Zombie

### Overview

A zombie is an undead creature usually created by the re-animation of a corpse. Unlike animated skeletons, zombies still retain some flesh on their bodies, and give off a horrid, rank smell.

A zombie usually represents a soul which is trapped within its own corpse by a spell, usually cast by a necromancer, preventing its ascension to the Void. The trapped soul and zombie shell is usually subservient to the whim of the sorceror who created it, and the differing degrees of powers some zombies exhibit are a representation of the strength of the spell used to bind them. Zombies may also be souls wrenched out of Naraka (or rarely, Menione) by a necromancer, although such acts often have dire consequences for the summoners in the afterlife.

While the most commonly encountered zombies are slow and tough, others possess a variety of traits, allowing them to spread disease or move with increased speed.

Virtually any corporeal creature can be turned into a zombie. Zombies are unthinking automatons, and can do little more than follow orders. When left unattended, zombies tend to mill about in search of living creatures to slaughter and devour. Zombies attack until destroyed, having no regard for their own safety. Zombies drag their feet and so do not leave clear prints.

Although capable of following simple orders, some zombies are more often unleashed into an area with no command other than to kill living creatures. As a result, zombies are often encountered in packs, wandering around places the living frequent, looking for victims.

Anyone killed after being bitten by a zombie may rise as a zombie if the spell cast to create the attacking zombie was strong enough to bind additional souls. Unless the corpse is blessed or similar measures are taken, an army of zombies could very quickly be amassed.

### Subtypes

#### Reaver Zombies

A reaver zombie was an exceptionally powerful type of zombie. Created by potent magics, they were stronger, faster, and more cunning than the basic shambling corpse. Unlike a normal zombie, reaver zombies retained their consciousness and the awareness of their undead state made them horribly vicious and cruel. For this reason, reaver zombies were particularly popular among necromancers.

#### Fulci Flower Zombie

These are special zombies created by the Fulci flowers, and function to serve the flower until their auto-destruction. Fulci flower's method of procreation is singularly frightful—it slays the living with poisonous pollen which causes asphyxiation. The infesting pollen then sprout in the victim's upper airways, and the plant bores its tendrils into their brains and nervous systems to implant new seeds, animating the corpse host as **zombies**. These zombies house the flower as it grows within their head and brains. They attack living creatures to devour flesh, and the nutrients are used to help the flower bloom and develop. Mature zombies are often seen with multiple Fulci flowers blossoming along their face and skull. Once the zombie's bodies start to decompose significantly, they wander off into the surrounding wild, collapsing and breaking apart. The new Fulci flowers on its body then sprays its pollen to kill new hosts, who in turn will serve the plant until they move off to find a new place to pollinate.