Animators are humans with the natural innate ability to raise the dead from the grave as Zombies. Its a natural borne talent that if not actually used frequently, results in unexpected leakage of the power. An animator who hides and doesnt use his gift can find himself accidentally raising any corpse they go near. From the dead of graveyards, to dead animals on the side of the road.
Entrepreneurs have turned zombie raising into an extremely profitable business. Animating has been legal for about 5 years. The most prominent companies in the USA include Animators, Inc in St. Louis, The Resurrection Company of California, and �lan Vital (The Essential Spark) of New Orleans.
Although being an Animator is legal they have been excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
An animators powers feel like a cool wind which emanates from her body. It's as if all her nerve endings are opened and exposed naked to the wind. Powerful animators create a circle of wind that can sift through the dead bodies is the ground and sense them.
Steps to Raising a Zombie
1. You're going to need to sacrifice a live animal. A chicken will be enough for the newly dead, although a necromancer can use his/her own blood as a little death. The older the corpse, the bigger the animal required. For very old corpses, a human sacrifice or white goat is sometimes required.
2. Take the blood and make a circle around the grave. The zombie will be unable to leave this circle, unless broken by the animator.
3. Rub the blood over your forehead and cheeks, both hands, under your shirt, and over your heart, then onto the tombstone.
4. Over flesh and stone, rub an ointment. A common formula is: graveyard mold, rosemary-for memory, cinnamon or clove-for preservation, sage-for wisdom, thyme-to bind it together.
5. Next you chant, calling the zombie. The zombie appears to be spewed out of the closed grave, no digging needed. Give it some blood so it resembles a human and has some memories. Human blood makes a better and longer lasting zombie.
6. To return the zombie to the grave, first throw salt against its chest and say "With salt I bind you to your grave." Then slide the flat of your bloody knife from the sacrifice over their lips saying "With blood and steel I bind you to your grave. (Insert name), be at peace and walk no more."
7. The earth will just swallow the zombie.
Zombies
Zombies are not "natural" creatures, but must be raised by an animator. Methods of raising a zombie seem to differ, but it seems a sacrifice is always needed. It is also helpful if the animator knows the name of the zombie they are trying to raise.
The older the zombie, the bigger the "death" needed to raise it. After a few centuries, the only death "big enough" is a human sacrifice. This person is known as the "white goat" or "hornless goat". Anita generally uses chickens or real goats in her sacrifices. Anita has raised zombies over 200 years old without a human sacrifice.
If a corpse is going to rise as a vampire, it cannot be raised as a zombie. An animator must wait 3 days after death before attempting to raise a zombie. This gives the soul time to leave the body. If an animator can somehow raise a zombie with the soul intact, the zombie will not rot and will retain its intelligence. Only one person has ever figured out how to do this, but Anita killed her.
Speaking of rotting, zombies may come from the grave looking very alive-looking but it doesn't last. They always rot. Personality and intelligence goes first, then the body. Thankfully, always in that order.
Zombies are generally harmless and obey the orders of the animator that raised it. However, there are rare cases where zombies go a little crazy and start attacking people. They seem to crave flesh. If they don't get it, they'll start of decay. Flesh-eating zombies last a lot longer than normal. Zombies are solitary and don't run in packs unless they're ordered to.
