Undead

Undeath is the state of being dead but continuing to interact bodily and/or spiritually with the living world. Many sub-types exist such as ur'dead, gar'dead, ghosts, zombies, wights, skeletons, ghasts, liches, and archliches.

Undeath has not always been and occurred in 3 separate instances.

1. The reanimation of Orlachmar with Fain's Elixir brought the dead Elder back but with a hunger and the ability to devour the essence of others.
2. Urlach, himself a shard of Orlachmar, invented the first method of creating intentional undead to use as shock troops in the Vernal Wars. Most of these were orclach, who seemed to have inherited an affinity for the state, and never dwarves.
3. The release of the Taint led to many mutations, even among corpses. The modern skill of Necromancy seems to descend from this most recent kind but draws upon the legacy of the first two.

Undead beings are not normally able to be influenced, even if they are ostensibly sentient. Just as with influencing animals, there exist several ways around this: Necromancy Lichdom, Necroscream UndeadBlues and Crow Cloak.

Special note: Undeath appears to be distinct from the state of Ancestral Spirits, such as those conjured by Spiritsingers and consulted by the Listeners at the Veil.