Draugr are undead human corpses reanimated by ancient magic. They are one of the most common hostile encounters in ancient ruins across Aetheria.
Draugr appear as dessicated, skeletal bodies in various stages of decay. Some may be completely skeletal, while others retain a pale greenish-gray skin. Their bodies emit a faint reddish-purple glow due to the magic reanimating them.
They are often found inside coffins or crypts scattered around the ruins. The bodies remain motionless and inert until a living creature draws near, at which point they rise from their resting place and attack relentlessly. Some Draugr carry weapons, while others mainly attack with spells. Stronger Draugr are armored and may carry multiple weapons or use more powerful spells.
The term 'Draugr' comes from old Norse mythology. Draugr in ancient Tolgethic ruins are the preserved and reanimated bodies of their past citizens. According to Tolgethic texts, the bodies of the deceased were kept in underground crypts. Deceased rulers would be buried with treasures from their lifetime, which their former subjects would guard from grave robbers in their undead forms.
When Tolgeth the Undying seized power late in the ancient tribes' time, each of the city-states he conquered were forced to ritualistically sacrifice a certain number of citizens every month, which Tolgeth would reanimate into Draugr to serve in his army. Those who resisted Tolgeth's rule or spoke out against him would be executed and suffer the same fate. Stronger able-bodied individuals would be executed by magic, so as to preserve the bodies unharmed, and then turned over to Tolgeth's followers to become soldiers. Those who were ill or otherwise deemed too weak to become Draugr were instead sentenced to necrosphere entrapment.
After the downfall of Tolgeth and the eventual disappearance of his empire, the remaining Draugr patrol the ruins of their former cities to keep out intruders. It is unclear to historians why they were moved into former cities in this way after Tolgeth's disappearance. They may have been put there to protect the structures from invaders, if the tribes were intending to return at a later time, or simply to hide them.
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