Wolf Rawrrr
Wolf-Knight
Necromancy: The Dark Art
HISTORY
Practitioners of the Dark Art existed at every point in history. And since the very start they were frowned upon, banished from civilized societies and branded as criminals. But above all, necromancers were feared, nearly as much as blood mages.
Despite the law against necromancy, its practitioners were often sought; many times by the very institution that was supposed to root them out. The City Watch. Some cases were just too hard to crack, and if the only ones who could reveal the location of buried loot or the identity of a serial killer were dead, well, the Watch came to the necromancers for help. Such activities were low profile, kept secret, and performed quickly. Other examples involved common folk seeking to remove a curse or even place one, and similar.
In modern-day Asgard, necromancy has gradually pushed its way to just borderline forbidden thanks to individuals who worked to improve the status and reputation of their art, but it wasn't until Ilhirel's rise to power that any large changes took place. In her second year of rule the Sorceress lifted the ban on necromancy, winning favor with the dark wizards. As for the Resistance, the organization gladly accepted any help from necromancers who were willing to behave themselves.
However, something that was banned for so long couldn't become normal overnight. The Dark Art was still frowned upon by most people, and many lords who couldn't come to term with the change continued to prosecute necromancers despite their trade no longer being illegal, finding whatever excuses they could.
THEORY
The most basic branch of necromancy is reanimation of corpses. Bodies in any degree of decomposition may be used, depending on the necromancer's needs, and thus can range between just died to bare skeletal remains. There are two ways of reanimation.
A corpse might be safely and easily brought to life by infusing it with shadow substance; the stuff that makes up the Shadow Realm. It is plentiful and easy for a necromancer to acquire, and can quickly get the job done. The downsides to this method are as follows: Thus reanimated corpses are not particularly powerful nor competent when compared to the potential of their former selves or the results of the hard way.
A necromancer might draw a specter from the Shadow Realm, and bind it to a corpse at hand. Unless effort is made to target a specific spirit, a specter will be summoned virtually at random. Bodies reanimated in this way are stronger, more capable, and possess intelligence of the summoned spirit. However, this method is also significantly more dangerous. An insufficiently prepared wizard can easily fall prey to what he summoned after failing to control it.
Reanimating corpses with shadow substance serves for the most simple tasks and needs. Actually summoning specters from the Shadow Realm is the field where good necromancers are separated from the great. Way more possibilities branch out from there. Some more theoretic tips follow:
- A necromancer can put extra effort in the summoning ritual to search for a specific type of spirit; for example a warrior, or even to call upon the soul that originally inhabited the body if it still exists.
- Corpses reanimated with specters can be manipulated into doing tasks, but this requires more effort based on how different the task is in comparison to the spirit's personality, and overall how powerful the spirit is. This does not apply to simple shadow substance-reanimated corpses, which are basically mindless husks under total control of the necromancer.
- The physical condition of the corpse has the biggest effect on its usability. Skeletons can be trashed to pieces more easily than something with substance. However, most necromancers use skeletal minions since they are alot easier to find and usually get the job done.
- Spirits usually remain close to where they parted with their bodies. It takes more effort to summon a faraway spirit than one that is closer. It's often a tradeoff - graveyards offer an ample supply of corpses but few actual specters, while for example battlefields are teeming with spirits but corpses are usually a bit out of reach.
- Summoned spirits cannot exist outside the Shadow Realm on their own. They must be bound to a body or an enchanted item capable of receiving them. The quickest solution and one that is always available is to simply allow the specter to inhabit the body of the necromancer. This is dangerous, but if the spirit is less powerful than the necromancer, and the necromancer uses protective charms, it works. In case of attempted possession the necromancer may try to urgently expel the spirit, which usually works unless the spirit is too powerful. It should be noted that not all specters are hostile, and wouldn't necessarily desire to overcome the summoner at all.
- Corpses reanimated with specters can be manipulated into doing tasks, but this requires more effort based on how different the task is in comparison to the spirit's personality, and overall how powerful the spirit is. This does not apply to simple shadow substance-reanimated corpses, which are basically mindless husks under total control of the necromancer.
- The physical condition of the corpse has the biggest effect on its usability. Skeletons can be trashed to pieces more easily than something with substance. However, most necromancers use skeletal minions since they are alot easier to find and usually get the job done.
- Spirits usually remain close to where they parted with their bodies. It takes more effort to summon a faraway spirit than one that is closer. It's often a tradeoff - graveyards offer an ample supply of corpses but few actual specters, while for example battlefields are teeming with spirits but corpses are usually a bit out of reach.
- Summoned spirits cannot exist outside the Shadow Realm on their own. They must be bound to a body or an enchanted item capable of receiving them. The quickest solution and one that is always available is to simply allow the specter to inhabit the body of the necromancer. This is dangerous, but if the spirit is less powerful than the necromancer, and the necromancer uses protective charms, it works. In case of attempted possession the necromancer may try to urgently expel the spirit, which usually works unless the spirit is too powerful. It should be noted that not all specters are hostile, and wouldn't necessarily desire to overcome the summoner at all.
ARTIFACTS
Necromancers use necromantic energies to accomplish their goals. Willpower is essential as well. But there are helpful tools they can use to aid in tasks. Different artifacts may be empowered with necromantic energies and charged to serve a purpose. Artifact infusion is a ritual that requires full commitment, converting shadow substance into purified shadow essence and imbuing it into the artifact. It takes a day to create one-time use items, and up to a week to create more powerful, more permanent items. However, even the latter lose their necromantic charge through usage and need to be re-infused eventually.
Some of the popular types of necromantic artifacts:
- A staff is not the easiest to enchant, but offers the most utility. A necromancer who uses a staff can achieve significantly better results overall, no matter the task. The most powerful staff ever recorded in history was infused with a soul of a great necromancer and was capable of bringing entire graveyards to life, summoning specters from across immense distance and breaking the resistance of extremely powerful spirits.
- Usually enchanted items are tools or death-related trinkets, but crystals have a special place in necromancy. When infused with necromantic energies, crystals become the focus of Power and act as a lure for specters. Necromancers will often place these close to places where corpses are easy to find, but spirits are not, to make summoning easier.
- Bone fragments are often infused with shadow substance and used as throwable offensive items that explode with necromantic energies, harmful and potentially paralyzing.
- Usually enchanted items are tools or death-related trinkets, but crystals have a special place in necromancy. When infused with necromantic energies, crystals become the focus of Power and act as a lure for specters. Necromancers will often place these close to places where corpses are easy to find, but spirits are not, to make summoning easier.
- Bone fragments are often infused with shadow substance and used as throwable offensive items that explode with necromantic energies, harmful and potentially paralyzing.
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