UNDEAD AS HEALERS OF ATHAS
What if the undead of Athas are actually sponsored by Athas itself?
I favor the idea of Athas being a living sentient being, but that’s another possible heresy. In any case, what if the Undead are animate crystallization of the death energy of Athas… an attempt to collect it and pull it out of Athas’ body so that it can stave off death, and maybe even return vitality to itself? This could explain why a nation of undead exists as I’ve read here and there.
Also it would change the nature of undead… instead of being a clerical thing, it would become a druidic thing on Athas, and also they wouldn’t attack normal living things or destroy them, but rather those that despoil and destroy and harm Athas. I suddenly have an image of a secluded garden with fluffy bunnies being carefully tended to by undead who value the life they no longer have.
Druids would consider it an honor to take into themselves the death energy of Athas, healing it by just that little bit more and become undead guardians which continue their self-appointed task of guardianship and restoration.
Undead would concentrate in areas where either defiling and such like is concentrated, or where the death energies of Athas are intense. They might even create mines seeking to find Nexus points and Ley Lines so that they can more directly absorb the negative energy out of Athas. In a weird way, they would then become allies with Avangions, The undead clean and purify by removing poisons and negative energy and the Avangions would then enrich, seed, and enliven the purified soils.
Undead would be ideal for going into the barren and possibly atmosphere-less portions of Athas. As undead become more powerful and reach a concentration of death energy and negative energy that start to become harmful to the environment around them, they are sent into space to orbit Athas and provide protection from the harsh energies of the Sun and potential incoming objects.
Someday, this collection of death and negative energies would become rings of orbiting undead in space, which could form protective shields around Athas to protect it from external threats, to stabilize the atmosphere, and to explore Dark-space for ice asteroids which formed from the atmosphere being blown off with the goal of returning them to Athas.
This is a very long term plan, obviously, probably something thought of by the Ghes-Utuil Whales of Athas… or someone similarly objective. @Kalindren