the problem with undead (last commands, free will and low-lying prairies)

[Turjan]

Surely they'd decay into skeletons? The question is how long it would take for them to work their bones into nothingness?

Hmm... I think that would be two weeks, if I remember correctly .

 

[Hand of Evil]

I figure the zombies will be gone in a week due to wear and tear, such as cave-ins, gas pockets, the random mishap of zombies working with each other and one trips in front of the work crew.

 

[vox]

I figure the zombies will be gone in a week due to wear and tear, such as cave-ins, gas pockets, the random mishap of zombies working with each other and one trips in front of the work crew.

Agreed, mining is a skill and I'd lay very good odds that a tunnel made by unsupervised zombies is going to lead to the end of the zombies long before they get to an ocean. And how long a tunnel is it anyway? But the idea of adventurers finding a problem caused by zombies/golems mindlessly repeating a task is pretty entertaining; consider it stolen.

I could imagine some enterprising necromancer trying to use zombie labor to make a profit. His mining company fails after too many cave ins, explosions and floods. His lumber company fails as the zombies continually end up axeing each other almost as quickly as they axe the trees--not to mention the occasional enraged treant trashing the whole lumber camp. They're too stupid and stinky to do inside labor. Are zombies capable of doing anything other than eat brains? Maybe you could use them to destroy old buildings but they'd probably take too long to do that well and you'd still need to constantly replace them as they get destroyed in the demolition process.

 

[Umbran]

.I could be wrong. I only made a C in physics...

You're both at least partially right.

Nail is correct, in that the relative altitude does matter. The farther the water has to drop to reach the prairie basin, the faster it'll be going when it reaches that basin. Nail is incorrect in saying that this relative altitude is the only thing that matters.

You are correct to note that the depth of water above the tunnel drain matters - so long as the prairie is still below that drain. The weight of the column of water will have an effect, so long as the water is still going downhill. If the pairie is above sea level, digging down to the sea bottom doesn't get you anything.

 

[Kemrain]

Are zombies capable of doing anything other than eat brains?

Put them in a hollow wheel and tell them to walk. When they fall apart, replace them. Great for caravans traveling long distances.

- Kemrain the Athasian

 

[Hand of Evil]

Put them in a hollow wheel and tell them to walk. When they fall apart, replace them. Great for caravans traveling long distances.

- Kemrain the Athasian

The problem with this and with most undead with fleshy parts that are in the open is that they attract carrion eaters, be it mundane or monster, this is why most are locked in a dungeon somewhere.