Asphodel and Odunos

The Returned refer to their two small city-states as necropolises ("Dead-Cities") mostly without irony — they are occupied by the dead, after all. Smaller, more isolated settlements exist, and some of the Returned eschew civilization altogether, occupying caves or simply wandering. The two necropolises, roughly equal in size, are called Asphodel and Odunos. Each has a kind of overarching characteristic: Asphodel's is despondence; Odunos's is anger.
ASPHODEL The polis of Asphodel, situated in a sprawling, inland, coastal marsh, is home to those Returned who have a deep nostalgia for things they can no longer remember. It is, for the most part, a dull place, although it maintains a guard and an order of mages for defense. Its citizens seek to be left alone, venturing out only when seized by fugues of emotion, or when resources are needed or desired (often for unrecalled reasons). The main sources of conflict in Asphodel are occasional raids on the polis by living beings who have become convinced by their leaders or their gods that the Returned are an abomination to be eliminated. Asphodel is symbolically aligned with Erebos in that its residents accept their fate.
ODUNOS This polis stands in contrast to Asphodel. Its citizens tend toward a combination of greedy, violent, and resentful. These Returned have come to envy and/or despise the living and are driven by a desire to deprive them of the joys of life. Odunos raiders strike at any humanoids nearby — leonin, minotaurs, and the humans of Akros and environs. Their raids are small but effective, and almost always nocturnal. Whereas Asphodel's citizens pointlessly amass wealth, Odunos seeks to destroy the wealth of the living (both literal, such as gold, and figurative, such as food, children, and comfort). The Returned of Odunos desire little for themselves beyond water. The morose hordes of Odunos are led by a brutal warrior-king by the name of Tymaret, known to outsiders and the living as the Murderer King.

Type

City