History

The Risen are a recent phenomenon and their history is a strange one. It is believed that the Risen originated in the Grey Elven forest, shortly after the Fulmination, an explosion which caused a torrent of necromantic Boneshards to fall upon the forest, cursing and corrupting everything they touched. To combat the Aspect of Hatred, Inviticus, a magical curtain barring the undead and trapping them in one part of the forest was erected. Inviticus sought to breach this barrier and began to experiment with new forms of undead. These experiments were performed in a chamber of his necropolis called the Black Altar. Dozens, and eventually hundreds, of experiments failed until the body of a Tiefanese soldier, raised as a lesser zombie during the Fulmination, arose as the first Risen. He was the first undead with his own free will, coupled with a childlike mentality that newborn Risen often share. There is no certain record of how Mordecai, for that was his name, was granted free will again. Some believe that an Aspect of Hatred could not have wrought such a change and that only true love could have done so. Most believe that that is nonsense.

At the same time, in the town of Jericho, a former Necromancer now ghost, Rhademia, set a nefarious plan into motion. Through trickery and deceit she convinced some of the citizens of Jericho – including Mordecai – to accompany her south of the Curtain. She convinced the citizenry that they might defeat Inviticus by using his experiments to return free will to all of the undead. Those assembled snuck into Inviticus’s necropolis and sacrificed Mordecai to the Black Altar. In the process, Rhademia achieved her true goal: she regained a body. That is how the second Risen was created.

It was initially believed that only Rhademia and Mordecai could create other Risen, and historically this appears to have been accurate. However, the eventual defeat and death of Rhademia caused such a great impact on the very fabric of necromancy that soon it was discovered that Mordecai was no longer the only father of the Risen. There have since been discovered a total of two methods for the creation of Risen. Firstly, a number of lesser undead appear to be raised as new Risen. They appear to be lesser zombies, but possess freedom of will and sentience, though they lack all memories from before their death. In appearance, they look like a lesser undead version of whatever they were prior to death – a Risen Wood Fae, for example. No one knows why some lesser undead rise as Risen though most do not. The religious often believe they are touched by gods, though they is only one of any number of theories. Atheistic scholars tend to believe that the process is random, and no one has yet been able to produce any valid evidence of why one body might rise over another. The number of Risen that are created this way is small, but is still much larger than the second type of Risen: the Harbingers.

The Harbinger represents the second method of creation of the Risen. Harbingers appear like any other Risen, with one exception: they can bring another Risen into being from the body of a lesser zombie. Mordecai represents the first of the Harbingers, but he is no longer alone in this. The scholar Cervan Migua writes about a conversation she had on the subject with Mordecai in her History of the Free Undead. When asked how he created new Risen, Mordecai explained that the process was simple. He merely had to kneel in front of the body, concentrate, and then feel the spark of life within them. It is harder to see the longer the person has been dead but, Mordecai states, it is never lost. Once it is found, “you wrap your hands around it and give it some of your own life to fan the flame. Once the spark bursts into flame you can feel the life begin to regenerate on its own as they regain their freedom and mind and their tie to the necromantic creator is severed” (History of the Free Undead, p. 195). When asked if he has ever tried this on someone living, Mordecai replied: “No. That would be an abomination” (History of the Free Undead, p. 197). Mordecai was last seen in the now Inviticus-free Grey Elven forest, working with the Thalan to assess the damage caused by Inviticus.

Geography

Groups of Risen have spread far and wide. They mostly prefer to remain hidden, so few known groups of Risen exist. The most well-known is the Family located in Jericho, led by the original Risen, Mordecai.

Another prominent Risen Family is the Family of Vassily, located just east of Felnir and just south of Aslak. This Family is composed of both Wolven and Savar’Aving Risen, and has a tenuous grasp on unlife. The Family experiences hatred and often violence from the two nations; the Savar’Aving despise the Family’s reminder of their past and the potentials horrors of their future, and the Wolven’s superstition and ability to sense the undead makes them very dangerous. Because of this, the Family of Vassily has become very cautious and adept in battle. Their numbers are few because of the tragedies of violence, but their reputation is impressive.

In the corner of Maud’madir east of Bakura lives a group of Risen which calls themselves the Return. These Risen are devoted to the idea of returning completely to life and spend their time in study of how they might reverse what they see as the curse of their unlife. They will take in anyone willing to learn, and are composed mostly of scholars in magic and religious matters. They are generally left alone because of their remote location. Their numbers are approximately fifteen, but are expected to swell.

Another major group of Risen lives in the mountains of Bakura, drawn there for its peace and tolerance. This is the largest known group of Risen with a reported fifty individuals. They live a quiet life which is the closest to that of ‘normal’ individuals as has been documented in the history of Risen. They are primarily creators of textiles and pottery.

Culture

The Risen culture is varied across locations and species, as the Risen are a very diverse group. There are some common factors between most Risen, however. Because they are often shunned or hunted, they tend to live underground or away from open areas both for seclusion and to avoid sunlight during the day. They live in groups of about 10-15 with those who will accept them, which is usually other Risen, in makeshift families with a single leader. If there is a Harbinger in the group, they will usually become the leader by default. Risen are secluded, territorially, and fiercely protective of what they call their Family. This structure gives rise to calling friends Cousin and close friends Brother or Sister. Kinder Risen will often take in or adopt new Risen and teach them the ways of their lonely, harsh existence under their protection. These Risen are called Child.

There are some groups known for actively hunting Risen. The Church of Light has no official stance on the Risen, but members of it often take it upon themselves to hunt them. Both the Citadel and the Church of Vesmir hunt them on sight. The Church of Vesmir has declared war on the Risen as an abomination against nature.

Spirit Skinning

Possibly the most controversial topic among Risen and non-Risen alike is spirit skinning. Spirit skinning is the process by which a Risen in undead form may take living form by skinning the spirit of a living creature with a spirit which is capable of resurrection. This kills the target in the process. Naturally, some Risen refuse to do this at all because it requires death, and because no one knows exactly what happens to the spirit after it is skinned by a Risen. Most claim there is no lasting effect. Scholars are still far from unanimous on the morality of spirit skinning, particularly because of the possibilities of using it on criminals or those who were dying already. The Risen who refuse to perform spirit-skinning stay in their undead form their whole unlives, and ironically therefore receive greater discrimination than other Risen. It is a huge sacrifice. Other Risen will place conditions on spirit-skinning; perhaps they will only skin those who are already dying, or those who have committed violent crimes. When Risen take a new Child into the Family, they will present the Child with the opportunity to decide for themselves how they feel about spirit skinning and act accordingly without any judgment, although this may lead to the new Child leaving if their decision is different from that of their Family. These partings are generally amicable as Risen understand that this is an important decision with no clear right answer. The new Risen are given a month to make their choice. If they choose the path of Life, choosing to forego spirit skinning unless absolutely necessary, a small ceremony occurs under the full moon where the family builds a small grave for the Child and they give them an overdue funeral. The most common laws in Risen society are with regards to when it is or is not acceptable to spirit skin. Most Risen follow to some extent the path of Life.

While the term ‘spirit skinning’ is widely understood, most Risen consider it vulgar and alarmist and prefer the phrase ‘vital essence reclamation’.

Marriage and Children

While most consider this a disgusting abomination, it is possible for a Risen man and woman to produce a child. Or at the very least, a foetus. Female Risen can carry children in human form, but miscarry if they switch into the undead form. There have been instances were Risen women became pregnant, but there is yet no instance of any Risen child being successfully carried to term; often because pregnant Risen are hunted by those who disapprove of the Risen, let alone one born and not made. Marriage and mating customs vary, but tend to be in some way gruesome or grotesque. They are, after all, undead. Gifts are a common source of this gruesomeness; a ring still on the finger of a dispatched follower of Malagant or a bouquet of dead flowers.

Religion

Risen will worship just about any god or dragon, but they are usually fairly private about it. Most Risen follow the ethics of the Church of Light, but very quietly, because they are so incredibly unwelcome in it. Though they may follow the ethics of the Church of Light, they are naturally disinclined towards the organized aspect of it. There are no Risen churches, because any obvious worship from the Risen would draw a lot of unwanted attention. Risen are tolerant of all religious pursuits except those who try to learn necromancy or follow Malagant. Most Risen will kill either of these on sight.

Superstition

All Hallows is an important day for the Risen, and not in a good way. Their risk of being controlled is stronger on All Hallows, even in their living form, so the Risen tend to spend All Hallows in hiding with the exits to their hideaways barred.

The Risen tend to see superstition backwards. They like black cats and think breaking a mirror is an excellent omen. When they get married, they will drink wine and smash the glasses. One odd superstition among the Risen is that a flower growing outside one’s door is a bad omen, foretelling the coming of an enemy.

Politics

Risen Families are usually 10-15 Risen (or other friendly individuals) strong. They are led by a single individual, which is typically the Harbinger Risen if one exists in the group. Otherwise a Father or Mother figure tends to naturally come forward. Decisions are discussion-based rather than strength-based, because Risen cannot typically hurt one another in their undead form. Because Risen are always struggling with their darker nature, they work incredibly hard to avoid violence among themselves. As a very last option when an argument cannot be resolved, the two Risen involved will stand in the sun until one gives up and runs for shelter. The last Risen standing wins the argument.

Every Family has their military arm of whoever happens to be the strongest or most interested in providing that arm. These are referred to as Aunts and Uncles, when people are being friendly. There are other names for when they are not.

Common Personalities & Views

The Risen are just as distinct as the races from which they came. Risen are liable to possess the personality traits, if not the memories, of their former selves, but this is not a guarantee. The constant fear and hatred with which a Risen must live – not to mention their lack of memory and understanding of who they were – are likely to impact a Risen’s personality. Beyond this, though they are not fully undead, the evil which drives traditional undead to destroy everything living is still present in the Risen, to a much lesser degree. There’s a little voice in their heads saying ‘You should just kill everything’. It’s easy enough to ignore, but can lead to grumpiness or violence in some. A Risen is likely struggling with the darkness within them with various degrees of success; either learning from it and overcoming it, or just going with it.

Views on Other Races

Wolven: Risen find it very difficult to talk to Wolven, because they are so intolerant and can sense them.

Tiefanese: Risen are very wary of the Tiefanese because of their association with the Church of Light, which tends to try to kill them.

Gargylen: The Risen feel a sense of kinship with the Gargylen because they were both made by controlling, abusive masters. The Gargylen don’t always seem to return this sentiment, much to the Risens’ chagrin.

Ajaunti: The Risen are also fond of the Ajaunti. They like their friendly attitude and their emphasis on family, and find that they are not as judgmental as other races.

Roleplaying Tips

• Spirit skinning is a really important part of being Risen; have a stance on it!
• You will have violent/grotesque urges. There is always something in the back of your head telling you that you should be killing all the living. These urges are easy to suppress, but should still in some way colour how your characters thinks and behaves
• Dark/morbid humour is always a plus
• Risen are not typically bubbly or carefree. It’s a hard knock life
• Be cautious of people you meet. Almost nobody likes the Risen