Ghede (3.5e Race)

Ghede
We all have a ghede waiting inside us. The skeletons of the living can be animated as undead, but these are crude simulacrum which mindlessly dance like puppets. Some undead are skeletal, such as liches, but few are sentient and defined as being skeleton alone. Yet within the realms of Father Ghede, he creates children in his image. Summary::Corpses thrown into blight pits or other special places of decay may animate as a ghede, a skeleton with sapience and the foggy memories of the one is spawned from, but an entirely new personality and life (or unlife) of its own.

Personality
You would think that as an undead the ghede would be evil, vicious, and mindless, but this is far from the truth. Their personalities are as human as the humanoid bodies they spawn from. Were it not for the conspicious lack of flesh they would easily pass as a normal living being, with all its virtues and flaws. Of course, many don't see it that way and the ghede are well aware of this, and so in most lands they have a bit of reservation about letting themselves be known. Many feel they are "alive" as any else and perform tasks such as eating and sleeping even when they do not require such activities, or even when they otherwise can't due to lack of flesh.

Physical Description
A ghede is a skeleton of a humanoid, typically human, animated by negative energy. They look nearly identical to the typical skeleton monster animated by the animate dead spell, but in pitch darkness ghede eyes burn with a soft illumination where their eyes should be, even "blinking" at times. With a lack of facial expressions, it would seem to be difficult to communicate to others but by glamour or actual gentle shifts in bone structure the ghede is capable of various "expressions", however subtle.

As an undead, the ghede have no biology of their own. They do not reproduce normally but rather humanoid corpses are brought to "blight pits", magical locations naturally found in lands ravaged by neromantic energy or created by certain rare spells and effects. In these swamp-like sinkholes corpses are dropped in with a random chance their skeleton will spontaneously spring up as a newly "born" ghede. From birth, they are equipped with faint memories of their past and basic knowledge, though it often takes a month or so before a clear personality and speech begins to develop. Ghede do not grow, they are formed fully as adults and stay that way until they are destroyed.

The rebirth process seems to work best on adult humans, but technically works on any humanoid with a skeleton.

Relations
Understandably, not many trust a skeleton. The ghede live in secret in various caves and corners of the world, or blended in the armies of necromancers and others who would embrace, not shun, the undead. Many take roost in ancient ruins which may have once been their home in generations past, as it is both nostolgic and rarely visited.

Alignment
Ghede may be of any alignment, as they are not restricted to evil in spite of their spooky origins.

Lands
Ghede do not have lands to call their own per se, but ruins, swamplands, and caves are ideal spots for blight pits and subsequently a "civilization" of ghede to appear.

Religion
Ghede follow Father Ghede, a giant skeletal being which may or may not be a demigod. They worship other gods too, usually ones relating to protection (for themselves), undeath, or methods of feeling the joys of flesh which they themselves lack.

Language
Ghede speak Common, though those with a high enough intelligence score often speak the language of the base creature they spawned from.

Names
Ghede take on the names of the beings they spawned from, or names of a similar culture if seeking to seperate themselves from their past lives. As a result ghede can have names from all over and from many races.