4th Cycle, 8th Rotation Year 1367 GF

Log 46

Today we learnt about the many types of undead. I never knew there were so many other than the classic Zombies such as revenants and draugr or wraiths. Of course, they haven’t taught us how to raise undead. They said it is too dangerous and advanced for first years. Reluctantly, I agree.

Cecilia seems to hate undead which is concerning for me. Maybe something happened? I’m realising I don’t know much about her life.

The Duality of Life Mana: Undead, by Archon Verill

Copied by the Church of Illustria

Of the traditional undead, the revenant or draugr is the second backbone of an undead army. While they can look and be physically the same as the weaker zombies, the revenants have one thing zombies do not: a soul. A revenant is rather a person come back to life and the method of creation reflects this.

There are two things necessary to consider when preparing a revenant. The compatibility of the body and soul and the condition of the body. The compatibility mainly means that you cannot place a horse’s soul into a tiger. The condition is part of the compatibility; you cannot place a soul into a destroyed body. The soul will reject it and if forced in, will dissipate. However, it also means the preparation of the body. The longer it has gone without a soul, the more it is necessary to prepare it to accept one.

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The preparation consists of flushing the body with the same affinity of mana as the original soul. This is often difficult without that affinity, however there are rituals that are able to sacrifice a creature and use its mana instead allowing the mage to complete this step. It also gives necromancers a bad name as it is assumed this method is always used rather than getting a willing mage to simply lend their mana. Since the soul can only be interacted with by mana, this is the reason such preparations are needed.

Secondly, the soul must be anchored inside the body. This is the part which requires a spell. Essentially, you are using the sequences to create a cage of mana surrounding the soul. This will prevent it from dissipating. Then you must push that cage onto the head of the body while opening a hole in the cage while in contact touching it. Then flatten the soul through this hole. This will push the soul into the body and the mana present within the body from the first step will anchor it. It is essential to push the soul into the brain of the body as that is the only biological place that can house the consciousness.

Then we come onto ghosts also known as wraiths. These are the cavalry units, the hit-and-run units. Should they be hit they will quickly dissipate. Only, that is the problem. They are intangible. They can only be affected by mana. This is due to the same reason as souls because that is what they are. They are a soul engorged upon life mana to the extent that the mana they are made of is able to hold itself together. However, should this mana wall rupture, it will destabilise the entire soul and cause it to erupt and dissipate. This eruption can still be dangerous due to the density of life mana required and this life mana can also cause zombies to form from corpses.

So how is one meant to combat such beings? The answer is quite simple. Magic or mana infused weaponry, known as enchanted weapons. Hence why mages are in high supply both as crafters and fighters.