Zombies (note the variant spelling) are an interesting
example of what happens when you take a notion to its
logical conclusion. The reasoning was as follows: it
is possible to reanimate a human body after the soul
departs from it. The result is a Zombi: a sort of
biological construct animated and maintained by
Sorcery. All in all, Zombis are useful, as they are
immune to pain and fear - but they are also too short
'lived', thanks to both the fundamental limitations
inherent in the human body and the Need to fuel the
Sorcery that keeps them going. All in all, it would
be better to use a higher grade of raw materials:
finding some that were effectively 'unnatural' anyway
would be a bonus.
In other words, Vessels: certainly, angels and demons
tend to go through them at a high enough rate...
Creating Your Zombie
First, scrounge up a celestial Vessel. This is harder
than it looks: Superiors on both sides are usually
careful to craft Vessels that cannot be distinguished
from regular humans, and neither Heaven nor Hell are
known to look favorably on those that have a use for
their discarded corporeal husks, to put it mildly.
Also, Remnants are not suitable candidates for this
type of zombification: something about the loss of
their Celestial Forces will invariably interfere with
the process. Still, getting an appropriate corpse is
not necessarily impossible.
Once the Vessel is acquired, it has to be prepped.
What decay has taken place must be reversed: luckily,
Vessels usually have sophisticated repair systems
already in place on the cellular level. Reactivating
them can be done with a Necromancy -4 roll, 2 Essence
and an hour's work. Once reactivated, the rejuvenated
systems will function for about three days before
renewal: many prospective Zombies are buried during
this time period, the better to avoid suspicion.
The actual ritual may be attempted at any point after
the preparatory work has been completed: Create Zombie
is essentially a more elaborate version of Create
Zombi. As it is easier to reawaken the unnatural to a
semblance of Unlife, the Sorcerer rolls at (Necromancy
+ Enchantment - [Total Forces/2]): the ritual takes a
straight eight hours to perform, with the new Zombie
rising at the end of it. Essence cost remains
equivalent to the total number of Forces of the
target: this ritual can be very loud.
Maintaining Your Zombie
No Zombie possesses Celestial Forces: however, unlike
Zombis those Forces may be transferred into either
Corporeal or Ethereal Forces (why a Zombie would need
Ethereal Forces is addressed below). Just where those
Forces are allocated is normally a GM call: however,
for every -2 taken to the creation roll the Sorcerer
may dictate the allocation of one Force. Any Forces
above the twelfth are lost.
Unlike their more mundane counterparts, Zombies retain
at least some of their abilities. All Attunements and
Celestial skills are lost, of course: divide Corporeal
and Ethereal skills by 3 (rounded down). Zombies also
retain their highest-level Corporeal and highest-level
Ethereal Song (level divided by 2, rounded up). The
Zombie, having no free will or sentience, will
exercise their remaining abilities upon command by
anyone: many Sorcerers make sure to set up some sort
of system to make sure that their new servant cannot
hear any orders but their own.
The weakness of a Zombie is likewise quite different
from that of a Zombi, as the former does not suffer
from a Need: the peculiar nature of Vessels does not
need constant Sorcerous reinforcement in order to stay
stable. However, this stability is oddly fragile: a
Zombie starts play with a 3 point Vulnerability (level
equal to its Corporeal Forces).
Keeping Everybody from Ganging Up on Your Zombie
As noted above, neither Heaven nor Hell find this sort
of thing to be amusing - unfortunately, they can't
always stamp out the practice. The Loa in particular
are widely suspected of making sure that the Create
Zombie ritual is available to some of their
worshippers: this has done nothing to help their
relations with the Host. On Hell's side... well, it's
not safe for a Sorcerer to even know that the Create
Zombie ritual exists, let alone know it. Hatiphas
isn't known for her sense of humor. Still, there's no
denying that Zombies can be useful - and, as long as
Baal and Michael have any say on how to run the War,
that means that there's always a few of them floating
around somewhere.
There's also the serendipitous effect that the
existence of Zombies tends to encourage celestials to
avoid leaving discarded Vessels around. Nobody likes
having to explain to Dominic or Asmodeus about just
why their old bodies have been seen walking around...
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