Lantern Thrall

Shambling cannon fodder without number, Lantern Thralls are the backbone of the League of Nine's military and the single biggest reason the League is able to hold against the much larger military Alliance of States. They are an ad hoc symbol of the League, simultaneously a brilliant creation and a walking war crime.

Appearance
Created by the Consul Four Whispered Words, Lantern Thralls are the reanimated bodies of the recently dead. Their creation is a mixture of Aphoration and Evocation. Lantern Thralls' most distinguishing feature is their glowing eyes. Aside from this one feature, there is no common marker among Lantern Thralls. As they are made from the dead, as many thralls wear Alliance uniforms as do League.

Traits and Limitations
Created by Aphoration, Lantern Thralls are fearless, obedient, and profoundly stupid. They possess no sense of self-preservation and will follow any order as they understand it until it is complete or they are destroyed.

The earliest version of Lantern Thralls only stayed animated during daylight hours. Later versions could be powered by their commander's will; the use of special control rods built into League officer's swords allowed even non-wizards to control them. The final iteration of Lantern Thralls drew power directly from the Bright Causeway, allowing near-constant animation.

A thrall's abilities are directly related to what it did in life. For example, a thrall that had never reloaded a firearm as a human would not acquire the ability to do so. Lantern Thralls are not capable of learning.

When given an order it cannot complete or when not currently under orders, a Lantern Thrall stands in a trance-like state and ignores its environment.

Role in the League
Thralls are occasionally used as menial laborers, but a Lantern Thrall's single most common occupation is cannon fodder. Thralls lead the charge and form the front ranks of every League engagement, forming a shield of expendable bodies. The most common tactic for deploying thralls is an unruly mob that crashes into the enemy line, inflicting attrition via sheer numbers.