As far as lore goes I was wondering how smart skeletons are.
Im working on a Mod and was just wondering, if they would use candles or lights...decorate their forts if givent eh opportunity. stuff like that.
Also, would they get along with vampires? Or, since at one time they were alive, they would continue to hate them just as they had when they were alive.
Any real info about that would give me insight into how they think would greatly be appreciated.

Thx in Advance,
-AnubicPlague

Most skeletons that are reanimated were done from a necromancer, or someone of the sort. I doubt skeletons in general suddenly become sentient, and try to pretty their new place up. But, remembering from what I read on Corpse Preparation, they're as smart as they were in life, but they're bound to their master. Meaning, they'll perform a task, like prepare you meals, if they were a chef before they died, or other labor. Same applies to animals, so they generally will only be as useful as a pet or guard dog. However, they can only act if their master commands it.

It would be an extremely rare case, when a skeleton does become self aware, and act on its own.

funny zombies are mostly counted as not being smart guys but remove the meat and it sudenly becomes smart =3

Same applies to Zombies, you just never ever really see any of this at all. Here is what my information says

from http://www.imperial-library.info/mwbooks/corpse_preparation.shtml

In addition, it seems that mummifying a zombie is a lot more practical, and a better method of having a servant, as seen with the last line on that book

I've wondered why headless zombies are tougher than regular zombies. Maybe it's the removal of the vestigal body part, lowering its center of gravity, therefore making it more balanced.

Or maybe, it just doesn't make sense, Oblivion style. :mohawk:

Loss of head = loss of even more pain?

No symbolic head -> weaker, less functional body -> more powerful magic needed to animate it -> tougher creature as a result.

If you animated a big rock, it'd be very powerful because you'd need very powerful magic to animate a big rock. The symbolically closest something is from a natural animated creature, the easiest it is to animate it.

So would that mean that the more time that has passed since the subjects death (and therefore, the decreased functionality of the body) the more power it would take to reanimate it, and therefore the more powerful the creature?

But if that is so, why are zombies more powerful than skeletons?

Read "On Preparation of a Corpse" I posted. It isn't a very long read either.

I've always wondered: how can skeletons and zombies (if the zombie lacks functioning eyes -- or a head) see anything? How do they know an enemy is nearby if (at least skeletons) they lack sensory organs?

Magic

If reanimated sentient beings can obey a master and do its will, then why shouldn't it be able to see? Even though it's probable that they can't see. They more than likely use the magic of the user in order to pinpoint where they need to go and how they'll do it.

Skeleton man was pretty smart.

If you'll recall, the player has access to several sensory spells. Modify those for your necromancy project and voila, sight!

The servant's ability to follow directions seems to be related to the subject's intelligence in life.

I understand this as meaning that the ntelligence of the undead is influenced by it's former abilities, not that they retain all of it. Most skeletons and zombies are devoid of free will and won't do much without direction from a master. And they probably svck at problem solving and inovation.

The only type of sentient undead I know of is a Lich. Liches are also [censored] compared to skeletons because of this. Its why The Illuminated Order is my favorite Morrowind mod. Because it gave me a very long quest line and you eventually became a [censored] Lich at the end. If only it wasn't so hard

Anyway Skeletons and Zombies are practically the same thing. Except Skeletons could be thousands of years old and zombies are only recently killed. They are all ressurected by magic (Usually by necromancers). Liches however are different. Every Lich is an actual person who through necromancy becomes undead. Meaning they lose their humanity and morality to become immortal. Liches are powerful with magic and are in every way superior to Skeletons

Muthsera,

I would proffer the most likely explanation first, which is simply "gameplay mechanics". However, that answer does not satisfy our desire for a more lore-friendly explanation, does it?

With that being said, I will extrapolate our current understanding into a hypothesis that is hopefully more to your liking.

The question presented is "why are headless zombies more formidable opponents than their nondecapitated counterparts?"

Here are some possible solutions:

1. The reason that the zombies are headless is due to their being violent criminals in life, meaning that they were executed for their crimes. The evil in their hearts make them prime candidates for the sinister magicka of necromancy, and due to their chosen lifestyle, were probably more physically potent than the average human anyway. This answer establishes a physical (versus magical) reason for their increased strength, etc.

2. The more "body" a zombie loses is the closer its spirit comes to being "freed" into pure spirit form, i.e., ghost, wraith, etc. This explanation is likely incorrect.

3. The loss of the head means that any vestiges of prior memories, pain, etc. would be fully removed, meaning that the PC is fighting necromantic magic itself rather than the husk-mind of the poor [censored] unlucky enough to get raised from the dead.

I am sure that we could come up with other possibilities, and the above are only possible solutions, not any attempt on my part to definitively answer your query.

My the Light of the Nine Bless and Keep you, for I remain...


___The Word Merchant of Julianos

I suppose the undead don't really need to see, as far as biology is concerned. They more than likely perceive the world magically, for even the dead ones with eyes such as fresh zombies would have rotting, non functional eyes in their sockets.

As far as intelligence, and also proficiency, it can also be argued that a skeleton or undead will have slight "memories" of its former "class", as some scholars are fond of categorizing people. A former mage would still cast spells as a skeleton, although perhaps not with the same mastery. These skeletal mages were absent in my travels to the outskirts of Cyrodill although I did encounter a few in Vvardenfell. The common skeleton warrior and skeleton archer which is common all over our world existed in great numbers, of course.

TWM, I'm ashamed of you
You know there is no evil in TES
:deal:

Correction: there is no Evil in TES. There is, however, evil.

Good and Evil are just perspectives that people view the world with. Nothing is good nor is it evil. We just use Good and Evil to identifiy them easier.

Within the scope of a specific belief system, it is possible to draw unilateral lines on what constitutes an act of evil. The problem comes when one introduces multiple, and conflicting belief systems.

In short, something becomes "evil" when someone believes it to be evil.

The severity of the evil comes about from the more people who view the act as being evil.


EG, in many countries the act of killing a child or baby is likely to be universally held as an act of evil by the people of those countries--- Yet in other countries, infanticide may be a well established and culturally accepted phenomenon.


It all basically boils down to the "when in rome, do as the romans do." mantra.

I prefer to think of evil in very loose and secular ways - something that grossly violates the rights of another person.

That's why not all Necromancy in Tamriel is evil. Some is done with consent of the dead person in their will.