Ghoul
All I wanted was a Zombie to carry my books for me. Instead, I'm now legally bound to make sure this half-rotten guy is preserved until he dies again.
It could be worse, I guess. He's a decent fellow, always interesting to speak to and full of good advice. And I could've ended up with a Wight instead.
Sometimes the process to make a Zombie is unsuccessful. One of the ways it could go wrong is when a Ghoul is created. At first glance, a Ghoul looks like a Zombie, but it won't take long until it's apparent that it's definitely not a wandering mindless corpse. The first sign is that the Ghoul won't stare blindly into the distance, but actually pay attention to the surroundings.
A Ghoul is created when the soul of the body remains after the process to make a Zombie. The body is still the same as with creating a successful Zombie, only with the mind and memories of the person the body used to be before death. In most cases, it's rather traumatic for the Ghoul to adjust to a new life as a rotting corpse, though the absolute majority deal with their new situation surprisingly well. However, making a Ghoul is never optimal for any of the included sides, which is the reason why specifically trying to make a ghoul is illegal.
The Life and Needs of a Ghoul
It's not nice to be a Ghoul. It's generally a rather scaring and negative experience as the dead body they were forced back into is slowly decaying. Muscles and tendons get stiffer through the decaying process, which makes it gradually harder to move around. The nerves will slowly deteriorate as well, making sensory inputs less reliable over time. This will not only make it harder to move but also harder to see and a lesser sense of pain.
A Ghoul doesn't need to take care of physical needs like eating or breathing. The only time a Ghoul needs to draw breath is when speaking. Although a Ghoul can still chew food the whole digestive system is dead, so eating is not a good idea as the food will accumulate inside the Ghoul. There's really no reason for a Ghoul to eat anything - their hunger sense is gone and their tastebuds don't work, and everything taste like ash for them.
A Ghoul has to do the best with the extra life they're given. The Necropolis usually try to hire Ghouls into fitting jobs to help them feel better about their new situation. Usually, these jobs are connected to keeping the grounds around campus in shape as janitors or gardeners. Yet there has been at least one Ghoul librarian and a couple of teacher's assistants in the Necropolis, as a Ghoul can do a long list of work not needing fine motor skills.
The End
There will be a point when a Ghoul's body will be too decayed to be functional enough to live a life. Only the Ghoul themselves can decide when this point comes. Maybe it is two days after creation, maybe it's after three years when the physical body is in such a state that there's no point in going on.
There is a process where the magic that is given to a Zombie can be taken away, returning the body to its dead state. This can be done to a Ghoul as well, though as a Ghoul is considered a person there's a moral question to this. When is it okay to end someone's life?
After long discussions and weighing the Ghoul's rights as a person against being an undead, considering that they lived on borrowed time yet still counted as persons, it was decided that it was up to the Ghoul themselves. Only a Ghoul could decide when they were too decomposed to live a worthy life. They didn't ask to be shoved back into their decaying corpse, so it's only fair that they decide when it's enough.
Laws Regarding Ghouls
The individual responsible for creating a Ghoul is responsible for the Ghoul's afterlife and will have to make sure the Ghoul's afterlife is as bearable as it can be.
A Ghoul is considered a person, but also an Undead. It is not advised for the Ghoul to leave Death's Table, but the Ghoul will have all rights of a living person while on the Table.
If a Ghoul is used as labor, they should be paid the same as any other person in that position.
It's illegal to kill a Ghoul in any other way than removing the magical energy that keeps the body alive, and that is only allowed if the Ghoul has decided it's about time to do so.
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