A Fate Worse than Death

There is no disease, sickness, or plague in Haunt worse than death because in Haunt everything thing that dies will come back to life. People, animals, plants, even trees, everything rises from the grave as undead. Whether it is your classical zombie or skeleton, or as a spirit, or as a carnivorous undead tree, or simply in stasis with that now undead being's memories and essence locked away waiting for a living person to stumble upon it.

Causes

The Covenant is a pact between the gods and mortals made at the beginning of time and it is the cause of undeath. One of its clauses is that in some way, shape, or form everything that lived and then died will return in undeath.

Symptoms

The symptoms are simple: those who died in a matter of weeks, once decay has started, rise up again as zombies, ghouls, or skeletons, their souls taken by the Covenant and their bodies left to rot as they wander.

Treatment

Besides burning the bodies before decay or through special exorcisms used by the gnomes of Quor, there is no way to stop undeath from taking a deceased family member, friend, or anything really. Preserving the body or halting the decaying process will slow the onset of undeath but that is still only temporary.

Affected Groups

Every species

Prevention

Again only through cremation or certain exorcisms or divine rituals can turning into an undead be prevented.

Epidemiology

Since all things that die will become undead the spread of undeath follows wars and plagues, anything that will kill swaths of people or animals.

Cultural Reception

Some people and places- like the gnomes of Quor- fear the Dead, while some cultures- like the dwarves-despise and hate them and even others- like the elves of Fal Morum- love and revere the Dead. Still most people only shun the Dead warding them away or using them as free labor

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Common