The Esteemed are a unique type of undead found primarily in Amshan. It has long been tradition in the region to exhume the bodies of especially respected figures after their death and subsequent burial, always waiting long enough to give the soft tissue an opportunity to decay naturally. After exhumation, their remains are then decorated to befit their status in life. Bones are cleaned then covered in thin sheets of valuable metal, most often silver or gold, while skulls, jaws, and the like often have small gemstones inset into them. Some are even given precious metal "skins", effectively shells mimicking the shape of the body in life, fitted over their skeletal frames. The bodies are then reassembled and re-interred in a great ceremony to honor the deceased.
For nearly all re-buried in this manner, the process ends here. Occasionally, however, the dead spontaneously rise again. Some begin their new existence as undead when their bones are still being decorated, while others regain their sentience after they have already been replaced in the ground - in this case it is not uncommon for them to be discovered by tomb robbers seeking a valuable payoff and instead finding a skeleton that had been waiting for years in their underground chambers. In either case, these gilded undead that make their way back to the land of the living are known as the Esteemed, both for their status prior to death and for the glory of their new forms.
Perceptions of the Esteemed are generally quite positive. In Amshan, where most come into being, they are considered respected and wise elders and are traditionally treated very well. The emergence of an Esteemed is a blessing, especially to their descendants, who often congregate around such figures for guidance and leadership. Of course, while some use their new existences for benevolent means, others embark on selfish or evil endeavors, using their new followers to their advantage. It is not unusual to find Esteemed acting as civic and religious leaders for smaller Amshani communities, especially those located in the sparsely populated drylands of the north and west.
These views of the living towards the Esteemed were historically much the case in Ramashal to the south as well, but since the start of the Great Absolution in Y9202* opinions of the undead have shifted strongly negative in most of the nation, now embroiled in a civil war against their unliving monarch.