The Seven Forms of The Undead

Article created and written by Atelier M.

Most of the living in Uria have little doubt regarding their continued existence after death, since everyone will undoubtedly have an encounter with one of the undead at some point in their lives. There are a surprising number of ways that a spirit can continue to exist in the living world. These are the most common and best-documented forms it can take. 

Bansha

Banshas are ghosts who choose to live close to or with their still-living relatives, rather than traveling back into the spirit world after a summoning. They manage this by tying their spirits to an object that holds great sentimental value to them, using it as their personal anchor. Because these spirits will normally be staying in one place, their presence is often considered to be a haunting. But banshas can be good or bad, and sometimes the so-called haunting is welcomed by the relatives. 

Benevolent banshas can help their family with guarding their home. They can provide early warning of approaching danger, deliver private messages with greater speed than a regular mail carrier, scare off home-invaders, spy on enemies, and keep an eye on family members in general. If they are staying with loved ones, a bansha can prove to be welcome company. The only downside is that a bansha often has just as hard a time speaking as a normal ghost, though unlike ghosts this skill can be improved over time. 

Malevolent banshas are considered to be curses on the families they haunt. Their main goal appears to be to cause as much distress as possible. Unable to speak, they will usually scream and howl to keep everyone on edge. For those with higher wills, they may manage to knock over lighter objects or fly through family members and cause violent spasmodic shaking in their victims. It is not unheard of for a group of banshas to successfully drive the living from their home entirely. 

To banish a bansha, one must find and destroy their anchor, the object they have tied their spirit to. Most bansha can only travel a few miles away from their anchor, which gives the living a concrete search radius to begin their search. With benevolent banshas, however, you can attempt to convince them to sever their tie to the object themselves. This second process appears to be less painful than outright destroying the object. 

Ghost

A ghost is the spirit of a deceased person who has been magically summoned and granted a corporeal (slightly tangible) form which can be seen by the living. But though they can be seen, speech is usually impeded, muffled or otherwise difficult since their forms are composed mainly of light and carefully arranged air particles held together by magical energy. Most ghosts will resort to trying to write using a material that is light enough for their corporeal forms to manipulate, such as dust or steam.

Ghosts cannot remain in the living world longer than twenty-four hours, unless a castor renews the summoning spell. To remain in the living world permanently, the ghost must tie their spirit to an object that has sentimental value to them. Doing so will take them from being a ghost to being a bansha. 

Ghoul

There is more to be said of this particular type of undead than the others. The term ghoul originally referred to the results of a reanimation spell in which a spirit is given a temporary physical form, usually a dead body or inanimate object made from organic material. However, following the formation of the first empire, it quickly changed to refer to any reanimated corpse, whether a spirit was driving it or not. 

Thanks to the infamous Dragon-Mage of the first empire, the marshlands along the lower coast of Scymour have been full of an army of the undead, made up primarily of ghouls. They are considered the unofficial guardians of the castle that lies behind those marshlands. No one dares to go there, and luckily the ghouls rarely leave. 

Attempts have been made to purge them from the land so that the black castle can be reused or simply destroyed so that the people can forget that part of their history. But despite -or possibly because of- the fact that they are already dead, the ghouls living there have proven remarkably hard to destroy. 

Ghoul intelligence and functionality levels are dependant on the decomposition stage of the physical body they inhabit. Ghouls with freshly deceased bodies will retain much of the same articulation as a living person. They will be able to perform most of the major tasks a living person would be able to perform -excluding magic. Ghouls with bodies in the later stages of decomposition will have a harder time processing sensory input, reasoning logically, and will likely loose the ability to communicate effectively. For these reasons, older bodies are only used when brute force and easily controlled soldiers are called for, wherase fresh bodies are used when the castor wishes to have full access to the intelligence inhabiting the body. 

The ghouls of the marsh usually mind their own business since they have no discernable task to do, wandering through the marsh and castle halls without incident. But they do have a sort of inborn urge to attack humans. For those of the marsh, it is likely because they were brought to life solely to fight humans in war. For those that originated outside the marsh, however, it may be that the spirits are just acting out of anger at their own unnatural predicament.

Ghouls usually remain as they are until their magically-reinforced body is destroyed, or the spell that summoned them has ended. In the meantime, while they will decompose at a slower rate, they will still eventually reach the point where their intelligence and functionality reaches the minimum. 

Contrary to popular belief -and the legends of the witch of wyrmwood- being killed by a ghoul will not cause you to join their ranks. This popular belief is believed to have it’s roots in the tales of the wars raged during the formation of the first empire, when fallen soldiers reportedly rose up each night and joined the undead hoard that had killed them. Such a spell, however, would have required more magic and skill than any one magic user could have mustered. 

Phantom / Spector

Some magic users learn how to project their spirits out of their body. This spell is referred to as the splitting spell. Those who manage to complete this spell are referred to as phantoms or spectres, depending on whether the projected spirit has a corporeal form that matches their physical body. 

Those without discernable or recognizable corporeal forms are considered phantoms. They can be most clearly seen from the corner of the eye. On the other hand, those with clear corporeal forms that match their current physical appearance are called spectors, and are sometimes mistaken for ghosts. The clearest visual difference between the a ghost and a specter is the coloured hue at the edges of their forms. Ghosts have colours such as blue or green, whereas spectors have colours such as yellow or red. 

Phantoms and spectors are able to do anything and everything a ghost can in the living world. The only thing they cannot do is cross to other plains, as doing so risks a premature death. Additionally, phantoms and spectors can only stay away from their bodies for around twelve hours at a time, or risk accidentally killing or otherwise injuring their bodies. It is not uncommon for those who break this rule to fall into a coma. It is assumed that every extra hour the spirit is gone will add an extra day to the full-body coma. 

Magic-users may become spectors for many different reasons, including bringing or sending messages, spying on enemies, traveling long distances to see things without having to actually travel there in-person, and sometimes to play pranks on friends. It is ill-advised to attempt becoming a spector without having someone closely watching the caster’s body while their spirit is out and about. 

Those of advanced age should refrain from doing this splitting spell entirely, since their bodies linger closer to death and can accidentally mistake the splitting spell for the experience of dying and just give out the moment the spirit has become a spector. For those to whom this has happened, the spirit usually does not realize they have died until they attempt to return to their body and find they cannot enter. Unlike the average ghost, those who have died as spectors will fully retain their ability to speak. 

Shade

A shade is the spirit of a dead person who has become trapped within the space between two dimensional plains. This emblematic location is referred to simply as the in-between. The spirits trapped inside will usually fade in and out of each plain as they shift from one to the other, like a wave being pulled and pushed from the ocean to the shoreline and back again. For any who catch a glimpse of these poor spirits, it is noted that they usually appear to be in great pain. This indicates that existing between two dimensions is a rather unpleasant experience. 

There have been rumours of archmages casting their worst criminals into the in-between to spend the rest of eternity as a shade. This is considered to be a fate worse than death, and so is likely reserved for criminals and pure villains who cannot be stopped or killed through any conventional methods. 

It has been documented that any shade who manages to leave the in-between back to the mortal plain will become a wraith. It is unknown what happens to them should they exit into the spirit plain instead. One would hope they would end up a normal spirit, as wraiths have proven to be one of the more rightly feared beings in Uria. 

Spirit

Despite being the core of every type of undead, the spirit has been given it’s own category.

The spirit is the part of the soul which contains a person’s individuality, memories, likes and dislikes, etc. Spirits will usually automatically cross into the spirit plain when they split from their deceased body. It is unknown what this dimension looks like, but it is believed to be connected to the dream realm.

Spirits, when glimpsed, will usually appear in the likeness of their own body at whatever age they remember themselves best. Spirits can be contacted and communicated with using special spells from high-powered and spiritually sensitive magic users. The only other way to get into contact with a spirit is if they themselves choose to contact an individual through the dream realm. 

Wraith

A wraith is a shade who has escaped the in-between back into the living plain. They are often accompanied by mysterious magical abilities obtained during their time in the in-between. 

These types of spirits are uncommon, rarely seen, and greatly feared since their magical abilities are often on par with those of living magic users, only without the confines of a physical body. Many wraiths are able to conjure solid corporal forms to move objects or harm others as they please. Some wraiths have been rumoured to be able to possess living bodies, either kicking the host’s spirit out, or binding and silencing the host’s spirit deep within their own subconscious. 

Wraiths are almost always malevolent, and should be avoided whenever possible.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The undead appear in a range of different shapes and forms, from slivers of vague humanoid shapes you only see out of the corner of your eye, to shambling corpses that can somehow still hold a full conversation with you.

Biological Traits

Many of the undead carry a subtle smell of rotting cabbage (believed to be methanethiol). The only ones which do not carry this scent are plain spirits, since they do not possess a corporeal form.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

Most undead retain the intelligence they had in life. The exception to this rule is the ghoul, whose intelligence is firmly attached to the decomposition level of it's physical brain.

Scientific Name

(Human) Homo Sapiens