Animate Corpse

This spell creates an undead servant. Choose a pile of bones or a corpse of a Medium or Small dead creature within sight. Your spell imbues the target with a foul mimicry of life, raising it as an undead creature. The target becomes an undead creature that best fits the creature's size and type (Beast, aberration, etc.), they will tell you what it becomes and has the stats for them.

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 on the same plane as 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 a week, after which it stops obeying any command you've given it. To maintain control of the creature for another week, you must cast this spell on the creature again before the current weekends. This use of the spell reasserts your control over one creature you have animated with this spell, rather than animating a new one however this brings it back to full health and stats as if you cast the spell for the first time. After 1 year of casting this spell to reassert control over the same creature, you have permanent control over it.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, you animate or reassert control over creatures one size under the smallest creature or on size above the largest undead creatures for each slot level above 7th. Each of the creatures must come from a different corpse or pile of bones.