Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Al-Qadim: Land of Fate
2e
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Crown Prince Alakbar: He is dead and his body has become an undead creature haunting the Ruined Cities for his murderer.
Jamali al-Muhib, Lich-Head, Mentor, Chief Vizier, Mad Evil Thing: Amil al-Yuhami, Caliph of Fahhas, has cause for his madness. His mentor and chief vizier, Jamali al-Muhib, did not die of her fever, but rather made the transformation from human to lich, and now lives in the catacombs beneath the caliph's palace. The transformation was incomplete, such that only the head attained full undead status, the rest of the body is now immobile and rotting away.
Ghost Aboleth: Alternately, there is only one aboleth, but if slain, it returns in a ghostly form in one month's time. The ghost has all the properties of the original plus advantages of the undead: immunity to charm/enchantment magics, cold, poisons, and paralysis, and may be turned only as a lich.
Ghul: ?
Great Ghul: ?
Lich: ?
Ghost: ?
Restless Spirit: ?

 

[Voadam]

ALQ1 Golden Voyages (2e)
2e
Undead: ?
Ghoul: ?
Lacedon: ?
Ghast: ?
Rom, Giant, Undead Giant: ?
Lich: ?
Ghul: ?
Fearsome Ghul: ?
Great Ghul: ?

 

[Voadam]

ALQ2 Assassin Mountain (2e)
2e
Ghoul: In addition, Akim has created a pack of ghouls and a gibbering mouther which currently live under the mountain.
Ghouls who serve Akim al-Kalaas also live here, created by the use of animate deed and a limited wish spell.
Undead Creature: ?
Great Ghul: ?

 

[Voadam]

ALQ3 A Dozen and One Adventures (2e)
2e
Undead, Undead Monster: ?
Tragic Undead: ?
Rom, Undead Giant: ?
Ghost Mount, White Proud Steed: ?
Great Ghul: When a caliph dies, ghouls collect his or her remains and deliver them to a terrible being known to them only as "the Head," who dwells in his macabre court, the Hall of Lost Kings, far below the Mount of Forgiveness. The Head is responsible for the continual generation of new ghouls, ghasts, and great ghuls that infect the cemetery like a plague
Balthazar, Great Ghul, Young Boy, Guide: ?
Spirit: ?
Troubled Spirit: ?
Restless Spirit: ?
Ghast: When a caliph dies, ghouls collect his or her remains and deliver them to a terrible being known to them only as "the Head," who dwells in his macabre court, the Hall of Lost Kings, far below the Mount of Forgiveness. The Head is responsible for the continual generation of new ghouls, ghasts, and great ghuls that infect the cemetery like a plague
Fashid, Ghast, Priest, Cunning Rapacious Arrogant Ghast: ?
Ghost: ?
Wandering Ghost: ?
Ghoul: When a caliph dies, ghouls collect his or her remains and deliver them to a terrible being known to them only as "the Head," who dwells in his macabre court, the Hall of Lost Kings, far below the Mount of Forgiveness. The Head is responsible for the continual generation of new ghouls, ghasts, and great ghuls that infect the cemetery like a plague.
Ghoul, Hungry Undead: ?
Ghoul, Priest, Slave, Undead Slave: ?
Typical Lich: ?
King Azaltin Ibn Issad, Nerim, Lich Sorcerer 24, Shriveled Husk of a Human, Older Brother, Guardian, Unrecognized Protector, Mysterious Guide, Advisor, Savior, Hideous Undead Creature, Monstrous Brother, Undead King, Archetypal Evil Villain, Immortal, Shrunken Husk, Undead Creature of Hideous Appearance, Immortal King, Strange Hermit, Archmage, Ancient King, Strange Mystic, Brother, True King: When Azaltin was a naive young king nine centuries ago, the Loregiver visited Azaltin. Abusing his authority as her host, Azaltin convinced her to reveal the secret of immortality against her will. Against her strenuous objections, Azaltin used the forbidden knowledge, justifying his naive desire for immortality with the excuse that it would make him a better king. Azaltin became immortal, but at the price of his physical appearance and respect in the eyes of his subjects, who regarded him as a monster.
According to legend, Azaltin was visited by the Loregiver and tricked her into revealing the secret of immortality. Against her advice, Azaltin became immortal, but the process turned him into a hideous undead creature.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the book [The Kingdom of Lions], from the standpoint of adventurers, is the final chapter, which describes Azaltin's transformation into an immortal and his brother's revolution.
In the distant past, when Fate passed her knowledge to the Loregiver, Al-Anwahr was a rich and proud city ruled by King Azaltin, an intelligent man well versed in poetry, astrology, and the ways of magic. As the Loregiver wandered Zakhara, teaching the laws of the divine to man and genie alike, she is said to have stopped in Al-Anwahr and been a guest of Azaltin for 11 days. Azaltin honored his guest daily with lavish celebrations and exquisite gifts of silks, gold, and perfumes. After each night of entertainment, the king would ask his guest the same question: "How can a man live forever?"
The Loregiver warned Azaltin about the danger of such knowledge, but in the end could hardly insult her gracious host by refusing to answer. Each night she told the king about the obstacles that prevent man from achieving immortality. Azaltin's scribes labored furiously to capture the Loregiver's parables and cryptic riddles, which were set down in a legendary scroll titled The Eleven Baneful Gates. According to legend, the Loregiver departed Al-Anwahr, leaving the equivocal scroll in Azaltin's care. Azaltin pondered the scroll for a decade, ignoring his people while trying to unravel its secret.
After months of fasting and meditation, he abandoned the kingdom to his brother Amakim and left to ponder the scroll in the solitude of the wildernesss.
Ancient legends say he returned a dozen years later, an undead creature of hideous appearance, to reclaim his kingdom.
Zeenab, The Head, Lich, Terrible Being, Decrepit Lich, Mummified Disembodied Head, Incredibly Ancient Lich, Self-Absorbed Petty Creature, Undead Lord: ?
Lion Guard, Improved Skeleton: After capturing the palace, Zeenab animated the king's slain honor guard. The undead wait in the former guard room (c), rigidly at attention in their faded golden uniforms. They attack any intruders tampering with the second pair of locked, bronze portals in area (b). Although Zeenab considered these skeletons to be under his control, they still remember loyalty to their true king. The entire guard will salute and obey whoever bears Azaltin's lion-carved rod of smiting (from area C).
Lion Guard, Improved Skeleton: ?
Animated Caliph of Muluk, Juju Zombie, Undead Sycophant: ?
Amakim Ibn Issad, Juju Zombie, Animated Caliph of Muluk, Undead Sycophant, Brother, Ancient King: ?
Muftahir the Wise, Juju Zombie, Animated Caliph of Muluk, Undead Sycophant: ?

 

[Voadam]

Bastion of Faith (2e)
2e
Saint Ferrante, Antiprophet of Hieroneous: As recorded in the Penitent Fragments, Ferrante was touched by Kahabros, and explored dark and unhealthy Temptations. Despite all Ferrante had done for the church, or possibly because of it, Hieroneous struck down Ferrante in the form of a bolt of glory, killing him and sealing his remains in the crystal casket.
Ferrante's remains were sealed because they carried the taint of Kahabros, which Hieroneous's power could not sear away. Both for the philosophical protection of the newborn church, and for the physical protection of any who come snooping, the priest Onwald sealed himself and the key to the casket into the subreliquary.
If the key is located and the cask is opened, things get interesting. The open casket reveals a human-shaped depression filled with greenish ooze. The best thing to do at this juncture is to slam the casket closed again. If the casket remains open and unlocked, over the course of three rounds the ooze bubbles, pops, and slowly grows into the form of Ferrante—but not the Ferranted of scripture. The being that forms from Ferrante's remains is in every way antithetical to the Bastion, and move immediately to kill every living being who has ever uttered a prayer to Heironeous. It is the Bastion's antiprophet.
Undead, Undead Creature, Undead Being: Though no one now alive knows it, the undead still rise, even after being banished and exorcised, because of the proximity of St. Ferrante's casket. Most priests and affiliates of the Bastion do not even know that Ferrante's remains lie beneath the temple grounds, but even those priests who are part of the Fellowship of Penitence and are in on the secret have no reason to suspect that the casket is in any way connected to the Negative Energy Plane. Unfortunately, the casket is linked to the ultimate void, and its interment in the reliquary, which lies immediately below part of the catacombs, has direct repercussions on all the dead that were buried there over a period of several hundred years. Until the casket is removed or the creature trapped within is dealt with, undead will continue to populate the compromised portions of the Bastion's catacombs.
Undead Guardian: ?
Creature Steeped in Evil: ?
Ghoul, Flesh-Eating Ghoul, Full-Fledged Ghoul: Any human or demihuman (except elves) killed by a ghoul becomes a ghoul in 3 days tide unless the body is blessed.
Inexorable Restitution spell.
Ghoul, Mindless Creature, Flesh-Eating Servant: ?
Mummy, Normal Mummy: ?
Skeleton, Animate Skeleton, Undead Skeleton: ?
Spectre: ?
Vampire: ?
Wight: ?
Wraith: ?
Zombie, Normal Zombie: ?
Abbot Abba Geron, Bone Lord: ?
Catechist Thalieson, Greater Mummy: ?
Mursimion, Greater Vampire: ?
Templar Mabingon, Zombie Lord: ?
Animus: ?
Sword Spirit: ?
Swordwraith: ?

Inexorable Restitution
(Necromancy)
Level: Priest 5
Sphere: Necromancy
Range: Touch
Duration: Special
Area of Effect: Target
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 5
Saving Throw: Negates
In the guise of exacting restitution against the unjust, this horrible spell slowly transforms a victim into a flesh-eating ghoul, as described in the MONSTROUS MANUAL. The transformation process usually begins at the limb or extremity touched by the priest (usually the hand or arm). The victim suffers 1d2 hit points of damage per round while the body slowly dies and transforms into a ghoul’s cold, undying flesh. The target receives an initial saving throw to resist this deadly transformation. If it fails, only a limited wish, wish, or restoration derails the change! A dispel magic, or remove curse is only effective if cast within three rounds of the touch that confers the spell. During the early stages of the spell, the original afflicted extremity may be severed and burned to terminate the spell.
If the extremity affected by the inexorable restitution is amputated before the victim has lost less than 20% of his total hit points, then only a hand or foot needs to be severed (which inflicts an additional 1d4+1 points of additional damage, requiring a system shock roll to remain conscious, and of course resulting in the loss of some mobility or dexterity). After the victim has lost 20%-50% of his hit points, an entire limb must be cut off, with the loss of 1d12+4 permanent hit points. A System Shock roll is required to survive the amputation.
Initially, the transformed flesh of the target has no paralytic powers or any of the special abilities associated with ghouls. As the spell unfolds, the advancing front of dying flesh traverses the entire body, and the target dies once the inexorable restitution reaches the heart or brain (when the target reaches 0 hit points). Healing spells, potions, or magical items may temporarily keep the final lethal result of the spell at bay, but when the healing runs out, the inexorable restitution runs its course. Note that a regenerating creature might resist the spell for a long time, if the rate of regeneration exceeds the rate of necrosis.
Once he dies, the subject is a full-fledged ghoul. Generally speaking, the ghoul retains the memories, motivations and even skills and spells of its former life, with one terrible exception: The ghoul must eat flesh. The longer the ghoul goes without eating flesh, the stronger the compulsion becomes, until it overpowers reason (save vs. paralyzation every 24 hours to resist this effect), turning the ghoul into a mindless creature in servitude to the priest who created it.
Priests worshiping a good deity who begin to acquire a following of flesh-eating servants soon lose their status as a priest-at least as a priest of a good deity.