Skeletons v1

Skeleton

Closer to a golem than anything else, skeletons would be hard to distinguish as undead if not for the obvious use of the bones from sapient creatures in their creation. Skeletons can be found anywhere where corruption and profane magics can access a ready supply of cleanly picked bones.

Characteristics

Despite what one would assume from hearing about them, skeletons do indeed have some flesh and in fact only their limbs are fully skeletal, their torsos and heads could be mistaken for those of a young girl. The lifeless pallor, gleaming red eyes and exposed bones break any illusions on the matter, however.
Tenacious is the word that best describes a skeleton as they are not endowed with the tremendous strength of other types of undead but are quite hard to keep down even when considering they are creatures who are already dead. It would take the complete destruction of the body that make up a skeleton's body to keep them down for good as their profane mana works to quickly reassemble them upon being knocked apart.
Skeletons have much clearer minds than other lesser undead but are still blank when left to their own devices, only really attacking when ordered or to sustain themselves off the spiritual power of the living. Unlike zombies, the process of undeath does not harm their mental acuity too much, allowing them to recall splintered memories from the bones that make up their form.
Particularly powerful skeletons are capable of producing a strange ghostly flame that seeps unbidden from their joints and eyes. While it does not seem to burn anything that the skeleton herself would not want it to, one should still take care with them as the flames feed on spiritual power and are chillingly cold.

Sustenance

Skeletons feed purely through the method of absorption common among undead. Though they require quite a small amount of spiritual power to keep themselves going compared to others, failure to feed causes them to grow increasingly absent minded until their thoughts are dampened entirely and their body moves of it's own accord to instinctively victimize the living.

Corruption

It will be extremely evident when one is looking upon a corrupted skeleton. The increasing taint that stains their bones to the soul will have lost it's originally pale color as the bones are further steeped in corruption. At the final stages of corruption, their bones would be dyed a deep red and would grow exponentially more durable and the skeleton will be capable of incredible speeds. Thankfully this transformation is incredibly slow and would take several years of soaking up corruption to reach this completed form.

Reproduction

Bones of any gender can be used to create a skeleton though every skeleton will immediately be raised as a female thanks to the influence of the Demon Lord, often growing feminine traits as they stutter into half-life. Lingering taint left from demons can sometimes even seep through the ground to raise the skeletons of ancient burrows and tombs.

Origins

Skeletons have always plagued the ancient places of the world, especially those places that had found itself fighting off demonic armies though the skeletons from those days were far different in appearance from the ones faced today though they still generally act the same.

Oddities

A Zipangu tale often regaled to travellers speaks of a mythological monster, a giant skeleton composed of the bones of an immeasurable amount of the dead called a Gashadokuro. This monster was said to only appear in the darkest hour of the night and burns with the combined malice and anger of all the poor souls who are joined to it. While the idea is intriguing, such a monster could not have actually hid this well for so long and is dismissed as a tall-tale.
Treasure hunters with few scruples love to have skeletons with them as it seems that swapping out bones will allow the skeleton herself to access memories of the bone's former owner. While this does allow the skeleton to learn of hidden entrances or recall the design of a maze there is always the concern that the skeleton might develop phantom memories or even wind up going native and attack her former allies.