Hey Majikjon, I could have sworn that those armies of reanimated dead in LoCB were referred to as "undead" at some point. But even if not, what exactly are they?
Also do they stay reanimated for long, or just drop dead again after the spell wears off? --Steve the Younger 13:52, 12 Oct 2005 (UTC)
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I looked through LoCB myself for just such a reference, but couldn't find it. (Even if it is there somewhere, my suspicion would be that it is likely a comment from someone who doesn't really know what an undead really is.) I will search again a little later when I have more time to see if I can find a reference.
Sethra's comments in Issola seem pretty definitive, tho... And since she IS an undead, I'd say she's a pretty good authority on the subject.
As to reanimation itself, since it only works on the recently deceased, I would guess that it only works on a person whose soul has not yet left their body--making reanimation much more akin to revivication than to being undead. (Perhaps the Battle of Castle Black is where the idea for the revivification of Vlad's time came from?)
The re-animated dead seem to have no free will of their own, since they can be made to attack their former comrades-in-arms upon being reanmiated. This seems to show that they are not really "alive" again, only partially so.
I would simply call them "Re-animated dead", or perhaps "walking corpses".
Certainly in some fictional worlds, this would qualify as undead (roll 2d6 for saving throw vs. zombies) but in Dragaera, "undead" seems to be a more specialized term.
--Majikjon