This spell borrows the essence of a dead humanoid to create an undead servant. Choose a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or Small humanoid within range. Your spell creates an effigy made of pure light or dark energy in the image of the target, rising from its corpse. The effigy becomes a skeleton if you chose bones or a zombie if you chose a corpse (the GM has the creature's game statistics). The effigy's attacks deal radiant damage (pure light) or necrotic damage (dark energy) instead of their normal damage.
On each of your turns, you can use a bonus action to mentally command any creature you made with this spell if the creature is within 60 feet of you (if you control multiple creatures, you can command any or all of them at the same time, issuing the same command to each one). You decide what action the creature will take and where it will move during its next turn, or you can issue a general command, such as to guard a particular chamber or corridor. If you issue no commands, the creature only defends itself against hostile creatures. Once given an order, the creature continues to follow it until its task is complete.
The creature is under your control for 24 hours, after which it fades away and is destroyed. To maintain control of the creature for another 24 hours, you must cast this spell on the creature again before the current 24-hour period ends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over up to four creatures you have animated with this spell and preventing them from being destroyed, rather than animating a new one.
This spell counts as both a necromancy spell and the animate dead for all purposes that would modify it.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, you animate or reassert control over two additional undead creatures for each slot level above 3rd. Each of the creatures must come from a different corpse or pile of bones.
* - (a handful of clay)
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