Wealcanlich

Legends of the walking dead are found throughout the world. Most of these stories on Earth are founded only in the human imagination and our reasonable fear and aversion to the dead. Sometimes a witch’s magic might not be ready to die when the body perishes and keep their host moving a bit longer. In other cases, a witch might use their magic to animate a corpse, not only having its body act as a magic battery similar to artifacts and familiars, but also making for a formidable guardian. There are very few witches with such power on Earth anymore.

 In Kaimere, the living dead are much more common. While there are many theories as to why, and indeed not all have the same origin, but a consensus comes down to the simple fact that, like witches, Kaimerans are host to magic, and sometimes that magic isn’t ready to go.

 It is a common practice amongst most Kaimeran cultures to burn the dead. Some anthropologists have argued this is to deny scavengers a lure toward settlements, and while this may well influence the practice, the reality that sometimes a kaimeran’s magic isn’t ready to die is also undoubtedly influential. This isn’t common, and a vast majority of magic dies with the host, but it has been documented enough times to be reliably understood. The magic needs a host, and is bound to them, so eventually these deteriorating corpses fall apart and the magic dies, but it can take a few weeks or even years in extreme cases for the magic to finally depart. The condition of these undead range from stalling the rot such that they could be mistaken for a lethargic living all the way to animated skeletons. In extreme cases, magic might live without a body, trying to continue on as a specter, though without a body to consume for energy, these ghosts rarely last for long. In a few instances they will take a new body and warp it to resemble their old form, but this is often more than the magic can manage and the new host’s own magic can usually fight back and kill the possessing spirit, but even so, touching the dead is often taboo as it can invite such possessions.

### Description

   Most kaimeran languages have their own words for the walking dead, but the Assembly refers to them as Wealcanlichs. While these have inspired all sorts of legends, from revenants with unfinished business and desecrated possessions to perseverant warriors and divine ascension, the reality is simply a parasite refusing to surrender the host.

   As a general rule, wealcanlichs aren’t particularly dangerous, and they lack intelligence. They tend to go about activities like eating and sleeping that a body needs to recover, presumably so the body can recover, even if its core systems are deteriorating. If they are impeded, they tend to move around an obstacle rather than fight. Burning will destroy a wealcanlichs and its reanimation magic, hence the common practice shortly after death is confirmed to prevent wealcanlichs from even taking their first motions.

### History of Wealcanlichs

 While these were said to be very common during the Age of Witches, especially amongst cultures like the Pakardiant and Telmede that generally do not burn the dead, it is extremely rare to hear of a wealcanlich in modern times. Some historians think this is due to there being far more animated corpses in the Age of Witches mistaken for wealcanlichs, and others consider the higher frequency coming down to exaggerated accounts of less reliable ancient historians, but it has also been proposed that hereditary magic was more potent during this era of Kaimeran history. This is supported by bone and tissue studies of commoners at the time being substantially higher in magic concentration than modern kaimerans. They also appear to have lived longer during the Age of Witches: it was common to see accounts and osteological confirmation of people regularly living for over a thousand years, while modern kaimerans tend to begin aging rapidly between five and seven hundred. As one might expect, this is not a popular theory, but it does seem consistent with the older average lifespan of Kaimerans during the Age of Witches. Hereditary magic has extremely high caloric demands, and the reality might be as simple as having less potent magic being much more efficient and therefore would be naturally selected for a generations go by.

### Necromancy

   Although conventional wealcanlichs are benign, during the Age of Witches, powerful necromancers found it very easy to more or less hack into the magic, bolster it, and make the walking dead serve them. An unenchanted corpse could still be raised and walked as a puppet, but directing the hereditary magic was substantially easier. Sufficiently powerful witches could have an elite guard and even armies of walking dead, adding to a horde as they slaughtered their way across enemy territory. While this is seen as a quintessential horror of the Age of Witches, when many witch-lords held such power, there have been witches in the modern age who have done the same: in the conquest of the Seridic wetlands and subjugation of the Kentarim Islands by Empire and Republic respectively, powerful witches of the defenders raised armies from their fallen kin and lead unexpected and brutally successful retaliations against the invaders. Necromancy is strictly outlawed in the nations of the known world, so witches with this ability are supposedly extinct, but there are rumors of powerful puppeteers on the fringes of the known world.

A witch's corpse, kept moving by her magic, carries on in the pursuit of revenge. - Keenan TaylorA Seridic witch raises his fallen allies to strike against the advancing Imperial Army, giving his living kin a chance to retreat.- Keenan TaylorWealcanlich brought into being by Hezuki.- Keenan TaylorThe wealcanlich of a Shu warlord, controlled by a witch, advances toward his next target. - Keenan Taylor