[Magic Lore] Necromantic Corpsecrafting

[dard 726]

 

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“It was during those fateful years that I came to a revelation.

In their last moments, every man is a coward.

The only goal of man is prolonging their time before that fear.

I plan for death to come at my own pace, not before.

I fear death. I am a coward.”

Corpsecrafting

Through the raising of corpses, skeletons, and macabre abominations fueled with death itself, these dreadful deeds that gave the art its name exist as one of the greatest feat of necromancy.  In aeons past capable of being done by solo practitioners of the art, modern necromancy is incapable of fine focus and instantaneous reanimation. A necromancer’s animation must be prepared, maintained, and supported by not only themselves, but members of their coven.   

Embalming

The preparation of simple corpses for reanimation is a necessity for all necromancers of any caliber.  necromancers must learn the basics of anatomy and preservation of bodies in order to feign life in their faux children. Embalming techniques cannot be performed in any environment where distractions are present, as flesh, bone and sinew require a surgeon’s precision.  Typically, this consists of removing organs and entrails and other features that are unnecessary for the task at hand, salvaging parts from other bodies, and binding the bones together.

 

 

Spoiler

 

Embalm Lesser Corpse 

 

A necromancer may treat the remains of creature smaller than the average humanoid.  These creatures cannot be complex in nature, making these the ideal candidate to teach any novice necrolyte the artisanship that goes into corpsecrafting.  Typically, these corpses consist of—though not limited to—animals such as wolves, bears, deer, or other wild game. What they lack in being able to compete with soldiers, they make up for in agility and their natural boons, such as a wolf’s speed coupled with its bite.

 

Requirements:

• Corpse of small-scale fauna

• Preservative

• Reanimation Primer

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: A bestial corpse is readied to be bound to an oculus.

 

Redlines:

• Creatures larger than humans or elves, or complex in nature, such as some Story Team played creatures, cannot be prepared with this technique.

• These creations cannot be outfitted with weapons or armor and instead rely on ferocity and nature’s design.

 

Embalm Average Corpse

One necromancer may prepare the corpse of an average humanoid form.  Embalming entails repairing a corpse, however crudely, so that it may support itself in the event it walks again.   An average sized corpse may be outfitted in metal armors and use heavier weapons without issue.

 

Requirements:

• Corpse parts of humanoids capable of equalling one whole cadaver

• Preservative

• Reanimation Primer

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: An average humanoid corpse is readied to be bound to an oculus.

 

Redlines:

• Average sized corpses are defined to be no bigger than that of human or elf proportions.

• An average sized corpse may be outfitted in armors and use heavier weapons without issue.

• An average corpse can have up to the strength of a knight, though incapable of knightly stratagem that goes along with such.

 

Treat Skeleton 

A single necromancer may prepare the skeletal remains of average humanoid proportions for future reanimation.  Skeletons, lacking connective tissues, must have their bones bound with tendons, flesh, leathers or metal hinges.  These bindings last until the skeletal minion falters in combat, where it must be repaired. What skeletal minions lack in strength, they make up for in relative cheap cost.

 

Requirements:

• Bones of enough humanoids to sum to that of an entire human skeleton

• Reanimation Primer

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: The bones of a humanoid creature are prepared to be bound by an oculus.

 

Redlines:

• Skeletal minions can be no larger than human or elf proportions. 

• Skeletons can be dispatched with some ease in close-quarters combat due to the nature of their weak frames.  

• Only capable of being armed with light arms such as shortswords and bows, a skeleton possesses the strength no greater than that of Serf-tier.

 

Fleshsmithing

Corpses of complex creatures and horrific amalgamations of flesh require the aid of the occult and necromantic sources to mold flesh and bone like dough.  These creatures require the aid of a coven’s most studied necromancers in order to craft, as well as minions capable of going out and gathering behemoth husks and mass quantities of flesh.

 

Spoiler

 

Molding

By administering a Fleshsmithing Tools and a sum of the necromancer’s own life energy, necromancers are capable of transmuting the hardest of bones into muscle tissue, sinew, ligaments or even organ-like appendages.  Likewise, necromancers may do the inverse and take forge bone material or objects from fleshy remains. Though artificial, these creations are just as capable of holding up as if they were natural.

 

Requirements: 

• Fleshsmithing Tools

• Bone or flesh

• Lifeforce

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: Bone or flesh can be turned into flesh or bone of equal quantities.

 

Redlines:

• Only roughly equal transfers can be used.  One cannot create a skeletal dragon worth of bones out of a ham.

• Only the necromancer’s own lifeforce can be used.

• Only dead flesh and bones can be transmuted.

 

Boneforging

 

Originally discovered its use through fleshmithing, Boneforging became a tool of necromancers who wished to “smith” cheaper, lighter, yet effective, alternatives to iron weapons and armor for themselves, their reanimations, and Darkstalkers.  These armaments are made of condensed bone, capable of penetrating studded leather, though having difficulty with plate and chain. Likewise, bone armor acts as a more brittle variant of chainmail, though much lighter, that can stave off blows from sharper implements.  Most necromancers use Boneforged weaponry in order to spread the cruelty of their plagues.

 

Requirements: 

• Fleshsmithing Tools

• Bone or flesh

• Lifeforce

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: Bones are shaped into tools, weapons, or armor.

 

Redlines:

• Boneforged items are not as strong as iron and will easily shatter under duress of a true blade.

• Boneforged armor is extremely weak to hefty, bludgeoning attacks and will shatter and succumb without offering much protection.

• Boneforged items that utilize a nonmundane creature’s remains require a lore signed item to represent, though normal boneforged items do not.

 

Flesh Golems 

Provided there is available cadavers, gore and organic matter, a necromancer of appropriate skill can craft a meaty amalgamation of olog proportions.  This creation requires a proper humanoid or quadrapedic skeletal or muscle structure in order to use motor functions, lest it be a horrifying globule of flesh in perpetual tormented existence.  Due to the nature of its scale, these abominations require maintenance every week from various parts.

 

Requirements:

• Corpses of humanoids or creatures capable of summing up to the size of the amalgamation

• Preservatives

• Fleshsmithing Tools

• Reanimation Primer

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: Flesh Golems are crafted and readied to be bound to an oculus.

 

Redlines:

• These creations require necromancers to repair damages and rot every 1 narrative week or they will degrade beyond reanimation.

• Flesh Golems are limited to player imagination as long as they are a supported animal or humanoid shape found in nature.

• A Flesh Golems’s strength and size is up to that of a grizzlybear, if humanoid, or dire wolf, if quadrapedic. These creations can be outfitted in armor with penalties to agility and movement.

• A Flesh Golem is only half as agile as a humanoid being, causing it to move slower. 

 

Gargantuan Amalgamations

Any horrific monstrosity or large scale creature—such as a dragon—falls into the category of greater amalgamations.  These creatures typically require the aid of an entire coven of necromancers to construct and repair, though at least three adept skill necromancers are needed to actively mold bone and meat into the desired shapes.  

 

Requirements:

• Corpses of humanoids or creatures capable of summing up to the size of the amalgamation

• Preservatives

• Fleshsmithing Tools

• Reanimation Primer

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: Gargantuan Amalgamations are crafted and readied to be bound to an oculus.

 

Redlines:

• Gargantuan amalgamations are limited to player imagination as long as they are a supported beast or humanoid shape found in nature.

• These creations require necromancers to repair damages and rot every 1 narrative week or they will degrade beyond reanimation.

• These creations are no stronger than their living counterparts, such as an undead drake being the equivalent of a drake, though there exist no theoretical limitation of strength for larger creations.

• Any greater amalgamation must MArt application submitted and approved before use and requires supervision for both construction and reanimation.  This works in tangent with the Rite of the Aberrant.

 

 

 

Reanimation

 

Necromancers are most infamous for reanimating the corpses of the fallen.  Their macabre designs exist in a state of perpetual lobotomy, capable of carrying out the will of the lead ritualist in their animation until they are allowed to return to the earth.  These abominable things carry no semblance of the lives they once held, and instead act as fleshy puppets for their nefarious masters. As a necromancer grows in power, so, too, do they grow in their ability to bind more complex animations to themselves. 

 

Spoiler

 

Oculi

With the banishment of necromancy’s old legacy,  necromancers of Heith-Hedran are left deprived of their most substantial abilities — control over the undead. With no Lifeforce to reign in, they cannot forge connections with their reanimations, and therefore do not dominate them as they had before. Thus, arcane tools known as oculi were invented to prevent being devoured by their own thralls.

 

Taking the shape of handheld focus, a necromancer must have their oculus involved in the same ritual used to raise up their minions. This binds the oculus to however many undead that are raised, designating the necromancer as their only source of coherent direction. With an oculus, a necromancer may direct these dead men around as though a lure, and usher them to aggress against their master’s foes — doing so on the basis that these victims are not their master, and therefore distinguish them as foe or food by instinct. Following this same basis, a necromancer may use their oculus to keep their reanimations from mindlessly attacking their own allies. At this end, one may consider it a “leash.”

 

They do not come without risks or rules, however, as oculi are important tools in the form of otherwise fragile relics. If taken from a necromancer and broken, which they easily may be, all undead that the totems held control over are sent into a mindless rage, wherein their directionlessness they turn upon both friend and foe. A necromancer must be certain to protect these tools, lest the assault they make upon others is dramatically turned around against them.

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: An oculus acts as a beacon to control reanimations.

 

Red Lines

• Oculi are unique items made by necromancers consisting of a crystalline, glass-like trinket.  A necromancer may only have one oculus at any given time, and it must be visibly on their person when they are using reanimation (See Rite of the Oculus).  
• The oculus is only effective in the hands of the necromancer who it was intended for, and a necromancer may only ever have one oculus in their possession.
• A necromancer may only ever have two reanimated creatures active and bound to their oculus.

• All oculi carry the same property of instilling unease and a tightness in the chest easily associated with deep-seated dread.  This is the primary means to identify them.

• When broken, all undead under that oculus’s command are sent into a mindless rage, and attack the closest being to them, including both their initial victims and the necromancer themselves.

• Without an oculus, the undead will remain standing in a comatose, passive state and will not assist their master.

• A necromancer is responsible for roleplaying these effects out narratively, even when the situation turns against them.

 

Reanimation

Reanimations exist as extensions of the will of a necromancer, and as a necromancer progresses in the magic they are able to reanimate more powerful constructs that the entirety of their coven has assisted in creating.  Reanimation takes place by first threading their lifeforce into the corpse then weaving that energy into a newly created, blank oculus.  

 

The process is done after a corpse is prepared through the embalming techniques, where they bind the subject to their oculus.  Depending on the skill of the necromancer, they are capable of having up to two animations out at once of varying sizes. Due to the need for a necromancer to reanimate a corpse with absolute concentration, enthralling requires for them to be in a quiet, ritual setting.  A necromancer caught unprepared and without their oculus is at their most vulnerable.  

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: Specific reanimations are bound permanently to a specific necromancer and their oculus.

 

Redlines:

• Reanimation can only take place in a noncombative setting.  If combat occurs before the animation is complete, it will fail.

• Reanimation of this nature can only occur on a treated corpse.  Imperfect reanimations utilize Branding (see Malediction). 

• Reanimations can only be bound to one unique oculus.  If a necromancer wishes to change his/her reanimations, they must dispose of their oculus and make a new one.

 

Commanding

Compared to the necromancers of yore, the nature of reanimated dead from Rh’thoraen-style necromancy are limited and specific.  Due to the intense focus combative situations require, there are but a few verbal commands that can be utilized: halt, attack, defend and assist.  Halting commands the undead to cease all of its motor functions. The command to attack causes the undead to focus on the primary target that the necromancer is mentally picturing. Ordering the undead to defend will cause them to attempt to intercept any attacks on their master.  Assist commands the undead servant to help in various simple endeavours, such as carrying a trunk. These commands can be given in various different languages provided they are verbal and have a specific intention in mind. Outside of combat, they may be commanded into doing more dedicated and meticulous tasks.

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: Reanimations obey verbal commands in any language the necromancer speaks.

 

Redlines: 

• Undead minions follow the command immediately of their master, allowing the necromancer to command them to stop, attack or halt in the same emote where they perform the action.

• If two animations are following the necromancer at once they will both enact the order simultaneously.

• Without a command, the undead minions will simply meander aimlessly around their master.

• 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. “Pin her down,” or, “take his sword,” function as simple, easy tasks including single word commands such as, “kill,” or, “dig,” versus much more difficult tasks that would require assistance, multiple zombies, or is simply impossible such as, “find Ulthrandl,” or, “build a barn,” wherein the minions will attempt their best and just that: their best.

• Commands cannot be administered if outside of a twenty block radius, if a person exits the #rp range with active reanimations, the reanimations cease their previous commands and return to their master.

• Reanimations cannot be used combatively without being emoted in the presence of the other party prior to the start of combat.

• Reanimations can only move a maximum of eight blocks per emote in combat scenarios.

 

 

 

Modifications

By blurring the lines between life and death a necromancer is capable of becoming one with his macabre creations and increasing the capacity of their own mortal bodies.  From achieving forms of false lichdom for more powerful manipulations over the lifebanks or enhancing the cherished and perfected reanimation, a necromancer prides themselves on being the maestro conducting the symphony of bone.

 

Spoiler

 

Ghoulflesh

By causing one’s flesh to begin to fester and rot, it begins to cling to lifeforce and sponge it up.  A necromancer is capable of enhancing the body of themselves or a Darkstalker with the flesh of the once-fabled ghouls.  The skin begins to become sickly white, putrid and full of rot, clinging to the living, but becoming. The flesh itself has become imbued with a weakened form of plague, disease, or taint, allowing these necromancers to easily administer infections with little effort.

 

Requirements:

• Ghoul Heart

• Fleshsmithing Tools

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: A necromantic plague is bound to the skin of a necromancer or Darkstalker indefinitely.

 

Redlines:

• Only a necromancer or Darkstalker can be modified with Ghoulflesh.

• Only one modification can be placed on a Necromancer, becoming permanent and unremovable.

• The modification is added as a simple update to the appropriate MA or CA in the form of a comment specifying that they have the appropriate modification.

  • Specifically for Ghoulflesh, the player must have the comment specify what type of plague is imbued in their flesh (see Pestilence and Plagues).  This plague can be reused an indefinite amount of times.

    • The comment must include: mental and physical effects as well as duration, falling within the redlines given to necromantic plagues.

    • Once chosen, the plague cannot be changed posthumously

    • Archliches can only obtain the Ghoulflesh modification once and cannot choose a second plague to through the Additional Modification ability (See Archliches and Darkstalkers).

 

Mummification

Removing the fragile liabilities of one’s body is only natural in order to achieve complete mastery over life itself.  Truly an excruciating procedure, necromancers or Darkstalkers may go about a process of removing their organs and mummifying themselves with the assistance of another.  Beginning with an incision in one’s abdomen, each organ is removed, bar the heart, and the insides are packed with special salts that dry out and harden the skin, while being stuffed with preservatives. Each organ, dried out just the same, is then placed back inside of the body.  The result is that the Darkstalker or necromancer takes upon themselves a corpse-like appearance, muscles and skin taut over bones. An embalmed necromancer has extended their lifespan and bodily resilience at the cost of speed and mobility, moving as if they were an enfeebled old man.  Often, the embalmed will choose to cover themselves in bandages to keep their ashy skin moist.

 

Requirements:

• Salts of Moz Strimoza

• Preservatives

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: A necromancer or Darkstalker is mummified, giving them leathery skin.

 

Redlines:

• A Darkstalker, Archlich or a necromancer can undergo the Mummification modification.

• Embalming causes the skin to take on a hardness akin to leathery hide at the cost of being able to be agile.

  • Additionally, a necromancer who is embalmed is resilient to otherwise lethal blows to any organ bar the throat, head, or chest.  They are still prone to bleeding out.

  • A Darkstalker does not lose out on their agility, and instead becomes more hardy to blows.  Strikes that would lethally kill a Darkstalker are not otherwise negated by this aesthetic.

• Life of an embalmed necromancer is extended by fifty narrative years.

• Only one modification can be placed on a character, becoming permanent and unremovable.

• The modification is added as a simple update to the appropriate MA or CA in the form of a comment specifying that they have the appropriate modification.

 

Corpsevision

No great power comes without sacrifice, and even more is required of those who would walk the path of a seer.  A necromancer may choose to gouge out their eyes, placing them in a special fermented fluid while they bask in blindness for the duration.  After one week’s time, the eyes are placed back into the sockets of the necromancer, deadened and glazed over as a sickening silver haze. Blinded to life, but capable of seeing the woes of death, a seer wields the power to see how much lifeforce a living being has.

 

Requirements:

• Void-touched Fruit

• Preservatives

• Reanimation Primer

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: A necromancer, Archlich or Darkstalker is imbued with the ability to sense a person’s impending death.

 

Redlines:

• A Darkstalker, Archlich or a necromancer can undergo the Mummification modification.

• Necromancers or Darkstalkers with Corpsevision can “prod” for lifeforce from those in the area, but they cannot detect living beings through solid objects. 

  • Effectively, this functions as a flavor mechanic that granting no inherent visual advantage to regular mechanical vision.

  • Characters can detect whether someone is wounded, about to die from bleeding out, if they’re sick from magical or natural malady, or anywise any bodily impairment that could lead to death.  

    • It is expected that the necromancer, Archlich or Darkstalker PM the player they are gauging and asking “are you close to dying or sick” to which the player responds appropriately “yes” or “no.”

• This functions mechanically identical to normal vision while offering a cantrip ability of seeing how close someone is to death. However, a necromancer cannot predict to any accurate degree if someone is about to die in a random amount of days or years (however, they can lie).

  • For example, a necromancer cannot say that Jim has twenty more years to live and it be in any way enforced.

• As a tertiary effect, a necromancer with Corpsevision can see invisible specters as if they had truevision.

• Only one modification can be placed on a character, becoming permanent and unremovable.

• The modification is added as a simple update to the appropriate MA or CA in the form of a comment specifying that they have the appropriate modification.

 

Durgrmál

The name Durgrmálwas coined when the phrase was garbled by Bishop Geidlan that desecrated himself in such a manner involves prostrating oneself of their tongue.  Durgrmál is a vile act that forsakes a necromancer’s verbal ability in order to speak to recently departed corpses. First, the tongue is ripped out by a Darkstalker, and then left to dry adorned by various lichens.  After a day of fungal growth, it is stitched back into the necromancer’s mouth where all sounds therein produce insidious sounds of gutterspeak, understandable by only the dead and departed.

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: A necromancer, Archlich or Darkstalker is imbued with the ability to interrogate a corpse, or speak with any form of undead.

 

Requirements:

• Ent’s Lichen

• Preservatives

 

Redlines:

• A Darkstalker, Archlich or a necromancer can undergo the Durgrmál modification.

• Only recently departed humanoid bodies can be spoken to (death within 30 minutes), allowed up to three questions max.  

  • Players may do this through PMs.  The corpse is under no obligation to tell the truth, but a response must be given (even if that response is silence).

  • Players who respond or are questioned by someone with the Durgrmál may only answer with the best of their ability to what they actually knew prior to death.

  • Characters who are spoken to with the Durgrmál modification, when revived at Cloud Temple or any other fashion, do not know in character that they were spoken to, as well as any specific answers they may have given (such as false names or coordinates).

• For event purposes, undead of any kind can speak to a Durgrmál necromancer or Darkstalker who may understand them normally, and the necromancer can speak to them as if speaking plainly.

• Only one modification can be placed on a character, becoming permanent and unremovable.

• The modification is added as a simple update to the appropriate MA or CA in the form of a comment specifying that they have the appropriate modification.

 

Other Modifications

Through trial and experimentation, experienced necromancers are capable of coming up with their own modifications.  These typically use some relevant reagent to assist in the matter, something obtained for its significance to the modification process.  After that, months and even years of repeated attempts, anatomical studies and gruesome research are required before it can successfully be administered.  The process of committing to making new modifications often results in failure altogether, even from the most experienced among them.

 

Requirements:

• ((Story Team approved reagents with significance to the modification))

• ((Basic component significant to the modification))

• ((Screenshotted repeat roleplay attempts to make the modification))

 

Spoiler

Mechanics: A necromancer creates a modification that can do cantrip-like abilities for aesthetic or minimal combat usage.

 

Redlines:

• Necromancers can create their own MArts for modifications that can either be placed on a necromancer, Archlich or Darkstalker.  

• These abilities should not grant absurd strength or power, usually ranging from something that is more of an aesthetic, a cantrip, or slightly improves one particular ability.

• There should be roleplay significance for the player developing it and commitment to obtaining an applicable reagent.  Screenshots showcasing experimentation RP should be included in the MArt post. Creating a new MArt for modification is an extreme achievement for the necromancer’s group.

• These can be specifically for either a necromancer, Archlich or a Darkstalker, or all three. 

• Multiple people can use the same MArt modification provided they haven’t already been modified by another modification.

• Only one modification can be placed on a character, becoming permanent and unremovable.

• The modification is added as a simple update to the appropriate MA or CA in the form of a comment specifying that they have the appropriate modification.

  • In the case of a MArt, a link to the MArt is required in the update comment.

 

 

Tier Progression

Corpsecrafting, the staple of all of necromancy, is defined only by the limitations of a necromancer's macabre imagination.  As a necromancer progresses in their studies, they will find themselves capable of gruesome reanimations and blurring the threshold of death.

 

Tier 1: Capable of preparing lesser corpses.  Can only reanimate a creature of animal size.

Tier 2: Capable of embalming average corpses and treating skeletons.  Can only reanimate a animal or humanoid undead.

Tier 3: Capable of utilizing Molding and Boneforging.  Can have multiple reanimations, being a mixture of an animal or humanoid undead.

Tier 4: Capable of modifying necromancers and necromantic CAs. Capable of crafting a Flesh Golem. Capable of reanimating a single flesh golem and no other reanimations.
Tier 5: Capable of creating Gargantuan Amalgamations through MArts.  Capable of reanimating one flesh golem in tangent with a smaller reanimation.

 

Reference: 

Spoiler

 

General Redlines

• Abilities classed as Corpsecrafting are a subsection of spells for Rh’thoraen Necromancy.  

• Corpsecrafting abilities must be completed in a noncombative scenario with the exception of commanding undead (under Reanimation).  If combat erupts for any other process, the procedure is disrupted and must be restarted after combat has ended.

  • Emote count and procedure has been forgone to allow for creative interpretation, as these processes are done noncombatively.

• Corpsecrafting does not require a magic slot to learn, it is a subsection of the core magic for Rh’thoraen Necromancy.

• Information on the reagents mentioned can be found on the main hub page listed under the Apocryphynium.

 

 

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