How to restore a zombie or mummy to living?

[MaxxSterling]

Anyone have any canon knowledge, or opinion on how to restore a ritual zombie or mummy back to it's original life. The books don't deal a lot with what happens when you die, as most undead things, are demons/deevils or actual races, not created things. Even Angels are really more of an RCC, then something you turn into or ascend to. Certainly godly powers can restore even someone who is a pile of ash, but what else is out there, or what thoughts do you have to return a created undead to living status? I ask because it's seems rather rude to me, to just smite the undead, what if the mummy or zombie gaurding the "evil item" was really a devout follower of the light, that a necromancer left there as a cruel joke. Wouldn't it be nice to revive them somehow and gain a powerful ally, or worse, maybe the zombie is an evil mage, wouldn't it be fun to revive them and gain a powerful foe? Ideas?

[JuliusCreed]

Anyone have any canon knowledge, or opinion on how to restore a ritual zombie or mummy back to it's original life. The books don't deal a lot with what happens when you die, as most undead things, are demons/deevils or actual races, not created things. Even Angels are really more of an RCC, then something you turn into or ascend to. Certainly godly powers can restore even someone who is a pile of ash, but what else is out there, or what thoughts do you have to return a created undead to living status? I ask because it's seems rather rude to me, to just smite the undead, what if the mummy or zombie gaurding the "evil item" was really a devout follower of the light, that a necromancer left there as a cruel joke. Wouldn't it be nice to revive them somehow and gain a powerful ally, or worse, maybe the zombie is an evil mage, wouldn't it be fun to revive them and gain a powerful foe? Ideas?

Got a serious thing for zombies going here, don't you? Again, no canon reference to go by on whether or not it would work, but what about a timely Ressurection spell? The only hitch is it would only work on recently created Zombies, given the 2 month time restriction on time of death vs time of casting. There's also the fact that Zombies and Mummies are a form of undead, so there's no guarantee that this would even work.
Another solution I can think of would be a house ruled ritual of life restoration. There may be a mage out there who has come up with just the thing you're looking for. Sort of a Zombie/Mummy un-creation ritual that restores life to these abominations.
Last but noth least, there's this little gem I came up with a while back named Blood. Granted, it's used as a cure for Vampirism, but a little tweaking can change that to any form of undead existance in the right hands.

[MaxxSterling]

I like the ideas. I also know that in one of the book mods, I think it deals with Ippotomi, that there is a fountain that heals with it's waters. I was thinking that may work, but it's a hell of a thing to get in the first place. I really wish there was more dealing with undead in depth in this game. But thanks for you input so far. I'm trying to have a more traditional undead campaign, not one where everything is a "race," like as if it were born that way.

[t0m]

have a read through the description of utu, lord of the dead, in the dragons and gods book. both 'create' spells require a corpse, so the soul is already in his hands before the body is reanimated. i guess restoring them would depend on whether or not utu is still holding their soul (and also where it goes after he decides to pass it on), and if you could get it back some how.

another option might be a magic circle. there was a circle of youth or reverse aging in one of the adventures wasnt there? without the soul, these would be useless...but if you could broker a deal for (or somehow steal) the soul, i imagine something like this would be required (so the person doesnt have a rotten hideous undead body which likely wouldnt function in a way that would support 'life' any more). circles in general also open up some interesting possibilities because there could be a rare circle somewhere that only serves to 'fix' this problem somehow, waiting for your players to find it (or even invent/recreate it). maybe this circle would have some serious danger associated with its use. im sure utu (or whoever gets the soul of the person you are restoring) would be unpleasantly surprised to find that you somehow 'stole' the soul back from them via this ancient/rare magic.

[The Dark Elf]

Dont make it a spell or ritual - make it a quest!

The players find a zombie guardian that they believe to be a kind hearted inhabitant of the premises (mansion, dungeon etc. - was he the owner, butler, guard? Look through family trees, portraits on the walls etc.). They want to turn him back and Utu hears there conversation. Through an avatar, priest, familiar or follower he appears at the scene. He tells the players that once they kill the zombie he will hold the (former) man's soul. He will return to the land of the living in its previous form (he's a god and can whatever the GM wants) but only in exchange for a more prominent soul, such as one that is already promised to another god or demon/deevil lord - i.e. a witch!

Players then go on a witch hunt. Nice side adventure or could be a main adventure if the zombie was a loved one.

[Kovoston]

There is a tea in Mystic China (Rifts Earth) that if you drink it you will be reborn again... It is held by a powerful being and getting thre is a trial!!

Good luck!
G

[Ice Dragon]

- Resurrection spell.
- Godly intervention/miracle

[MaxxSterling]

I really like the ideas and appreciate the creativity. I like the quest ideas.

[pblackcrow]

Phoenixi blood in our game will do it.

[Gthomas41571]

Dont make it a spell or ritual - make it a quest!

The players find a zombie guardian that they believe to be a kind hearted inhabitant of the premises (mansion, dungeon etc. - was he the owner, butler, guard? Look through family trees, portraits on the walls etc.). They want to turn him back and Utu hears there conversation. Through an avatar, priest, familiar or follower he appears at the scene. He tells the players that once they kill the zombie he will hold the (former) man's soul. He will return to the land of the living in its previous form (he's a god and can whatever the GM wants) but only in exchange for a more prominent soul, such as one that is already promised to another god or demon/deevil lord - i.e. a witch!

Players then go on a witch hunt. Nice side adventure or could be a main adventure if the zombie was a loved one.

I like the idea of. A quest, has a lot of potential