The Cursed Undead

The cursed undead are corporeal beings. Common to all is the presence of their life force beyond the grave. These cursed beings include vampires, ghouls, revenants, mummies, and litches. Often, such creatures have done great evil during their lives, and are doomed to existence in a state that is neither life nor death. On rare occasions, tormented souls willingly choose such a fate. Disposing of the cursed undead requires destroying the object which contains their life force.

Antoine Wiertz

Vampires feast on the blood of the living. They can not bear the light of day, and must return to the earth of their homeland by dawn. They can be killed by destroying their heart.

Peter Paul Rubens

Ghouls are horrific beings which consume the decaying corpses of the dead. They haunt graveyards, battlefields, and sites of plague and famine. Their ravenous nature does not limit their appetite to the deceased, and will prey on the weak within their reach. Their heads must be severed to kill them.

Carlos Schwabe

Revenants are the decaying remains of individuals who are cursed through their own malice. Destined to walk the earth until their vengeance is appeased, they torment the living with accusations and threats. They prolong the torture of their victims as long as possible. Their life force is attached to an object which they held dearly in life.

Hubert Robert

Individuals can be cursed through ritual, their bodies prepared through mummification to withstand the ravages of time. A hellish imprisonment worse than death awaits these unfortunate souls, doomed to their fate for eons while all that remains of the world they knew crumbles around their tombs. Their life force is reputed to be contained in organs which were removed.

Viktor Vasnetsov

Litches are the desiccated bodies of individuals transformed by powerful arcane magic. Tales tell of powerful Necromancers, who chose to bind their spirits to their bodies even after death. Others tell of kings, betrayed by their Viziers and cursed to an abominable existence. Litches are powerful beings, and cling to the things they loved in life. Their life force is often contained in a gem or crystal.