@UndeadPrivateer: in order to raise the already dead according to lore you need to make a blood sacrifice (animal/human) to give the dead energy to rise. I read alot of fantasy as a kid. Lol.
Haha, that'd depend on the fantasy setting. I'm staying non-specific. If we're talking D&D here then all you need is a black gem. Or if we're talking Warhammer then all you need is channeling some dark energy into the ground and waiting for things to start waking up. Or if we're talking Cthulhu Mythos/Conan then it seems that all one needs is some proper spells or to be unfortunate enough to be cursed with undeath.
You're not alone in the fantasy reading there. Heh.