Almanoire's Updated Journal of Undeath

== Almanoire’s Journal on Undeath [Updated!] ==
=== A foreword from our author: ===
“Greeting, dear readers. Within the pages of this tome, I
shall go in depth into all manner of ghastly creatures of Undeath one may
encounter, from shades to ghouls to abominations of a truly horrifying nature!
I trust the reader is familiar with the necromantic art
(hopefully not practiced! Little joke) and will be able to understand the
origins of these foul, unnatural beings.
That being said, please do study this, as it can provide invaluable
knowledge on dealings with these horrors of the grave!”
-       
Garten Almanoire, Author of such classic tomes
as :
o  
“To Kill a Gryphon” and;
o  
“One Flew over the Wyvern’s Nest”.
The contents of this book will be separated by
classification of undead scourge.
These being:
-       
Fleshcrafted
-       
Risen
-       
Apparitions and Spiritual Beings
-       
Necromantic Shades
-       
Nerubian
-       
Other
Fleshcrafted
“The art of fleshcrafting is that of taking body parts of
the fallen and stitching them together with other fallen body parts to -hopefully-
create something better than the sum of parts!
Better being the choice word here.”
A fleshcrafted creature is one as described above. They are
often slow-witted, slow-moving but large, imposing brutes. More often than not,
some part of them is still aware of what they are, with multiple sources of the
body parts screaming silently at their torment. Most notably, fleshcrafted
beings include the abomination, ghastly, open-gut creatures, ribs and entrails
on show. It also includes the more gargantuan flesh giant, taken from the body
of living storm giants to create massive weapons of Undeath.
Abominations
-       
Massive golems of flesh, these dim-witted brutes
are strong and difficult to kill. Often an amalgam of different parts of
different bodies, they often wield savage weapons such as cleavers and hooks,
attached to chains and able to wrench an unwary traveller towards them to be
mutilated. Their stomachs are often on show, revealing a series of crudely
implanted organs and bones sticking where they oughtn’t. 
-       
·       
An artist’s rendition of such a creature
-       
The possess inhuman strength, but sub=par
agility, speed and intellect. Used foremost as butchers of their enemies, these
creatures are often tanks of sorts in their own right.
-       
Their weak-points are the stitching holding them
together. Attacking at range is useless, the beasts will pull you in with sharp
hooks if not avoided. Best to attack their innards quickly, and with fire if at
all possible. This goes for most undead creatures, fire is invaluable.
Flesh Giants
-       
Flesh giants are truly terrifying creatures.
Taken from the storm giants, humans of Northrend or any combination of the two,
these putrid behemoths are slow, lumbering brutes that can topple siege
equipment! The masterwork of the Lich King’s agents, these corpse-puppets are
all too aware of their agonising state, and yet are completely controlled to
attack any living thing they see.
-       
With no weapons to speak of, besides their own
brute strength, these mighty scourge titans are without a doubt the Lich King’s
battering rams. Often dressed in little more than the hide, plate and/or chain
they wore as living, they are extremely difficult to kill. Or, re-kill, ahem.
-       
While ultimately deadly to anyone unprepared,
their lumbering movements make them easy target for the fast and strong.
-       
Using large, fire-based traps are the surest way
to level the playing field, moving quickly and picking at the large stitching
binding their fleshy parts together is key. Note: They are heavily armoured, so
finding weak spots is essential to be able to kill them.
-       
Finish them off by cutting out the heart. Using
explosives to reveal holes in their chest, it would be then a matter of carving
out the gargantuan organ, or damaging it enough that the giant collapses!
Risen
“Risen creatures are those that have been unceremoniously
ripped from their graves to serve as minions, or disturbed by necromantic
means. They are often foot soldiers and swarm to overwhelm prey in massive
numbers!”
Risen is a vague, general term for any creature taken
directly from the corpses of the fallen. There are many different types of
risen creatures, as discussed below.
Ghouls
-       
The all too famous, or rather infamous, example
of a risen creature is the ghoul. Ripped directly from the corpse of a fallen
humanoid, ghouls are twisted visages of their former selves, hunched, mindless
killing machines, often with deadly claws, teeth and spikes that jut from their
bodies as bones stick from rotting flesh.
-       
They are all too eager to devour carrion and the
living alike, roaming in terrifying numbers, packs of bloodthirsty beasts that
rip and tear anything to shreds to devour them.
-       
Though weak on their own, they are fast and
sharp in claws, quick in jump and are unwavering in their desire for flesh.
They often hunt, if it can be called as such, in packs of up to hundreds of the
blighters, and serve mainly as swarm-like soldiers to quickly overwhelm
opponents through sheer numbers.
-       
The best way to deal with a ghoul is to set it
alight; they burn quickly. Blunt weaponry, like maces are also effective, as
are swords (aim for the head!), arrows and non-burst ammunition is near-useless
unless directly on target in the spine or heart.
Geists
-       
Geists are a rarer form of risen creature. They
also swarm in droves, but are far lither than their ghoulish counterparts and
are much more agile, fast, and able to jump and ambush over much greater
distances. They have much higher intellects than ghouls, this not exactly being
difficult, and often having leaders of their packs.
-       
They use swarm and ambush tactics to catch
unsuspecting prey, ripping it to shreds with sharp, scythe-like claws.
-       
Geists are often seen to be faceless, apart from
a solitary eye. They are often the result of hanged corpses, bags and all,
being reanimated so that the noose, bag and rags of clothing the Geists wear
are all identifiable traits.
-       
They are fast and use their sharp claws to rip
and tear prey to pieces. They are often used as ambushers of the Scourge, and
the best defence against them is agility, heavy armour and/or fire, as always.
-       
In order to kill them, the head must be removed,
or the heart severed. The latter being more difficult as it is a smaller
target, though the noose around the neck often serves as protection from
decapitation.
Skeletons
-       
While not the most threatening of things, and
almost comically common amongst necromancy, skeletons are a viable way of
raising servants, craftsmen and even soldiers to fight for their masters.
-       
Being completely mindless, they are able to be
set repetitive, easy tasks that can be done by a horde of the creatures. Ripped
from fallen humanoids, once again, they are the fodder of the Scourge
-       
They are generally easy enough to vanquish,
though are often spotted in groups, or controlled by a far more powerful
Scourge creature, such as a death knight or a necromancer.
-       
To kill them, one must remove or destroy the
skull. This can be done easily with large, heavy and/or sharp objects by
decapitation or by bludgeoning.
Zombies
-       
Zombies are the slower moving, even less
intelligent versions of ghouls. Retaining more of a humanoid look about them,
they are the result of massacre and mass resurrection, their souls having moved
on, leaving behind an empty shell.
-       
They are slow moving, unarmed and are generally
unable to perform anything more than simple strikes and clawing motions.
-       
Their bites, however, are often infectious,
avoid at all costs!
-       
They, like ghouls or skeletons, are often the
minions of more powerful Scourge, or roam in massive droves. To kill them,
remove the head or heart, or set alight. Some zombies may rise again depending
on the severity of the wound inflicted!
Bone Giants
-       
Like their skeleton counterparts, these are
giant creatures of pure bone. Often serving as massive, destructive forces of
necromancy, they are generally taken from the corpses of the giants of
Northrend.
-       
Bone giants can also be morphed by their
necromantic summoners to be rearranged into more efficient killing machines.
Despite their increased size and power, they are still fairly mindless.
-       
In order to kill them, the skull must be destroyed
or removed, though this is a monumental task based on the size. The best way to
deal with these behemoths is to trap them in order to keep them stationary, or
remove supporting bones if possible. Large, heavy objects are best for
destroying these giants, as well as fire.
Liches
-       
A lich is a powerful undead, usually a magus or
wizard that has been able to nearly immortalise their soul through Undeath.
They are very powerful and retain their intelligence, but often their wills are
bound only to the Lich King.
-       
They cannot be permanently killed physically;
their soul lies not within their own bodies! They are found within an item
called a phylactery, which is often an important item or container that is
sealed and houses the magus’ former soul.
-       
Destroying the phylactery before killing the
Lich is recommended, as with the soul in the phylactery it will be able to
protect itself far more.
-       
Destroying a lich, while difficult, is straight
forward. Using fire, holy or natural magics, blunt or sharp, heavy weaponry to
decapitate or destroy the physical heart is key. Permanently destroying one
requires destruction of the soul jar, which can be achieved by the same methods
of blunt weaponry, or holy magic.
Death Knights
-       
Like liches, death knights retain all of their
former intellect and yet their will is bound to a master, presumably the Lich
King himself. Masters of unholy, frost and blood magic, and users of vile,
necrotic runes and minions of Undeath to do their bidding, death knights are a
very dangerous enemy.
-       
Clad, generally, in saronite or heavy steel
armour, the former being especially effective against holy and nature magic,
these juggernauts of the Lich King are the harbingers of death and destruction
to the living, or any enemy that crosses their path.
-       
Raised of former champions, they are skilled in
combat and magic, able to sustain heavy damage and deal it out in turn.
-       
Killing them can prove very difficult,
especially able to ignore pain, and with saronite armour they are almost
invulnerable. Key word ‘almost’.
-       
While saronite is extremely tough and light, it
is still plate armour. Blunt weaponry can still reverberate the plate enough to
cause bone fractures and breakages, though death knights can mend such wounds
through blood magic. Fast, powerful, repeated blows are necessary to stun or
immobilise death knights, and finding cracks in the armour is key to defeating
them, searing bare flesh with holy magic, holy water, or nature magic.
[WIP]