Editing Millennial King (section)

=== Risen ===

The '''Risen''' are the legions of undead that labor in Arran'ak.  Most are incapable of independent thought, and are employed for menial, repetitive tasks, like mining, farming, and building, which leaves the citizens of Arran'ak free to pursue skilled trades.  Most citizens permit their bodies to be reanimated as Risen; after all, their King serves them after his death, so they feel obligated to do the same (and it's not as if they will need their bodies after they're dead).  Because flesh decays, Risen are reduced to skeletons before they are employed, though they wear bronze masks with a semblance of a face.  Some Risen wear a small trinket donated by their living relatives, as a sort of memorial to the person they once were.

Executed criminals and enemy casualties are reanimated as '''Conscripts''', and form the backbone of Arran'ak's military.  They are unadorned except for their bronze armor and porcelain masks, and are identically equipped (for their designated function), for the people of Arran'ak hold that all are equal in death.  Even their bodies are still treated with respect; after a Conscript is rendered unusable by damage or age, the remains are interred in the Spire and sanctified so that they cannot be reanimated.

Arran'ak's law enforcement and military are led by '''Sentinels''', living officers who direct the undead.  When they die, extra rituals are performed on their bodies to imbue them with a more advanced intelligence than most Risen.  Both living and undead Sentinels wear similarly-decorated armor, though the undead Sentinels always leave their helmets on.

The very finest Sentinels, both living and undead, form the '''Chronus Guard'''.  Under the command of Chronus himself, this elite force protects the Spire and serves as a covert intelligence agency and security service throughout the kingdom.  The training undergone by the Guard can literally be longer than a lifetime.

Those people who do not wish to become Risen are interred in the Spire.  This keeps their remains secure against unscrupulous necromancers, and also acts as a tremendous reserve of bodies to be Conscripted should the Millennial King deem it necessary.  Some citizens are so deeply opposed to the idea of their body even potentially being used by the King that they will have their bodies cremated rather than interred; this is not illegal, but is highly frowned upon.  The so-called "Cremationism" movement is most widespread among people who have no contact with the Risen, like artisans whose industries are not suitable for Risen to assist.  Some of the more extreme Cremationists will actually desecrate and destroy the Risen, thinking that they are freeing the souls of the Risen, though they are almost always mistaken in this, as extreme caution is taken in the reanimation ceremony that the soul is not trapped in the body.  Some suggest that the Cremationism movement is partly funded and manipulated by countries seeking to bring about Arran'ak's downfall; the Chronus Guard and Acolytes (see below) are vigorously investigating this possibility.