Ask the DREAMING DARK

A Source of Inspiration 

Disclaimer: Eberron is property of Wizards of the Coast. I am not an employee of Wizards of the Coast, and any answers given here are in no way sanctioned by Wizards of the Coast. This is NOT official material, and may be contradicted in future Eberron sourcebooks or articles. My answers are in this forum my opinions and reflect how I might run a situation in MY personal campaign – nothing more.  

September 14. 2006

This week, we take a look at the wonderful world of undead.

Q: I was wondering exactly what game mechanics go into creating the Karrnathi skeletons and zombies...or if you can at least give an estimate on their 'production rate'?

If you look at the ECS, the following statements are made about both forms of Karrnathi undead:

"It (bones/flesh) have been treated alchemically to make them more resilient. Karrnathi (skeletons/zombies) are created from the remains of elite Karrnathi soldiers slain in battle."

There are two points here: the treatment of the remains and the nature of the soldier. I'll start with the second point… the fact that the undead must be made from an elite Karrnathi soldier slain in battle. Some people have suggested that if Karrnath was smart, it would just kill all its soldiers and raise them as Karrnathi undead, because the undead are more effective than a typical first level warrior. But that's just the point: a typical first level warrior couldn't be used to create a Karrnathi skeleton; only "elite" soldiers can serve this purpose. Personally, I would require the subject to have been at least third level in life in order to be eligible to be raised as a Karrnathi undead… and he does need to have died in battle, fighting for his country.

It's important to understand that Karrnathi undead are not the people they were in life. It's not a cheap substitute for raise dead. Every Karrnathi skeleton has the same skills, and like normal skeletons, cannot advance in hit dice. Despite being intelligent and aware, their consciousness is not human. Most priests say that the Karrnathi undead are vessels for the fighting spirit of Karrnath itself, and this would explain both the need for the body to be that of a skilled soldier and death in battle; the body must be spiritually prepared to rise as an undead warrior.

Of course, spiritual preparations are only part of the challenge of creating Karrnathi undead; there's also that alchemical treatment. Normally, the animate dead spell requires components worth 25 gp/hit die. For Karrnathi undead, I'd double that cost to take these alchemical salves into account, and personally say that the bodies are normally soaked in these substances. This would mean that a normal priest or necromancer couldn't raise a Karrnathi undead ON the battlefield, because the body has to be prepared. 

The obvious exception to this point is the bone knight, who has the spell-like ability to create Karrnathi undead (and spell-like abilities ignore components). However, even in the case of the bone knight, I would insist that the targeted corpses be those of elite Karrnathi soldiers – not peasants, not green conscripts, and certainly not enemies of the nation.

So in terms of speed of production, the key issue is that in order to create a Karrnathi undead soldier, you first need a dead elite soldier – and if those soldiers are doing their jobs, their corpses will be in short supply.

Bear in mind that not every undead soldier in the armies of Karrnath is Karrnathi undead; they certainly employ traditional skeletons and zombies in addition to the sentient elites.

Q: Hey there, I just had a question about House Vol, before it was destroyed. What services did they provide and what role did they fill in society?

It's important to remember that "House" Vol was never part of the modern alliance of dragonmarked houses. The Mark of Death was destroyed not only before the War of the Mark and the formation of the twelve, but before a full seven of the other dragonmarks had actually manifested in Khorvaire! As such, House Vol wasn't a mercantile guild: it was a noble house of the elves of Aerenal, as described on page 19 of the Player's Guide to Eberron. So the elves of the line of Vol didn't "provide a service" as such; they were the leaders, priests, and wisest wizards of a powerful Aereni city-state.

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