Many and terrible are the Woken Dead that stagger blindly across Tal'Vorn's face, hungering for the bodies of the living to slay, and to occupy. Each of them is the remains of a powerful and determined soul, one who has dragged themselves out of the River Styx by sheer force of will, denying the Dark Water it's rightful bounty. A few of them are outlined below, but this is only a small sample. The truth is that they are truly without number, for Tal'Vorn is both blessed and cursed with the presence of many strong willed warriors and casters, ripe to return from the Long Sleep.
The First Fall is the gentlest and is the only place to enter or leave the River Styx. It is also where a user of Bone Magic can enslave the weakest forms of the Woken Dead, the Ghosts, the powerless spirits. A Ghost is nothing more then the image of the dead, or sometimes a sound, but are unable to effect the surrounding world. A Ghost is typically a Woken Dead with a desire to see a loved one once more, or pass on a message.
Beyond the First Fall lies the Second, darker then before, the River running a little faster and deeper. Here the Dead are a little stronger, though not by a lot, able to project the emotions that they felt as they died, their fear, hatred or sorrow. Here are the Ghasts, the victims of violence, unjust or lonely deaths. A Ghast can vary in strength from causing a man to shiver impulsively to driving an isolated Jump Gate Community mad with unexplained terror.
Walking the first two Falls has little effect on the body of the Mortis, but the Third Fall saps the warmth from their bones, leaving the Mortis' touch perpetually cold and unpleasant. It is within this place that the intelligent spirits known as Boggarts reside. Whilst Ghasts and Ghosts are essentially mindless, subject to their base instincts, a Boggart has a will, though they tend to lack the intelligence to use it. The weakest form of Boggart is known colloquially as a Knocker, due to its tendancy to rap on doors, windows and tables, generally making an irritation of itself. However, a more malicious Boggart can become a Hurler, a poltergeist. Fond of moving furniture, chucking stones and sometimes even people, a Hurler is a positive menace, but is nothing compared to a Ripper. Fond of blood of all creatures, large or small, a Ripper is a vile and loathsome predator.
Beyond the Third Fall lies the Fourth, and even more powerful and sickening Woken Dead. Ghouls wander the half-light here, struggling to return to life, these spirits the last of the incorporeal dead. Yet, despite their apparent lack of reality, or perhaps because of it, the Ghouls burn with an overwhelming desire to feast upon the flesh of the dead, to drink cold blood and suck the marrow from rotting bones. A Ghoul is not normally a dangerous being, having no interest in devouring the living, but sometimes, if hungry and desperate enough, the will kill, ripping with claws more real then they should be, tearing and biting in their frenzy.
Deeper still, and beings with voices that shatter the silence prowl the hip deep waters of the Fifth Fall. Once spirits, these beings have stolen the bodies of dead wolves and other predators, inhabiting the shells in a debased mockery of the life they once enjoyed. Reduced to the instincts of the animal they have become, these beings hunt and kill like true wolves, but do not breath or enjoy any existence beyond the thirst for flesh. And it is this hunger that gives them their name, Flesh Wolves. These creatures, when they find their way out of River, often do so in a group, forming packs like real wolves. Even if only a lone Flesh Wolf escapes death, then they seek out other wolf packs, dominating them through their Woken strength.
Once you reach the Sixth Fall, you are halfway down to Zarner's realm and it is here that some of the more powerful Woken Dead can be plucked from the Long Sleep. Creatures known as Gaunts or, more commonly, Zombies, stagger through the waist deep waters, struggling against its insistent tugs and eddies. It is easier for a spirit to inhabit the flesh of a body, rather then just its bones or belongings and as such, the Gaunts are one of the most common corporeal Woken Dead. Though they do not hunger for flesh, like Ghouls, they do hate all living things instinctively, being jealous of their warmth and breath. As such, they are dangerous and implacable foes, difficult to slow or to finally destroy.
The Seventh Fall is where things begin to take a change for the stranger. Though the River grows no steeper, the Dark Water does grow rougher, the ground underfoot broken and shifting. However, it is not rock or dirt underfoot, but fractured, splintered bones. And it is from these bones that the Woken Dead of this Fall form. The Skeletons, the shed remains of spirits floating down the River, are incapable of many things that even less corporeal Woken Dead do easily. They cannot speak or see clearly, having to rely on an almost sixth sense to find their victims. However, in spite of lacking any form of muscle mass or brain power, they do seem able to reason and fight skillfully. They utilise shields and weapons, unlike Gaunts, making them somewhat more dangerous, especially in a group.
The Eighth Fall is similar to the previous, though here the water flows around a man's ribcage and strange beings stalk the darkness. Illuminating the almost pitch black night are pin-pricks of red, the glows emerging from within the armoured helms of Wights. Clad in suits of ancient armour, these spirits are magnificent fighters, strong, skilled and fast, easily capable of besting many mortal warriors. They are ferocious enemies and staunchly loyal allies, yet you should never forget what they are. The spirits of fallen nobles, the Wights serve gladly, but always seek a way to become the master in the end.
Eventually, with the waters swirling around your shoulders, you come to the Ninth Tier. Here the Wights still roam, though these are not mere Woken nobles come back to life to lift their ancient blades in battle once again. These are the Kings of fallen times, slaughtered DragonLords, Elves, Anvar, all the Elder, any one who once bore the burden of leading troops into battle to protect the country they ruled. They are also more powerful then the Wights, able to step between shadows in a form of instant transportation known as ShadowWalking. The Wight Lords, as they are known, typically wield powerful magical weapons, as well as being clad in some of the most resilient of armours.
Although to a mortal man the Dark Water of the Tenth Fall runs cold, swift and deep around their throats, the inhabitants of this place have no need to worry about such things, for to them the river swirls around their knees. Known as Vengar, these creatures are truly immense, the size of buildings that slowly shamble their way around the Fall, seemingly without purpose. Born of the bodies of the very largest creatures, be they Dragons, Soulless Behemoths plunged into the River by some quirk of fate, Anvar or the very largest Beastman Minotaurs, these creatures slowly grow down here, feed by the spirits of the weaker souls they pluck from the river and devour, their bodies steadily growing. Indeed the largest Vengar recorded is more massive the most powerful Black Dragon in existence, easily in excess of one hundred feet in length.
Dangerous as the Vengar are and skilled as the Wights might be, of all the great Woken Dead, there is only one type that truly strikes terror into the hearts of everything it comes across. It takes an exceptionally powerful and strong willed soul to fall to the very brink of the Eleventh Fall and refuse to the let the River take him. And it is these spirits that become the Mortalis. Crafting new bodies for themselves from blood, bone and grave dirt, these creatures are absolutely immortal and invulnerable so long as they remain in contact with the ground. Though their limbs can be sliced from their bodies and their torsos pierced and cut, they simply absorb more dirt from the ground and regenerate the wounds. Intelligent and willful, more then capable of learning the Commands required to wake the Dead themselves, a Mortalis is a true threat and an immense horror that must be stopped the instant it is discovered.
The Twelfth Fall is shallow and gentle, warm and calming as the river pans out into a wide lake. This is the final destination for all the souls of Tal'Vorn, the last resting place. Though called the First Tier of Hell, it is Zarner's realm, a place of peace and calm and tranquility. Such is the happiness granted to souls who find rest here that they can never return, lest a Greater God themselves demand it. Indeed only a few of the pantheon are capable of plucking souls from Zarner's realm and they are powerful indeed. Shaltar sometimes calls upon the most powerful of his DragonLords if their work is not yet done, Vriclar being the Goddess of Life is able to overturn Zarner's power and Timus can turn back the very hands of Time itself. Only these three can take a soul against the God of the Dead's will. However Zarner is not without mercy and not without pity. Should a mortal creature contact him and give true and unbreachable reason for a soul to be returned to the moral coil, then the God of the Dead has been known to release the spirit back to the realm of the living, even if only for a short time.
The Woken Dead are powerful opponents, but they are not without weaknesses. None of them like running water as it reminds them of the River from which they have escaped, though it will not stop them forever. Salt burns and blinds them, and iron steals their strength, whilst silver manages to do both, yet steel simply cuts and the other precious metals are ineffectual. Trying to stop a Vengar, Gaunt or Mortalis by removing their limbs is pointless as it won't kill the creatures, and you'd be lucky to pierce a Wight's armour, let alone injure the creature within. Indeed Magic is typically the best defence, though even that is not always of any great effect. Certainly Universe and Research Magics seem to have little effect on them, Psychic Magic not being much better. The Elemental Sects tend to fare better, able to freeze, burn and blast the Woken Dead into their component body parts.
However, no matter if it be a lowly Ghost all the way up to the immense and terrifying Mortalis, none of the Woken Dead should be underestimated. Yes they tend to be slower and duller then most creatures on Tal'Vorn, but they are also tough, determined and implacable.
© Joshua Binks (Paladin), Christopher Riley (Carnage) and Vanessa Vaughan (Andanin) 2002 -