- The spell 'animate dead' petitions the
gods of death and the rulers of the underworld to bring a mechanized and
soul-less existence into the bodies of the deceased (any creature's corpse).
These zombies become the mindless slaves of the caster, and will follow
any orders given by their master. The caster's zombies do not feel pain
when injured and none will mourn their death when the caster orders them
to their death.
This spell was discovered by a ancient priest who resided in Mel'anor as advisor to the King. When the King's beloved wife died, he ordered the priest to use his healing powers to bring her from death, and would hear nothing about how that spell had never been perfected, and had always produced wretched forms of rotting flesh. The priest was ordered to stay in the catacombs with the Queen until he had raised her from the dead. The priest did not want to be murdered when the King would see the animated corpse of soul-less flesh, and so he decided to try and perfect the spell, by practicing on the other bodies within the catacombs.
Years passed before the Priest attempted to revive the deceased Queen, and when the King and all his men entered the catacombs, they saw the products of the Priest's many years of praying in isolation to the gods of the underworld; the catacombs that were once filled with the deceased mortal bodies of the most powerful kings were now animated! Walking about were wraith forms and zombies, the deeper in the catacombs, the more dark and wretched the forms became, and the King and his men found themselves surrounded by the ancient bodies of those they had heard tales about, now with decaying forms and wraith-like claws. After a gruesome battle to leave the catacombs, the gates were sealed and never entered again.
