Afterlife

Upon death, a Dalmer’s corpse is buried, cremated, embalmed or recycled. However, to any Dalmer who feel that their work is not finished, death is certainly not the end,

The Dalmer have plenty of options in the afterlife, they can separate their incorporeal forms from their undead body in a multitude of ways.

It is worth noting that the Dalmer have a taboo that is tampering with the permanence of death. This taboo is based on the fact that once something is dead, bringing people artificially back from the dead always results in violent sociopathy. Which is arguably the norm for the average Dalmer. Nevertheless is is forbidden.

This phenomenon of undeath is widely accepted in Dalmer society, to the point that there are specific governmental institutions dedicated to the government and policing of Dalmer undead populations

## Undeath

The undead, or silent majority, is the umbrella term that encompasses all forms of life after biological death a Dalmer can undergo. These forms encompass the traditional undead figures such as Zombies, Ghosts and Spirits, who are respectively two types of corporeal and one type incorporeal forms of undeath. There are other forms as well, some require mechanical enhancements (Skeletons) others are intangible, invisible and require host entities (Souls) in order to interact with the world. The personality of a Dalmer is fractured upon death in between the various undead forms created from the dead Dalmer, this leads to the created personalities keeping certain traits of the original.

### Corporeal Forms

*Main article: Corporeal Forms*

Also known as Conscious Corpses, corporeal forms are the result of a Dalmer dying and coming back to life. The undead can come back as Zombies, Skeletons, Mummies or as Vampires.

#### Zombies

*Main Articles: Zombification, Zombism in Welt*

Zombies are deceased bodies who retain brain activity after death. Unless nourished with the appropriate nutrients, the zombie decomposes over time.

Zombies in order to survive require regular consumption of Dalmer flesh and brain fluid, both of which have yet to be successfully synthesized for mass production. This causes flesh drives and collection organizations to be made regularly by the Dalmer to feed those in need.

Over time, a zombie will lose flesh and eventually become a skeleton, and remains so until killed through violence or crumbling.

#### Skeletons

*Main Articles: Skeletification, Skeletons*

Skeletons are the supporting frames of the bodies of living creatures brought back to life. In other race cultures, Skeletons of dead creatures can be reanimated after a creature's death through the use of necromantic magic or by being possessed by souls of the deceased.

In dalmer culture, to become a skeleton is a choice, by undergoing a process known as skeletification. Skeletification is the stripping of all flesh and organs (save the brain and parts of the nervous system) off a zombie and the installation of mechanical and pneumatic enhancements to allow the remaining skeleton to move. Skeletons are mute, but much more mobile and agile than zombies, and can usually reconstruct themselves after breaking down.

#### Mummies

*Main Articles: Embalming, Mummies*

An alternative to zombification, Mummification is the embalming of the Dalmers corpse in order to preserve the muscle and tendon functions of the deceased.

#### Vampires

*Main article: Limax Vampirism, Vampirism, Vampires*

Considered an alternative to zombification, vampirism is a viral infection that allows preservation of the body after death by the regular ingestion of Dalmer blood.

### Incorporeal forms

*Main Article: Incorporeal Forms*

Also known as Animi, incorporeal forms are entities that can form from a Dalmer upon death. Animus can be ghosts, souls and spirits.

When a biological entity dies, its animi remains in the body for a time, preventing effective necromancy until the soul has departed, and only the body remains. When the animi has departed, it can manifest as a ghost, a soul and/or a spirit.

Every creature, living or dead, is powered by an or several animi. Without it, they are just lumps of flesh or piles of bones (Ie, corpses or corporeal undead). This animating force can be contained within a soul gem, if the soul gem has the capacity. From the gem, the ghost/spirit/soul can be used to power items.

#### Ghost

*Main Article: Ghosts, Telekinesis*

Ghosts are completely lucid incorporeal forms that are semi immaterial. Ghosts, like souls can manipulate objects using telekinesis.

#### Soul

*Main article: Souls, Haunting*

A Dalmer soul is the other form of afterlife separate from the ghost, and the spirit incorporeal form can haunt items to give them new properties, meaning in the same way that Dalmer ghosts can haunt a soul can enchant things with their personality. Souls are fully capable of haunting objects, as well as leaving electronic and physical messages, souls is completely mute however.

#### Spirit

*Main article: Spirits, Possession*

Spirits are the most mysterious and least understood of dalmer undead forms, they have the capacity to possess other biological beings.

#### Specters

*Main Articles:* *Specters*

Specters are the combination of two animi at the moment of post vitam.

Some Dalmer return from the grave as specter's, most returning to complete unfinished work, to fulfill an oath or to seek revenge on a wrongdoing.

In legends, specters and banshees only return when the deceased is an orphan, the last of its clan, and is without children. As such its debt cannot be repaid by its children or its family, and will do so himself as a specter. Most often specters are simply ghosts in need of psychological counseling.

Necromancers and Seers try to separate the animi fused together in a Specter in an attempt to stop the animi from hurting itself or others.

#### Banshees:

*Main Articles:* *Banshees*

Banshees are created from the fusion of all three animi at the moment of death

Known weakness to smiles.

Banshees are unique in the fact that they seem to exhibit all the traits normally associated with the different types of immaterial undead such as possession, haunting and telekinesis.

Necromancers and Seers will try to capture and then separate a Banshee once it is calm as banshee meltdowns are incredibly dangerous to themselves and everyone around them.

### Partial forms

#### Flesh Golems

*Main article: Flesh Golems*

A flesh golem is simply put the residue from a Dalmer who has gone complete flesh stripping in order to become a skeleton. The flesh golem is mobile but requires a rigid internal structure in order to operate. This method of undeath is very unpopular amongst the Dalmer and is illegal in some Elected Kingdoms for the same reasons as Zombism is illegal in some areas.

## Undeath in Society

*Main Articles:* *Undeath in society*

The Silent majority is, for all intents and purposes an ethnicity in Dalmer society. They live in their own cities (aptly named Necropolises) and generally live amongst each other, but will willingly mingle with the living on occasion. Undead businesses are a testament to this willingness to live together.

## Governing the Undead

 Necromancers
 Department of Rogue Undead Management
 Biohazard Assessment Team
 Undead Police Force

### Department of missing limbs:

*Main Articles:* *Department of missing limbs*

The department of missing limbs is the imperial ministry in charge of the welfare of the undead in Dalmer society. Its name stems from the departments original function as a replacement system for zombies and skeletons who lost parts of their body.

### Policing

Policing the undead is done by two government agencies the Department of rogue undead management (DRUM) and the Undead Police Force.

#### Department of rogue undead management

Main article: D.R.U.M.

The Department of rogue undead management, or DRUM, is in charge of artificial/rogue undead management all over the empire. They are seconded by BAST (Biohazard Assessment Team), the armed branch of DRUM that deals with military actions.

#### Undead Police Force

*Main article: U.P.F.*

In charge of the maintaining of peaceful relations in the undead community. They are in charge of Exorcisms and Intracisms. They wield the infamous Soul Containers to capture criminal incorporeal forms.

## Undead Healthcare

### Necromancers:

Necromancers are medical experts that work to ensure the recently deceased produce conscious able bodied undead,

Seers refers to a necromancer who practices Necropsychology.

## Undead Business

*Main article: Undead businesses*

To compensate for the needs of the undead (flesh, blood, replacement bones, fear, possession etc.) undead businesses opportunities boom in silent majority communities.

Flesh farms, blood banks, skeleton garages, mummification undertakers, possession, scaring, and haunting businesses are staples of any settlement with a community of undead.

All the things consumed by the undead grant them extended life, but become progressively less and less potent, leading to the eventual death on the undead. The undead pay for these services like any other Dalmer can, but it isn’t well taken care of by social security, so they generally must find employment to pay for these services. Material undead can serve in the armed forces or any other labors just like when they were alive, immaterial undead however have difficulty given their specific attributes. Spirits are invaluable as field biologists, souls often do contract works powering items with their presence or as personal assistants and ghosts make use of their telekinesis.

### Careers

Not all undead decide to work in the labor pool or in undead businesses

Material undead can serve in the armed forces or any other labors just like when they were alive, immaterial undead however have difficulty given their specific attributes.

Spirits are invaluable as field biologists, souls often do contract works haunting items with their presence or as personal assistants and ghosts make use of their telekinesis in various jobs.

## Feeding the Undead

*Main article: Feeding habits of the undead*

Every undead has specific feeding habits that must be observed in order to maintain their physical and mental faculties.

## Other

### Ectoplasm:

*Main article: Ectoplasm*

Residue left behind by the incorporeal undead, sold commercially it is a food item that tastes like pig milk.