Zombie
A Zombie is an unthinking undead creature created from sapient species who were not Literomancers. While the term is often used to describe the undead in general, this particular sort of undead is differentiated from a Tome Zombie, which is an undead Literomancer who feeds on Literomantic Power. This term is not used to refer to other sorts of undead creatures, either, such as ghosts or vampires.
Zombies, therefore, are never created from Werebeasts, since Werebeasts are all Literomancers by definition. They were almost always once Human. However, they can also be created from Bunnykin or other sapients who were not Literomancers, as the world learned for the first time in The Third Word War.
Zombies are never created from non-sapient species. It is unknown if sapients who are distinctly inhuman, such as Dragons or Void Nuggies, can become Zombies.
Basic Information
Anatomy
In general, Zombies resemble what they looked like in life, except they usually maintain the signs of any wounds that killed them, and like any dead creature, they continue to decay. However, their rate of decay is somewhat reduced, due to the associated cold of the magic that animates them — almost as if they have been refridgerated. They display no active life functions; they have no pulse, their hearts do not pump blood, and they do not need to breathe.
sigh I hate close-quarters fighting. Zombie guts stink. And it takes a week to get the smell out of my hair.Most Zombies are cold to the touch and appear to be partially frozen. Often, their skin has a blue or greenish tinge in addition to the greyness or paleness that results from a non-functioning circulatory system. Occasionally, they show marks of the Literomancy that created them. For instance, the Undead Horde in the reign of The Nite Qween tended to a distinct purplish tinge. Zombies cannot be stopped by blows to their vital organs. However, they can be stopped either through decapitation, internal decapitation (separating the spine from the brain stem,) or through destroying their brains.
Why do you think I use a mace or a falchion for close-quarters fighting?
I dunno. Liberal application of explosives seems to work just fine.
.50 cal from a thousand yards. You don't get any gore on you that way.
Genetics and Reproduction
Initially, how Zombies were created was uncertain. However, in the past couple of years, it has become clear that Zombies initially spawn from Tome Zombies, beginning with the Night Monarch, through the spreading of a Curse. Zombification has much in common with a disease in the method of its spread; anyone bitten by a Zombie can become a Tome Zombie or a Zombie, depending on whether they are a Literomancer or not.
Zombies can also be spawned by Tome Zombies through the use of Dark Literomancy. It is unknown how many Zombies a Tome Zombie is capable of spawning at one time in a single literomantic ritual.
Growth Rate & Stages
Zombies have no living processes. However, they will decay over time, which may result in bloating, withering, or the loss of bodyparts. Most appear to decay at a somewhat slower rate than dead bodies, but there is some variation in this, depending on the method of death and the particular literomantic source. Zombies raised directly by the Night Monarch appear to last longer than other Zombies.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Zombies eat brains and other neural tissue. Why is unknown. One commonly believed theory is that they have some sort of metaphysical means of processing this tissue, and use it to replace their own decaying grey matter, since they do not heal like living creatures do.
Biological Cycle
Having no body heat of their own, Zombies will become paralyzed in extremely cold weather as their blood freezes into ice crystals. Their decay process will also be arrested, in the same way that freezing meat preserves it. Since a significant portion of a body is required in order to affect a Resurrection, it has become common practice in many Protectorates to corral Zombies into meat lockers, or into storage containers, which are then shipped to Arctic or Antarctic climates to await the end of the current Word War.
Upon Resurrection, Zombies appear to simply be restored to the natural living state they were in before their deaths, whatever their age or condition might have been, and with no signs of the wounds that killed them or any of the decay they might have suffered as undead beings. Having a missing limb present at the time of Resurrection may be necessary in order to restore that limb.
Also, only two known sources of "true" resurrection might exist: these being The Iron Tome and the healing magic of Queen Sable Aradia Filking magic, rather than writing in the Iron Tome, restored the undead to life in The Third Word War and this did not seem to be a complete process. The undead were restored to a living state, but continued to display the wounds that had killed them. Numerous Zombies and Tome Zombies died permanently as a result of those injuries, and many others still bear significant scars from this form of restoration.
Upon being restored to a living state, Zombies have no memory of their time among the undead. It is unknown if they are even capable of forming memories.
Thus far, there have been no Zombies active anywhere other than during the month of November, while the Word Wars are underway. Literomancers speculate they would continue to exist forever should the Undead claim the Iron Tome, eventually decaying into mummies or ghosts. Thankfully, this has not yet been put to the test.
Behaviour
Unlike Tome Zombies, Zombies appear to only be capable of imitating simple actions they were capable of in life. There have been numerous sightings of Zombies washing dishes, pacing with phones in their hands while their mouths move silently, or rocking empty cradles. If they are not directed into action by Tome Zombies, they will mostly engage in these simple, rote tasks, other than to attack the living for their brain matter. They are almost always non-verbal and they do not appear to experience pain.
However, Tome Zombies appear to possess an innate ability to command Zombies, and they use them as shock troops in battles against the living. Without some other form of intervention, they seem to only be capable of using simple weapons, such as baseball bats or steel pipes, and simple blades. They have no tactical acumen in the use of these weapons, and unless they have trained muscle memory in their lives, they do not wield them with any real proficiency. If given firearms, they are capable of firing them if they knew how to do so in life, but they will not reload once the ammunition runs out. The threat of Zombies lies in their sheer numbers, their complete lack of fear, and in the fact that anyone bitten or killed by them will join their ranks.
It is possible, however, to bestow more of the skills they had in life upon Zombies through Dark Literomancy and Necromancy. Lord GalaWight somehow gave a dead company of British Columbia Dragoons the ability to drive tanks and utilize military armaments. This proved disastrous to the living forces in the infamous Battle of Kin Beach.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Zombies can sense living creatures, and react to them like starving predators. The mechanism for this is unclear, but scent is thought to be involved.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Since sapient species are required in order to create Zombies, they could arguably be viewed as a parasitic species of those original living species.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
This article is a work in progress, and may be subject to changes.
This article is part of a series related to streaming the Game of Tomes. For more information, see Streaming Game of Tomes.
Zombies by Night Cafe
Lifespan
Unknown or N/A
Geographic Distribution
Discovered by
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