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[✗] Necromancy: Rewrite and Magic Guide


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Necromancy

 

Necromancy is one of the much coveted and forbidden Dark Arts, and perhaps the oldest of them.  Necromancers are able to manipulate the forces of life and death and bend them to their will, through spells that can raise the dead, drain the life out of living creatures, and weave dark curses upon those that have crossed them.  The energy that necromancers use to power their spells is called Life Force and necromancers are able to control this energy through something called a Darkhollow.

 

Necromancy takes up three of a player’s five available magic slots, or two magic slots for Liches.

 

The Fundamentals of Necromancy

 

 

 

What is Life Force?

 

Life force is the energy that flows through all things natural and living.  The earth, flowers, trees, critters, beasts, and descendants all need life force to exist.  Without it, organs would fail, immune systems would stop working, blood would not flow, and life as we know it would cease to exist.  Life force builds naturally in all living things and cannot be destroyed entirely. When something dies any life force that remains seeps deep into the earth, ready to be cycled anew.

 

Necromancers have the unique ability to control this energy, push or pull it, and redirect it to their whims.  Life force powers every spell a necromancer casts, and so they must take life force from flora and fauna in the world around them if they wish to practice their magic.

 

Life Force is a natural energy that allows the cycle of living things to function normally.  

 

Living creatures, undead and flora all have life force, whereas creatures powered solely by magic like Golems do not.  

 

Necromancers can magically manipulate this energy.

 

The Darkhollow

 

Not just anyone can cast necromancy, for the mortal blueprint of the descendants alone does not allow it.  Instead they must be given a Darkhollow, a very ancient curse that manifests within the core of a person, leeching the life force of its host endlessly until it is removed by a similar method in which it is granted, or the host dies.  Whilst terrible in its own right, such a curse allows the host to tap into the reserves of life force within themselves and the world around them and control it, and so is often seen by those suffering from it as a gain overall.

 

The masterful control of life force that a Darkhollow grants a necromancer causes life force to be slower and more relaxed within themselves meaning that their bodies expire much slowly than normal, at about half the speed of a regular person if the necromancer does not starve his Darkhollow of life force and drains often, allowing necromancers to live longer lives than most.

 

The Darkhollow can only be granted through the Sacrament of Adherence and made dormant by the Sacrament of Silence.

 

The Darkhollow does not inherently make a necromancer evil or tainted and should not make them susceptible to holy magic, but only their undead creations.

 

The Darkhollow allows necromancers to live longer lives as they age at half the normal speed.



 

A Necromancer’s Physical State

 

A necromancer’s body is always on the decline as the vacuum of the Darkhollow slowly eats away at them.  This means life force is departing from the necromancer’s body quicker than it can naturally regain life force.  If this continues a necromancer will eventually begin to turn frail and gaunt, looking nearly skeletal after three years of failing to replenish their life force reserves.  If a necromancer keeps on top of the life force leaking from his body and regularly drains once a year then they will continue looking relatively normal. The hunger of the Darkhollow causes all necromancers to lose any excess muscle and fat after a short time of practising necromancy, and thus necromancers have little physical strength and could be easily overwhelmed should they rely on it in a fight.

 

A necromancer is not feeble by default but they cannot become strong either, they are simply lean and lacking in any real muscle, this state deteriorates if they do not actively drain.  A necromancer’s health and wellbeing will slowly degrade every week that they do not drain, and after three weeks will become frail and skeletal, nearly crippled in their hunger. (See Life Drain under Necromancy Spells.)

 

A necromancer should drain a body’s worth of life force at least once a IRL week if they wish to remain healthy.  

 

A necromancer cannot wield normal one handed weapons with any real expertise and cannot at all use two handed weapons.  They do not have the strength or endurance to carry around a suit of armour of anything past thick leathers.

 

A necromancer can craft light but brittle weapons and armour out of bone that they can better utilise. (See Bonesmithing)   


 

Necromancy Spellcasting Capacity

 

Necromancers have a higher maximum capacity for holding life force than normal living creatures thanks to their Darkhollow, and this capacity grows further the more developed their Darkhollow becomes.

 

Necromancy uses the resource ‘life force’ to cast spells.  A necromancer can only hold so much life force at any one time, allowing them to cast a finite number of spells before needing to Life Drain living creatures and plants to refill themselves.

 

The cost of resources needed to cast Necromancy spells are measured in half-bodies of life force (Meaning half of the life force that one descendant body contains) and thus we consider each half body’s worth of life force to be interchangeable with one spell cast, or spell slot.  More powerful Necromancy spells may boast a higher cost. A necromancer can hold the same amount of life force as a regular person (two spell slots) and then additionally another spell slot for each tier they have achieved in necromancy.

 

The additional spell slots received from advancing through the tiers are the spell slots expended first, because this is considered excess life force and therefore has no negative consequences for the necromancer to expend it.  The final two spell slots that necromancers have access to pull life force from the necromancer’s own body, harming themself to continue casting their spells.

 

It is calculated as follows.

 

Tier One - Two spell slots base + One excess.  Three spells total.

Tier Two - Two spell slots base + Two excess.  Four spells total.

Tier Three - Two spell slots base + Three excess.  Five spells total.

Tier Four - Two spell slots base + Four excess.  Six spells total.

Tier Five - Two spell slots base + Five excess.  Seven spells total.

 

The base two spell slots represent the life force needed to keep the necromancer’s body functioning, just like any other living creature.  These spell slots are only expended when a necromancer is really pushing himself, sacrificing safety for power. If they are expended, they will naturally come back after one IRL day as the necromancer’s body works to repair the disruption of life force.  Excess spell slots do not regenerate automatically, and must be reclaimed by using the Life Drain spell.

 

When the first of these two slots is expended, the necromancer feels heavily fatigued, cannot run for long and becomes prone to being tricked by any magics that may effect or deceive the mind.  A necromancer is also sapped of any strength he may have had, too.

 

When the second of these two slots is expended the necromancer has basically squeezed every drop of energy he can out of himself without physically killing him, he is utterly exhausted and almost unconscious.  He can barely walk, at a snail’s pace and can talk through ragged breaths, which is still enough to command any reanimated undead under his control.

 

Life Drain does not cost any spell slots to cast as it is the method for replenishing them. (See Life Drain under Necromancy Spells.)

 

Certain spells that do not expend life force completely but rather only temporarily lend life force to something will instead cause one spell slot to be frozen upon casting and while the spell is active, and the spell slot will become available again when the spell is cancelled. (See Reanimation and Dark Branding under Necromancy Spells.)

 

Through a system of spell slots which loosely represent how much life force a necromancer has at his disposal, a necromancer has properly defined amounts of spells they can cast before needing to Life Drain to replenish their energy.

 

Necromancy spell slots increase with each tier as the necromancer boasts a higher limit to the life force they may carry, though every necromancer has two emergency spell slots that represent the life force that powers their own physical body.  Spending these spell slots will drain the necromancers own body and severely weaken him. These two spell slots regenerate automatically every IRL day, whereas others must be recharged with Life Drain.



 

Necromancy Spell List

 

 

Life Drain [Tier One]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Life Drain before they can learn any other necromancy spell.

 

If a necromancer is given a Darkhollow and is not taught Life Drain within three IRL weeks, they can begin to learn on their own through practice.  All other necromancy spells must be taught.

 

Life Drain is the first spell a necromancer will learn, as it is the staple of necromancy, life force control in its purest form.  With this spell a necromancer can suck the life out of anything that lives and is kept alive by the flow of life force. This means descendants, animals, monsters, plants, and even undead can be drained.  (Some magical creatures may be immune to Life Drain but that is on a case by case basis that is noted in the specific creature’s Lore submission. Simply refer to the lore for the creature if you are unsure.  Golems are an example of such magical creatures.)

 

A necromancer must frequently use Life Drain to stay healthy as well as to replenish spell slots.  Draining living creatures is easier and more effective than draining plants, though comes with more potential danger.  Draining a creature that is healthy until it dies allows the spell to harvest every ounce of energy contained in the creature, even the dormant life force that holds together the muscle and flesh of the body, this fully replenishes the appropriate amount of spell slots, whereas draining something until it is near death will replenish less.  A necromancer can also drain the body of something that has recently died, salvaging some of the life force as it seeps back into the earth, and replenishing less spell slots as they would have gotten from draining them to death. The creature had to have died no more than two hours ago to drain their body. Lastly a necromancer cannot replenish more spell slots than is their maximum.

 

Here is a guide to how different things replenish different amounts of spell slots for a necromancer.

 

Draining Creatures

 

Draining creatures is the most efficient way for a necromancer to replenish his power, but potentially more dangerous.

 

Draining four tiny creatures restores one spell slot.  

Tiny creatures are creatures under one foot tall like critters and small birds, but nothing smaller than a mouse.

Examples: Seagulls, Squirrels, Rabbits, Bats, Rats.

 

Draining small creatures restores two spell slots if it kills them, one if they are on the brink of death or have died recently.

Small creatures are creatures between one and three feet tall.

Examples: Pigs, Dogs, Cats, Descendant youth, Sheep.

 

Draining medium sized descendants or creatures of similar size replenishes four spell slots if it kills them, two if they are on the brink of death or have died recently.

Medium creatures are creatures between three and seven feet tall.

Examples: Most playable descendant races, wolves, horses, most pack animals.

 

Draining large creatures restores seven spell slots if it kills them, four if they are on the brink of death or have died recently.

Large creatures are creatures between seven and fifteen feet tall.

Examples: Ologs, Lur Wolves, Ents, Trolls.

 

Draining massive creatures can fully replenish the spell slots of multiple necromancers as they probably require multiple people to take down in the first place.  Draining a massive creature to death can fully replenish six necromancers. If the massive creature is drained to the brink of death or has died recently, either three necromancers can be fully replenished, or six necromancers can replenish four spell slots.

Massive creatures are creatures that are above fifteen feet tall, almost always event creatures.

Examples: Dragons, Giant Worms, Scaddernaks, and most impossibly large foes.



 

Draining Plants

 

Draining plants works a little different, as you don’t replenish as much life force, and instead need to drain very large flora or vast swathes of smaller flora to make it worth your time.

 

Draining singular small flowers replenishes no spell slots.

 

Draining small sized flora replenishes one spell slot.

Small sized flora consist of things such as vine colonies, small allotments, gardens.

 

Draining medium sized flora replenishes two spell slots.

Medium sized flora consist of things such as an entire hedgerow, a grass park, a large cluster of bushes, a small tree, fields of wildflowers.

 

Draining large sized flora replenishes four spell slots.

Large sized flora consists of things like great oaks, giant mushrooms, entire fields of crops, large formations of living material sculpted by druids, and any other generally massive plantlife.


 

Life Drain is separated into two spells, touch drain and tether drain, the first is a more potent drain that requires physical contact, and the second is a slower and weaker drain that can be attached and continued at a distance.

 

 

Touch Drain

 

Touch Drain requires a necromancer to summon the hunger of their darkhollow into their hand, and then risk grappling another creature with it.  As a touch drain grips onto its victim it brings about a myriad of debilitating effects that build the longer a victim is drained, making it very tough for the victim to escape the necromancer’s grasp the longer the spell is allowed to take effect.  The entire time the victim experiences a shocking agony that they cannot ignore, like a blade very slowly cutting through their insides.

 

A necromancer only needs to be able to hold onto someone to touch drain them, even whilst they are resisting as the spell is less about mental concentration and more about physical will.  

 

Touch Drain requires five emotes to fully incapacitate a person at tiers one, two and three.

Touch Drain requires four emotes to fully incapacitate a person at tiers four and five.

 

If a touch drain is stopped near completion (After half the required emotes), it can be resumed again only requiring an additional half duration as long as the target is grappled again.  This is because the amount of emotes represents how long it would take to drain someone’s life completely, and if they are already half dead then it won’t take as long if the necromancer resumes.  If a victim is already half dead from other injuries, then draining them to death requires half the normal amount of emotes, too.

 

The length of time it takes to drain a creature varies on its size.

Minus two emotes for tiny creatures, minus one emote for small creatures.  Add two emotes for large creatures, and consult event staff on the hardiness of massive creatures, otherwise generally add four emotes.  Plants follow the same rules. (See Draining Creatures and Draining Plants above.)

 

Debilitating effects can include:

Loss of vision

Numbness

Crippling of limbs

Hallucinations

Deafness

Vertigo

A struggle to breathe

Sluggishness

Terror


 

Tether Drain

 

Tether Drain is objectively weaker than the touch drain, though its advantage is being able to safely drain the life from something at a distance, even if it tries to flee from the necromancer.  A tether is a connection between the necromancer’s cycle of life force and their target’s, and the ability to form them comes quite naturally to a necromancer. Unlike Touch Drain, a necromancer must not physically touch their target to establish the tether and instead can will the anchor of their spell to their hand and attach it from a short distance.  Then the necromancer is free to step back and slowly unravel the life force from their victim.

 

This process does not come with any of the debilitating effects of a touch drain and there is little stopping the victim getting up and fleeing out of range of the tether.  The draining is much slower though it is still just as agonising as a touch drain, and a victim should seek to escape the pain at all costs.

 

A victim can break a tether by running out of its maximum range, tackling the necromancer to the ground, or the tether can be broken by holy magic.  A necromancer’s tether can be applied from up to ten blocks away and can stay linked up to a range of twenty five blocks.

 

If a tether drain is stopped near completion (After more than half the required emotes), it can be resumed again only requiring an additional half duration as long as the tether is reapplied.  This is because the amount of emotes represents how long it would take to drain someone’s life completely, and if they are already half dead then it won’t take as long if the necromancer resumes.  If a victim is already half dead from other injuries, then draining them to death requires half the normal amount of emotes, too.


 

Tether Drain requires eight emotes to fully incapacitate a person at tiers one, two and three.

Tether Drain requires seven emotes to fully incapacitate a person at tiers four and five.

 

The length of time it takes to drain a creature varies on its size.

Minus two emotes for tiny creatures, minus one emote for small creatures.  Add two emotes for large creatures, and consult event staff on the hardiness of massive creatures, otherwise generally add four emotes.  Plants follow the same rules. (See Draining Creatures and Draining Plants above.)

 

A necromancer can later learn to create a reverse tether that instead grants life force to others.  (See Reverse Tether under Spell List)


 

Life Drain has specifically defined amounts for life force (Spell slots) restored upon draining a creature or plant, whether drained partially, fully or after death and whether they are a very small entity, very large one or somewhere inbetween.

 

Life Drain is split into two spells: A quick and crippling melee drain (Touch Drain) and a slower and more muted ranged drain. (Tether Drain)

 

Touch Drain can only be done with physical contact and quickly grows increasingly hard to escape from as crippling side effects set in, requiring the victim to aggressively try and break free.  

 

Tether Drain creates a magical funnel between the necromancer and a target up to ten blocks away letting the necromancer slowly drain them over time though without any additional hindering.  This tether can be broken by tackling a necromancer, cutting it off directly with divine magic, or running out of its twenty five block range.

 

Life Drain always inflicts an unbearable agony against its victim as it viciously tears the life force from them.  Life Drain saps the victims energy over time, so even if a necromancer does not fully drain someone from healthy to dead, they must still roleplay being fatigued and injured.



 

Reanimation [Tier One]



 

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A necromancer is required to know Life Drain before they can learn Reanimation.

 

Reanimation is perhaps the most prized tool in a necromancers arsenal.  The ability to raise the dead from their eternal sleep and command them to do your bidding, reanimation can be blissfully simple or very elaborately complex, at the behest of the necromancer.  

 

This spell allows a necromancer to raise a lifeless corpse by simply touching it or by willing it to rise verbally or somatically.  Risen by death, these skeletons and zombies are nothing more than fragments of their past selves, sick with death. These autonomous undead obey commands delivered verbally or somatically by their necromancer and may be ordered individually, in groups, or as a whole.  Different undead may pursue different orders but are limited to the best of their abilities as nigh brainless, automatic undead. They possess basic senses and may process information as a golem may albeit the more complex the task the more likely they are to fail.  

 

Commanding a reanimation to pin an opponent to the ground or to pull back and defend you are relatively simple and easy tasks that the reanimation is unlikely to find issue with, however giving the reanimation a task in which it requires more than its basic capabilities could cause issue.  Examples of this would be telling a reanimation to clear a collapsed tunnel in which they may find themselves too weak alone and need the strength of other reanimations to complete the task, or being told to deliver a message to someone in a neighbouring town, where the reanimation must rely on the knowledge of their necromancer to send them in the right direction. The dead make for durable companions due to the restrictions of mortality being lifted from them but they do not make for swift companions; they are only as strong or swift as the muscle and bone of their living forms.

 

Reanimation does not expend spell slots as normal spells might, instead a necromancer only temporarily lends their life force to the reanimation, and as long as they are active the spell slot is considered frozen and unusable, and is returned upon the reanimation being killed or the spell being cancelled.

 

Reanimating a corpse by touch takes three emotes at tiers one and two, and two emotes at tiers three and four, and one emote at tier five.  A necromancer can touch one corpse with each hand in this manner, and reanimate up to two at the same time.

 

Reanimating a corpse verbally takes more time, and involves some sort of phrase or chant beckoning the dead, as you let your Darkhollow speak through you.  This takes five emotes at tiers one and two, four emotes at tiers three and four, and three emotes at tier five. With this method you can reanimate up to your tier’s creature maximum, calling out to any corpses in an area around you.

 

A necromancer can lend one spell slot to reanimation per tier of necromancy, starting at one and ending at five.

A necromancer can reanimate four tiny creatures per spell slot.

A necromancer can reanimate two small creatures per spell slot.

A necromancer can reanimate one medium creature per spell slot.

A necromancer can reanimate one large creature per two spell slots.

A necromancer can reanimate one massive creature at the cost of three spell slots, but four necromancers must help raise and control it.

 

Any excess creatures reanimated by branding cause older reanimations to become inert if they would exceed the number of reanimations the necromancer can have active at once.

 

A necromancer can craft their own undead abominations to reanimate. (See Fleshsmithing under necromancy Spells) A necromancer is required to know Reanimation before they can learn Fleshsmithing

 

Necromancers can cast other spells from necromancy while controlling a reanimation.  Once a body is raised, it does not require much attention to keep it active, as it has formed a temporary unspoken link with its necromancer.  A necromancer cannot cast spells from another school of magic while controlling a reanimation.

 

All undead raised by reanimation have a faint glow in their eyes matching the colour of their necromancer’s aura.  When undead are nearby their necromancer their connection is strengthened, and they become more resilient to feats of holy flame or purging light, albeit not immune.  It takes two emotes longer to vanquish an undead medium sized or smaller, and four emotes longer to vanquish an undead large sized or bigger. (Reduced with multiple spellcasters vanquishing the undead)  This effect is only present when an undead is within fifteen blocks of their necromancer.

 

Reanimations are undead and are vulnerable to divine magic by nature, however their bond with their necromancer is strengthened if very close to them in which case they boast a slightly higher resistance to such magic.

 

Reanimations temporarily borrow a spell slot from a necromancer while they are reanimated and this spell slot is freed up when the reanimation is made dormant again or is killed.  

 

Reanimations can be reanimated quickly by touch or slightly slower at range.  

 

Reanimations do not need to be puppeteered step by step, action by action and can be given commands to follow, which if not too ridiculous they will do.  If no commands are given they will instinctively follow and defend their necromancer.

 

Necromancers can reanimate all different shapes and sizes of creature.  Anything with flesh or bone can be reanimated and necromancers can create their own gruesome reanimations to be risen with Fleshsmithing. (See Fleshsmithing.)  The largest of creatures requires multiple necromancers to control at once.

 

Reanimations are brainless undead with no real personality, resembling feral monsters more than the remains of people.

 

Humanoid reanimations or fleshsmithed reanimations that loosely resemble humanoid features like their limbs can effectively wield weapons, though depending on their frames may not be able to effectively wield different types of armour.  Simple descendant skeletons do not have enough strength to equip full sets of platemail armour, but bigger bulkier undead creations may be.

 







 

   


 

Stagnation [Tier Three]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Life Drain before they can learn Stagnation.

 

The bane of life is not a force that a necromancer might control, instead it is a force that they might simply give a helpful push in the right direction.  Stagnation is twisting lifeforce into antithetical, all-consuming disease that devours lifeforce with a hunger more ravenous than a necromancer’s own.

 

Lifeforce can be made stagnant within an area, preventing the natural ebb and flow of the recycled energy and creating a miniature vacuum in which no lifeforce may flow, to this end the land becomes inhospitable in that the land seems "poisoned" or "sick", rather than desolate and ultimately broken, stilling the lifeforce inside mortals that pass through it and slowly sapping them of their vigor and inevitably killing them should they linger.  If left to Its own devices this divide can expand and prevent the spread of lifeforce beyond Its origin point in a creeping wave of destruction and if not pushed back and brought back into flow by a Farseer or Druid this stagnation can continue indefinitely.

 

Stagnation occurs when a necromancer touches a piece of flora, imbuing the lifeforce within with his will and bringing it to a stand still. This stilled lifeforce is modeled after the Abyss, a clot in the veins of the natural flow of lifeforce that if left unchecked will grow infinitely by feeding on the lifeforce of plants nearby or those trying to grow.  Stagnation finds difficulty in spreading through land with little flora, and spread far slower where there is no lush plant life. This stagnation leads to rot and decay as all living beings within the Stagnation cannot pass lifeforce from use or death, and such the land begins to adapt to the strange limbo in place in extreme ways that sometimes match the climate, whether that be transforming river valleys into barren smog-filled wastes or wetlands into gnarled hellish mires.

 

It is often times that to stagnate an expanse of land is to turn it into something much unlike something as simple as a barren, fog-choked wasteland; to understand the formation of the land that is being stagnated in the first place is to understand how stagnation shall be interpreted in that location. If one were to stagnate a field, it may grow into miles and miles of cracked earth and rolling black fog-- lifeless at first glance, but only kept on a standstill. On the same note, one may stagnate a grand woodland addled with streams and rivers, and then return in the next decade to find that it has malformed into a twisted, festering landscape where the water is clogged with a sickly blackness, nested in by creatures that feed upon the blood and filth of the living, and where organic matter does not grow, but rather is subjected to the poisons present in the earth. Both examples are two sides of the same coin -- life had taken a standstill and the effects on the world varied, but were ultimately the same.

 

Unlike most other spells which can be wielded with more ease at greater skill necromancy, Stagnation is an alien and uncontrollable force that even a master necromancer could not wield effectively or even withstand the devastation it may cause. They are merely capable of putting the effect into motion.  Stagnation can be a risky tool for necromancers to use, as whilst stagnant land is barren and those that linger stagnated lands for too long experience bouts of sickness and may gain diseases correlated with filth or waste much easier, as well as develop cancer (the heavier presence of Lifeforce in the air sticks to living bodies, inciting cancerous growth), a necromancer’s control over life force is non existent there as life force does not properly flow.

 

When using Stagnation, the necromancer creates stagnant land in a ten block radius around them, which slowly begins sapping the life indiscriminately from anything in the area, even necromancers.  Stagnant land can spread outward in a further ten block radius every IRL day until cleansed.

 

Stagnation requires two spell slots to cast and takes three emotes to put into effect, and a further ten minutes for the stagnant land to span its initial ten block radius.  Stagnant land makes plants appear dead and barren, and can be reflected in Minecraft with the assistance of a GM or permission of those who control the land.

 

In the event that a necromancer deliberately or accidentally stagnates the land which other necromancers call home, four necromancers that are capable of casting Stagnation can come together near the epicentre of the stagnant land and kickstart start the flow of life force in the area.  This is the only way stagnant land can be reversed without the help of a Farseer or Druid.

 

Necromancers can put in motion a ravaging of the land that slowly distorts any life in the area.  This causes things not to live or die correctly, causing both to happen in strange and horrible ways.  

 

Living creatures begin to form tumors and cancers and many other manners of growths and ailments when lingering in Stagnant Land.

 

Plantlife in these areas can change in a large variety of ways mostly up to the necromancer who cast the spell though it is recommended that the changes to the land reflect the climate and environment of the land.  Bountiful fields grow barren, wetlands sink into infested mires and jungles begin growing into labyrinths full of twisted poisonous flora. Life force in the area cannot flow properly and often congeals as thin rolling fog, or adding a musty red tinge to the air.

 

Stagnant Land slowly expands in a crawl and if left unchecked can be a real problem.  Druids and Shamans can heal the Stagnant Land but only to their limit, stagnant land could potentially spread for miles if ignored.  Necromancers can also undo the spell cast by themselves or other necromancers.

 

Necromancy takes twice as long to cast in Stagnant Land with the exception of the ability to regress the Stagnant Land.



 

   

Afflictions [Tier Three]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Life Drain before they can learn Afflictions.

 

Afflictions are clumps of corrupted life force that have been carefully treated by a necromancer in order to achieve certain disease-like qualities. It spreads and tears up lifeforce in specific mannerisms that usually lead to deformities, degradation or the general breakdown of someone's well being.

 

Among the most vile sorceries of necromancy are afflictions. A skill birthed out of vicious ire, Afflictions serve as the necromancer’s lasting touch, a foulness that they might subject others to with prolonged touch or through the use of cursed objects. The necromancer begins by befouling a portion of their own lifeforce and applying it either onto an object, a food, beverage, or upon the victim themselves. The necromancer twists the life force that they produced and cause it to take on disease-like qualities such as boils, tumors, respiratory/circulatory damage and the like.

 

A necromancer can apply an affliction to any small object, food or drink item, small body of water, or to a living creature directly.  

 

If applied to an object, the affliction will spread only to those that touch the object and will cause dizziness that builds over the duration as well as a difficulty to concentrate and listen to others.  By time the affliction has reached its apex, those afflicted will struggle to stand or walk without falling over, and be constantly overpowered by a ringing in their ear and thumping in their head.

 

If applied to food or drink, the affliction will spread upon consumption and will cause those who consumed the food or drink to experience nausea and a great hunger.  By time the affliction has reached its apex, those afflicted will feel the urge to vomit constantly, as well as a terrible pain in their stomach and seemingly unending hunger.  

 

If applied to a small body of water, the affliction will spread upon contact with the water and will cause those that made contact with it to experience itching as boils and pustules begin to form all over the body and a constant coughing.  By time the affliction reaches its apex, those afflicted will be driven crazy with the urge to scratch their itching body all over so hard that may inflict harm to themselves, as well as having a spluttering cough so hoarse they can barely talk or breathe.

 

If applied directly to a person, the affliction will spread from that person to anybody that they touch.  This type of affliction is perhaps the most deadly, and hardest to control, though takes considerable amount of time to cast, and requires having someone grappled.  Those afflicted by this feel a growing numbness over their entire body, and a more concentrated sapping of their energy as their very skin begins to rot and decay. By time this affliction reaches its apex, the afflicted cannot feel their body and most of their skin has begun to blacken and some is starting to peel off, revealing disgusting dead tissue underneath.  The afflicted by this time also lack much energy to get up and get on with their lives, relying on others to help them, despite the risk of exposing them too.

 

Creating an affliction takes one spell slot to cast.

 

It takes two emotes to create an affliction and one more to apply it.

If applying an affliction to a living creature directly, they must be grappled and it takes one more emote.

Due to Afflictions not being real biological diseases and being nothing but perverted life force, the Darkhollow of a necromancer rejects afflictions, making them immune.

 

Afflictions can persist for up to two weeks.  This can be extended by another two weeks by each additional necromancer that aids in creating the affliction, up to a maximum of two months.  Over this duration the symptoms of the afflicted grow stronger and stronger, reaching an apex after one IRL week. If the object that was originally afflicted is destroyed, all the afflicted food and drink consumed, the afflicted body of water emptied or dried, or the last carrier of the disease dies, the affliction cannot spread further as is considered gone.  Afflictions can also by purged from their bound sources and the victims of the disease can be healed with any healing magic.

 

The afflictions listed here are basic staple afflictions that all necromancers can perform.  At tier five, a necromancer can begin to try and engineer his own diseases to be a little more specific. These require an MArt.

 

Afflictions allow necromancers to create diseases to spread to other players.  These diseases can be spread through touching objects, through the air, through water and food sources, through contact from person to person.

 

Afflictions can be cured by any healing magic as they are organic in nature.

 

Afflictions listed here are solid example diseases for students of necromancy to learn and use, though necromancers can spend time engineering their own unique diseases that they must make an MArt for.  Once made, this disease becomes a signature creation of theirs and can be applied with all of the parameters agreed upon in the MArt.

 

Afflictions can last for anywhere between two weeks to two months depending on the number of necromancers helping create it.

 

Necromancers are immune to Afflictions.


 

Cursing [Tier Three]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Life Drain before they can learn Cursing

 

A curse is a wretched thing, a hex laid upon the living so they may suffer and nothing more. They are the product of a soul shadow being awoken in a living body outside the dark origins of the necromancer’s own signature, allowing for curses to be engineered in others down to fine details.  

 

A curse is set on an individual much like an affliction, though Its purposes are more specifically destructive.  Rather than cause disease-like growths like an affliction, the effects of a curse are much more magical and dark.  Curses differ from afflictions in their diversity, causing a mystical blindness, impotence, it may instill an urge to throw oneself off high places, or attack human children to name some examples.  

 

Cursing Methods

 

There are five ways to curse someone.

 

Touch: Cursing someone by touch is the fastest albeit most dangerous way to curse someone.  A necromancer must first touch their victim and spend a two further emotes weaving the curse into them whilst still holding on to them.  

 

Object: Cursing a unique and significant item causes the effects of the curse to affect those who touch the item or carry it with them and for a short period after. (Two IRL days.)  Cursing an object simply requires a necromancer to make contact with the object and weave the curse into it for two emotes. Cursing weapons using this method does not cause the weapon to inflict the curse to those it strikes, as the curse treats the strikes as any regular object and only passes on the curse to those that carry it around or hold it for a while.  Bone weapons made from the necromancy spell Bonesmithing can do this however. (See below.)

 

Bonesmithed Weapon: A necromancer can imbue a dark enchantment onto a weapon crafted by the necromancy spell Bone Smithing. (See Bone Smithing under Flesh Smithing) Similar to cursing other objects, any bone weapon can have a curse placed on them by taking them and spending three emotes weaving a curse into it.  Curses applied in this manner are far weaker and more finite. Only Lesser Curses can be applied to bonesmithed weapons as their purpose is only to shift the odds of a fight more in their favour rather than bring assured victory. The curse on a weapon is short lived and only lasts until it icurses its first victim, which happens when the weapon successfully inflicts a flesh wound upon the target victim, causing the curse to transfer hosts through the opened wound.

 

Chant: Cursing someone through spoken word, in a spiteful lash of the tongue.  This allows a necromancer to curse someone without having to touch them by reciting curses in black speech.  This is the hardest method of cursing, and can be cast as long as you can see the target at the time you begun casting, and as long as they are within range to hear you for the remainder of the chant.  It takes five emotes to curse someone through a chant.

 

Bond [Tier five]: To curse someone through a bond is to form a connection between yourself and a part of your target.  This requires either something of extreme emotional importance to them (Family heirloom, treasured circlet, etc.) or a small piece of the target themselves. (Clump of hair, trickle of blood, torn bit of flesh, etc.)  The target is now subject to being able to be cursed by the necromancer any time, and almost anywhere. As long as the target is within the same city/settlement as you, the same province as you, or within a few hundred blocks of you if none of those two apply, the curse can take hold.  If the curse does take hold, the item used bind the curse to them is inert and cannot be used again if it is an organic piece of the person, if it is an item of significance to them, that same item cannot be used again for another IRL month. Cursing in this manner takes two emotes to take effect, as the difficulty in this method is gathering the item in which to bind with the target, from them.


 

Types of Curses

 

Lesser Physical Curses

Curses that irritate and inconvenience the body, they are by no means minor but are not potent enough in their own right to cause serious or lethal harm to a person.

 

One spell slot

 

Examples of lesser physical curses:

Sore muscles or joints

Lack of coordination

Off balancing

Dulling of senses

Nosebleeds, headaches, blisters, swelling, bruising

Overheating and sweating

Absolutely freezing and shivering

Numbness

Physical slowness and grogginess

Hair loss

 

Lesser Mental Curses

Curses that irritate and inconvenience the mind, they are by no means minor but are not potent enough in their own right to cause serious or lethal harm to a person.

 

One spell slot

 

Examples of lesser mental curses:

Doubt

Arrogance

Hyper positivity, or negativity

Saying the first thing that comes to mind

Scattered hearing, people appearing to repeat themselves

Perceiving the world too bright or dark

Failure to retain new information for long

 

Greater Physical Curses

Curses that viciously attack the body, they are crippling and often lethal.

 

Two spell slots

 

Examples of greater physical curses:

Blindness

Deafness

Feeling physically unable to move your own weight

Paralysis of limbs

Sheer agony

Organ failure

Hypothermia or hyperthermia

Intense muscle spasms, seizures

Asphyxiation

Brittle skeleton

 

Greater Mental Curses

Curses that viciously attack the mind, they are crippling and often lethal.

 

Two spell slots

 

Examples of greater mental curses:

Paranoia

Inability to trust

Depression

Hallucinations

Illusions of grandeur

Cannibalism

Crippling fear

Night terrors

Isolation

Uncontrollable laughter

Memory loss

 

Dark Curses [Tier five]

Sweet, dark nothings urging a tortured soul towards destruction.

 

Three spell slots

 

Dark curses are curses that are more magical in nature, and can only be applied through bond.  They can be much more specific, as they appeal to the dark core of a person to try and push them into certain acts, or even temporarily sap the victim of important traits or abilities as long as the curse is active.

 

Dark curses try to wrap a victim in their web, and convince or trick them into doing something terrible.  For example, a dark curse could be a whisper in the back of someone’s mind urging them to carelessly fall from a great height, or it could compel the victim to attack his loved ones.  Vague compulsions like the examples here are standard curses, but more complex curses may require MArts, so a necromancer can sign a curse as his own.

 

A very specific dark curse would be something along the lines of being unable to ignore the urge to try and infiltrate a highly protected building in search of a specific significant item, something as specific and complex as this requires an MArt.  

 

A dark curse can also act to take something away from the cursed individual, for example sapping someone of their intellect, or that they specifically forget how to use a bow and arrow properly, or preventing them from casting any fire evocation spells.  Such potent and specifically doctored curses require MArts in order to be used.


 

A cursed individual becomes aware that they are cursed a few hours after they were cursed.  It is not obvious to others that someone is cursed unless they specialise in the magic necessary to remove a curse, or are a necromancer.  The exception is when someone is cursed with a dark curse, they magically emit a thin, nearly missable veil of black smoke around them. When affected with a dark curse, the victim is aware that the thoughts and urges they are having are not their own, although that does not help the struggle to resist them, and it should be a real battle not to give in.

 

Curses can persist for up to two IRL weeks.  Multiple necromancers can aid in casting the same curse, extending its duration by another two weeks per necromancer up to a total of two IRL months.

Dark curses cannot be extended, and can last maximum two weeks.

 

Holy magic can purge all necromancy curses.  A necromancer can spend one spell slot to snuff out the remaining life force in a curse and end it prematurely, whether the curse was upon themselves, an object, or someone else.

 

Curses are the more magical side of necromancy designed for darker and more interesting roleplay between a necromancer and their victim, rather than simply killing them.  

 

Curses can be applied through multiple different methods, each with their own levels of difficulty and restrictions.

 

A curse has different types.  Physical curses affect the body, mental curses affect the mind and dark curses try to convince a victim to do something they don’t want to, or sap a very specific power or ability temporarily from them.  

 

Necromancers can create their own unique curses through MArts.  

 

Holy magic can remove all curses, as can other necromancers.

 

Necromancers can curse special weapons made of bone that last until the first truly connecting strike, these curses only function when the weapon is wielded by a necromancer.


 

Fleshsmithing [Tier Four]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Reanimation before they can learn Fleshsmithing.

 

Sculpting flesh like dough and bone like clay to mold a truly horrific abomination which may be risen.

   

Imagination is the limit. An artist may breathe life into the inanimate to create beautiful pieces of visual delights and in the same way an experienced necromancer may too in a macabre fashion. By treating flesh with saturating blankets of lifeforce, flesh, muscle, sinew, and tissue may become soft like wet clay and soupy so ready hands may push and pull the biomass into shape. Extensive study of anatomy is required lest a necromancer form a pathetic, quivering heap of skin and boundless muscle with no functionality and no purpose. The same can be done to bone, warping it into a doughy consistency so it may be structured and sculpted into horrific frames and skeletons. However, living material cannot be sculpted nor shaped, the moving lifeforce within too deep in its own current. Such an attempt is a spell known as cauterizing. (See Cauterizing under necromancy Spells)

 

Fleshsmithing is where necromancers get to become very creative, as this spell allows them to essentially craft their own zombies or skeletons to use later for reanimation.  These are most often called abominations, as they generally don’t look too pretty. Fleshsmithing takes a lot longer to perfect than most other necromancy spells, as creating stable and threatening monsters requires the necromancer to have a decent understanding of the anatomy of what creature he is creating, or further yet a more vast array of knowledge if they were to attempt to create their own unique design.  Taking a long time to truly master, a necromancer will see many broken, twitching husks and piles of zombie goop before his days are done, just like all those that came before him.

 

Bone, flesh, muscle, sinew and most other organic matter that might be a part of a living creature can woven into a creation.  A necromancer must gently release soft waves of life force over the organic matter constantly as he works, this oversaturation of life force changes the properties of the material, making it temporarily more malleable and allowing someone to then sculpt it, and sculpt they must.  Whilst a necromancer’s magic helps with the push and pull of flesh, they must take the grotesque muck in their hands and shape it like clay, until they have made rise to a creation all their own.

 

Fleshsmithing has multiple applications.  It can be used to create zombies and skeletons for reanimation, it can be used to make your own unique grotesque creation to be reanimated.  It can be used to make modifications to existing undead (Player undead and reanimation undead) and it can also make repairs to them if they are damaged.  Fleshsmithing is not something that is done in combat, it is something that is done far away from prying eyes, in a place a necromancer has peace to work.  It takes a long time, and requires the necromancer to return to their work multiple times before it is complete. Because of this, fleshsmithing doesn’t have really specific time parameters on how long it takes to fleshsmith, only vague ones, because fleshsmithing is a craft and not a means of combat and its focal point is the enjoyment and creativity of the player.

 

A necromancer is required to know fleshsmithing before they can learn cauterizing.

 

Repairing and modification

 

Repairing an undead’s minor wounds only takes a couple of emotes, but more severe damage like missing limbs, destroyed torsos, large amounts of missing flesh can take upwards of five emotes.  These factor in having to shape new material onto the creature, simply reattaching the arm it lost doesn’t take long at all if it brought the arm back with it, for example, as you won’t need to sculpt a new one.  

 

Modifying an undead allows a necromancer to add on to already existing creations, giving them things like sharp bone claws, or razor sharp teeth.  If the undead is a playable undead (Ghoul, Darkstalker, Lich), then the modifications are pretty limited and cannot change the create very far beyond their original blueprint.  The examples listed above would be fine, but things like adding extra limbs is restricted to non playable corpses used for reanimation. Modifying an undead also does not take very long, simple allowing for time to sculpt small changes onto the undead.  Small modifications take a couple of emotes, and larger modifications like extra limbs take upwards of five emotes.

 

Repairing and modifying undead expends a spell slot.  If the undead is a playable undead, a necromancer will often heavily drain the undead before operating on them as payment for their work, as they ultimately replenish a spell slot overall.


 

Creating Undead

 

Creating undead takes much longer and is quite an RP heavy process.  If a necromancer creates a common creature, or rather, something that he can be very familiar with its make-up, then it takes the standard amount of time.  If a necromancer creates a rare or otherwise unique creature of their own design, it takes twice as long. This however allows for almost limitless combinations and possibilities.  

 

Creating tiny creatures takes one emote if familiar or common, two if custom or rare.

Creating small creatures takes two emotes if familiar or common, four if custom or rare.

Creating medium creatures takes four emotes if familiar or common, eight if custom or rare.

Creating large creatures takes eight emotes if familiar or common, sixteen if custom or rare.

Creating massive creatures takes place over three separate days, using four necromancers, requiring seven emotes each day per necromancer.  

(See Drain Life under Necromancy Spell List for examples of each creature size type.)

 

If you create the same unique custom creation three times you become familiar with it, and can create it at a normal speed.  Rare creatures always take twice as long to replicate, regardless of familiarity.

 

You can create four tiny creatures per spell slot, two small creatures per spell slot, one medium creature per spell slot, one large creature per two spell slots, and a massive creature requires three spell slots from every necromancer.  If after a session of roleplay you only create one small or tiny creature, your spell slot is expended regardless.


 

Life Force Crystallization

 

With Fleshsmithing giving a necromancer much finer control over flesh and bone it also allows a necromancer to concentrate life force into a hard and crystalline substance.  This material, used for phylacteries of old and in the creation of the Draught of Incite, can be shaped into hard black crystal that better conducts the flow of life force in an area when sculpted into a tall pillar.  This has two applications: Allowing the creation of Liches and Darkstalkers through the Sacrament of Transcendence and strengthening undead in an area.

 

A necromancer needs to spend two emotes crystallizing their life force per block of crystalline life force they wish to make, spending one spell slot per block.  A functional pillar requires four blocks of crystalline life force to function and these pillars must be represented by coal blocks. These pillars are hard crystal but can be destroyed with a large warhammer or a similar tool.

 

To create liches, darkstalkers and morghuul one of these pillars must be present to allow the life force to flow well enough to stitch their broken souls together.  

 

A pillar of crystalline life force will strengthen any undead near them, causing them to become more resistant to gold weaponry or divine magic, causing these sources to deal damage like that of standard weaponry or evocation magic against the undead when within thirty blocks of the pillar.  This allows undead creatures to have the upper hand against invaders when in their own territory.

 

Crystalline life force cannot be used to store life force.


 

Bone Smithing


 

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Whilst Fleshsmithing deals with the creation of creatures for the purposes of reanimation, necromancers can use the power to shape organic matter and restrict themselves to only dealing with bone in what is called Bonesmithing.

 

Bonesmithing is the act of using necromancy to turn mortal remains into varied forms of weaponry and even armor fashioned from the bones of the dead.  Like the flesh utilised in Fleshsmithing, this bone is treated with lifeforce making it malleable and easy to mould into swords or chestplates, though once set they are brittle and easy to destroy.

 

As it stands, bonesmithed weapons are the basic armaments a necromancer may produce so they themselves may have tools for the sake of self-defense. They are fashioned completely from mortal bones, and tempered with their magics to be lightweight enough for them to be used by those weakened by necromancy’s influence, such as Morghuul, but primarily by necromancers themselves, who cannot muster the strength to wield standard weaponry crafted in basic metallurgy methods. The true strength of bonesmithed weapons does not fall under the fact that they are lightweight, for their organic constitution makes them brittle and far more fragile, better suited to be fashioned into spears and daggers; it is what can be imbued upon these bone-fashioned armaments that truly makes them a danger in the hands of necromancers.

 

A necromancer can use bonesmithed weaponry as a special method of applying curses to people, as curses cannot be applied to normal weaponry outside of it functioning like a normal cursed heirloom.  Only Lesser Curses can be cast upon bonesmithed weaponry. The weapon will curse the first target it manages to successfully wound, and then the curse will fade, only having a single use each time. (See Cursing Methods under Cursing under Necromancy Spell List) Whilst bonesmithed weapons can be wielded by anyone, only a necromancer can actually utilise the curse imbued on the weapon, as the power of the curse becomes inert in the hands of anyone else.

 

Bonesmithed armour on the other hand provides necromancers with a cheap alternative to chain or leather armour.  Its true effectiveness lies in its protection for typically frail necromancers and their creations. Necromancers themselves can adorn bonesmithed armour without inhibiting their ability to cast magic.  Additionally, whereas Darkstalkers and Ghouls cannot wear substantially heavy metal armor, they can receive defense nearing that of plate (although drastically falling short) due to its lightweight nature.  Bonesmithed armour is more capable than chain or leather, though it is brittle and easily compromised. While it is effective against slash and puncturing attacks, it is not resilient and repeated blows by a capable swordsman will cause its brittle shape to crack and crumble.   It is weak to crushing attacks from blunt or heavy weaponry.

 

Bonesmithed weaponry is lightweight, allowing Necromancers to capably wield it, though it is brittle and will easily break.  Despite being lightweight, necromancers cannot heft two handed bonesmithed weaponry, including bows, though Morghuul and other undead can.  Whilst brittle, the weaponry is still made from solid bone and a bonesmithed sword will not break simply from stabbing through flesh a few times, however if met by any real resistance, like trying to pierce through armour, the weaponry will shatter.

 

Bonesmithed armour can provide a necromancer real tangible protection against blows, though not many.   A chestpiece made of bone may fully absorb the damage from a sword, though the sword may only have to strike a few times to completely shatter it.  Bonesmithed armour is a little more resilient to small weapons that aim to slash or pierce and can survive about three strikes before breaking, however any blunt weapons or large weapons like a mace or a greataxe would easily decimate the armour in a single blow.

 

A one handed bonesmithed weapon requires one spell slot to create, two handed weapons require two.

A single piece of bonesmithed armour like a chestpiece or a helmet requires one spell slot to create, a full set of armour requires two.

 

Similar to fleshsmithing, creating bone weapons and armour involves treating a piece of bone with layers of lifeforce and shaping it into a form that can be wielded or worn.  Bonesmithing has no specific emote count required to do, just that the necromancer roleplays crafting their weapon or amour.

 

A necromancer that has been taught the Sacrament of Transcendence from a Gravelord and is capable of creating Darkstalkers can fashion a weapon uniquely tailored to them through a process called Abyssforging.

 

Abyssforging

 

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A necromancer must currently know the Sacrament of Transcendence taught to them by a Gravelord before they can utilise Abyssforging, as this is technically an extension of that Sacrament.


 

True mastery of Bonesmithing is realized upon a Necromancer’s mastery of their art (T5) and after learning the power to create Darkstalkers, where they become capable of the power of Abyssforging, allowing them to create “Deepswords”. The Deepswords, said to be creations realized by a Gravelord Wraith that explored the depths of the Abyss, are Bonesmithed swords steeped in the power of Soul Shadows, and strengthened to be as strong as steel. Through this, a permanent corruption may be set upon the weapon, where if a mortal man or even a Necromancer or their Morghuul servants were to try to wield it, it would make quick work of them-- draining the Lifeforce from their being, and reducing them to ash. It is only the Darkstalkers, the knights and adherents of the Gravelords, who are capable of wielding Deepswords.

 

The Deepswords themselves contain a malicious, mindless presence kept awake only through bathing in the bloodshed of battle; ensuring that the weapon’s effects are kept active, lest they fall into dormancy and uselessness. Through bloodshed and sacrifice, Lifeforce is fed to the Soul Shadow within the blade, granting it the power to inflict Astral Wounds upon those the blade has made its victim. An Astral Wound is defined as a form of damage to the mortal spirit, where despite the original wound’s healing, the pain of it does not fade, as the Astral Wound cannot be mended through mundane means. This does not necessarily grant a Deepsword wielder an edge in combat, but rather grants them the means to afflict effectual, long-time damage upon their foes to ensure their encounter is not so easily forgotten.

 

Much like Curses, an Astral Wound dealt by a Deepsword can be cured through focused Aengulic purging, or other magical methods of healing, but conventional first aid and regenerative methods cannot remove the curse.

 

Abyssforging is a sacred necromantic practise that demands two primary reagents: a living mortal sacrifice, and the Darkstalker that is to use the weapon to be present.  A necromancer may take a specialized Bonesmithed sword and “feed” a victim’s Lifeforce to it, where the sacrifice is killed, allowing a Soul Shadow to manifest within their corpse. After pulling the Soul Shadow from the body and binding it to the blade, the Darkstalker’s being is also bound to the immature Deepsword. This makes it so that only in the hands of that specific Darkstalker that the Deepsword’s Astral Wounding powers are active. Because a Darkstalker cannot be bound to several Deepswords, this means every Abyssforged weapon is special and individualistic through their exclusive creation, preventing the sanctity of the weapons from being broken through nonsensical and abusive mass-production.



 

Fleshsmithing allows necromancers to craft their own creations out of flesh and bone that can be risen and used in reanimation.  This allows a large amount of creativity and variety in the undead creatures they can make.

 

Fleshsmithing also allows a necromancer to repair and make modifications to reanimations or player undead.

 

Fleshsmithing must be roleplayed out and is not possible in combat, small creatures take the shortest amount of time to create and the largest creatures require multiple necromancers to craft.

 

Fleshsmithing cannot be performed on the living, that is a seperate spell called Cauterizing.

 

Necromancers can craft weapons and armour out of bone in a sub-process of this spell know as Bonesmithing.

 

Bone weapons and armour are light and easy to use by a necromancer but are very brittle when met with resistance.  Cloth leather and flesh do not pose any threat to breaking bone weapons. Bone armour is vulnerable to being broken by all weapons but blunt or large weapons will decimate it in a single strike.

 

Bone weapons and armour can be given to reanimations or player undead.

 

Bone weapons can be cursed with the Cursing spell but the curse lasts until it successfully curses one person and then expires.  The curse on the weapon is inert in the hands of someone who is not a necromancer.

 

Necromancers with the ability to create Darkstalkers can also create special weapons named Deepswords for them in a process known as Abyssforging.  Abyssforging creates bone weapons that are as strong and durable as steel, imbued with a powerful curse that causes the pain of any wounds caused by the weapon to linger until magically healed.  

 

These Deepswords are unique to their darkstalker and cannot be wielded by anyone other than themselves lest the weapon slowly drains the wielder, only one can exist at a time per darkstalker.

 

 

Reverse Tether [Tier Four]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Life Drain before they can learn Reverse Tether.

 

Where life drain is a spell for taking life, reverse tether is very much a means of giving it.  Perhaps a peculiar thought, for a necromancer to give life to someone else, is not so peculiar at all.  After all, necromancy is the manipulation of life and death, and that goes both ways. A reverse tether gets its name from a similar spell, tetherdrain.  (See Tetherdrain under Life Drain in Necromancy Spells) Though unlike tetherdrain where you reach out to a target and create a magical siphon that tears the life away from someone, a necromancer’s growing mastery over their Darkhollow can allow them to reverse the flow of this tether and instead overcome their own hunger through force of will and funnel some of their own life force into their allies.

 

There are three ways a reverse tether can be used on someone, Recuperation, Soothing and Nourishing.

Recuperation is transferring life force to a living creature who is weakened or fatigued, allowing them to quickly regather their strength.  Soothing is transferring life force to an undead who is feral and uncontrollable, magically calming them and feeding them. Nourishing is transferring life force to another necromancer, sacrificing their ability to cast necromancy to fuel another’s.

 

All of these methods require the target to be within ten blocks to initially establish the tether, then the spell can be finished casting at a twenty five block range.  This tether can also be destroyed by holy magic, although the transfer of energy can also be completed by holding on to the target.

 

A necromancer is required to know reverse tether before they can learn Sacraments, as they involve its use.  

 

Types of Transfer:

 

Recuperation

 

Necromancers do not only fight alongside undead and have been known to have many mortal allies in times of old.  When a comrade falls on the battlefield, overcome by exhaustion, a necromancers can give them a little pick-me-up.  Attaching a tether to them, the necromancer funnels their own life force into their ally, giving them a second wind and surge of energy, removing any sluggishness or weakness from fatigue.  This does not actually mend any of the wounds they might have suffered, and simply gives them the strength to carry on fighting, until they pass out from the pair or die. Recuperation can help remove exhaustion from mages that have over exerted themselves, but does not aid them in casting any further spells, but simply allows them to get up and be active.

 

Casting recuperation takes one emote to establish the tether and then two to finish the transfer of energy.

Casting recuperation expends one spell slot to get an ally back into the fight.  Casting this spell on someone who is not fatigued has no real effect, other than filling the person with vigor.


 

Soothing

 

Undead are not perfect, especially those that roam on their own accord.  Necromancers sometimes have quite a hard time controlling these undead, as they have their own whims, their own agendas, and are often unpredictable.  Soothing transfers life force to an undead through a reverse tether, dispelling their rage and bringing them into line. This temporarily dulls a Ghoul’s requirement to feed, feeling content for a small time, and similarly Liches and Darkstalkers also gain a brief clarity of mind, and respite from their rage.

 

Casting soothing takes one emote to establish the tether and then three more to finish.  This can be quite a hard spell to finish casting, due to the circumstances that require it, and often may find themselves being mauled before completion, or the person they were trying to prevent receiving such a fate meeting their maker.

 

Soothing requires one spell slot to cast.


 

Nourishing

 

Necromancers are not known for being generous or giving, but nourishing is as close to that as they may come.  This spell uses a reverse tether to transfer life force between two necromancers, allowing the caster to share his own reserves with the recipient.  In mechanical terms, this allows one necromancer to expend one spell slot of his own and replenish one spell slot to the receiving necromancer.

 

This spell can be used to share out the resources in a group if necessary, ensuring that everyone in the group is at least somewhat ready for the coming fight.  Though perhaps the most use seen out of nourishment is between a teacher of necromancy and his student, as it allows a senior necromancer to replenish the apprentice’s life force to extend the duration of their lessons or practice.  If nourishing is cast on a necromancer that has used his base spell slots and is fatigued, it will restore the flow of life to their body and restore them to a healthy state.

 

Casting nourishing requires one emote to establish the tether, and then one more per spell slot being transferred.  A necromancer can give away every last ounce of his reserves, if he really wishes, incurring the effects of exhaustion.


 

Reverse Tether is the opposite of the tether used in the spell Tether Drain.  The tether in tether drain seeks to take life from the target, whereas reverse tether allows the flow of life force from the necromancy into their target.

 

A tether is a connection between a necromancer and their target, formed at a range of up to ten blocks away.  A tether can be destroyed by tackling the necromancer, running out of its range of twenty five blocks, or by holy magic.  

 

Recuperation allows a necromancer to transfer life force into a living ally who is fatigued and bring them back into the fight.  The necromancer spends multiple emotes stood casting this spell and is vulnerable to attack. Recuperation does not mend any wounds and instead just gives someone the energy to keep fighting if they want to, even if that is until the death.

 

Soothing allows a necromancer to transfer life force into an undead creature to briefly sate their hunger for life force and dispel and rage or anger they might have for a time.    

 

Nourishing allows a necromancer to transfer life force into another necromancer, spending one of their own spell slots to grant the receiving necromancer a spell slot.  This allows multiple necromancers to divide and share their power, or allows a necromancy teacher to help a student to extend their practicing with access to more spellcasting.


 

Cauterizing [Tier Four]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Fleshsmithing before they can learn Cauterizing.

 

Cauterizing is a woesome deed full of screaming and strife. The worst pains imaginable in draining are replicated here but duller, deeper, and darker; flesh of the living may be warped in a similar method to fleshsmithing to seal skin, mend muscle, and close wounds in awful scars of ruptured mass lest they be healed by divine rite. Cauterizing weaves needles into the skin, pins muscle with glass shards, and fuses bone with hot iron rods; the pain is acute and lingering, a victim feeling every motion and movement as their body is sealed. This alteration is an ugly thing and often a last resort lest people walk about with hideous scars on their bodies, hiding from public eye.

 

Cauterizing is a pseudo healing spell accessible to Necromancers, though far from perfect the spell can get the job done regardless.  Using the practices of fleshsmithing a necromancer can operate on a willing patient or even themselves, to patch together wounds and reattach extremities in a very gruesome and ugly fashion.  Cauterizing cannot add any body parts to the living, save for reattaching lost limbs, though only within one IRL day. (Unless the limb is somehow preserved.) Other injuries do not have a time limit.

 

Cauterizing is mostly an extension of fleshsmithing.  It requires a necromancer to treat the flesh and bone with life force until it becomes a little more malleable.  This takes a lot of time, and cannot be done on unwilling participants, and the experience is agonising. The patient feels every twist and pull of their muscle and their tendons as the necromancer gets to work.  A necromancer is able to readjust and reinforce broken bones, not just flesh and muscle.

 

The results of Cauterizing look like old fashioned medieval practices of operation, and the work is rarely ever clean.  Skin will be crudely sewn shut, wounds packed with thick globs of flesh, and bones violently cracked back into place. Cauterizing cannot cure ailments, and serves mostly to stop people bleeding out and dying.

 

Cauterizing takes two emotes for minor injuries, and five emotes for larger injuries.  

Cauterizing uses one spell slot.

 

Cauterizing allows a necromancer to apply practices similar to Fleshsmithing to living people to mend wounds in very shoddy and undesirable manners.  

 

Wounds mended with cauterizing do not heal fully or perfectly, but instead appear gruesome and as if done by medieval doctors, though with a little more accuracy as necromancers can shape flesh and bone as if it were a material.  

 

Cauterizing is agonising for the patient.

 

Cauterizing can reattach limbs if done quick enough, or the limb is preserved.

 

Cauterizing will do its job and stop someone bleeding to death, or succumbing from mortal wounds.



 

Vivification [Tier Four]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Reanimation and Cursing before they can learn Vivification.

Awakening soul shadows deep within mortals, a necromancer may return consciousness to a fresh corpse, lay a curse, or temporarily convert themselves into a ghoulish figure.

 

By reaching deep into the fleeing lifeforce of a corpse, a fresh cadaver whose soul is wandering from their body and their juices split, a necromancer may touch on the empty shell left behind and awaken a looming darkness within; a soul shadow may be temporarily resurrected of the dead, returning a false imprint of their consciousness back into their body provided their skull is intact, and from it their disembodied voice may return. So long as the necromancer maintains their black sorcery, constantly draining them of lifeforce, they may take up a conversation with the newly lost. The longer the talk, the more lifeforce is consumed, and quick talk serves most efficient.

 

These awoken soul shadows cannot learn any new information to carry on to their next life should they be revived by the Monks nor do they remember any part of the conversation. The process of being risen briefly as shattered parcel of a soul is an excruciating thing and the time spent risen is agonizing for corpse’s soul; thus it is often found that corpses spew the truth to appease their interrogators so that they may be spared further suffering.  However lying to sate a necromancer’s questioning is also common, and a necromancer cannot force specific information out of someone, only pry.

 

A necromancer can converse for six full emotes (Each for the interrogator and corpse) per spell slot.  The corpse must speak roughly one full sentence at least to be counted as a full emote. The conversation can be extended by a further six full emotes for one spell slot each time.  The corpse cannot ask questions in return, and it cannot procure ideas of its own, only provide information, true or false. A dead person awoken in this way suffers excruciating pain, and is therefor incentivised to speak the truth.

 

A necromancer that can learn Vivication can also Feign Death.

 

Feign Death

 

In the same manner of awakening a soul shadow in a corpse, a necromancer may awaken a temporary soul shadow in themself. Akin to welcoming a phantom into one's body for possession or holding one's breath underwater, the necromancer casting this spell of false death loses control of their body and becomes disfigured as a corpse may; fresh and pale, rotten and wormeaten, or bare and skeletal, a necromancer may appear in any way the dead may and play as them too. Mimicking a corpse is a constantly draining matter and with it the longer the spell is cast the more lifeforce is drained.

 

A necromancer does not have any true control of their body when they are in this state, the most they can do is whisper/mumble, try and roll their bodies over, or very slowly crawl.  If they are not moving, the necromancer appears dead by all accounts, and does not feel the pain of any injuries inflicted to him during this time, though he is aware of them. They will feel all pain inflicted upon them at once upon cancelling the spell, which they can do freely at any time during it.

 

Casting Feign Death allows the necromancer to play dead for ten minutes per spell slot expended.  This means a necromancer could potentially continue playing dead for an hour if they really wished to.


 

Vivication allows the necromancer to force a body to rise and speak to them, giving the opportunity to interrogate the dead in a process that is excruciating to the temporarily revived entity.

 

Someone brought back by Vivication would want the suffering being caused to end as quickly as possible, making them likely to say anything to make it stop.  They are never forced to speak the truth however, and can both speak truth or lies to try and sate their interrogator.

 

Vivication lasts a small amount of time, spanning a short conversation.

 

Vivication allows a necromancer to temporarily feign death, appearing as if they died long ago to passersby.  In this state they can crawl very slowly and see a couple of feet in front of them, though they can hear.





 

Dark Branding [Tier Five]

 

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A necromancer is required to know Reanimation and Cursing before learning Dark Branding.

 

Dark Branding is perhaps one of necromancy’s most devious spells and also one its most sinister.  With this spell a necromancer can tag with a quick though complex curse that attaches itself to the soul of the victim, should they happen to die while this curse is on them they will automatically rise again as a reanimated corpse under the necromancer’s control.  This curse is not picky, and can be placed on friend and foe alike.

 

Branding someone is a simple process, a necromancer only needs to make contact with someone briefly to swipe the curse onto them.  One emote preparing it in the necromancer’s hand and then one more emote touching them is enough to put this curse into motion. This spell adheres to all of the rules that reanimation do and it does not cost a spell slot to cast initially.  If a target you branded should die then they will become a reanimation under your command, forced to obey your orders, even if those orders is to turn on their former friends. If a necromancer already has all of the reanimations he is able to muster in play, one of them falls inert to make room for the new reanimation.  Reanimations temporarily freeze spell slots while they are active and do not consume a spell slot.

 

A necromancer can have up to three brands active at once, and a necromancer can only curse playable characters that would be able to be reanimated under normal circumstances.  This means a necromancer cannot brand his own reanimations, but that he can brand player controlled Ghouls, Liches and Darkstalkers to rise again under their express control. A necromancer can brand another necromancer, although the necromancer receiving the curse can forcibly reject it if they so wish.

 

Reanimations raised by branding often pose a bigger threat than the average reanimated corpse, as since they are risen fresh from battle, they are likely to be wearing full suits of armour.  

 

The brand lasts however long a combat or combat like scenario lasts.  For example if a necromancer brands one of his allies as enemies are trying to break through their gate, then it will remain as long as there is potential combat to be had.  As soon as they leave, the brand would disappear. It is the responsibility of the necromancer casting the spell to tell those they have cursed about it. You need not reveal what the brand does until the cursed target dies, but then it is up to you to explain the basic mechanics of a reanimation to them, so that they can try and perform the role correctly.  A brand can be something like a small purple or black magical sigil inscribed onto their clothing or flesh.

 

Dark Branding allows a necromancer to tag a friend or foe in combat with a subtle marking that will force them to rise again as a thrall of the necromancer upon death.  

 

Whilst the brand has no negative effects on a target whilst alive, it can very quickly shift a battle in the necromancer’s favour if the target of the brand somehow dies, whether that be from the necromancer’s hand or someone else's.

 

When something that is branded dies it rises again as a reanimation and functions exactly like so.  This reanimation cannot exceed a necromancer’s limit for reanimations and will cause an older one to collapse dead.  

 

If the branded target is a player, the player will emote for their reanimated form but will be subject to the commands of the necromancer.  This means that if a necromancer brands a human Knight and they die and come back as a thrall of the necromancer and the necromancer commands them to attack their own allies, they must obey and try to do so.


 

Sacraments [Tier Five]

 

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Sacraments can only be learned from a Gravelord after having learned all previous Necromancy spells.

 

Sacraments are a dark practise born from the cold, malefic experiments of necromancers’ yore.  These cruely devised rituals can take the essence of a creature, living or dead and condemn it to a restless eternity of undeath usually to bolster the ranks of the necromancer as an ally.  More elaborate sacraments exist that allow the most senior necromancers to hold dominion over those beneath them, though one thing all sacraments have in common, is that they are coveted and well protected.

 

Sacraments are ritualistic spells that cannot simply be taught as normal, and must be taught to a necromancer by a Gravelord.  These sacraments include the permanent reanimation rituals that allow for the creation of playable undead Ghouls, Liches and Darkstalkers, as well as more simple but important sacraments that allow for the addition and removal of necromancers.

 

There exist five of these rituals.  

 

Sacrament of Rebirth

 

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A necromancer must know all necromancy spells prior to Sacraments before they can be taught the Sacrament of Rebirth from a Gravelord.

 

The Sacrament of Rebirth allows a necromancer to perform a more powerful version of reanimation involving soul shadows.  The necromancer plants a strong will to live within the depths of the corpse through their tether of life-force, awakening within a strengthened soul shadow.  With this, the corpse becomes what is known as a Morghuul, or True Ghoul, where fragments of their living past are retained and a degree of their humanity is kept preserved within the Morghuul’s fragile mind. In order to perpetuate themselves, a Morghuul must hunt men for their living flesh and harvest their Lifeforces through cannibalistic feasting, making them mortal foes to any living thing, with the exception of the necromancers that serve as both their masters, and their lifelines.

 

To perform the sacrament a necromancer needs to build a reserve of a lot of life force, costing five spell slots to complete the ritual due to the power needed to achieve such a feat.  The ritual also requires a necromancer to sap the strength of his own Darkhollow temporarily, all this means is that the necromancer cannot create another Morghuul, Lich or Darkstalker for one IRL week.  The character that is being turned into a Morghuul must have been dead for at least one IRL week or they cannot be raised.

 

The ritual takes one emote to wrest control of the necromancer’s darkhollow, one emote to establish two reverse-tethers between themselves and the body of the would-be Morghuul with both hands, and then a further three emotes funneling life force into the corpse.  Then the Morghuul’s eyes will glow with whatever colour their aura would be, and stiffly begin to rise from the grave to begin their second chance.

 

Should a Morghuul be particularly troublesome for necromancers, two necromancers that know the Sacrament of Rebirth can come together and perform the ritual upon the Morghuul in reverse, sending it back to the grave, permanently killing the character.  The executed Morghuul can be cast into this sick limbo again one IRL month later, but it requires two necromancers this time to piece together again the torn apart soul shadow, with the hope that this time the Morghuul will better understand and fear their very real mortality.  This spell is cast as normal except now the Reverse Tether is a regular Life Drain tether, and two necromancers are casting it. This does not spend any spell slots, but instead replenishes two to both necromancers.

 

The one week cooldown for this ritual is shared with the Sacrament of Transcendence.

 

The Morghuul

 

Morghuul are remnants, but they are simply that - remnants. They may seek the pursuits of their past lives, but they are forever a hollow shell; their flame of life has eroded to cinders. Thus, Morghuul may suffer lapses in thought, an emptiness in personality, and an ever-worsening mental condition as per their life-hungering affliction.

 

Morghuul feed upon lifeforce; it is what satiates their decayed forms and stabilizes their soul shadows, keeping their minds intact. Without lifeforce, the visage of the Morghuul will erode, and their soul shadows will dwindle, and they shall suffer dementia until they go insane - becoming little more than beasts without minds. Therefore, as undead, they do not need to eat food or drink water.  Morghuul are soulless undead, but they may roam indefinitely, in theory, if their yearning for lifeforce is consistently succumbed to; allowing Morghuul to simply exist forever.     Failure to feed upon lifeforce will send Morghuul into a bout of madness and physical degradation until they satiate their cravings. Primarily, this is by devouring living beings; by gnawing on fresh flesh to passively absorb the remaining lifeforce within these carcasses. Alternatively, a Morghuul may lower themselves to that of a Necromancers’ servant if they so dearly pine for the relief of lifeforce   

 

To exist forever under the premise of devouring the essence of life - either by devouring others, or being gifted it - without the sweet release of death is the truest curse of them all. Morghuul simply cannot die: they may fall from the highest cliff, and then awaken intact at it’s bottom. They may burn, succumb and die in the hottest fire, but will awaken away from it unscathed. They may drown in the deepest of oceans, but will awaken on it’s shores. Ultimate destruction only comes when they commit themselves to the erosion of their soul shadow, meaning they must go on months without satiation until they go mad or necromancers rescind the Sacrament that created them, and finally put them to rest. This cycle of death and rebirth is largely unexplained, as the Morghuul simply seems to crawl its way up from the dirt some distance away, as though it had been buried there some time before. This will never allow them to pass through walls, gates, doors, or any such construction of the living.

 

The usual traumas of mortals are not for the Morghuul to share, for when they are arisen by whatever means, they are arisen quite literally as corpses; thus, they hold a greater tolerance to pain, and do not succumb to some wounds like normal mortal beings. This is not to be taken for granted, however -- a Morghuul may survive the severing of his arms, but not decapitation or the splitting of his body in two; and he may suffer intense heat or cold, but he cannot survive being charred by flame or drowning in water. Morghuul have a greater threshold of endurance, but moreso in the manner where they do not perceive exhaustion like mortal folk do. Morghuul are frailer beings, but combat will tire them little, as well as other acts of physical expenditure.

 

Morghuul may tolerate pain, the severing of a limb or two and may have a greater threshold of endurance, but these half-strengths are collectively diluted by the presence of their literal weakness. Morghuul are lethargic, dejective beings, and while they may be a threat in combat, the decayed status of their unliving forms prevents them from arming themselves heavily. They are forced to become the rogue, the swordsman, the alchemist; for the roles of the knight, the heavy warrior and the strongman are unable to be tolerated by the frail form of the Morghuul. At most, they may adorn chainmail-oriented armaments, and wield a heavy longsword; but they cannot heft greatswords or massive axes, they cannot wear plate armor, and they cannot achieve greater feats of mortal strength. In truth, Morghuul are equal to other mortal folk, but in different mannerisms that make them better, but make them lesser. As a result of their weakness, Morghuul may only wear chainmail armor and wield iron weapons.

 

Gold acts as a lesser bane against the Morghuul; while it isn’t able to destroy them outright, the wounds that gold weaponry inflicts brings them a great deal of pain - much unlike that of usual weaponry, which is dulled by their undeath. Gold makes dispatching Morghuul an easier feat. Holy magic acts as the primary bane of the Morghuul; and in it’s presence, the Morghuul’s likeliness of defeat becomes high. Therefore, it is logical to these beings of false life to flee, lest they be decimated by the wrath of gods.

 

If a Morghuul devours a mortal body, he is considered fed.  If a Morghuul devours a mortal body whilst he is already fed, he will become saturated.  This means the Morghuul now holds a greater amount of life force in his body than he needs to, and whilst it will not keep him fed for longer and will eventually dissipate, a Necromancer can gather the life force from this Morghuul as payment for other things like repairing its body or giving it modifications through Fleshsmithing.

 

Morghuul are incapable of casting any forms of magic.


 

This Sacrament allows players to turn a dead character into a Morghuul so a player can continue playing them.

 

This Sacrament has a one IRL week cooldown shared with the Sacrament of Transcendence.

 

A necromancer that knows this sacrament can replicate it in reverse to PK a Morghuul, though the Morghuul can be risen from the dead again one IRL month later if a necromancer sees fit to do so.

 

Morghuul do not need to eat or drink as undead creatures, but they have a constant hunger for life force which they can sate by eating living creatures or being given life force from a necromancer.

 

Morghuul have a much higher pain threshhold than living creatures and a much greater endurance, not really limited by fatigue as the living might be.  If a Morghuul’s body is mostly destroyed, it will die.

 

Morghuul are not strong enough to heft two handed weapons or heavy armour, and are restricted to using heavy armours and light one handed weapons, although they are capable of using bone weapons and armour made from bonesmithing.

 

Morghuul are incredibly vulnerable to holy fire as it will completely decimate their forms.  Gold weaponry does not inflict greater wounds upon Morghuul but it does cause them to feel and react to the pain from any wounds it inflicts.

 

Morghuul are not mindless undead like other zombie reanimations created with necromancy, they are capable of thinking for themselves although their speech is often ragged, slurred or exaggerated.

 

If a Morghuul feeds more times than it needs to in a week it becomes saturated, this does not keep a Morghuul fed for longer than a week but it allows a necromancer to safely drain the excess life force from Morghuul to use for their own spells.


If a Morghuul does not feed once per IRL week they begin to descend into madness, becoming more feral in their hunt for life force.

 

If a Morghuul dies it will respawn somewhere out in the wild as it reforms.

 

Morghuul are incapable of using magic.


 

Sacrament of Transcendence

 

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A necromancer must know all necromancy spells prior to Sacraments and the Sacrament of Rebirth before they can be taught the Sacrament of Transcendence from a Gravelord.

 

The Sacrament of Transcendence is perhaps the most taxing spell in necromancy other than perhaps reanimating the largest of creatures.  The most intricate form of reanimation, this ritual allows necromancers to take someone who has been dead for at least one IRL week and make rise to something greater than any mortal could be.  The raw power needed to grant and contain this level of energy is more than any one necromancer can muster, and so a necromancer must call on others to aid him in this ritual. This ritual allows the creation of one of two powerful skeletal undead creatures: The Lich, a frail but potent spellcaster and the Darkstalker, a lithe and relentless warrior.

 

This ritual requires multiple necromancers to perform, one ritualist and two assistants.  The ritualist is the main necromancer channeling the power of the spell, and the assistants funnel their power into the ritualist.  An assistant does not need to know the Sacrament of Transcendence to assist the ritualist, and simply must know the Reverse Tether spell.  The spell costs five spell slots for the ritualist, and three spell slots each for the assistants.

 

The ritual starts by placing the body of the person that is to transcend by the base of a pillar of crystalline life force. (See crystalline life force under fleshsmithing)  This pillar will assist the flow of life force in the area, and prevent the ritualist from being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of power he is about to output. The ritualist must reach out and establish two reverse tethers to the body.  The assistants must reach out to the ritualist with both hands and establish two reverse tethers into the ritualist. Then the ritualist must feed life force through his reverse tethers for three emotes and the assistants must feed their life force into the ritualist for three emotes, this sheer volume of life force passing in and out of the necromancer fills him with a surge of power that then streaks down the two tethers of the ritualist, allowing him at which point to cross over the streams of the tethers and bind the soul to the body.  This is tiring for the assistants but utterly exhausting for the ritualist, causing them to feel completely depleted.

 

At this point, the Lich or Darkstalker will awaken, their eyes glowing with the colour of their aura.  The magic of the ritual decides whether the body is to be raised as a Lich or as a Darkstalker, or in other words the player being raised does.  Any necromancer that knows this ritual can craft a specialised weapon for a Darkstalker that is unique and tailored to that darkstalker specifically.  This weapon, a Deepsword, possesses a powerful curse that can inflict permanent wounds upon someone unless those wounds are purged by holy magic. (See Bonesmithing under Fleshsmithing under Necromancy spells.)

 

The one week cooldown for this ritual is shared with the Sacrament of Rebirth.  Assistants do not incur this cooldown, only the ritualist.

 

While a transcended undead may be destroyed with relative ease by physical means, their resistance to some forms of damage may make it difficult to discern how they can be undone. The common misconception is that to detach the skull from the body would lead to their demanifestation, when in reality the skull itself must be decimated - but to remove the skull from the body in the first place would just lead to the total collapse of the undead’s body, leaving them to linger as a sentient skull until it is caved in fatally.

 

A necromancer that knows the Sacrament of Transcendence can cast a more potent variant of the drain spell to undo the bond between a Lich or Darkstalker’s body and their soul, separating them again and PKing the creature.  This requires the Lich or Darkstalker to fall in combat whether by the necromancer’s hands or someone elses and then requires the necromancer to drain the remains of the body before it reforms elsewhere. It takes one emote to establish contact and two emotes to drain the corpse until separation. (PK)

 

When this happens the soul of the Lich or Darkstalker is set into a limbo of sorts, in which it cannot be reunited with the body through the Sacrament of Transcendence again.  This lasts for a period of one month IRL, during which the creature cannot be brought back by necromancy. If the necromancer decides to completely destroy the creature’s remains they are permanently killed and can never be brought back.  If remains are damaged but not utterly destroyed a necromancer can work to repair them with fleshsmithing.

 

The Lich

 

Liches are aptly skilled in magical arts, as mana expenditure is not something they suffer physical duress from. This fact is also reinforced by the common tradition to raise legendary warlocks and wizards as Liches in order to assure they may reach peak power. When reborn as a Lich, a mage does not develop a greater mana pool, and rather comes to handle the expenditure of mana vastly better than normal mortals. The loss of mana induces exhaustion and weakness - things relative to living flesh, and as Liches do not have flesh, they cannot perceive these weaknesses. This means that a Lich can simply continue to cast magic without exhaustion until their mana pool is depleted, which would merely lead to the failure of further casting. Experienced Liches may learn to “feel” their inner mana reserves in order to determine whether or not they’ll run out as to prevent their unexpected defeat. New Liches are likely to suffer sudden deactivation of their magical powers mid-casting if they cast in excess, and because they are just reborn, to quickly run out of mana at this time would induce conniptions or lapses in physical and mental stability in reaction.

 

Liches cannot perceive actual feeling. Though they may suffer mentally and emotionally, depending on the individual, all physical touch is dulled and a majority of their senses relative to corporeal feeling are either nonexistent or incredibly numbed.

   

A Lich is not bound to be completely skeletal -- their appearances may vary, though it is common procedure that flesh begins to drift away overtime as the Lich develops in it’s new form. A fleshless Lich is a sign of an experienced Lich, whereas an enfleshed, decaying Lich is the sign of a new Lich; yet, puzzlingly, a Lich whom had taken the time to preserve their rotten forms can also be determined as an elder, as there may lie certain signs to point to their age which would further imply how long they have cared for their sullen, grayed corpseforms.

 

Liches are resistant to the elements and can endure the damages brought by some whereas they are easily undone by others. Fire may scorch their bones, but they will not feel it’s burn; frost may make them brittle, but it will not deter their movements (unless frozen solid); water cannot drown them, for there are no lungs to fill; and so-on and so-forth. Liches cannot perceive pain inflicted by physical damage, such as common iron weaponry or other forms of tangible trauma.  Golden weaponry on the otherhand, whilst almost useless in normal martial combat, is as effective against Liches as steel against mortal flesh. Liches are vulnerable against divine magics and a Necromancer’s Life Drain spell.

 

Liches can learn magic as normal, however learning necromancy only takes up two of five magic slots for a Lich, allowing them to learn one more magic than a mortal necromancer might to reflect on their magic prowess.  Liches possess an innate ability to cast the Tether Drain spell. The spell functions exactly like the Tether Drain spell of Necromancy (At the level of a Tier One, Two and Three necromancer. See Tether Drain under Life Drain under Necromancy Spells.)


 

The Darkstalker

 

Darkstalkers are sturdier skeletal undead; they are able to sustain much more damage in some instances where blunt weaponry or force is not applicable. This makes the use of bladed arms of lesser use, unless of greater weight and able to smash moreso than slash. Darkstalkers have no limitation to endurance, and function under the burdens they carry. This means that how fast and strong they can be is attributed by the weight and properties of the arms and armor they carry, yet they are not bothered by the common mortal weakness of greater weight fatigue under physical duress. However, this does not prevent their skeletal structure from splintering and cracking under excessive weight, which eliminates the use of armor that would protect them from all incoming blows. They are only capable of wearing armaments the common knight would have trouble with adorning, at the very most, and at the cost of speed and skill.

 

Darkstalkers are immortal undead. This means they cannot drown, they cannot bleed, they cannot feel some degrees of pain, do not age, and are often not burdened by the common physical fatigue that a mortal would withstand under intense physical stress. This pits them as challenging foes, but not invincible ones. Darkstalkers are skeletons beneath their armor. Even with sturdy plates upon them, blunt force trauma is an especially effective non-magical method to combat them. Their boney frames can only take so much before crumbling away.

Darkstalkers possess an innate ability to cast the Touch Drain spell.  The spell functions exactly like the Touch Drain spell of Necromancy (At the level of a Tier One, Two and Three necromancer.  See Touch Drain under Life Drain under Necromancy Spells.)

 

Darkstalkers suffer the worst of undead weaknesses regarding lesser mortal functions. They are unable to breed, they are unable to rest and sleep, and are even incapable of feeling a great many things -- both physically and mentally. The process of turning is so spiritually and physically scarring that they simply lose all feelings within themselves, whether it be the heat of flame, the cut of steel, the warmth of a loved one, or the touch of the sun’s rays upon their lost skin. Only the righteous light of the Aengulic powers or gold weaponry brings them intense agony, and acts as a shocking reminder that they are not yet dead and far from it. The sole thing they may physically feel is the ghost-like beat of a heart within their ribcage; a relieving, false sensation generated by an excess of collected lifeforce within them. It gives these forlorn knights a reason to strive -- so they may feel the fleeting pulse of a life that no longer remains.

 

Darkstalkers are bothered by light, and weak to Clerical magics. While they do not fear fire like the Wraith’s of old, pure sunlight seems to be shared instead; acting as a undying source of discomfort where the only reprieve is to hide beneath black cloaks to hope that the soft burning of the rays upon their bones may fade. This feeling is intensified tenfold by holy magics, where the pure power of Clerics may ward them off with ease based on the fear and pain that their magic brings Darkstalkers. The presence of sunlight also erodes their focus at a subconscious level and tampers with their innate ability to retain lifeforce, thus causing it to slowly fade away unless they seek shade or a shadowed place befitting their title.

 

Darkstalkers are not capable of casting any magic whatsoever, except from their innate Touch Drain spell.


 

The Sacrament of Transcendence allows a necromancer to turn a dead character into a Lich or a Darkstalker so a player may continue playing them.  

 

This Sacrament shares a one IRL week cooldown with the Sacrament of Rebirth.

 

A necromancer that knows this sacrament can also PK a Lich or Darkstalker by first killing them and draining their corpse with a heightened version of the Life Drain spell only possible as an extension of a necromancer’s knowledge of the sacrament.  The necromancer can choose between preserving the body afterwards so that it can possibly be brought back after an IRL month has passed, or destroying the remains completely so that they are dead forever.

 

Liches and Darkstalkers are undead and thus have no need to eat or drink.  They do however have a small innate hunger for life force, though no where near as potent as a Morghuul or Necromancers.

 

Liches possess an innate Tether Drain ability and Darkstalkers possess an innate Touch Drain ability.  This functions exactly as the respective spells do at their lower tier bracket. (Tier one to three)

 

Liches and Darkstalkers do not feel pain when struck in combat, except when struck by gold weaponry or holy magic.  Liches and Darkstalkers are very vulnerable to these two things. Liches and Darkstalkers are also much weaker to blunt damage than other types of physical damage, as they are made of bone.

 

Smashing a Lich or Darkstalkers skull badly will cause them to die and have to reform, but smashing other parts of their bodies will not right out kill them but simply remove the use of that part of their body.   

 

When a Lich or Darkstalker is killed, they will respawn in the wilds somewhere as they reform.

 

Liches and Darkstalkers do not suffer physical fatigue from expending energy like living creatures do, this is especially useful for Darkstalkers who boast a seemingly unending endurance allowing them to stay in a fight until death.  Likewise, a Lich does not suffer magical fatigue from spellcasting and unlike a living creature can continue to cast spells unhindered until their mana pool is empty.

 

Liches and Darkstalkers don’t have to appear entirely skeletal, they can appear to wear rotten flesh if a necromancer aids them in keeping their appearance together.

 

Whilst boasting a seemingly unending endurance Darkstalkers are not capable of wearing full suits of plate amour without being slowed down, although chainmail better suits their lithe forms, they can still use plate though it slows them down like it would any other.  They are intended as fleet fighters, not tanks. Liches cannot manage armour at all, as their frames are much lighter.  Liches and Darkstalkers are both capable of utilising bone armour and weapons created with bonesmithing.

 

Darkstalkers cannot learn magic.  A Lich only uses two magic slots to learn necromancy, instead of three.

 

Darkstalkers can wield cursed weapons unique crafted for them called Deepswords.  These weapons are crafted with bonesmithing by a necromancer that knows the Sacrament of Transcendence, and requires a live sacrifice to create the weapon.  The weapon does not need to be a sword, despite the name. (See Abyssforging under Bonesmithing)


 

Sacrament of Adherence

 

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A necromancer must know all necromancy spells prior to Sacraments, the Sacrament of Rebirth and the Sacrament of Transcendence before they can be taught the Sacrament of Adherence from a Gravelord.

 

The Sacrament of Adherence is a means to place the burden of necromancy on the shoulders of others, and pass on the coveted knowledge of the dark to new blood ready to step up to the task.  This ritual unlocks the potential within someone, forming an everthirsting Darkhollow at their core. This causes them to have a ravishing need to consume life force, but also primes them to the manipulation of life and death, and therefore the ability to cast necromancy.  This spell simply manifests the Darkhollow in a new student, allowing them to cast the magic, but the student can learn necromancy from anyone that knows the Reverse Tether spell.

 

The necromancer must place a hand on the core of the person and summon their own power to both their hands, concentrating it to a fine point.  Then they necromancer must begin draining the person with one hand and feeding them life force with the other, continuously for three emotes as the volume of life force flowing builds and builds.  This process is seriously disorienting for the target, and is excruciating pain unlike anything they’ve ever felt. Finally, the necromancer cancels the spell in a snap of his will, causing the moving channels of life force to grow confused and form in tandem into a spiralling maelstrom within, seeking constantly to take and give life force.

 

Mortals, Liches, Wraiths and Wights can all bear a Darkhollow and can be infused with this ritual, allowing the ability to learn necromancy.  

 

This Sacrament allows a necromancer to create new necromancers by cursing them with a darkhollow.  


 

Sacrament of Silence

 

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A necromancer must know all necromancy spells prior to Sacraments, the Sacrament of Rebirth, the Sacrament of Transcendence and the Sacrament of Adherence before they can be taught the Sacrament of Silence from a Gravelord.

 

The Sacrament of Silence is a means for necromancers to silence other necromancers that abuse their power, and remove their ability to cast necromancy.  When silenced a necromancer’s Darkhollow does not vanish but instead falls dormant, unable to be utilised but also seemingly frozen without the need to be fed.  A necromancer can repeat the same ritual to resume the flow of the Darkhollow of someone that was silenced, and they will retain their level of power and all prior knowledge of spells with the exception of sacraments, which must be relearned from a Gravelord.  This means silencing isn’t necessarily final, and that a necromancer may be allowed to resume if they prove their worth again.

 

This ritual requires the caster to be able to touch the person being silenced.  With a tight hold on the target, the necromancer exerts a concentrated portion of his energy to bring the will of his Darkhollow to the forefront, and cast through it.  The dark hunger of the necromancer’s grip etches away at the essence of the target’s Darkhollow, slowly sealing it up like a cauterised wound in a horrific agony. The necromancer is required to do this for four emotes, whilst holding on to the target.  Then a hallowed bliss will fall over the target as they realise they no longer hunger for life force, but will find that they cannot manipulate it either.

 

The silencing of a necromancer can only be undone by this same sacrament, and not the Sacrament of Adherence as that ritual is for manifesting a new Darkhollow, whereas silencing only puts an existing one to sleep.

 

A necromancer can be automatically silenced if they have not been online for three months.

 

The Sacrament of Silence allows necromancers to prevent another necromancer’s ability to use necromancy.  

 

A necromancer can automatically be silenced after three months of inactivity.

 

A necromancer can have this silencing removed from them, resuming their ability to use necromancy.  They will not decrease in tier and will retain the ability to cast all spells they knew before, with the exception of Sacraments which must be relearned in their specific manner.


 

The Rite of Inheritance

 

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A necromancer must before know every single Necromancy spell before they can undergo the Rite of Inheritance and rise as a Gravelord.

 

The Rite of Inheritance is the ultimate show of power among necromancers, as through this ritual a necromancer may prove his mastery over the dark art and become a Gravelord.  Borrowing a slither of power from the venerable and feared Black Nexus, Gravelords may imbue other necromancers with the same gift they have, allowing them to hold sway over necromancy as a whole. A Gravelord is capable of teaching the highly coveted Sacraments of necromancy to other necromancers whom they have judged worthy, though they are also capable of removing the ability for a necromancer to cast these Sacraments should they be found to be misusing them.  

 

The Rite of Inheritance appropriately names a necromancer Gravelord, as it shows their grandmastery over necromancy. A Gravelord can teach necromancers the Sacraments of Rebirth, Transcendence, Adherence and Silence.  A necromancer may only learn these Sacraments from a Gravelord, and necromancers cannot simply pass them on once they know them. A Gravelord is capable of taking away these Sacraments as quickly as he gave them out.

 

The Rite of Inheritance is not typically long process, though it requires a majority of the current Gravelords to stand before the Black Nexus with their heir and peer into the twisting depths of the Black Nexus to gain its attention, before kneeling and channeling all of their power into the heir.  The heir will then too kneel, as a tether, black as night lashes out from the Black Nexus and affixes itself to him, exchanging power in a dark bargain.

 

A Gravelord can be removed by a similar ritual, requiring the majority of the currently existing Gravelords to stand before the Black Nexus with the Gravelord in question.  If necromancy falls on such hard times that no Gravelords exist, the Black Nexus will gift its power including any unknown Sacraments to the first eligible person to seek it out.  A Gravelord can be automatically removed if they have not been online in three months.

 

To teach a Sacrament to a necromancer, they must be brought before the Black Nexus and the Gravelord must place their hand upon the necromancer whilst peering into the depths of the Black Nexus.  The knowledge of the ritual will invade the necromancer’s mind uncomfortably setting as a permanent memory. A Gravelord can also take someone who knows a certain Sacrament before the Black Nexus and do the same thing to purge the knowledge of the spell from their mind.  Sacraments are learned in order and that order cannot be skipped, and should a Sacrament that is a prerequisite for another Sacrament be unlearned, so too will that Sacrament.

 

The Rite of Inheritance allows a necromancer to become a Gravelord, a paragon of Necromancy.

 

A necromancer can become a Gravelord when they have learned every necromancy spell including sacraments in a ritual that requires the majority of the current Gravelords to crown them before the Black Nexus.

 

A Gravelord can be removed in the same manner, requiring a majority of the current Gravelords to take the person in question before the Black Nexus and undo the rite.

 

A Gravelord can be automatically removed after three months of inactivity.

 

A Gravelord cannot be affected by the Sacrament of Silence, they would need to first be cast from the mantle of Gravelord.

 

A Gravelord is both capable of teaching individual sacraments to other necromancers and taking their ability to cast those sacraments away again should they abuse them.

 

A Gravelord can only teach a necromancer sacraments at the Black Nexus.

 

The Black Nexus

 

The Black Nexus was once an ancient Lexicon designed to contain the vast troves of knowledge of the Dragaar.  This specific lexicon was called the Radiant Shard made by Mordring before he took the plunge into the Abyss. Through the necromancy of the Old Lords, the first wraiths, the Lexicon was deeply corrupted into a malicious entity that developed a hunger for wraith souls and dark knowledge.  

 

Whilst much of modern necromancy was recovered from the mad scholars of Iblees and developed from there, many of its much older and potent powers were sealed away in the Black Nexus until the necromancers of Anthos discovered it and made a dark bargain for its secrets.  The Black Nexus was responsible for the Gravelords of Anthos, darkwraiths with ruthless control over necromancy thanks to the gifts given to them by the Black Nexus. This is why that even to this day necromancers both revere and fear the Black Nexus, for the tumultuous madness and undeniable power that lies within it.

 

The Black Nexus is not used for much in necromancy and it has a lot of purposes aside from necromancy but it still has a use.  The Black Nexus is used to make rise to new Gravelords and allow them to teach ancient sacraments to them and even revoke such power if need be.     

 

The Black Nexus is known to conceal itself from those not in tune with its dark nature and as such is only visible in the presence of a necromancer or undead.  The Black Nexus is far too large to move easily and so the Gravelords were able to gleam a small ritual to allow the Black Nexus to be summoned to another location through a brief tear into the Abyss.  As long as a majority of the current Gravelords are present, they can do this ritual to commune with the Black Nexus and have it be transported to them.

 

Peering into the Black Nexus for too long inflicts a deep set madness upon the character, only a Gravelord or a Wraith can truly attempt to understand the ramblings of the Abyss still deep within the Black Nexus itself.

 

The Black Nexus is not able to be physically destroyed.

 

The Black Nexus is the only place the sacraments can be taught.

 

The Black Nexus can be summoned by the Gravelords through a short ritual.

 

The Black Nexus can theoretically be stolen though it weighs a ton and is often in small caves and would need to have a tunnel carved out for it.





 

Wraiths, a Path Most Dark

 

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A necromancer must know all spells excluding Sacraments to be eligible for Wraithdom

 

Still bearing some forsaken semblance of kinship to those who have eluded their bodies, becoming Khorgul—or an Abyss Wraith—is possible for Necromancers who have reached mastery over quintessential Necromancer abilities, just as those who bear the Strength of the Abyss can.

 

A Wraithlord may prime the soul of a living Necromancer who has learned all of the Necromancy spells prior to sacraments and set them down the Path of the Hollow.  Through such a thing, a Necromancer’s darkhollow begins to overengorge itself upon the entire being of the Necromancer affected. Their skin darkens to the consistency of asphyxiated blood, clinging to atrophied muscle and employing a crazed sense of hunger.  They are still receptive to commands and cognitive function, and—while they may look close to death—they are still quite alive and bear no actual physical weakness beyond what they already experience. The Resonant Knights who have achieved Wraithdom deemed such a state of “limbo” as being Forsworn.

 

After one year (one week IRL) of being Forsworn, the primed Necromancer must return to the Wraithlord.  Through a dark and twisted act, their corrupted soul is pulled inside-out through their darkhollow and manifested as an incorporeal mess of ill-fortuned stagnated lifeforce as a Wraith bound to the service of the Wraithlord who made them.  

 

A Wraithlord may also turn a Lich into a Wraith if they, too, have mastered Necromancy.  As a being who already knows the plight of undeath, they exist in such a state where they are primed to become a Wraith without having to walk the Path of the Hollow, but rather on the whim of a Wraithlord and acceptance of the soul to be changed.  In order for a Lich to proceed to Wraithdom, they must present their body to the Wraithlord to malform an already blackened soul into the shape of a Wraith.

 

Just as Resonant Knight-turned Wraiths, Necromancer-turned Wraiths are capable of being cast out of their Wraithlord’s court.  Should they earn the disfavor of the Wraithlord who turned them, a formerly living necromancer can be revert to their mortal form—forever scarred by their experiences—and incapable of ever returning to Wraithdom.  A Lich who is removed from Wraithdom will share a similar fate: their form will start to shift as they once more degrade to a state of corporeal undeath—unable to return to the former glory of being a Wraith ever again.

 

Alternatively, a Gravelord who has undergone the Rite of Inheritance may engage in the Wraith Trials to become a Wraithlord themselves.


 

Necromancers (Whether Mortal or Lich) can be turned into wraiths in an alternative path to resonant knights.

 

All necromancy-turned Wraiths follow the same capabilities, weaknesses and rules of Abyss Wraiths outlined in Strength of the Abyss lore.

 

Only Non-Deific Dark arts are retained in the process of becoming a Wraith, and Necromancy once more utilizes three magic slots if previously a Lich.

 

Necromancer-turned wraiths are still Abyss Wraiths, therefore they exist as a Tier 0 of Strength of the Abyss with it always taking up a slot of their magic and the option to delve deeper into the art if they find a teacher.

 

A Gravelord can seek to become a Wraithlord if they are taught about the Wraith Trials.



 

Footnotes for the Lore Team

 

This lore post is wrote mostly to function as a magic guide for teachers and students of necromancy so they can easily refer back to individual spells when they need to.  There was more of a focus in this rewrite of being specific with what a necromancer can do and better defining some of the vagueness that has plagued the magic in the past and so we tried to get rid of as much story/lore fluff as we can.  We don’t need a tenth interpretation of where necromancy comes from, that’s all history and can be taught elsewhere. I’m more interested in conveying what it does, instead.


 

Necromancy is going to use multiple magic slots.  I’m not sure if this is something that has been done before but it’s something we really want to try.  There has been a big problem in the past with people viewing necromancy as a pocket magic or something to check off of their list which contradicts heavily with our goal of having necromancy function like a guild magic similar to druidism.  We don’t have aspects or gods to piss off, only each other, and so I really think that with the new systems we have in place and necromancy requiring a bigger magical investment, it may start to only attract the types of players we want; those that want to learn necromancy to roleplay as a necromancer and not those that want to pop in once and then walk away with a powerful drain spell.

 

We’re now using a spell slot system to quantify how many spells a necromancer can cast before needing to refill themselves with life drain.  This was always a problem, a necromancer having a seemingly infinite capacity for life force or spellcasting and now I hope with this clear cut system we can have better managed and more finite resources for necromancy.  

 

In the same vein we have quantified how much life force (Spell slots) are returned from draining a specific type or size of creature which was another problem we had in the past.  With these two things a necromancer can properly keep track of how many spells they have access to and how they can get them back without ever feeling like they are powergaming accidently.  We’ve also added an interesting mechanic that gives necromancers two base spell slots that are essentially their own bodies, giving the player the choice to physically weaken and drain their own body to continue casting spells at a great risk.

 

We’ve sought to flesh out a lot more of the other vague spells necromancy has had like Afflictions and Cursing.  Now there are a lot of clear methods and effects that these spells can have. Necromancers can also craft their own signature afflictions or curses unique to themselves using an MArt, giving players a lot of choice and creativity in their roleplay.  Curses in their effects are quite strong but they are not really a combative tool for the most part. Like most other necromancy spells they take a while to cast and apply meanwhile leaving the necromancer completely vulnerable and exposed to being attacked.  Oftentimes using a sword would be far more effective than a curse because they are designed for interesting RP, not to be kill mechanics.

 

We have certain spells be prerequisites to learning other spells to help with a more incentivized order in which to learn necromancy spells rather than what we have seen in recent times which is some necromancers not even learning half of their arsenal of spells.  We’ve coupled this with a new system to help control the mass production of necromancers and constructs to try and reign in and reduce them. Now, those that abuse the ability to create or remove Morghuul, Liches, Darkstalkers and necromancers can have that ability specifically taken away from them.  

 

With pillars of crystalline Life Force we are seeking to fashion a defense of sorts against the magics that target undead, aiming to make undead more hardy versus those damage sources whilst in their own territories.  This is a very malleable concept and we may wish to revisit it depending on future changes in the dynamics of Light Vs Dark magic.

 

We have removed Ordainment, the process that allowed Morghuul to ascend into being Liches or Darkstalkers through an incentivised mass killing.  It promoted bad roleplay and a creature ladder that we know is very unhealthy for LoTC and for necromancy itself. Morghuul are just Morghuul, now.  Additionally, darkstalkers are no longer capable of using necromancy, something that was evidently overpowered.

 

With the issues surrounding Lichtype phylacteries we weren’t really sure how to fix the issue and make phylacteries fun and interesting.  Phylacteries were made in a time when Liches were the only undead creature that existed and there were only a small handful of them, and the system worked.  LoTC is a very different place now and with how phylacteries are so easily hidden away it defeats the purpose of them in the first place. We don’t see a great way to fix this issue whilst keeping the current concept of phylacteries, nor do we think we need to.  So we’ve removed phylacteries.

 

Phylacteries might as well have not existed with how they were handled and hidden away, none ever saw the light of day and having one actually destroyed was a rarity.  So what’s the point? Now we’re moving to a system that lets necromancers PK lichtypes if they are capable of making them in the first place, and we’re using a similar system for Morghuul, too.  This allows necromancers to do damage control to undead players that are causing constant unsavoury RP to other players on the server much more easily and will make necromancers actually pose a threat to these characters.  

 

When these creatures were first created they were created for that purpose, being antagonistic creatures.  As LoTC has grown and developed the purpose of playable undead has shifted from being one dimensional monsters to now being a lot more in depth and complex.  They are still player characters and need to be considered, too. This is why we’ve shifted from the phylactery approach of letting anyone that comes across this specific object PK a character even though the object would be hidden in an unreachable place most likely, to now allowing necromancers to PK them if they have the ability to also make them.  It makes them responsible for the undead. Undead are as much characters in LoTC’s current day than mortal descendants and so the phylactery model is outdated.

 

When Ordainment is removed we don’t wish to completely rain on the parade of Ghoul players that were on their way to becoming ordained and transcending into a lichtype or those that have since sought that path. We propose that upon passing of this rewrite we provide the Lore Team with a list of Ghouls that have been on their way to ordainment with the intention of fast tracking them into becoming a lichtype as the process otherwise disappears forever.  We do not plan to allow this to happen for every Ghoul and as such some may feel that they have been cheated by the ordainment system and as such we would like to explore options with the LT of possibly doing a one time reversing of the Ghoul process for those characters, to give them a way out of the lackluster system. Finally, as Darkstalkers will no longer be capable of casting necromancy, any Darkstalkers that currently know necromancy will be given the choice of being automatically turned into a Lich so they may keep their necromancy or remain as a darkstalker and have their ability to cast the magic removed.

 

I don’t feel like there is any reason we should change the number of undead constructs necromancy can make (3) because necromancy’s core concept is raising the dead and therefore I feel like if any magic should be capable of making multiple different types of undead creatures it is necromancy.  

 

This rewrite will not instantly every problem that necromancy has (for I believe it is not that simple) but it does build a new reliable system and give us the tools necessary to start putting that into motion ourselves.

 

 

 

 

 

Credits

Geo

Parkins

Angmarzku

Swgrclan
Dardonas

& Necromancy Discord

Edited by Geo
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I have only read half of it yet, but i really like the way in which it is written, very detailed and explained step by step. Good work.

 

(I might edit this later to add my thoughts of the lore itself once i finish)

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Fixed formatting.  Forum isn't a fan of spoilers apparently, so suppose it needs to appear in giant wall of text format.

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I helped a little.

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damn

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I came here for the Morghuul part since that's the only necromancy-related thing I've played.

 

I like it, it doesn't really do anything to wildly change the way Morghuuls were before, which was something I was worried about. This, though:

1 hour ago, Geo said:

Sacrament of Rebirth can come together and perform the ritual upon the Morghuul in reverse, sending it back to the grave, permanently killing the character.

I don't know if that was something before, but I don't know about the whole "permanently obliterating your character with only two guys on a whim" sort of thing. Like, there should be something to get rid of troublesome dudes, don't get me wrong, but there should be some kind of recourse for players that would rather not lose their shambling corpses for some reason.

 

 

 

( Oh and what does this mean for ghoulguys who were ordained before this change but never got around to completing their arbitrary "kill 7 guys" quest? Do they still get their special saturation even if they can't become a lich? )

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My finger actually hurts from trying to skim this post.

 

giphy.gif

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3 minutes ago, TheCritsyBear said:

I came here for the Morghuul part since that's the only necromancy-related thing I've played.

 

I like it, it doesn't really do anything to wildly change the way Morghuuls were before, which was something I was worried about. This, though:

I don't know if that was something before, but I don't know about the whole "permanently obliterating your character with only two guys on a whim" sort of thing. Like, there should be something to get rid of troublesome dudes, don't get me wrong, but there should be some kind of recourse for players that would rather not lose their shambling corpses for some reason.

 

 

 

( Oh and what does this mean for ghoulguys who were ordained before this change but never got around to completing their arbitrary "kill 7 guys" quest? Do they still get their special saturation even if they can't become a lich? )


In the footnotes for the LT at the bottom I've explained what will happen to Ghouls post rewrite.   With issues we've had over the last year with Ghoul players getting out of control, we want to rein them in like with Lichtypes.  Ghouls are created very easily compared to most creatures, and they can be PKed relatively easily aswell (Though both players that wish to kill off a ghoul both need to know the ritual to make ghouls, which isn't going to be every necromancer.)  That said, due to the nature of undeath, any ghoul unfairly killed off can eventually be brought back in due time.  The ability to create and uncreate ghouls is a power that can be specifically granted and removed if players are found to be abusing it.  This is a similar theme with all of the rituals, that naturally come with responsibility.

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so that what it do

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3 minutes ago, Geo said:

 

I saw the footnotes, which is why I asked my last question.

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14 minutes ago, TheCritsyBear said:

I saw the footnotes, which is why I asked my last question.

 

The Ghoul Saturation won't be carrying on as a concept at all.  Giving incentive for mass RP killing all the time isn't healthy.

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I hate dark hollows, and I don't get why deep swords make permanent wounds unless healed by ascended. 

 

Nice nod to berserk I just don't see how it makes sense

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