down among the dead

From: David Cake <davidc_at_cyllene.uwa.edu.au>
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 11:27:50 +0800


someone from "EBWE Engineering" asked
>How closely is the world of the Undead linked to Chaos?
>
>I'm of two minds over this. First is that an element of Chaos causes
>Undead to exists. For the most part, I base this on the "It feels right"
>theory. On the other hand, I see the existence of Undead as a holdover
>from the Darkness when the dead wondered the world and were not yet sorted.

        There are several sorts of undead in Glorantha, and most of those who care about such matters (Humakti, Vampires, etc) do distinguish between them. The three main categories are

- - ghosts (which aren't really undead at all)
- - unnatural, but non-chaotic, undead
- - chaotic, Hungry undead

	To make this a bit clearer:

Ghosts are not undead. They are dead. They are just dead people who hang around. Just ask Humakti - Humakti would never become undead, but are known to become ghosts, with the full blessing of Humakt.

        When you talk about undead being a holdover from the darkness, from when the living and the dead where not sorted, you are probably talking about ghosts (including revenents - ghosts now possessing a live body). A ghosts is a dead person who is attached to this world for some reason.

        Then there are undead created by magic, and sustained by magic. Zorak Zorani zombies, shamanic zombies, Ty Kora Tek Mummies. These are always the result of a deliberate magical act.

        And then there are chaotic undead. These are distinguished by their desire to feed on life. They are linked with the Hunger rune. They include vampires and ghouls. I think Wraiths also fall in this category, though now that I think about it wraiths are something that have no explicit links into Gloranthan myth that I know off. I don't think wraiths are very chaotic.

        Cheers

                David


Powered by hypermail