Undeath.

Dear Journal,

What is the state of 'Undeath'?

When a human dies but does not leave mortal world, he or she enters so called state of 'Undeath' - not alive anymore, but still haunting and oppressing mortals with their past-life agenda. They won't rest until they finish what they were intended for, what they missed during their lives.

There are many types of 'Undead' (beings in the state of 'Undeath'), intelligent or not, with differing purposes. For example, a ghost is spirit of the dead that might seek reunion with loved ones, or a revenge.

There are terrible spellcasters who wield Arcane Magicks that turn people into Undead, they are called 'Necromancers'. Undead Necromancers are also there, they are called 'Liches' and often they seek Immortality and Arcane Power that way.

Vampires are another type of Undead that prey on blood of the living and on their emotions.

Undead are hard to put to rest, and often they require great deal of effort to put to rest. For example, to put 'Lich' to rest, phylactery with it's soul must be found and destroyed properly.

i should add that Selune fights Undead, like Lathander and many other more or less good deities, while Shar - dark sister of Selune and her Hatred uses them often. Shar often attacks Selune and Mystra, but they do fight back.

-- Yours, Chea Allin, loremonger arcanist and scribe.