Returned
Summary
The most common form of undead the world over, a returned is a reanimated corpse still possessed of flesh, musculature, and some sense of organs. Depending on the manner of their death, and the reasons for their 'return', they may still possess their original personality of some variety. It also depends on the person, but most returned with this characteristic are not inherently malevolent. They'd like to resolve their grudges, then go to their final rest, and many priestesses work with them to do so. However, it is a state of decay. As time goes on, or violent events happen to them, the returned's personality crumbles away. Hatred and rage replace it, turning them into ravenous undead that are more beast than person. At this stage, returned have no self-awareness, existing as a feeding machine only concerned with sustaining its own unlife. Both the flesh and the mana are used by the creature, for consuming enough of both will eventually metamorphose them into a ghoul. Returned who fail to sustain their livelihoods decay completely into skeletons, a paradoxical process as skeletons are more advanced forms of undead. As a whole, the returned's danger rating varies depending on what species it is. As they generally inherit the physical characteristics of their host species, more physically powerful ones necessarily make more dangerous returned. A human returned is nowhere near the dangers posed by a dragon returned. Combined with both their lack of pain and endurance, these powerful returned are no laughing matter, and can be threatening even to seasoned veterans.Variants
Drifter – A returned that shambles around its environment, aimlessly wandering or driven by some lingering thoughts. They exist in an almost dream-like state, and so are completely nonvolatile unless something wakes them up. At which point, it's anyone's guess if they're remotely person like, or a deranged beast. They're most common in areas of sudden, violent massacres and accidents where they had little time in life to prepare for dying. Sleeper – Some returned fall into a sleep-like comatose state, whether standing, laying down, or sprawled out. Similar to drifters, they're nonvolatile while asleep, and waking them up can be hazardous to do. Unlike a lot of other returned, sleepers retain most of their personalities intact. It's speculated that sleeping dulls or denies the deteriorating effect becoming an undead usually has. Attempts to reproduce that effect, however, doesn't work on test subjects for some reason. Weeper – Overcome by despair and grief, a returned devolves into a state of irreconcilable sorrow. While they're sometimes intelligble, the downward spiral is inescapable for them. They're among the least threatening of the undead, in terms of physical violence. Weeper crying is deeply disturbing, and compelling enough even other undead don't want to be around them. Similar to drifters, they usually appear in areas of sudden calamity and disaster.Basic Information
Anatomy
As an undead, the prototypical returned is dependent upon its original species.
They are notable for existing in various states of 'living decay', their flesh rotting, falling off, their organs putrefying, and various other decomposing processes. The most vital of these bodily parts, namely the brain, last the longest, for when they are lost, the returned itself is fully destroyed. It is thus appropriate to conceive of a species' natural form of decay in death, as well as the circumstances of said death. Drowning victims often have fluid bloating, for example, while those in deserts may be scorched and dry like jerky.
Biological Traits
Without Pain – They have no concept of pain, and normally debilitating attacks or wounds simply do not faze them in the slightest.
Undead Endurance – Driven by their metabolized mana, they can keep going for absurd amounts of time. In fact, the only time they stop is when they've lost all their mana, or lost track of their prey.
Life Sense – They can sense the presence of the living in a supernatural manner. This means despite loss of critical sensory organs, like eyes or ears, they can still track their targets with disturbing precision.
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