[Magic Lore] The Craft of Heith-Hedran

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“You think because you recite my words that all is forgiven? 

Because they are all under the earth and you're up here that makes you special?

You are wrong.  The dead don’t forget.”

 

The Craft of Heith-Hedran

Newly Ordained necromancers become enthralled with cravings for raw flesh and meat.  This disposition only increases in magnitude over their years and skill in the art, with the most veteran among the coven finding themselves in constant desire for raw sources of lifeforce.

 

Unlike in traditional necromancy, these necromancers are not weakened to a crippling state.  They may find themselves able to stave off attacks with a sword of their own, though, as scholars of death, will be outclassed and easily overcome by anyone with a degree martial prowess.  Immune to natural maladies, necromancers can be overcome with unnatural illness spurned from other necromancers, magics or even their own doing if they are not careful in their designs.

 

The affairs of death are not without consequence.  Many will discover they are aging outwardly faster than before, their hair dissipating or turning a paling white.  As to, the skin grows paler than ever before as if they had become sick and disease-ridden. Bodies burdened with the wear and tear of meddling with death, necromancers are forever cursed as dark beings.  They are destined to become spirits without peace post-death for their tampering of powers meant to exist beyond men.

 

General Criteria

 

• As Rh’thoraen Necromancy is a new form of the magic, no previous users necromancy, Liches, or Darkstalkers are carried over. 
• Necromancy utilizes four slots of magic, granting access to the entirety of the spells, abilities, and rituals once they’re learned.  At tier five, a necromancer can become an Archlich to regain an additional slot, making necromancy a three-slot magic.
  • Necromancy is incompatible with any and all holy or deific magics, or any magic requiring a pure soul. It may be used in tandem with the arcane and miscellaneous arts. 
• Necromancers' strength vary over their progression, where at Tier Three they degrade as if attuned to the Void, their strength can only support half-plate boneforged armor and light weaponry, but are ultimately lacking in proficiency to fight with those of greater fortitude and mastery of swordplay, tiring easily over the course of combat.
  • This is both an ability and roleplay mechanic that must be adhered to. Necromancers are first scholars and conniving weasels, it is uncharacteristic for them to wield blades and full-plated armor with martial prowess and will easily tire over the event of hand-to-hand combat.
• En-shackled to the Lifebanks in death, Necromancers are rejected by the monks and other means of revival (Klones and Machine Spirits), their deaths soft-PKs unless resurrected by their fellow necromancers (see the Ritual of Returning)
• Necromancers only appear to age faster, giving their body no true weaknesses until they reach their race’s senile years. Accelerated aging cannot be hidden through any alchemical means besides the Draught of Incite.
• Actively robbed of their life progressing past their ordination, the tear on the soul afflicts rapid aging on necromancers, their life span a crucial part of playing a master of death, attempting to subvert their mortality. Held to the standard of their race’s aging, their tattered soul denies Corcitura’s Longevity, despite still being compatible. Alchemical remedies such as Tawkin, Sprog's Elixir, and Alteration are in-effective in masking age, solely relying on the Draught of Incite to feign youth. Although, in the case of the latter, alchemy may still be used to change a necromancer's appearance, albeit it aged according to their tier. Reaching the ends of their natural life, Necromancers will wither away, effectively PK'd.
• Due to the weeping void of Lifeforce wrenched onto a Necromancer’s soul, their bodies are unable to support the strain of Alchemical procedures that promotes strain on the body. ( for example: Greater Tawkin Mutations, Grafting, etc.)

• Seeded deeply with the pools of the Heith-Hedran, their body suffering outwardly with age and the craving of flesh, the Necromancer’s mental and physical makeup are forever torn. With that, things like romantic relationships are regarded as alien and heavily avoided, their endeavors better focused on unwinding schemes and bolstering their monstrous creations of patchwork skin. Although, they may use preexisting bloodlines for their schemes, but with no emotional attachment whatsoever. Additionally, Necromancers are infertile, incapable of fostering children and any attempt would yield a stillborn.

  • This is an enforced roleplay mechanic, Necromancers are sacrilegious beings that sew rotten, maggot filled flesh together to erect forces of undead to put forward their schemes. With such drastic changes to their bodily makeup, it is uncharacteristic for them to foster romantic and familial relationships outside of finding like-mindedness and brotherhood with their coven members and Descendants, able to work together to bring to fruition schemes compared to affairs.

• Upon Ordainment, a necromancer cannot drop the magic and is forever marked as having a corrupted soul for the purpose of other magics or Story Events.

 

Lifeforce
Lifeforce exists as the primal quintessence that sustains all living creatures.  From mortal men to insects and the grass, each creature is filled with an esoteric vitality that gives them the privilege of life.  Necromancers are capable of calling upon this power within themselves, and some even capable of stealing it from others for their own nefarious gain, often using it to manipulate the rotten bodies of the fallen with the same power that allows modus to occur in nature.  

 

Lifeforce is neither created nor destroyed, it simply flows from one creature to the next in the cycle.  The flora is eaten by the deer, who are hunted and subsequently eaten by the hunter and their vitality has transferred along such a path.  When the hunter dies, their body decomposes in the earth, the flora draws up the primordial essence into itself to once again be eaten by the deer.  Lifeforce continues this process unabaded, never having more created than what was already granted. Even lifeforce that is manipulated by necromancers or their undead servants is one day destined to return to the earth and continue this cycle.

 

The only materials in existence to do so, aurum and gold have a unique interaction with how lifeforce flows within the cycle.  Of rituals past, the Gravelords and their allies once conducted their sacred rites via pillars of gold. Uniquely valued to necromancers of yore and of Rh’thor, gold possesses the quality of being able to disrupt the flow of lifeforce.  It can be used to stop the flow altogether, or aide in channelling it into specific beacons and conduits.

 

Craving

Necromancers, bearing a fissure devoid of lifeforce within them, must continuously sate their ravenous hunger for raw life-essence. This requires that the necromancer actively drain mortals in order to sustain themselves beyond the scope of mortality, as otherwise they will become gaunt, weak, and lethargic should they not consume the lifeforce of a mortal within the span of two IRL weeks. At this stage they will suffer from persistent illness, mental deficiency, lack of concentration, and other such afflictions. Should they go yet another week without draining a mortal, they will be rendered at the strength of an enfeeble old man, having much of their mind subdued in favor of a vicious hunger for any lifeforce. 

 

Each mortal possesses two units of lifeforce on average, and will be rendered unconscious upon fully draining one unit. Upon draining two total units, the individual will shrivel up as if dried and will perish. Attempting to drain lifeforce from another necromancer to sate one’s own hunger will result in the victim necromancer losing their own sating lifeforce.

 

Heith-Hedran

A fabled, malformed darkness upon the land, Heith-Hedran, or the Black Banks, is where the curtain of life is pulled back and the lifebanks have been made raw.   Where the plane has manifest in the world, the thin veil between the lifebanks and the material world are blurred and lifeforce is capable of being weaved and bent through sheer force of will.  It is where death itself has become visible, where the esoteric residue of life can call upon forsaken souls, where one may simply reach out to pluck the damned themselves from the heavens or hells below. 
 
In lands where Heith-Hedran is weakest, the world is choked by the grasp of the undying.  Forces of death seep into the land itself, plaguing it with famine and disease. Seething first from the ground, blackened bile arises from a culmination of tumors, cancers, and disease on the land, then the sun is blotted out in a thin, blackened haze.  As darkness begins to wrap itself around the sky and choke out the sun, what’s left behind is a quasi-ethereal wasteland where fiends and ghoulish horrors flourish. 
 
It is the necromancers of Rh'thor that have learned to utilize the scars of Heith-Heidran, where they are capable of conducting their soulrending sacraments and use the power here to fuel their insidious art.  Through this weakened fabric of the lifebanks, a necromancer can fuel their power and even return life to long-departed kin or twist themselves into something far more cruel.

 

The Apocryphynium 

The Apocryphynium exists as a volumes and tomes of lore passed down from the Rh’thoraens to the inheritors of their variant of necromancy.  It details most known reagents, each of which hold some mechanical use or contain latent power that is necessary to enact the path of the occult.  This knowledge, shared with acolytes of necromancy and added to by their masters, is commonly known throughout practicing covens and often reproduced several times over.  

Common Ingredients

Common reagents exist as easily obtainable substances.  These can vary in usefulness and craft, and typically are stockpiled by necromancers without any worry of such resources running out.  While common, they serve instrumental purposes in ensuring that corpses are primed for reanimation.

 

Spoiler

 

Preservatives

Ranging from simple salts to salves and oils, preservatives are necessary for embalming processes and the storage of limbs.

 

Reanimation Primer

Reanimation primer is a source of gold or aurum, typically ground or shaved, and planted within the flesh of a corpse so that lifeforce properly flows throughout it.

 

Fleshsmithing Tools

The act of fleshsmithing requires the use of tools constructed of gold or aurum, to help focus lifeforce and thread the fine tissues and twine of flesh.

 

Redlines:

• These ingredients can simply be obtained without any prior roleplay and can have simple, unsigned representations. 

• Fleshsmithing tools can be represented however and do not require a Story Team member’s approval.

 

 

Blessed Ingredients

Holy ingredients that are more rarer to obtain typically require aide from multiple members of a necromantic coven.  While some can come from relatively simple sources such as graverobbing, others may range towards heisting and outright slaughter of small parishes that may possess them.

 

Spoiler

 

Zealous Idol

Any icon that hails from a holy establishment that maintains a strict ideology and fervent moral code, such as a simple medallion from a monk’s monastery, to books of worship and bones of a saint.

 

Sacred Oil

Oil that has been blessed in some regard by a holy figure, such as a cardinal priest or bishop.  It is valued for the sheer grade of its refinery and intrinsic value to man.

 

Blessed Aurum

Aurum or gold that has been touched by a holy figure and shaved down into fine scrapings.  This metal is valued for its quality and gold content for advanced rituals.

 

Redline:

• Blessed Ingredients are capable of being obtained through either player events or Story Team events.

• Blessed Ingredients must be obtained legitimately through roleplay. 

  • For instance, a person cannot simply conjure out of thin air a sacred gold necklace from the Pontiff (unless they actually got this in RP from the Pontiff).  

  • In a legitimate example, a player runs a small player-run event at a parish church and a group of necromancers pillage and steal a golden cross. 

• The scale of these events is meant for 2-3 players and are usually quite easy.

  • It is not necessary for the items to be Story Team approved as they hold no intrinsic magical qualities.

 

 

 

Black Ingredients

Obtained through scrutinous and time-consuming endeavors, and likely not without casualty, Black Ingredients require complete coordination and the efforts of the entire coven.  Pursuing these reagents requires plans that can take months and years to fully achieve fruition.

 

Spoiler

 

Ghoul Heart

Though not as difficult as other pursuits, hunting a ghoul and extracting its heart should only be attempted by experienced necromancers who are prepared for the worst.  Though often roaming in packs, an intact ghoul’s heart is valued for its constantly growing tumors in rituals.

 

Ent’s Lichen

Of one of the more obscure and harder finds, slaying an Ent and scraping off the lichen from its bark requires dedication and patience.  The unwary necromancers who manage to hunt one down must then deal with the raw strength these beings possess.

 

Salts of Moz Strimoza

Salt gathered from the demons of hell possesses a supernatural quality of drying out flesh and skin.  Used by inferis to preserve manflesh like jerky, it is invaluable for necromancers.

 

Void-touched Fruit

The powers of the void are vast and incomprehensible.  Beings and life touched by it are often forever changed, however, seldom would only just a mere fruit be the only thing touched… 

 

Black Phylactery Dust

While most avenues of lichdom had become lost, few rare individuals managed to pry secrets from eldritch tomes and lost, forgotten pages of lore to achieve lichdom similar to what was lost.  The phylacteries of these liches possess nameless potential in harnessing lifeforce, making them a prized artifact for elder necromancers.

 

Blood of a Hag

Though necromancers are not capable of true blood magic, they are capable of drawing upon the lifeforce in the blood of specific magical entities.  Witches and hags, those who have resorted to bargaining patrons and devils for power are gifted with sorcerous blood needed in dark sacraments.

 

Remains of a Dragon

Creatures of legend, one does not hunt dragons without being wary of the risk.  Valued for many reasons among scholars, necromancers in particular hold dragonflesh in high esteem for its resilience when acted upon by copious sums of lifeforce.

 

Redlines:

• Black Ingredients require coordination with a Story Team Actor to collect, and are required to be story approved items.  

• Events requested are completely up to the actor who agrees to do them.  The nature of these items are left somewhat vague to allow complete degree of creativity.

• It is suggested that these events take, at minimum 4-5 players to complete.

 

 

Tier Progression

A necromancer begins to experience changes in his or her body as soon as the Ritual of Ordainment is commenced.  Outwardly, their appearance becomes as twisted as the macabre elements they dabble in—while, internally, their mind begins to warp in favor of primal cravings: consuming raw flesh.

 

Tier 1:  At the first tier, a necromancer begins to visibly age a bit faster.  Their bodies, while still well within what one would imagine their age group to look like, look as if they have begun to become stressed out.  It is common to experience graying of the hair, typically taking on a peppered appearance.  Mentally, a necromancer will notice an odd affinity for more raw foods.  Where one may consume beef or venison, they would prefer it rare. Vegetables and bread will begin to taste bland and do little to solve a growing thirst and hunger for something more visceral.  This tier is marked for being the first week as a necromancer.

 

Tier 2:  At the second tier, a necromancer has an outwardly salted appearance—crows feet and slight bags under the eyes.  Their hair appears much more gray, akin to someone having reached their middle ages if they haven’t already.  The mind has begun to have noticeable shifts towards the subsumption of raw meats.  Foods that a necromancer once enjoyed cooked they now prefer raw. Additionally, vegetables and bread now is completely tasteless and does nothing to quench one’s appetite. This tier is marked for being the second week as a necromancer.

 

Tier 3:  At this stage a necromancer’s hair is completely grayed and showing signs of whitening.  Their bodies appear much older than what someone their age would be, comparable to two decades having passed for the average human.  There are noticeable bags underneath the necromancers eyes.  The mind has become completely infatuated with the idea of consuming raw meat.  The concept of eating grains or vegetation seems completely foreign to consider.  Consumption of any non-meat tastes like bitter ashes and is completely unpalatable. This tier achieved at the one month mark of having the magic.

 

Tier 4:  At this stage a necromancer has begun to look wrinkled and elderly.  Their skin is tightly clinging to flesh and bones, and their face appears somewhat gaunt.  The hair appears nearly corpselike, bleached a supernatural shade of white.  Necromancers feel the urge to constantly consume raw meat at this stage, though many will find that the hunger that stirs within them is losing its ability to be sated so easily.  A much darker hunger lingers just beyond thought, barely gnawing at the subconscious.  This tier is marked as the two month mark of having known the magic.

 

Tier 5:  Necromancers at this stage appear to be old and frail, despite moving as they would on average.  For most, the hair has begun to grow wispy, if they have not opted to shave their heads, though it is to no certain rule.  Their faces are completely wrinkled, seeming like a human well in their hundreds.  Most necromancers have become aware of the dark yearning within themselves to subsume the flesh of humanoid beings.  Though still capable of eating animal meat, the hunger to cross that boundary will never truly fade.  This tier is marked as the fourth month mark of having known the magic.

 

References:

Spoiler

General Redlines

• The Craft of Heith-Hedran is an explanation of magic concepts contained and mentioned in Rh’thoraen Necromancy.

• Necromancy is a four slot magic, becoming a three slot magic with the capability of learning two slots of magic if one becomes an Archlich.

• Once a player learns necromancy it cannot be dropped; there is also no disconnection ritual.

• Necromancers are marked as having a black soul for the purposes of other magic or events.

• Necromancers adhere strictly to a PK clause system that requires you to be brought back by your fellow necromancers upon death, their souls unable to attach to anything such as Klones, Machine Spirits and other forms of revival. (See Thaumaturgy, Rite of Returning.)

• In order to use reanimations, a necromancer must have a lore signed oculus on their persona. 

• If animations are using any kind of specialized weaponry, such as a bow or a diseased boneforged item, they must have those items in their own inventory to represent such.

• The apocryphynium can be brought into the game to justify bridging gaps in knowledge if all teachers ever go inactive, provided the Story Team lore members agree to such.  In extreme scenarios, it can be utilized to self-teach in order to revive the magic (should it ever go inactive).

•  

  Necromancers are unable to harbor major Alchemical alterations of any form, including Tawkin Major Mutations, Grafting and etc. While able to change their appearance alchemically, they will appear as elderly as according to their Tier.

• The aging of a Necromancer cannot be slowed outside of Draught of Incite, rendering Corcitura Longevity, Sprog's Exlixir, and other non-Necromantic de-aging processes null, reduced to their Descendant lifespan

• Due to the nature of Necromancers and the wounds seared upon them, psychologically they cannot form romantic connections with both their peers and Descendants.

• Necromancers cannot sexually FTB under any circumstance.

[GodEmperorFlam 3447]

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