Zombie
From the deepest abyss of darkness, a sound emerges, a gurgling moan, a noise so horrifying that it chills the soul. A shape, grotesque and malformed, lurches into view, dragging one twisted foot, its bloated arms raised, broken hands reaching, seeking flesh. Eyes, once human but now vacant and soulless, stare with malevolent hunger. The zombie advances, driven by an insatiable lust to kill, to feast on anyone too slow, too terrified to escape its relentless grasp.
Dark Servants: The Spawn of Unholy Magic
A loathsome manifestation of necromantic magic infuses the remains of the once living, causing them to rise as zombies that do their wicked creator’s bidding. They move with an unnatural, jerky gait, clad in the rotting apparel they wore when they were laid to rest, forever marred by the stench of death and decay.
The dark sorcerers who spawn these monsters take perverse pleasure in their creation. Their craft goes beyond mere animation; they infuse the dead with a semblance of life, making them slaves to their twisted will. Most zombies are made from humanoid remains, but the vile magic does not discriminate. Anything that once lived can be tainted, its flesh and bones corrupted and imbued with a dark and terrible life-force.
This necromantic magic, often born from forbidden spells, is an abomination, a blight upon the land. Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark energies saturate an area, a grim testament to the twisted power that lingers there. Once turned into a zombie, a creature can’t be restored to life except by the most powerful and sacred magic, such as a rare resurrection spell.
A zombie is a shell of its former self, its mind emptied, devoid of thought, emotion, or imagination. A zombie left without orders is a rotting husk, standing in place, decaying, waiting for something to kill. The dark magic animating a zombie twists it, imbuing it with malevolence, making it a mindless, evil entity that attacks any living being it encounters.
Hideous Forms: The Visage of Death
Zombies wear death like a shroud, appearing as they did in life, but marred and twisted. The wounds that killed them are a ghastly testament to their end. However, the dark magic that spawns these monsters takes time to reach its horrific fruition. Warriors might rise from a bloody battlefield, their bodies eviscerated, bloated, and rotting after days under the merciless sun.
The sodden corpse of a peasant could claw its way from the earth, its flesh riddled with maggots, worms, and the corruption of the grave. A zombie might wash ashore or rise from a fetid marsh, its body swollen and reeking, its skin sloughing off after weeks submerged in the water.
Mindless Soldiers: Instruments of Death
Zombies have no thoughts, no strategies. They take the most direct, relentless path to their foes, unable to comprehend obstacles, tactics, or dangers. A zombie might stumble into a raging river to reach its prey, clawing at the surface as it is smashed against rocks and torn apart. It may step out of an open window to reach a victim below, or wander through roaring flames, into pools of acid, or across fields strewn with traps, without pause or fear.
A zombie can follow the most basic commands, discerning friends from foes, but its reasoning is non-existent. It shambles in the direction it is pointed, pummeling anything in its way. Even when armed, it wields its weapon with mindless force, never retrieving it if dropped, never adapting to its environment.
Undead Nature: The Abomination of Existence
A zombie’s existence is a perversion of life. It does not require air, food, drink, or sleep. Its unending hunger for flesh is not a need but a compulsion, driven by the dark magic that sustains it. It does not feel pain or fear; it does not know mercy or restraint. It is an engine of death, a relentless force of destruction, a symbol of all that is unnatural and wrong.
In the shadows, in the forgotten corners of the world, the undead linger, waiting for the moment to strike, to spread their horror and despair. They are a warning, a reminder that even in death, terror waits, ready to reach out from the darkness and drag the living into its cold, merciless embrace.
