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.

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.

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.

Physical Characteristics 

These Darkstalkers can vary in shape as no two people share the exact same stature. As time passes by the body of the Darkstalker becomes more and more unsightly, though the occult sorcery ensures they will not expire from mere age. Possessing limitless endurance as well the strength of a knight, they make for troublesome foes, but not invincible ones. While they may not feel most degrees of pain, they still bear flesh and bone that can be cut, hewn, maimed, or broken. This opens up more viable methods to combat them than the Darkstalkers of past. Because of this they often take to donning armaments, though they can only don those that the common knight would have trouble adorning at the very most, though of course at the cost of speed and skill. Armor and cloaks are also not worn for the sole purpose of protection; the sun’s rays usher a sensation of growing discomfort upon their uncovered beings. This pain magnifies the longer it lingers upon them, eventually making them feel as though they are aflame.

Mental Characteristics

The undying Darkstalker exists with a sliver of their previous humanity, unable to experience empathy and are widely regarded as extremely apathetic, sometimes being outright regarded as immoral, cruel, or evil.  That is not to say that sentient undead are inherently sadistic; in the days of the Redshrouds, undead subjected themselves to a moral code to feign a moral conscious. However so, they exist forever with a growing, insatiable hunger for raw humanoid flesh that only perpetuates the societal fear of living corpse-men.  

The cursed warriors are forever burdened with the realization that they inhabit a corpse that is not their own.  Many often grow disillusioned with life itself. Woe to the poor Darkstalker that begs for the quiet of death, as the shortlived peace of the grave will never last.  For some, every waking moment in an eternity forsaken is lived in misery, an agonizing reminder of a life they will never have.

Abilities

Darkening 

A relic spell that had been passed down through eras, first from the Old Lords and before them an obscure source of power lost to time.  Perverting the teachings of Rh'thor, a Darkstalker is capable of conjuring an abyssal aura upon one hand and steal the victim’s lifeforce, inducing painful necrotic disease equivalent to being doused in fire, intensifying the longer the touch is maintained.

Once sapped completely, the victim is desiccated and near-death, but not completely gone. The necromancer, however, finds themselves rejuvenated, their strength restored via victimizing many people over many years. Darkening grants a kind of ephemeral satisfaction that cannot be achieved by other means, so much so that to use the power in excess would be to plunge the Darkstalker into addiction, where rather than enjoying stable health they experience long-term mental instability and the blackening of the veins and extremities.

Darkening is channeled for upwards of ten emotes.  The first two emotes consist of conjuring the aura, the third is the attempt to grapple the victim, the rest require the individual to keep a consistent grasp on their victim, causing excruciating pain and fatigue for the victim that becomes unbearable at the seventh emote.  Should the full channel be conducted, the victim is incapacitated.

Redlines:

• Darkening cannot be used in tangent with weapons by Darkstalkers.

• While being Darkened, the victim is stricken with necrosis of the affected area causing rot and infection that requires treatment within a narrative week or risk amputation or death.

• Darkening requires total concentration, being interrupted by either breaking the channel or causing pain to the user.

• Overuse of the spell in timeframes of more than once an narrative week can cause a maddening addiction to lifeforce 

• Darkening does not immediately grant usage of lifeforce for other spells, their body needing rest (period of noncombat) to process it.

• Darkening has a refractory period that prevents it from being used more than once in a combat scenario by a Darkstalker.

The Infallible Curse

Those afflicted with the Infallible Curse—some in their pursuit of immortality and others against their will—are forever cursed to walk the realm.  When the undying are disposed of, their soulbound lifeforce lingers in the world, unable to find peace beyond in the soulstream or the certainty of Ebritaes.  Doomed to the fate of the mortal plane, this energy coalesces over a year before it finds a new host to inhabit. After this time has passed, the residual energy of the slain undead is forced to once again inhabit a random corpse, the soul forcing upon it the burdens of the body the undead once had.  Even for those who willingly succumb to the fate of the Infallible Curse, it exists as a hellish purgatory for the damned dead, as one may find undeath is not so easily escaped.

Redlines:

• Darkstalkers and Archliches can never be truly slain.

  • Normal hard PK rules still apply, such as killing one’s self or otherwise.  An undead that PK’s according to these rules cannot be brought back.

• After one 30 IRL minutes from the point of their death, the Archlich or Darkstalker will inhabit a new body.

  • This body takes the augments of one’s soul, whether it be a necromantic modification or the capacity to wield mighty powers of undeath.

  • Dying takes a toll on one’s psyche when the once again awake to find themselves in a new body, capable of causing one to feel numb and disillusioned to reality.

• This process does not require the assistance of a necromancer.  A body is just found, where the undead simply awakes with their new body narratively in Cloud Temple or a soulstone pillar they are bound to.

Memento Mori

For those whose soul has been returned to the mortal realm, the tool of their resurrection acts as the method of their subjugation: the memento mori.  It is a grim reminder of mortality, something they will never be able to experience again.  They exist in variety, no two are alike, for these trinkets were personal affections that signified something close to them in life.  They can be in the form of a portrait, a necklace, a ring or anything else that a person could conceivably fathom to hold dearness to. For when the reanimated are exposed unto this item, they are overwhelmed with emotions and feelings they cannot grasp—the mortality that they once possessed.  The act of such incomprehensible memories cause grave mental duress and agony. Until the item is destroyed, a Darkstalkers forever at the mercy of its wielder.  

Redlines:

• The memento mori is chosen by the Darkstalker OOCly when their CA is posted.  This item is specific to the Darkstalker it creates and will not function on another. 

• The memento mori must be Story Team signed.

• The memento mori is not a phylactery, and ultimately the goal is for the undead attached to it to have the item destroyed to forever be free of its presence.

• Orders cannot be issued without the object within the presence of the Darkstalker. 

  • Merely averting averting the gaze from a memento mori will not detract from its agonizing presence.  

  • Using the memento mori as a tool for subjugation requires it to be exposed to open air and for the Darkstalker to be within its presence.

  • These orders do not have to be strictly followed as this tool is merely a form of pain compliance.

General Redlines

Redlines:

• Darkstalkers are undead and do not bleed, eat, sleep, drown, age, or feel most degrees of pain or sensation.

• Darkstalkers cannot bear children or enjoy the pleasantries of mortal existence.

• Darkstalkers possess limitless endurance and strength comparable to a human knight, though their bodies will falter and give way should they push themselves beyond their bodily limitations.

  • Wearing armor or carrying objects, Darkstalkers are encumbered and slowed down as if they were alive, despite this limitless endurance.

  • Even if a Darkstalker was a former Orc, their strength is degraded to that of a human with knight prowess.

• Bearing flesh, a Darkstalker could likely pass as a member of their original race, though by time and physical weathering they will begin to look more and more unsightly, perhaps questionably so.

• Striking a Darkstalker in fatal areas such as the heart, the throat or the head kills their current vessel. 

  • Being touched by sunlight is painful, and eventually feels like fire on living skin if unshrouded.

  • Darkstalkers are just as vulnerable to mundane weaponry, and are not any more adverse to gold or silver compared to living beings.

• As an undead being, both of these creatures are capable of being effectively dealt with using bludgeoning weapons like hammers or heavy maces.  In how these weapons would break the bones of the living, they would crush and maim the rotted bones of a Darkstalker, if not completely severing limbs.

• A Darkstalker who attempts to regularly bypass the limitations of their corpse-body through their limitless endurance will find themselves having their attacks falter as they repeatedly do so after the first strike.  

• Following any attempted attack after the first, the impediments begin with the cartilage-less joint locking up (causing stiff/unwieldy maneuvers with it), a subsequent attack results in dislocating the shoulder (making the limb hang limply from their side), thereafter vital bones breaking and snapping and even entire parts of their limb being torn and flung off from the force alone in their attack (complete unuse in their limb).

• If a Darkstalker experiences their body breaking down, they will need to take time out of combat to have themselves, another individual or a necromancer themself to “mend” themselves.
   

• Darkstalkers have an inability to learn any magic whatsoever.

Physical Characteristics

The shrewd Archlich can take many shapes, ranging from fleshy half-skeletons draped in ceremonial shrouds, walking corpses covered in linen as mummified demons, or the rotted, gaunt image they held in life.  Pinnacles of unliving flesh and bone, an Archlich can choose to even fleshsmith their body so long as it is within average human or elven proportions.  

The Archlich, at the price of retaining their necromancy and affinity to study other arcane techniques, is a being much more physically weaker than other undead and that of their once-living state.  Capable of lifting a sword and not much more, they are regarded not for their martial prowess but their arcane mastery.  

Mental Characteristics

More often than not, the Archlich is violent, cruel, and sadistic.  Their minds that have been perverted their undeath into the hunger that had consumed them, making use of their twisted bodies and powers to fuel their will.  Even the wisest among these powerful undead now are numb to the realities of life. They will find no empathy to the humanity they once bore, often resorting to feigning moral codes if any semblance of who they were remains.   

Despite this, these beings are not inherently evil, nor do they exist hellbent on seeing the world burn.  Regardless of how Archliches have earned a name aberrant monstrosities and coldhearted perversions of undeath, many exist with logical convictions that can give a facetious semblance of morality—feigning moral codes in order to reach to something that they will now understand is lost.  

Abilities

Arcane Affinity

Capable of capitalizing on the arcane brilliance of their newfound dragonflesh, an Archlich is able to expand their studies to other fields beyond that of their necromantic pursuits.  Their dark, corrupted souls prevent practices and delvings into magics that may otherwise conflict with their ability to utilize lifeforce, nor can their soul tolerate the tampering of deities.  Woe be to those who would underestimate the power of undeath.

Redlines:

• Archliches exist as undead creatures of necromancy with capabilities to study other magic.

• Archliches cannot learn deific magic, magic unable to be used by undead, or any otherwise soul-altering magic.

• For the archlich, Necromancy becomes a 4-slot magic, and they are allowed to learn a single-slot magic of their choosing, provided it does not conflict with their undead bodies or dark souls.

  • If a magic that summons entities such as Conjuration is chosen, reanimations cannot be commanded in tangent with voidal conjured creatures.

Additional Modification

As creatures who have mastered undeath, so too have they mastered necromancy and the capabilities it holds upon their own form.  They are able to merge their enigmatic forms with more complex forms of fleshcrafting, perfecting death itself.  As such, an archlich has the capabilities of enhancing its form one additional time provided the two enhancement do not work against each others.

Redlines:

• Archliches can obtain an additional modification to their bodies, provided it does not conflict with their current modification.

• This additional modification is added to the MA of the necromancer, rather than the CA, for ease of tracking.

The Infallible Curse

Those afflicted with the Infallible Curse—some in their pursuit of immortality and others against their will—are forever cursed to walk the realm.  When the undying are disposed of, their soulbound lifeforce lingers in the world, unable to find peace beyond in the soulstream or the certainty of Ebrietaes.  Doomed to the fate of the mortal plane, this energy coalesces over a year before it finds a new host to inhabit. After this time has passed, the residual energy of the slain undead is forced to once again inhabit a random corpse, the soul forcing upon it the burdens of the body the undead once had.  Even for those who willingly succumb to the fate of the Infallible Curse, it exists as a hellish purgatory for the damned dead, as one may find undeath is not so easily escaped.

Redlines:

• Darkstalkers and Archliches can never be truly slain.

  • Normal hard PK rules still apply, such as killing one’s self or otherwise.  An undead that PK’s according to these rules cannot be brought back.

• After one 30 IRL minutes from the point of their death, the Archlich or Darkstalker will inhabit a new body.

  • This body takes the augments of one’s soul, whether it be a necromantic modification or the capacity to wield mighty powers of undeath.

  • Dying takes a toll on one’s psyche when the once again awake to find themselves in a new body, capable of causing one to feel numb and disillusioned to reality.

• This process does not require the assistance of a necromancer.  A body is just found, where the undead simply awakes with their new body narratively in Cloud Temple or a soulstone pillar they are mechanically bound to.

Corpse Courier

Given access to a long deceased corpse, an Archlich may impart a portion of their lifeforce after [3] emotes, creating a means of communication and a level of separation between them and their lessers. They may inhabit this corpse to speak through when brought before a Heith-Hedran, requiring [3] emotes.

Redlines:

• An Archlich may commune through a corpse, either placed or left, so long as they know of they corpse they wish to speak through.
• An Archlich may have up to [3] corpses which they may commune with, each requiring ST signature.
• Once placed, a corpse cannot move and when communed with, their sight is hazy and warped, unable to make out faces or people although able to clearly hear their voices.
• When communing with a corpse, the Archlich must be before an ST signed Heith-Hedran, where they will fall into a stupor, entirely focused on their conversation.
• All communications are done through /msg.
• If combat were to ensue on either end, the Archlich would be snapped back to reality, stunned for [1] emote.
• This may not be used to temporarily take over other undead, i.e. Ghouls, Darkstalkers, Draugar, Archliches. Their bodies already possessed.
• This may not be used as a means to rally forces such as a bird, only serving as a communion between an Archlich and its servants.
• The corpse may be destroyed by crushing the skull of the cadaver.
• The corpse used must be a slain player's.

General Redlines

• Archliches exist as undead creatures of necromancy with capabilities to study other magic.

• Archliches regain the modification they had as a necromancer, if they had one.

• As undead, archliches are unable to sire living children.

• An Archlich possesses the physical strength of an elderly old person, completely unable to adorn metal-plated armor.

• Striking an Archlich in the skull instantly kills their current vessel. 

  • Being touched by sunlight is painful, and eventually feels like fire on living skin if unshrouded.

  • Archliches are just as vulnerable to mundane weaponry, and are not any more adverse to gold or silver compared to living beings.

Rite of the Returning

Oft, a necromancer is forsaken by society and actively hunted for their abuse of life.  Throughout their long and scrutinous existence, many necromancers will be killed at least once—whether it be by the world turned on them, or through reckless abandon with the creatures of death—and those that are must depend on the cohesiveness of their brethren to return them from the grave.  Requiring two necromancers as well as sums of meat and bone, a willing fallen necromancer can fully resurrected with no memories of their death prior—grotesquely taking shape within the mound of gore.

Requirements:

• A corpse worth of flesh and bone

Redlines: 

• Necromancers killed by methods other than suicide or old age can be resurrected if they are willing.

  • This cannot bypass normal PK rules.

• Flesh and bone used can be from any creature, animal or otherwise.

• Necromancers revived do not retain memories leading up to the moment of death.

• A resurrected necromancer is revived in their normal state with their modifications.

• This rite works in tangent with a necromancer’s death system (See The Necromancer of Heith-Hedran).

Rite of Communion

In the primal times of mankind, necromancy began as a means to commune with one’s cherished ancestors.  The first clergy of Rh’thor began as specialists in ancestral communion, able to reach through the soulstream and the weakened veil of Heith-Hedran to call upon the dead.  By having two or more necromancers surround a worthy vessel—usually a corpse or skeleton—they temporarily animate it as a blank slate for a departed soul to enter and speak again to the living.

Requirements:

• A humanoid corpse or skeleton

Redlines:

• The original roleplayer of the summoned spirit must reprise their role for the communion.

  • The player must be PK’d for this to ensue.

  • The PK’d player must consent OOCly and ICly for the communion to transpire.

• Interaction with characters formerly roleplayed by communion participants is disallowed.

• Magic or lessons cannot be taught through communion.

• The communed character cannot recall actions that led to his/her death.

• While inside of the vessel, the character can move and speak, but cannot engage in combat without being ejected immediately from their host.

• A PK’d persona can only be contacted once a narrative month.

Rite of the Oculus

The power of reanimation can only through a properly imbued focus in the hands of a necromancer.  Without it, their shambling servants would turn on them indiscriminately and attempt to devour the hand that raised it.  By taking a glass trinket and imbuing it with one’s lifeforce, it becomes a conduit that can direct undead servants bound to it.  This object, fragile as it is, becomes the most dangerous object in a necromancer’s arsenal, and it is easily identified by a low sense of anxiety and despair that it causes to mortal eyes that look upon it.  

Requirements:

• A glass object or trinket

Redlines:

• An oculus can range from a necklace, an amulet, a hollow orb, or even a crystalline series of jewels embedded onto the front of a book.  The only constraint is that they are visible and capable of being taken during acts of  commanding the undead.  These objects cannot be a part of weapons (like a dagger or its jewelled hilt).

  • For instance, because a ring cannot be easily snatched off a necromancer it is mechanically disallowed.  However, something like an amulet, which can be ripped off the neck of a necromancer, is allowed.

• A necromancer’s oculus must be signed by a member of the Story Team Lore (See Reanimation).

  • The lore signed oculus denotes what type of undead are bound to it (such as a skeletal minion, an undead animal companion, or a behemoth creature). 

  • The request for a signed item should come after the necromancer has done the Rite of the Oculus and then successfully bound their reanimations to it.

• An oculus takes the color of the necromancer’s aura. It is filled with their unique lifeforce, meaning they are specific to that necromancer only.

• This object is extremely fragile and will shatter if dropped, causing a loss of control.  

• Note, a newly ordained necromancer will require their oculus to be made for them until they reach the appropriate tier to make it for themselves (see Tier Progression).

• Only one oculus can exist per necromancer at any given time.

Rite of Draining

Necromancers are often driven out of areas near settlements and their camps along the road if discovered.  The blight they have on society is something that cannot be ignored: stealing the vitality of innocent men and women.  This evil, however necessary, is instrumental in obtaining a prized reagent often used in Black Alchemy known as liquid lifeforce.  By taking a willing or unwilling victim and placing them in a ritual setting, a two necromancers are capable of siphoning life out of the victim through an advanced form of Darkening.  This esoteric vitality is stowed into small, glass flasks for further nefarious purposes. When the process is complete, the victim is left unconscious with a no memory of the encounter—strangely unable to recall the events, faces, or otherwise.  For upwards of a day following, these victims lack motivation and appear frail and sickly.

Requirements:

• A living player character with lifeforce

Redlines:

• A person can be siphoned from per three days, providing the same quantity of liquid lifeforce no matter the size of the victim.  Further draining will yield nothing and do no excess harm.

  • This reagent is considered magical must be signed by a member of the Story Team.

• When a person is siphoned from, they lose all memories of the encounter as if they had died, though no death truly ensued.

• If the raw lifeforce were to be drunk, it will taste as raw ambrosia and begin a lifelong addiction.

Rite of Ordainment

A rite only capable of being performed by an elder necromancer, Ordainment is considered a right of passage for any would-be necromancers in a coven, granting them the capacity to reach mastery over life itself.  Those who earn the coven leader’s favor, typically from showing devotion through some trial, are then placed in a state of near death and remain teetering through the weaves of Heith-Hedran. A difficult technique, even elder necromancers struggle with keeping their would-be acolyte from going over the edge.  Even still, not all who undergo Ordainment make it through alive, even still, those that do are often are traumatized. After the rite is orchestrated, the soul of the necromancer is forever marked as one that has cheated death.

Requirements:

• A Zealous Idol

Redlines: 

• Once one has learned necromancy, it cannot be unlearned except through Story Team lore intervention.

• Undergoing Ordainment marks the necromancer as having a black soul for the purposes of other magics or events.

• Ordainment requires OOC consent of the would-be student and can only be conducted by those with a TA and an empty student slot.

• The would-be student drops all magics after the process transpires.

Rite of Sealing

When faced with rebellion and tyranny from undying men, there is but one option: the Rite of Sealing.  Unable to truly banish those who have risen in immortality against the agents of oblivion, a necromancer’s only choice is to imprison the dead in their own bodies, banished to purgatory and encased in metal or stone.  Forever awake, forever bound, woe to the deadmen who draws the ire of their makers for it is only at their mercy or hapless chance that they be freed.

Requirements:

• A tomb

Redlines:

• The Rite of Sealing soft-PKs a Darkstalker or Archlich, locking them away in a tomb of some sort, such as an Iron Maiden, a chain-wrapped coffer, or even some type of grand pyramid. 

• The lead ritualist can specify a time limit of the soft-PK or have it be indefinite.  This does not require OOC consent.

• The sealed undead can be unsealed at any time and freed if their tomb broken.  The sealed CA then may resume playing their character again.

• The sealed CA must OOCly consent to being placed in extra-dimensional planes or somewhere that cannot be mundanely traversed to (such as a blood rift).

• If a Darkstalker or Archlich is in a place that cannot be accessed mechanically (i.e. a map has changed, a blood rift, or otherwise), the Story Team must be consulted with an appropriate plan that includes: knowledge of where the tomb is, method of getting there, and and method of getting back.  If ST approved, this can be done through a private event overseen by a Story Team member and the CA can be played again.

• A signed Tomb cannot be placed behind more than (3) iron doors or (1) mechanical redstone door and able to be accessed mechanically.

Rite of the Aberrant

Through assisted effort, an elder necromancer and his coven can fleshmith absolute horrors as month and year long projects.  Amalgamations capable of ranging from large skeletal drakes to a necrotic cerberus, reanimations of this magnitude are massive investments of both time and resources. These behemoth beings, limited to the imagination of the depraved beings who craft it, are then bound to a specifically created oculus that requires the use of multiple necromancers to control.

Requirements:

• A massive cadaver of a creature

Redlines:

• Gargantuan Amalgamations of flesh are classed as creatures that scale in sizes above that of a grizzly bear require MArts to create.

• The MArt should include screenshots of roleplay creating the creature, how many necromancers are capable of controlling it, obtained necessary reagents, OOC and IC purpose, and any other redlines that the Story Team deems necessary. 

• The purpose of these creations is to have a single use (or substantially limited) for the purposes of events, warclaims (providing the other party consents OOCly to such), or any other Story Team sanctioned purpose (requiring team approval).

Rite of Malediction

Woe be to those who garner the vice of a necromancer, for their covens may harness pestilence to reap the harrowed fields of decaying kingdoms and bastions alike. By gathering a mass of lifeforce is a coven capable of spreading disease across a region of land, varying from fields of grain to entire lakes that subside the populace with water. Twisting and stagnating the land can produce abyssal effects, giving those who enter the area flu like symptoms, and perhaps even benign tumors and growths if exposed for too long. Those who consume the afflicted substance are then wrought by whatever malediction has been planted within the chosen substance. Whatever disease the coven opts to infect the area with, it must be done upon fields capable of life, either farms or grassland, or a body of water.

The Rite of Malediction is a ritual that requires at least two necromancers to perform, growing in size and intensity with each additional necromancer present. By fusing twisted lifeforce into the earth and the targeted harvest or body of water, a necromantic pestilence may be fused with the mass. This may extend from a small field of wheat, to an entire lake given the needed amount of necromancers are present to expand the area of effect. This land may be afflicted with a specific pestilence within necromancy, or may simply bring about abyss-like taint and effects. Abyssal taint infers that flu-like symptoms are felt by those who ingest the tainted substance or meddle in the area affected for a narrative hour. After two narrative hours of standing within the region, small bulbous tumors may begin to appear on ligaments and appendages, offering no true harm other than acute sores and a dulling pain.  

• The rite requires two or more necromancers, with the scourge scouring a base range of a 20 meter radius with only two present. With each additional necromancer 10 meters of range are added.

• The disease has no max range, as long as PRO permission is given and there are the required amount of necromancers.
• The chosen disease must be an approved pestilence from the necromancy pestilence section. If a pestilence is not chosen, the land is instead given abyssal like taint, lesser to that of the Heith-Hedran scars.
• One must spend over a narrative hour in these areas to have flu-like symptoms appear.
• Consuming the afflicted substance, whether food or water, will infect the individual with the chosen pestilence.
• Plagued land may be mechanically plagued, having either swarms of locusts consuming entire fields, or holding strange growths and abyssal taint within crops.

• Plagued fields and crops only affect those within the area and region specified. This is locked to the tile that the plague is set upon, with afflicted substances falling to ash when carried long distances.

  Such prevents intentional transferring of plagued items to be “spread.”

• Bodies of water may be murkier, or hold strange scents that are not natural.
• Plague lands may be purged by fire for crop fields, removing the taint once all has been reduced to ash.
• Blight healing is capable of purging mass plague.
• One an afflicted substance is consumed it takes 3 OOC days for the disease to arise. This disease lasts for 2 OOC weeks, unless cured.
• Victims may choose to permanently keep the affliction, if chosen OOCly.
• Diseases may be cured by means of homeopathy, alchemical remedies, or any general healing magic.
• Plagued lands must be ST reqed, either having put down a sign to signify its effects, or to show signs of plague. 
• The visual effects of pestilence are left to a notice sign or otherwise, with in game builds requiring RO permission to aesthetically change and alter the blocks. Land outside of a region is determined by WT on if it is viable or not.
• Mass plague as a ritual is only capable of being done once every OOC month by those who enact it. Likewise, attempts to spam the spell in aims to ruin nations is thoroughly frowned upon.

Sacrament of Heith-Hedran 

From the combined efforts of an elder necromancer and four of their most powerful necromancers, the fracture between the lifebanks and the mortal world is pierced and sundered.  This rift is perpetuated by a beacon, where it must stabilize through maturity and be protected over time. Due to the rift, the planes of the mortal realm and the lifebanks are weakened, allowing one to theoretically reach through and utilize the powers of Heith Hedran to fuel more nefarious sacraments. Where Heith-Hedran is breached, the fields grow barren with unnatural storms of black lightning and screeching thunder, enshadowed in an unnatural twilight that perpetuates unsightly light. 

Requires:

• A Zealous Idol

• Blessed Aurum

• Sacred Oil

Redlines: 

• This Sacrament requires a necromancer that is tier four to conduct it, as well as two other necromancers of any other tier to support them.

• The swath of land affected will expand no further than 50 meters without another beacon overlapping.

  • Corrupted land cannot bypass the mechanical region’s borders into another settlement unless consent is given from the second PRO, and so forth.

• Heith-Hedran can be utilized in events or by ritualistic spells below (See Thaumaturgy).

• Land scarred by Heith-Hedran is largely an aesthetic effect that necromancers can create alone or through the assistance of their coven.  

  • There are no theoretical limits on its boundaries, so long as the PRO gives approval to use the land.

• When living, non-necromancers enter tainted land can cause some minor tertiary effects, such as sneezing and coughing.  

  • These effects are minor and subside quickly after leaving.  They do not impact combat or concentration for spellcasting.

• Tainting land requires PRO permission.  Land that isn’t claimed can be tainted provided staff agrees to it, and they allowed to build it.

Sacrament of the Usurer 

A rarity in the times before Devirad, the mighty Darkstalker carries with it a legacy that merits fear in speaking their name.  This sacrament is conducted by an elder necromancer, whose endeavours are aided in by three other experienced necromancers in a land where the veil of Heith-Hedran is the weakest.  Intended to become puppets, slaves and guardians to the coven that raises them, these beings are the children of Heith-Hedran, forever changed from the life they once bore.  

Beginning with a worthy corpse, an either willing or unwilling soul is anchored down to the earth and bound to the body.  The first stage of the sacrament involves annointing the corpse with the appropriate reagents in arcane glyphs and sigils that prepare the host body for recieving the soul without overloading in a viscera of splayed gore.  The corpse acts as a vessel for the chosen spirit, where the necromancers participating in the sacrament flood the cadaver with lifeforce until the soul is tricked into uniting with the foreign surrogate. The being, now undead, is named Darkstalker—child of Heith Hedran and servant of the coven who has raised them. 

Requires:

• Ghoul’s Heart

• Affection of the resurrected

• A humanoid corpse or skeleton

Redlines:

• This Sacrament requires a necromancer that is tier four to lead, and three other necromancers to support them.

• A Darkstalker can either come from a PK’d character, reprised by the original owner who has OOCly consented to the ritual.

• Necromancers that partake in this Sacrament cannot perform or aid in a new Sacrament of the Usurer for 1 IRL month.

• A memento mori must be chosen by the Darkstalker, which then signed by a Story Team Lore member.

• The act of collecting a personal affection of the resurrected can either be a player prompted quest or simply done offscreen, provided OOC consent is given.

• This sacrament can only be done in a place where Heith-Hedran has been established.

Sacrament of the Vicar

A sacrament foreign to all but the most adept of necromancy, it is seldom taught how one becomes an archlich among elder necromancers for its implication and risk to the entirety of the coven.  Only an elder necromancer who has garnered the support of their coven can advance to this stage, as becoming an archlich requires absolute coordination down to every subordinate. An archlich may only be created where the veil of Heith-Hedran is the weakest, first requiring the Sacrament of Heith-Hedran to have cursed the land.  

Unlike the creation of Darkstalkers, the vessel of an Archlich must be prepared well in advance.  Firstly, the body must be fleshsmithed from the remains of a slain dragon—a creature capable of holding the terrifying and raw amount of magic that is used in this proceedure.  It is then treated by the ground dust of a powerful lich’s phylactery before it is finally ready.  

The chosen necromancer must sacrifice themselves where Heith-Hedran is present, placing their faith in the abilities of their coven.  Careful as not to allow the wrong soul into the body, one must reach through Heith-Hedran and rend forth the sacrificed necromancer, forcing their soul into the dragon-forged corpse, where they are born again as death incarnate.

Requires:

• Black Phylactery Dust

• Blood of a Hag

• Remains of a Dragon 

• Fleshsmithing Tools

Redlines:

• This Sacrament requires six necromancers to conduct: two tier five necromancers, one who will lead the ritual and the other who will become the archlich, and four other necromancers to support them.

• If the Sacrament is interrupted the would-be archlich must PK.  They may be brought back following 3 narrative months if a successful attempt of the ritual is completed at that time.

• This sacrament can only be done in a place where Heith-Hedran has been established.

Philters, Draughts, and Ichors

As unpredictable as they are dangerous, instruments of Black Alchemy are rooted in the duplicity of their usefulness.  What some may have bargained for as means to extend their life might very well be the device of its undoing...

Liquid Lifeforce

Raw lifeforce itself, reaped from the dead or living in the form of mutilated appendages, blood, and otherwise salvaged parts, is utilized in varying ways by necromancers, but notably in their alchemic craft. This substance is extracted by adept necromancers and congealed into a silky smooth, milk-colored fluid with the consistency of coagulated blood. The use of liquified lifeforce — typically stolen from unsuspecting victims through the Rite of Draining — is what has given Black Alchemy its taboo nature. 

Ichor of Life
Originally devised by cowardly court alchemists attempting to stave off the death of kings through youth, the Ichor of Life falls short of its intended task. By having liquid lifeforce in the concoction react with the appropriate alchemical symbols, lifeforce is able to return to the body after it is imbibed and rejuvenate it by a handful of extra years.  Though it lacks any meaningful way to stave off immediate danger, it can extend the life of the elderly or afflicted from the loom of impending doom. The imbiber will stay the same age they were when drinking it, the duration  of its effects usually lasts around ten years, diminishing each time it is imbibed. This substance creates an immediate dependency upon it, causing the body to crave it or face a series of withdrawal effects for its duration, and, notably, rapid aging.
 
Recipe:
- Liquid Lifeforce
- Life x3
- Vigour x2
- Balance x3
- Endurance x3
 
Procedure:
Distill liquid lifeforce with the three symbols of life and two symbols of vigor until the concoction turns a translucent, pale yellow.  Allow it to sit for half an hour, then apply a concentrate of three balance symbols that has been condensed into powder. Stir once and do not shake, allowing time to dissolve without agitation.  Create a paste from the symbols of endurance and whisk into the solution. When the elixir is ready, it will appear a soft, golden shade.

Effect:

• Drinking this ichor extends the natural life of the imbiber by ten years. 

• This ichor prevents death from maladies or old age, otherwise acting as a flavor mechanic for those who enforce their own age.

• Life can only be extended after the initial effect has passed, the substance providing no benefit from being imbibed during the added years.

• This effect is diminishing, halving the additional benefits with each inhibition, until such become negligible 
  After the primary effect of this ichor wears off, withdrawal symptoms emerge if it is not drunk.

• Withdrawal effects include severe sweating, migraines, and bones feeling like hot glass.  These do not inhibit combat and are purely flavor.

• Withdrawal effects conclude after the body has gone five narrative years without imbibing the concoction. 

• After the life-extended effect of this ichor wears off, the imbiber’s body ages twice as fast for however long their life was extended.

• This ichor  cannot save a person from immediate death as if it were a healing potion.

• Requires at least T1 in alchemy, with accompanying app and must be taught.

Draught of Incite

First born of the Darkstalker Vor’kalan in his quest to find sensation, the return of the Draught of Incite came through years of study and dedication, though it was never truly perfected.  The Draught allows fallen undead and decrepit, corpse-like necromancers, to feign a temporary appearance of life. The culminated reagents within the draught will react with decaying or deadened bodies and restore vitality to flesh, making it seem as if it were once again living.  The mind, too, becomes restored with how it was in life, allowing those who have been long passed dead to experience the pleasures of life, pain, and mortality as if they were once again alive. This often leaves the undead in a perpetual state of addiction and dependency for using it, as was evidenced by the degeneracy of Devirad, though the effects of this imperfect Draught of Incite are far more temporary...

Recipe:
- Liquid Lifeforce
- Salt water
- Growth x3
- Rigidity x2
- Death x2
- Courage x1
- Connection x1
 
Procedure:

Begin by brewing the rebirth symbols into a solution of roughly 20|80 salt to water until it takes a briney, green hue.  Decant this solution into the base of liquid lifeforce and reduce the mixture down. Taking the continuity and death symbols and grinding them into a coarse mush, empty into the lifeforce solution.  Shake two times, then once down do not move. Finally, add the courage symbol and attachment symbol to the mixture after it has cooled without disrupting the brew.

Effect:

• Invokes a temporary rejuvenation to the body, feigning a youthful, living appearance for a decrepit necromancer or any undead being as if there were in their prime state of life.

• A draughted being is indistinguishable from any other living being.

• The draught recreates a sense of humanity and sensation in the undead or necromancer, allowing them a state of emotional clarity and empathy.

• For undead beings, the Draught of Incite is highly addictive due to being able to return mortal emotions and feelings to their apathetic mind.

• Draughts last for a single day and have a refractory period of a week, otherwise having no effect if imbibed during this cooldown.

• One cannot have children or attempt to make children while draughted; the temporary body is infertile.  FTB as undead is necrophilia and against the rules.

• Draughted undead become susceptible to pain, mortal blows and injuries as if they were mortal, though will revive normally upon death.  Additionally, draughted Darkstalkers are still vulnerable to their Memento Mori.

• Any modifications on a draughted individual are temporarily disabled for the duration of the draught’s primary effect.

• The draught has no effect on any being that is not a necromancer or undead.

• Requires at least T2 in alchemy, with accompanying app and must be taught.

Philter of Heith-Hedran

Originating from the Red Priests of Rh’thor, the Philter of Enlightenment was meant as a way to open the mind to the possibilities of the afterlife.  Imbibing the substance allows the drinker to enter a pseudo-state of death where they come face to face with the Ebrietaes. The body itself experiences a true death, succumbing lifeless onto the ground while the soul undergoes an involuntary journey through the limbo of Heith-Hedran, experiencing unnatural and chilling hallucinations.  After the philter degrades in the body, the soul is whisked away back into the lifeless husk and life is returned to how it previously was.

Recipe:
- Liquid Lifeforce
- Peace x2
- Death x2
- Rigidity x2
- Growth x1

Procedure:
Dry all death symbols and crush into fine powder with the consistency of dust.  Do not mix. Taking the base of liquid lifeforce, add the peace symbols and brew until the mixture turns indigo.  Add the powdered death into the solution and top off lost fluid with water. Keep at a low boil until dissolved. Stir in the rigidity symbols, repeating the brewing process yet again.  Lastly, grind the growth symbol and powdered strong death symbol with a pestle and mortar, and brew a final time. Cut with water to adjust potency.

Effect:

• The imbiber’s body goes limp and is in a suspended state of animation.

• The body of the imbiber body appears dead to all magical and natural tests, evening beginning to rot as a corpse for the duration.

• This philter normally lasts for an hour or the length of a combat scenario (whichever of the player’s choosing). 

• The recipe can be concentrated (5x the original recipe) to effectively softshelf a character for a longer duration of the player’s choosing, allowing a player to fake their death.  This effect can only be forced on someone if they give OOC consent.

• Returning to one’s body only grants the imbiber the hallucinogenic trip as their memories; their corpse is not “awake” and therefore does not retain any memories of what it may have heard or seen while the soul was away.  This information is useless.

• This philter only works on lifeforce bearing Descendants whose souls are not directly protected by a deity, such as those who practice an Aengudaemonic magic. 

• During the time, otherwise mortal strikes such as blows to the heart or head will have no effect on the corpse and simply be scars when the soul returns.

• True death can occur if the corpse of the imbiber is decapitated, burned, or otherwise obliterated, where the player then follows normal death rules (unless a necromancer, who would instead undergo the Rite of Returning). 

• Requires at least T1 in alchemy, with accompanying app and must be taught.

Deadman’s Cure

The practice of toying with plague and decay is not without its toll on mortal men.  Created by the Black Witch Ezra to prevent any more of her disciples from perishing, the Devil’s Cure exists as a necromancer’s tool in curing their own nefarious plaguecraft.  Alchemically crafted oil is placed into a handheld censer and then burned slowly, requiring one to breathe the odd, green fumes that are produced. Inhaling the fumes causes a person to enter a hellacious coughing fit, spewing up black bile for a day’s length in order to purge oneself crudely of the malady.

Recipe:
- Liquid Lifeforce
- Oil
- Rage x1
- Grace x1
- Heat x3
- Death x1
 
Procedure:
Emulsify both the liquid lifeforce and oil together.  Add the rage symbol and grace symbols to the emulsified fluid.  Put over a low, slow heat until both the oil and lifeforce have fused and the symbols have been infused into the new base.  Crush and dry the heat symbols and the death symbol into a fine powder, mixing well, then add to the emulsified lifeforce to complete it.

Emulsify both the liquid lifeforce and oil together.  Add the moderate anger symbol and strong grace symbol to the emulsified fluid.  Put over a low, slow heat until both the oil and lifeforce have fused and the symbols have been infused into the new base.  Crush and dry the moderate heat symbols and the weak death into a fine powder, mixing well, then add to the emulsified lifeforce to complete it.

Effect:

• Inhaling the oil’s fumes can cure magical maladies and natural diseases, though notably, necromantic plagues.

• This effect can only be done in a controlled environment; attempting to use this in combat is ineffective and the fumes will simply dissipate into the open air.

• The process of curing diseases causes the recipient to cough up black bile and dark sludge for the remainder of the day, requiring rest.  Combat is inhibited via fatigue and constant coughing, causing slower reactions and lessened movement.

• Requires at least T2 in alchemy, with accompanying app and must be taught.

Abyssal Blight

Developed by the first necromancers of Rh’thor as a means to coup the Red Priests, Abyssal Blight is a highly volatile gas that acts as a mimicry of the air afflicting the remnants of Aegis, the Abyss.   First made by lifeforce being vaporized condensed and funneled carefully into airtight flasks, this gaseous substance can cause terrible disease to afflict the land if unsealed. The black gas clings to lifeforce and corrupts it, spreading voraciously across landscapes if unabated.  Impossible to see through by the dead and the living, it often acts as a helpful deterrent when an unsuspecting necromancer is caught off guard. Though creatures of weaker constitutions such as flora and fauna are slowly killed by this substance, descendants who inhale the blight are instead inflicted with painful tumors and debilitating, though nonlethal, flu-like symptoms involving producing excess black bile.  

Recipe:
- Liquid Lifeforce
- Aqua vitae
- Death x5
- Peace x1
- Swiftness x3

Procedure:
Grind the death symbols into a quantity of dust-like powder, adding to liquid lifeforce. Place the liquid lifeforce in an alembic and boil, allowing the vapor to collect; once finished, immediately turn off heat or risk explosion.  In a separate mixture, add both the symbol of peace and the symbols of swiftness into the aqua vitae. Add to the alembic and ignite the aqua vitae until the smoke from both has mixed with the vaporous lifeforce. Carefully attach an airtight flask and collect the vapors.

Effect:

• When the container of Abyssal Blight is shattered or unsealed, black fumes pour out in a 10x10 area over three emotes.

  • These fumes originate in the central impact or unsealing point as a 3x3 spread, then a 6x6 the following emote, then a 10x10 for the third. 

  • Weak, non-sentient and lesser plant life will instantly begin wither the plant life in the area and slowly infect weak fauna, killing in hours.  

• The black smog obscures visibility for all parties, living, necromancer or undead, cutting off line of sight.

• This area of effect persists for one IRL week, and it can spread further if there is PRO permission.  

• Descendants contract a strange type of flu for two days, growing grotesque tumors and boils on their skin.  It is painful, though these effects do not inhibit combat.

• Living necromancers are just as susceptible to inhaling this substance and contracting the blight, experiencing these same effects.

• The contracted disease can be treated with alchemical potions, appropriate magical healing, or a physician’s homeopathy.  

• The smog can be cleared by entrapping the area with fire and smoke or through specific magical means such as druidic blight healing.

• Requires at least T3 in alchemy, with accompanying app and must be taught.

Further Development

Through experimenting with liquid lifeforce, the field of Black Alchemy possesses a surplus of untapped potential.  Those who become adept in black alchemy, can further experiment and expand the trade, so long as they possess an FA.

- Anyone with the taught knowledge of Black Alchemy and an accepted Further Alchemy application are capable of creating their own Black Alchemy concoctions, following the format of the aforementioned brews. In order to do this, they will need to submit an MArt for said creation.

Redlines:

• The player must both be a necromancer and have an accepted Alchemy application to do this.

• Black Alchemy creations must have heavy side-effects, such as crippling addiction.  

• Black Alchemy is renowned for its ability to do little good and an unpredictable amount of - bad to the user.  This rule must be followed in all creations.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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. 

• A Flesh Golem may be instantly defeated by either crushing or removing their head, [2] heavy swings sufficing enough to sever their head or crush their skull.

• Due to their embalment, a Flesh Golem’s dead flesh is easily flammable. If a Golem is hit with a continuous stream of fire, they must have said flames extinguished (Either by rolling around, water or other means). Should it not be extinguished after [4] consecutive emotes, they’ll wither away into ash. It takes [2] emotes to extinguish or [1] emotes with assistance.

• If their flesh is struck by Aurum, the Golem would be stunned for [2] emotes, the lifeforce within them destabilized. This has a cooldown of [3] emotes to prevent stunlock.

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

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.

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.

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.

• An oculi cannot be a worn and must held.

• Due to their fragile nature, an oculi would break with [1] strike. Likewise, an oculi may no harder to knock out of your hand than a book would be.

• If a necromancer’s speech is impaired, they are incapable of commanding their reanimations.

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.  

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.

• A reanimation may be instantly defeated by either crushing or removing their head, [2] heavy swings sufficing enough to sever their head or crush their skull.

• Due to their embalment, a reanimation’s dead flesh is easily flammable. If a reanimation is hit with a continuous stream of fire, they must have said flames extinguished. (Either by rolling around, water or other means.) Should it not be extinguished after [3] consecutive emotes, they’ll wither away into ash. It takes [2] emotes to extinguish or [1] emote with assistance.

• If their flesh is struck by Aurum, the reanimation would be stunned for [1] emote, the lifeforce animating them destabilized. This has a cooldown of [2] emotes to prevent stunlock.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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))

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.

Mechanics: A necromancer can afflict  an appropriate implement to cause leprosy as facial abnormalities.

Mechanics: A necromancer can afflict an appropriate implement to cause the nonlethal, mild variant of the flu.

Mechanics: A necromancer can afflict an appropriate implement to cause a hand or foot to harmlessly become numb and appear like a rotted-black.

Mechanics: A necromancer can afflict an appropriate implement to cause an itch-inducing rash that leaves behind raw wounds.

Mechanics: A necromancer can afflict an appropriate implement to cause grapefruit-sized tumours on the skin.

Mechanics: A necromancer can afflict an appropriate implement to cause bubonic welts to form on the armpits and near the upper thigh, as well as the general symptoms of nausea, fever, and lethargy.

Mechanics: A necromancer can craft their own MArts to submit for valid plagues.

Non-Combat - Cantrip

To perform darkening, a necromancer must manifest an abysmal aura which appears as a thick black haze which swirls around their hand. With this, the necromancer may manipulate lesser living lifeforms as they see fit, such as a patch of grass or shrub. So long as it is touched or in the immediate proximity of the necromancer (5 meters) they may steal the life from it so that it appears withered and decayed. This grants no benefit to the necromancer save for a slight euphoria, though does nothing to replenish their energy or ability to cast. As this is limited to a cantrip, it cannot be used combatively. Alternatively, when at T3, the necromancer may attempt to hide the aura and may perform such through subtle skin-to-skin interactions, such as leaving an individual feeling lethargic after exchanging a mere handshake. 

Combat - Direct Drain

The necromancer may also use this method to a more malefic capacity, capable of actively sapping the lifeforce from a descendant. This would require two emotes to channel the haze, before the necromancer must grapple their target victim and begin to drain the lifeforce. This feels alike to hot needles which are pulled out from under the flesh, which may overwhelm the victim and cause them great degrees of pain. Over the duration of two more emotes, assuming direct physical touch was sustained, the victim will become gradually weaker and frailer until they are incapacitated. This would not kill them outright, though would render them unconscious and gaunt for a moderate duration until aroused. Should they be drained yet a second time, the individual would shrivel up and be killed.

Combat - Tether Drain

Bestowed upon necromancers that have achieved proficiency of T4 or higher, tether draining allows the necromancer to drain their target from a distance rather than direct touch. This would require an adequate amount of concentration and limits the necromancer’s movement to two blocks per emote while sustaining the tether. This requires two emotes for the necromancer to manifest the haze, lock upon their target and weave it. So long as the victim is within ten meters of the necromancer, the tether would drain their lifeforce over the course of four emotes before rendering them fully incapacitated. This tether may snap should the target go beyond eight meters of the necromancer, or if it was severed by energy-based magics such as fire or electric evocation, aurum, or holy magic.

Effects of Draining

In contrast to the victim’s agony, the necromancer is granted a brief euphoria and sense of vitality when draining, equivalent to a brief and potent high which lasts for a few moments after the draining is complete. Though this does not make them any stronger or improve their physical state to any significant degree, it would be heavily addicting and drive them to great lengths the longer they attempt to go without it. Necromancers who deny themselves the art of draining will often go mad from their lack of the vital sustenance they so crave in their state, becoming weak and lethargic until they shrivel away and die.

Darkening Rot

The afflicted area of Darkening will become stricken with necrosis at the fourth emote, causing the flesh to rot away and become infected with time. The victim will require treatment of the area within a narrative week or will risk needed amputation or death. The visual aspect of Necrosis is immediately noticeable from when it is inflicted upon the victim, appearing to be an imprint of the casters hand when removed.

It can be treated through any sufficient medical RP (homeopathy, alchemy, magic, etc...) 

Mechanics: A corpse that obeys the necromancer is reanimated and lasts for eight emotes, degrading from knight-tier strength to nothingness at the end of the emote count.

Just as Branding may be utilized on fallen corpses, it may likewise be applied to those who still walk the earth- at least for the time being. By utilizing another necromancer or any within the weaver’s path, they may embellish a ‘brand’ unto the person by means of touch. Once their lifeforce has been conjured and weaved, they are ready to enact the spell. Taking three whole emotes, where the first two are spent conjuring one's essence, the spell requires full contact to inflict. Upon the third emote they must touch a living person anywhere, as long as it is in contact with either skin or light cloth. This funnels the lifeforce into the living person, acting as an invisible battery that would reanimate the afflicted should they perish. The contact must also be done on skin, as thick armors and hides would protect those from the enthralling spell of the necromancer.

A slight numbing sensation would sprawl over where they were touched, though no visible brand would be seen, only felt. There are no effects caused by this brand outright once it is enacted, lasting through only the combat encounter and no longer. The purpose of the brand comes once the brand falls or succumbs to death, as after this brand has been applied- should the branded individual perish, it would take one emote after the death for the corpse to shamble to a rise. Thereafter, the corpse simply acts as a normal Branding reanimation, lasting for 8 emotes until it succumbs to the earth once more.

• Branding on a living individual requires two emotes of charging with lifeforce, then a third emote where direct touch on skin is required to set the brand.
• Hides and plate armor will protect against the touch brand, but light cloth will not.
• The brand has no effects outside of a slight sensation upon anointing, remaining unnoticeable thereafter.
• The brand only comes into effect is the individual dies, reanimating them in the next emote as a combat reanimation.
• A necromancer may only use branding when not in use of their oculus, as this follows all redlines of the normal branding spell.
• The brand will lose its effect after a narrative hour, or after combat has been concluded.
• Branding is unusable on any undead or likewise spectral/holy or soulless creatures.
• Should the branded individual be drained of their lifeforce by darkening, the brand would expire. Branded individuals must be culled by other means to raise them from the dead.

Often utilized by necromancers in the midst of projects or in preparation of rituals, these masters of life and death may raise the fallen cadavers within their lair to mill about, completing tasks and even cleaning the debris of lost projects if they so wish. A rotted half skeleton may bring their master the herbs and salts they require, while others may simply pile the skulls of the deceased into a ‘tidy’ pile. No matter the task or the empty husk commanded, these corpses range from swarms of small insects to humanoid descendants, their role in the afterlife but one of labor and service to their master until they are once more quelled to eternal slumber. Tasks uttered by the weaver must be simple and clear, unable to give commands such as ‘build a house’, or ‘forge a sword.’ Instead, much more simple commands are optimal for the reanimated, such as ‘sweep this room,’ or ‘bring me two saffvil from my quarters.’ etc etc.

By using branding, a necromancer is capable of raising embalmed corpses and skeletons to work as their assistants and janitors outside of combat. There are tools for different tasks, as a few undead rats will be quite useful in retrieving bone matter and viscera from a gutter- but a full sized human will not. As these animations are purely non-combat, anything relating to combat including traps, pit falls, etc are unable to be constructed by these undead. In addition, if combat is to ever start in the vicinity of a risen cadaver, it will immediately fall inert as the Necromancer’s attention is then focused on their oculus, or on a branded combat animation. Cantrip branding may be used in tandem with oculus bound undead, up until combat starts in their vicinity. Anything larger than a descendant is unable to be risen by the cantrip, requiring the handling force of an oculus to restrain the creature. As for miniscule creatures, ‘swarms’ of risen insects may be no larger than a human’s head, whereas rodents and other small fauna may range in their numbers, but are limited to the mass of a human. Notable as well is that swarms of creatures operate in a hivemind, unable to work as individuals in any regard.

This spell has no range, as the creatures will simply continue to toil in the absence of their master. This means they may be used as messengers or as aesthetic creatures which simply mill about one’s lair. Should any person touch or jostle the undead minion, it would crumble and fall dead, inert as the last remaining lifeforce escapes from the husk.

The cantrip of branding requires two emotes of conjuring one’s aura, and one emote of touching or pointing/motioning to a corpse within quiet range. On the third emote where it is touched, the body will begin to shamble upwards, and on the fourth it will be ready for whatever orders it is given.

• The branding cantrip is learned once the base branding spell is learned.
• The cantrip cannot be used in the midst of combat, nor to serve ANY combat purposes (other than an undead retrieving the necromancer’s weapons before a fight, or anything of that caliber.)
• Should combat start in the vicinity of the undead, it will simply fall inert until combat is resolved.
• Servants can’t build traps, pit falls, wards, or anything requiring higher intellect.
• Servants can’t aid a necromancer in reaching areas mechanically unable to be reached, save for if specifically allowed in certain ET events.
• Commands must be simple and clear, as far too complex commands will offer nothing to the necromancer.
• The undead must be capable of doing whatever task they are given. Telling a skeleton to lift a boulder will result in a broken skeleton, just as telling one to fly will result in either nothing, or a broken skeleton that has fallen from a great height.
• Commands must be spoken verbally, in any language.
• Commands must be made in RP chat range.
• Swarms of insects may never exceed the size of a human head en masse.
• Groups of small animals may be utilized within reasonable numbers. (No groups of animals may reach more than a descendant’s worth of mass.)
• Anything larger than a humanoid descendant corpse is unable to be risen by the cantrip.

Mechanics: A person with flesh is forcibly fleshsmithed together at the location of their wound.  This process is extremely tiring for the user and excruciating for the recipient.

Mechanics: A corpse, either reanimated or not, is set to explode after a short channel.  After a delay, it explodes in a 5x5 block area. The explosion is lethal to those in a two-meter radius, causes injury and disease at a three to five-meter radius.