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So I considered putting this in the GM section but it's actually lore players would know being a part of the world so I decided to put it here.

What exactly is the nature of undeath in forbidden lands? There is a lot going on with it.
Both the players guide and the GM book discuss how Undead are just a natural part of life. A person dies and they may (The word the books use is "often") rise as a zombie or ghost and just go about their chores (if able). They are confused. They have gaps in their memory. They seem to deteriorate as their bodies do (not a direct statement of fact but seems to be implied). But also, for no given reason, some might be Ghouls or Deathknights. Why does this happen to some and not others?

It's stated that human villages will have graveyards outside the city where they wall in and meet with their undead and some help try to help them to move on. But there is no mention of undead being a natural occurrence or how they deal with it for any of the other races. Elves, being essentially deathless constructs, could only ever have ghosts I imagine. And I am not even sure that is possible. But everyone else should be capable of having undead. Is this a uniquely human issue in the world? Or are there actually Wolfkin skeletons and Deathknights running around? Goblins? Halflings? If it is only humans what does that say about the nature of humanity? What does that say about the nature of everyone else?

And just to be clear I am not talking about any undead created through magic. This is about naturally occurring undead.

Anyone have thoughts? Notice anything else in the books that stands out to them?

The halflings, obviously, eat their dead.

The halflings, obviously, eat their dead.

Good joke.

But even taken seriously they should still leave ghosts yeah?
But do they?

Again, is undeath a uniquely human thing?

Are you OK with some spoilers from GM Manual & Raven's Purge? Because there might be some canon information.

I own them all. As i said some of the information is from the gms book. Place your answers in a spoilers tag if you are worried about others. I have been primarily been digging through the GM book and the players book. I just did a quick skim of Ravens Purge. Unless it's hidden away somewhere in there Ravens Purge doesn't really have anything to do with undead.

[spoiler]
Algarod is technically a half-elf and a descendant of the elf Algared. He is a death knight in Weatherstone.
[/spoiler]

I am not aware of other examples of the undead unfortunately.

I think there are no canonical answers to a lot of these questions. You’re free to come up with your own which I think for some is a blessing and for others a curse.

One thread might be that the various kin having different origins in their respective deities (if they exist) that affect their dead in different ways. The Elves are wholly alien in some sense and so aren’t aplicable at all. Something about the human kin’s relationship to Rust and Heme or Raven and Serpent might be behind the restlessness of their dead.

It can also just be a delightful twist on the trope that humans are restless and ambitious - so they often refuse to rest even after death.

EDIT: And this can tie in with how gleefully the Rust Brothers try to gather the restless dead as servants. It is a blessing from Rust that humans would have this tool to help them bend the world to their will! Death Knights are a gift from Rust!

EDIT 2: I’m kind of in love with this version of it now that I’ve come up with it and I’m going to use it in my game.

Yeah, I expect that a lot of the core answers are left vague on purposes in the same way most of the forbidden lands lore is left vague (such as the existence of the the gods).

But it would be nice to know the pertinent current day facts. Such as if Orcs or Dwarves have naturally occurring undead within the setting? It's one thing to not know the whys or hows, but it is good to know the basic variables of the equation. Do any other kin leave Ghosts? Can any other Kin raise as restless dead? Thats not the unknown mythology of the world. It's the very known facts of the world as it exists.

One more canon answer from Raven' Purge:

CREATURES: Three dwarven ghouls (for stats, see page 122 of the Gamemaster’s Guide).