline undead suffer. It is said the purer the bloodline, and the closer to the original Progenitor the undead is, the more powerful their natural abilities are.
Types of Undead
The undead can be loosely categorized into three types: Feral, Created, and Pure Blood. There are as many forms of undead as there are people in the world, and some share characteristics or tendencies. There are even regional specifications required for certain undead to form, but they all share one thing in common. They are unbound from at least one of the 9 natural tethers.
Feral Undead
The term 'feral' gives an inaccurate picture of the undead within this category, but it is the general description used by most regions to describe undead that rises in the wild without being born from one of the Blood Lines or created through some arcane art. Despite their name, the Feral Undead can be both sentient and sapient, but they are created from happenstance or their environment rather than by some conscious act. Tainted areas where ichor and miasma is thick is where many of these types of undead congregate, as well as in areas steeped in tragedy.
Zombies
Zombies are one of the most common forms of undead. They are walking corpses, bodies in a slow state of decay as they shamble the world searching for the flesh of the living. Newly awakened zombies retain their memories and personalities from when they were alive, however, they have become unbound from the tether of Vitality, as well as the mental tether. They are in a constant yet slow state of withering away, and as time passes their mental faculties erode until they are left with only basic instincts to find and consume the living.
While they cannot halt their decomposition entirely, consuming the flesh and blood from still living creatures does slow the process. Eating the living body parts that are mirrors of their own will slow the rotting, and eating the brains of intelligent creatures will also slow the mental decline of a zombie as well. Because of this Zombies as a whole are treated as monsters, hunted, and wiped out wherever they are found. Even a father would purge a son who has been afflicted because for many to live in such a state is a fate worse than death.
OOC Note: Players who become zombies retain their skills and lores at the level they were before becoming undead. All runes and abilities are still usable at the same level. Zombie PC's must consume at least 1 person a season to maintain their mental abilities at normal levels.
Untethered From: Mental and Vitality Tethers
Racial Abilities: Double the strength of the living counterpart of their race; Consuming still living flesh slows decay
Ghosts
Ghosts are the most common form of undead, and the type that is most frequently encountered by normal people in the world. Ghosts have become unbound from their physical and mental tethers, as well as their tether to vitality. The loss of their physical bodies is often a traumatic experience, and so their rate of mental decay is even greater than that of zombies or other forms of undead. If they do not find something to latch onto or haunt as the popular term has come to be, a ghost will very quickly within a span of a few years forget who they were and what they are, becoming wild and dangerous to everything around them.
A ghost's body is made up entirely of miasma, and because of this, they can freely shift their form to anything they wish. Most tend to retain a similar shape to what they were in life, as the familiarity of it helps keep their mental state in check. Ghosts do not consume food or drink to sustain themselves, they rather sustain themselves off of the ambient aether in the environment, especially high energy aether such as heat or light. When a ghost is present a room often feels colder and darker than it should, and high emotions such as fear and anxiety can also be consumed. Many ghosts take advantage of this and seek to cause fear in the living around them, thus gaining a greater source of sustenance to maintain themselves. While a ghost is unable to use their skills and magic from when they were alive, they do gain access to three new skills which with practice can be used to great effect.
Materialization is the first ability that a ghost learns naturally, and is what allows a ghost to alter its shape at higher tiers. Normally a ghost is too incorporeal to be clearly seen by the living not aided by magic, but with materialization they can make themselves very much known. Possession is the second skill, and one shared by many other ethereal undead. It is the ability enter the body of a living creature, and at later levels take over the movements of their physical body. When a ghost possesses a living creature they gain access to their skills and runes once more. The final skill, and the most important for most ghosts, is Haunting. With this skill a ghost can attach themselves to place, an object, or even a living creature. This connection acts as a substitute for a physical body, and greatly reduces the erosion of their mental abilities. As they gain in power and understanding a ghost can begin to affect the thing they haunt to a greater degree. It is this ability that leads to rumors of haunted mansions with doors that open on their own and pictures that follow trespassers with their painted eyes.
Untethered From: Vitality, Mental, Physical
Racial Abilities: Materialization, Possession, Haunting
Created Undead
To attempt to alter the natural cycle is considered one of the greatest taboos for mages, yet it is inevitable that magic and those who practice it continue on even when it is considered unnatural or abhorrent. Created undead are those not born of a pure bloodline or from areas dense in miasma or ichor. They are undead that have been consciously and meticulously crafted by magic with the intent that they exist. The methods and materials used vary depending on the factions that create them.
Abominations
A product of Necromancy, an abomination is thrall crafted multiple corpses stitched together with sinew thread infused with fresh blood from the recently dead. Their appearance and abilities can be vastly different depending on the intent of the necromancer, but what makes them a true abomination is at their core. A soul gem containing the soul of a man or woman captured after they are eaten alive by rats or other insects for 3 days inside a sealed barrel. The soul is then harvested, and the heart and brain salvaged and used in the final abomination. This process makes the undead highly unstable, but will bend to the necromancers will using a talisman created from the skull of the deceased. Highly dangerous, and ferocious, the creation of abominations is outlawed in the Dwarven Holds, Imperium, and the Free Cities of the North.
Untethered From: Vitality, Mental
Racial Abilities: Varies depending on the method of creation
Corpse Golems
A combination of Necromancy, Artificing, and Alchemy, a corpse golem is similar to a traditional golem but is one made up of body parts from the living. Its Core is a soul gem crafted with pictographs of both Artificing and Necromancy, and in it, two souls are stored. The souls must be harvested from the living creature the head and torso are from before they are killed. Once the body and soul gems are in place, the body is filled with a special form of ichor infused via alchemy with different elemental aether. This process is done on a stone slab carved with pictographs, and once done the golem's heart will begin to beat once more.
The type of element used alters the golem, as once it is complete the golem becomes extremely resistant to that element and can even draw on it to fuel itself. Examples are golems with ichor infused with the element of fire being completely fireproof, and can even consume flames in place of food to keep itself running.
Corpse Golems are an extremely stable form of created undead. If done right one can eat and drink like any living creature, but they will not age and will not decay. They are unbound from the tether of growth, and because their two souls are forced to work in unison they learn and accept commands very easily. They are also incredibly dangerous for the creator himself. A golem never forgets their past lives, and will always seek an opportunity to get their revenge not just on the one that created them, but everyone close to their creator. It is always recommended that the golem be bound by soul contract and other restrictive measures to ensure the mage's safety.
Corpse Golems require expert-level Alchemy, Necromancy, and Artificing to be created.
Untethered From: Vitality, Growth, Decay
Racial Abilities: They can consume the element that is the base of their creation for fuel, and are immune to that element's effects
Vampyres
Vampyres are a product of initiation into Vitalis. Originally the rune was gifted by Raella, Goddess of Life, to the ancient elves. It is said that Lyren tempted the most powerful of the Vitalis mages with an offer that they could not refuse. In doing so, however, the rune of Vitalis was forever tainted, and so were those that were marked with it. To the Pure Blood undead the Vampyre is somewhat looked down on, but one cannot deny their claim to the status of undead.
Pure Blood Undead
It is odd for the living to grasp the concept of a living undead, but that is in essence what a Pure Blooded undead is. They are born from the line of the Progenitors, the first of their race, and with the purity of their bloodline, they are able to reproduce and make more of their own. The more diluted the bloodline becomes, the more like the Feral Undead these races become. Among the undead nobility purity of the bloodline is held as the greatest indicator of one's worth.
Phantoms
An ethereal undead, the phantoms are born from the line of Kal'anon, the Progenitor who enslaved the people of his kingdom and spawned the first ghosts. Phantoms are similar to ghosts, but unlike their lesser counterparts, Phantoms can freely shift between a material and immaterial form. Their bodies are composed of a dense miasma that allows them to interact with the physical world, and they can even indulge in food and drink if they wish. Unlike ghosts, a phantom cannot freely change their appearance, but things such as hair and eye color they can change without effort. As the Phantoms originate from an elven Progenitor their appearance is reminiscent of that of the ancient elves they were born from. They have skin similar to a Syltori's, though they do not possess the witchmarks.
Phantoms can only reproduce with other phantoms, making their bloodlines one of the purest of all undead at the cost of fewer numbers in their total species. The family structures of most phantoms are similar to the elvish customs. Reproduction is identical to the living races, though the gestation period is significantly longer, taking around 20 months from conception to birth. The phantoms do not share the specifics, but it is believed that it takes significantly longer for the infant to form a body that can withstand the outside world. When they are born the infants are barely corporeal and resemble vaguely humanoid-shaped wisps of mist. A phantom typically achieves its physical form somewhere in adolescence. After 25 years phantoms simply stop aging, and none of their race can die of old age.
Physical weapons are all but useless on phantoms, but they are notoriously weak to elementalism and kinetics.
Untethered From: Decay, Physical
Racial Abilities: Able to turn into an ethereal form at will
Total Population: ~ 500,000
Ghouls
Once thought to hide in graveyards to feast on the remains of their loved ones, the Ghouls have had one of the most unfortunate histories of all the undead races. In many ways, ghouls are closest to being alive than any of their other kin, yet because of this many of the living scorn them all the more. Ghouls are born from the line of Adel von Maxium, a human king from the age of wonders who sought immortality from Lyren. He was given it, and his children and their line were blessed, or cursed with it from then on.
A ghoul is led by their hunger, a constant struggle against the thing inside that demands they devour the living and even the dead. This compulsion is often the defining trait of the race, for so long as they are satiated they retain a youthful appearance. When they resist the feeding they grow more monstrous, hideous, and rabid. Similarities can be drawn between the Vampyres created from Vitalis and Ghouls, and some have speculated that the Vampyres were a predecessor of the ghouls themselves. There are legends of those bitten by a Vampyre returning as a ghoul, mindless with the urge to eat the living, but those were all baseless rumors. The highest order of ghouls show all but outright disdain for the Vampyres and the rune of Vitalis itself, but that may be linked to other old wounds.
Tainting of the bloodlines has led to Ghouls sharing appearances with many of the rances found in Ransera, and their hunger drives them to eat of those races they share blood with. The heart and the brain are by far the most nutritious, and consuming a fresh heart can dampen the hunger for days, sometimes weeks depending on how healthy the individual was. While they can eat the flesh of corpses to satisfy their hunger, doing so will reduce them to a more monstrous appearance, though they keep their sanity which for some ghouls is satisfactory. Cities and societies of Ghouls often keep farms of preferred wildlife that they can sustain themselves with, but some are known to keep the other races pinned like animals for slaughter.
Curiously, the most nutritious meal of all to a Ghoul is the heart of a Vampyre. Because they are brimming with vitality in every pore, Ghouls often hunt Vampyres whenever they are found. This has led to several altercations between factions of ghouls and Vampyres over the years, and it is unlikely to end any time soon.
Ghouls reproduce in the same way that the other races like humans and elves do, and have similar reproductive cycles. Ghouls are able to consume meat as early as 3 months, after which they grow quickly into adolescence within 7 to 10 years. Their aging slows greatly at this point, taking at least 30 years to reach full adulthood.
Ichor, not blood, runs through a Ghoul's Veins, and because of this, they are completely resistant to the effects of Vitalis. They also possess exceptional regenerative abilities, able to regrow and reattach limbs if lost. They can bleed out if enough injuries are sustained, but beyond that nothing short of stabbing the heart or cutting off the head can effectively kill a ghoul. They do have one fatal weakness, however. They cannot withstand direct sunlight or the element of light itself. Short exposure can lead to severe burns in under 2 minutes, completely halt regeneration after 5, and after 10 minutes a ghoul will be reduced to ash.
Untethered From: Decay, Vitality
Racial Abilities: Regeneration
Total Population: ~ 2,000,000
Progenitor
The first of their kind, and the greatest. Every one of the Pure Blood undead draws their bloodline from that of a Progenitor, and the purity of their bloodline that links them back to the Progenitor is what gives an undead their status in the greater society. In the current age of Ransera there are few true Progenitors left, and they are monsters of legend. Over the centuries there are cases of new progenitors, and thus new races of undead coming forth through magic or the blessings of Lyren, but few can claim to have met one. The closer one's bloodline is to that of the Progenitor, the more potent their racial abilities are, thus the Pure Blood undead guard their bloodlines with a fanaticism that boarders on madness.
