As Albion’s first great civil war, between the forces of Merlyn and Morgana, dragged on - it became apparent that the war could spell the end of Albion itself. To bring this to an end, Merlyn elected to perform a powerful ritual - but at a huge cost.
This ritual involved the destruction of a mighty artifact: Excalibur, the sword of kings. The sword was Morgana’s greatest achievement, imbued with her own energies and, it is theorized, by demonic essence as well. By breaking it, Merlyn was symbolically breaking her, as well as releasing a vast quantity of magical energy back into Albion.
When the sword shattered, its energy was redirected to terrible ends. A great rift opened and chill mists poured out, blanketing the battlefield and swiftly spreading over the land.
When the mists retreated they revealed that the ritual had not just taken the souls of those present at its casting... it had transformed them into something terrible.
Strange cries were carried on the wind as old bones moved once more, creaking inside rusty armor. The Undead remain an uncomfortable reminder of Albion’s past. They can often be avoided but are too dangerous to be ignored and too terrible to forget.