There’s a viscerality behind the original Haitian folklore that the Zombie archetype originated from where it was about a “New World” slave who wasn’t allowed to rest even in death, whose body was exploited even when dead to keep working.
I’m thinking of the lore for Monster Realmers and how in-universe necromancy was originally designed as a means to transport the dead at a distance safe from bacteria and illnesses, and then its applications branched off from there. Some cultures used it as part of funerary rites…
So I’m considering exploitative systems of capitalism or feudalism or commerce or whatever where workers aren’t allowed to stay dead. Where they sign reanimation contracts that permit employers to necromance their bodies and use them to perform labor. Sorry, you wanted to bury your loved one? Their body still has a certain quota to fulfill before we can return it to you for a proper burial.
Some zombies are expected to work until the wear and tear gets so bad they fall apart and only then are the ravaged pieces given back to the families. People die fighting for their nation and then are expected to double-die fighting for their nation as undead soldiers. Open casket funerals aren’t much of an expectation unless the mortician can do a really good job.
Sure, some people donate their bodies to science, and I imagine some cultures in the Monster Realm willfully practice having their dead be repurposed to engage in labor, so as to spare the living the toil and struggle. Such places have the dead cloaked and covered up in distinguishing attire to avoid recognition. But a lot of people are very much coerced into it, like technically you chose to sell your organs but did you really?
A lot of zombies are taxidermied to avoid the aforementioned biohazard concerns when it comes to necromancy (weaponizing bacteria and illness has always been a tactic in war necromancy). I think of the image of the Jiangshi with the tag hanging in front of its face. What if one were to riff that image; In Monster Realmers, it’s not just a tag to control the Jiangshi; It’s a price tag. Taxidermied bodies put onto the market for necromancers to wield; It’s a lot cheaper than both the initial and maintenance costs of a chimera, and most people don’t need the specialization of chimeras anyhow, as those are considered more of a bougie product/“skilled” labor, befitting Editaurus’ character.
And let’s not beat around the bush here. People will get freaky with the zombies and Jiangshi. There are laws against it in a lot of places but it happens either way. There’s a vile market for people considered attractive who are kidnapped and murdered so their bodies can be used as sex dolls with all of the necessary enchantments to make them feel as alive as possible. It’s something that Viracious is outraged by and he has a point even if the anti-sex double standard is obvious and Majikus reminds him yes, this is part of what you’re fighting for. To prevent injustices like these. So let it motivate you.
