Necromancy

Introduction

While ancient sources focus on Necromancy's ability to compel the obedience of deathless masses of flesh, Necromancy is more a tool to manipulate biology, flesh and the aethereal concepts that compel growth and decay. A Necromancer -- often called, inversely, a Briomancer for their equal focus on life -- changes the composition of a living or dead thing, crafting lifeforms much as they please. As much as the World Magic applies to the primitive concepts of essence and soul, it is an interaction by mortals that allows them to tamper in the process of the evolutionary stream.

Origins

Necromancy first became prominent in the Kingdom of Silor, where it was used to perfect the society's military and nobility, altering their bodies to reduce imperfections and further emphasize their virtues. Over time the art, when combined with Artificing, was used to rouse and compel the dead to act as a somewhat cognizant military force, often led by Elven generals and sent to brutalize revolting peasants and slaves.

Eventually, through the discovery of the Essence Calcifier, Necromancy became a tool that allowed Silor's elite to make themselves effectively immortal, altering their life force and slowing or completely stopping the process of aging and natural physical decay. Many consider this World Magic to be a staple of historical Elven supremacy, as well as the catalyst for their societal collapse. As such, modern mages view Necromancy as something that should not be indulged with, as it is rumored to have an inherent psychological effect on its practitioners; one that makes them fixated on deathlessness, preservation, evolution and unnatural change.

Given the ability to edit one's own characteristics as well as those around them, Necromancers are seen as individuals who stray far from the natural order of life.

Process

Unlike many other World Magics, Necromancy does not follow a specific process and largely depends on the alterations one wishes to make, and the specific tools necessary for these alterations. Both of these things will be detailed below.

Tools

Sinew Foam: Sinew Foam is crafted in a mortar and pestle, both objects saturated in and enchanted by Necromantic aether. The way Sinew Foam is made is by placing tissue - living or dead - into the mortar, and grinding it with the pestle until it is a soft, almost milky substance. Due to the aethereal nature of the tools, the Foam is made easily. The Necromancer recycles tissue from one thing to apply to another, whether from different living things or to extract and alter the parts of the body they are working on. Whatever the case, once formed, the Necromancer draws the foam into a small handheld object similar to a gun and may release the foam through its nozzle. Once released it will rapidly begin to form and solidify, filling in gaps left by whatever it was imbued into. The Foam can easily be used to mend damage dealt the bones and cartilage, though the limitation of the Foam is that it cannot substitute for blood, skin or flesh. Those things are left to a later instrument. This tool can be utilized starting at Novice level.

Carving Sickle: One of the early issues of Necromancy is that alterations are often far from precise. As a result, the Carving Sickle has been integrated into Necromancy for a long time, allowing Necromancers to shape and correct anything created or formed within or outside of a body. The sickle is an instrument that often has many sizes; a typical Necromancer has six of multiple lengths, for making various and more precise adjustments. It is a tool with a small hook-like tip at the end, one that is specifically designed and enriched with aether in order to shave off excess from any particular tissue. The Sickle almost always needs to be used after any application of Sinew Foam, as well as many uses of Sinew Threads. This tool can be utilized starting at Novice level.

Embalmer's Tongs: The Embalmer's Tongs are not used extremely often, but are a Necromancer's effective method of pulling, bending and re-aligning parts of one's body (such as individual bones or organs) without disturbing others around them. The way they do this is typically by gripping a bone, muscle, etc., with a notch on the tongs locking them into place. The Necromancer then flips a switch along their length that will activate their aethereal effect. This makes any part of the body being touched softer and more malleable, easier to bend. The tongs will then often be used in conjunction with the Necromancer's own hands to reshape tissue before their grip is released, allowing the section of the body they were altering to recover. The Tongs, further, can be used to actually extract and place organs, making them an effective tool for transplants. This tool can be utilized starting at Novice level.

Grafting Needle: The grafting needle generally appears as a long, thin metal rod. Though seemingly not special on the surface, what distinguishes the Grafting Needle from another long sewing needle is its ability to generate and manipulate Sinew Threads, weaving them through and laying them into flesh and other organic matter. This tool can be utilized starting at Apprentice level.

Sinew Threads: Sinew Threads are special in that they can be used to perfectly replicate or alter the organic material of a living thing. The most common application of these threads is a reparative one; in fact, most Necromancers only become Necromancers in order to use Sinew Threads to heal. They can be made to replicate lost blood, bones, marrow, skin, flesh, tissue, even potentially restoring lost organs. Once a Sinew Thread is lain through the Grafting Needle, the Necromancer is able to tweak the aether in the thread to change it to its desired composition. Additionally, as one becomes more skilled, they find that Sinew Threads can essentially worm their way into position, allowing for improved precision without actually needing to sew them in. This tool can be utilized starting at Apprentice level.

Mortifier’s Dirk: The Mortifier’s Dirk is a Journeyman Necromancer’s tool. To a Necromancer, life and unlife are essentially equal states of being, each coming with pros and cons. They are, also, capable of intermingling these states... and the Dirk is one of the days which they do so. To begin with, the Dirk is not a simple knife with a grip followed by a blade. Instead, it has a long wooden handle - around ten inches in length - with a sharp tip that can be released from the butt-end by twisting the handle. This tip essentially undoes the effects of the Dirk’s main end, implanting stored vitality into the area pricked by it.

The main end — appearing similarly to a writing quill’s tip — is a short, oddly shaped blade that appears to cut half of a circle’s shape when penetrating an object. Most Dirks have a release apparatus near the butt end that can be clicked to extend the Dirk, revealing a few inches of glowing, algae-like growth pressed into the beginning of the knife. After extending this vial outward, the Necromancer will lodge the Dirk into the individual they wish to alter. The area directly around the intrusion, for around six inches, will begin to transition from living tissue to what is called ‘undead tissue’, though this tissue cannot expand beyond its specific category: bone, flesh, cartilage, internal organs, skin. If one wishes to morph an entire area into undead tissue, they must make incisions - or jabs - in many different areas, inserting the tip of the Dirk into the area for a considerable amount of time as the aetheric fluid mortifies the area.

Undead tissue is not 'dead tissue'. Instead, it occupies a space Necromancers call 'unlife', where it does not appear to wholly possess the properties of either the living or the dead. It has many advantages to it: greater endurance, for one, as undead tissue appears virtually immune to pain. Organs converted this way will still fail if severely damaged, but may take longer to do so. Those dying with no easy remedy are sometimes given undead organs for this reason, as they appear to endure compounding effects for far longer. This also appears to be the case with corruption, aetheric or otherwise; the Vethcairn Druskai often make large parts of their bodies - and their organs - undead, allowing them to survive in the most corrupted of environments. Corruption may still build internally, however, which can result in negative effects such as encumbrance and the infection of still-living parts of the body.

Undead tissue also has its drawbacks. Only Necromancy can mend it; it does not naturally recover, permanently suffering from all damage taken. It is more vulnerable to heat and fire in addition, and it appears to react negatively to intense humidity. Entire creatures may be made undead, but it can take a very long time to convert an entire body. An undead creature, like a living one, can be psychologically distorted by a Necromancer to become more obedient -- in fact, it appears easier to control undead beings.

If one wishes to undo the mortifying effect, they must open the other end of the Dirk and inject the affected areas with the needle that emerges from the secondary side, so long as the prick is natured in aether. Both sides can be replenished by opening up the Dirk and mixing organic materials with blood, but aether helps the process, making Necromancers with a Personal Magic slightly more effective at undead conversions.

Grafting Iron: The Grafting Iron is essentially a larger-scale, less precise but also much quicker and more transformative variant of the Grafting Needle. It carries several Sinew Threads within it, appearing sort of like instrumental strings, that it will weave into the body of an organic entity and these Sinew Threads will be lain and composed by the Necromancer's will. The Iron is much better than the Needle for grafting the external portions of a being's body, whilst the Needle thrives at internal manipulation. The Iron is capable of crafting entire limbs, and several major biological alterations (listed in the next section) require it. This tool can be utilized starting at Journeyman level.

Shaper's Pen: The Shaper's Pen is the skilled Necromancer's most prolific tool, and acts similarly to a welding torch. It allows the Necromancer to decay or revitalize dead flesh, skin, bone, allowing it to be further mended by Sinew Threads; it also allows for a Necromancer to siphon life force from one thing and feed it to another. This is often used for healing reasons as it will stall death in an entity, though the loss and gain of life force in this way is only temporary and the individual must be healed before their granted vitality subsides. This tool can be utilized starting at Journeyman level. Shaper's Pens must be infused with Blood Dragonshards, or they tend to quickly overload and burn out.

Instinct Capturer: The Instinct Capturer allows the Necromancer to capture the cognitive abilities and sentience, supposedly, of an individual living being. The Capturer is a glass jar with a funnel-like lid that, with aether, has suction-like capabilities. If the Necromancer is able to capture the brain of an entity, they can sew the contents of that brain into a dead life form with a Grafting Needle in order to give that thing an advanced form of cognition and self-awareness. By all means, the intellect of the revitalized dead will essentially mirror that of the living being it was meant to replicate. This tool can be utilized starting at Expert level.

Burnishing Balm: The Burnishing Balm is an tan-colored ointment applied by a Necromancer to permanently preserve changes, or to restore a thing to its original state. For this reason it is not only exceptional for healing but also for installing permanent, pseudo-evolutionary additions to a thing, as the changes solidified with Burnishing Balm actually affect genetics and biology. This tool can be utilized starting at Expert level.

Essence Calcifier: The Essence Calcifier looks almost like a gun, strangely, and it is a Master's tool alone. Extremely rare, the crystalline fluid excreted by the Calcifier is capable of slowing or freezing the wilting of the soul. Combined with other tools of Necromancy, it is capable of making an individual truly immortal, often dubbed a prototypal-Lich. This is what the Ald'norai nobility used to make themselves immortal, though eventually all who gain transcendence this way are met with the Black Sigil as Wraedan's curse, and death follows shortly after. Some, supposedly, have learned to surpass this limitation and meet true Lichdom, a quality of being that cannot be revoked by man or divine.

In general, however, the Calcifier is used to increase lifespans and it is actually renowned for making an entity more durable, giving them undead-like endurance. Additionally, the Calcifier can transfer souls from one body to another, drawing and funneling them into an Instinct Capturer before re-drawing and infusing them into another organic entity. This is a prime method of blurring living and undead, and will be elaborated upon later. The Calcifier can also be used to make an entity's soul and brain more comfortable with a variety of expanded and foreign limbs, improving the cohesion of an altered being.

Alterations

Necromancy is capable of many different alterations, independently done or inspired by overall themes common to the magic. These alterations are those common themes: they are not the limit of what a Necromancer can do, but they serve as blueprints to well-established and effective methods of altering organics, living or dead. It should be noted that Alterations require the ability to use their specified tools, and thus the rank they are unlocked depends on the rank of the highest level tool involved in the alteration.

Transplant: Fairly early on, Necromancers are capable of performing very effective organ transplants, so long as they possess the medical knowledge and expertise to perform these on living beings. This is done by opening an area with the Carving Hook, pulling the previous organ with the Embalmer's Tongs, and then using Sinew Threads to re-attach the organ perfectly in place. While this is often done on the living by mage-doctors, it is also done as a method of altering dead or particularly resilient living life forms, particularly if one is crafting a chimeric or irregular being.

Winnowing: Winnowing allows one to reinforce on and improve the characteristics of a living or dead being's physiology. It can be used to strengthen muscle and bones, harden skin, even perhaps improve upon eyesight or other inherent characteristics. Winnowing is highly limited and cannot be used to dramatically improve upon a being beyond their original state, with excessive enhancements causing physical degradation and eventual death. Winnowing is also temporary without Burnishing Balm, with its effects generally fading during a period of several weeks. It is performed usually with a Grafting Needle and Sinew Threads, sewing reinforced layers into flesh, organs, bones, skin, and so on. However, this makes it difficult for a Necromancer to perform on themselves, and only masters appear able to do so with consistency. Winnowing services are highly sought after by the Nobility, especially in Daravin, who view it as a method of acquiring true supremacy over others... though again, to limited effect.

Grating: Grafting Irons are capable of grating a limb or organ, slicing them between their sinew threads and learning to replicate the composition of that organic mass. If one truly wishes to add additional limbs or construct other additions upon a life form based on the template of an already existing being, they must first teach the Grafting Iron that 'template' by Grating it.

Addendum: An addendum is what a Necromancer performs when attempting to add something to a life form. Generally, Grating is the pre-requisite to an addendum, but a particularly creative Necromancer can also create addendums through scratch and then add those templates to their collection. This, however, takes a long time and is generally reserved for Experts and above. Nevertheless, adding an addendum usually begins by carving (with a Hook) a particular section of skin, flesh and bone to allow for the addition to be made. Once this is done, it will either be created by individual Sinew Threads with a needle, or slowly constructed with a Grafting Iron.

An addendum done this way will effectively work on an organic entity, but due to the individual essentially carrying a foreign limb or organ, their brain will have a difficult time controlling this limb well and it will generally act in an inconsistent and inferior manner. Addendums are diverse and are essentially limited only by creativity or by what life forms are currently available as templates. Additionally, they are bound by physiological realities. One can give a man wings, for example, though he may not be able to fly. To do so requires adequate strength in said wings, or lightness in his form. As such, Addendum is often connected with Winnowing.

Burnished Addendum: A burnished addendum is an addendum made inherent with Burnishing Balm. Burnishing Balm is, effectively, a balm that allows the Necromancer - through its aethereal properties - to permanently adjust the biology and genetics of the subject in question. As such, if a person is transplanted or given the addendum of blue eyes, they now genetically have blue eyes and may pass down those genes to future generations. More importantly for general purposes, it increases the compatibility of a body with given organs or limbs, as if the being had been born with whatever property had been infused. This increases the health and alacrity of altered subjects, and allows for Necromancers to - as they are famous for doing - create what appears to be entirely new life forms, permanently adjusting the genetics of subsects of animal and other sentient beings.

Replica: The act of performing a 'replica' is done through the Instinct Capturer. It gives an entity the intellect of another being, or even their own intellect, whether they are living or dead. While there are many horrific stories around Necromancers infusing replicated intelligence on already living, sentient humans, this is nearly impossible and this act tends to be reserved for unintelligent animals or the undead. An interesting thing to note; intelligent household animals acting as mage familiars is the reserve of a Necromancer, as they often imbue the intelligence of lost loved ones into simpler forms. Most common with Replica is installing the cognitive function of unintelligent animals into other life forms, providing the dead a facsimile of life for whatever purpose the Necromancer may require.

Imposing: Imposing is done on a variety of animals, undead and those with replicated intelligence, and it is done with the Shaper's Pen and an Instinct Capturer, funneling intelligence or sentience into the Necromantic jar only to shape and alter it with an almost divine authority. Generally this can never be performed on intelligent life unless, as stated earlier, the intelligence was replicated -- but a body that is too powerful or a mind that is too sharp appears to be capable of overcoming imposing. What imposing effectively does is manipulates the cognitive priorities of an entity to the liking of the Necromancer. This is almost always done first and foremost to protect them from their own creations, as they are capable of making themselves and selected others immune to the wroth of altered beings. More than that, it is capable of changing cognitive functions, such as making an altered life form prioritize raising their young over hunting, or prioritize killing prey over searching for fruits, et cetera. The possibilities of Imposing are seemingly limitless, but Imposing is very dangerous and over-complicating a being with too many layers of commands always results in them going rabid and murderous.

Transference: Transference uses the Essence Calcifier and Instinct Capturer to suction and redistribute a formerly living being's soul. This, the rarest and most controversial form of Necromancy, provides the Necromancer with the ability to recreate lost life in the body of the dead or cognitively hollowed out (which one can do with an Instinct Capturer and Shaper's Pen). Rather than resurrection, it is the transference of life from one body to another, retaining the independence and depth of the soul and its tied intellect. While countless Necromancers have attempted to perform Transference on themselves throughout history, it appears impossible, though many have essentially revived dead loved ones in this way. Unfortunately, the transferred always changes in some way, and many adjust poorly to the psychological effects of their new form. Without active use of the Calcifier in preserving their soul, as well, they will seemingly die at random once their initially intended lifespan has been long exceeded.

Conversion: Conversion is the process of altering a living or dead being to an 'undead'. Important to point out is that this now expands not only to the living, but to the dead, a feat impossible before. It is also far more effective than conventionally using the Dirk on its own. In order to perform proper Conversion, one must 'spray' the fluid within the Mortifier's Dirk with the Essence Calcifier, which will increase the potency of the fluid and slow its usage. In addition, it allows the Necromancer to fully convert the brain, which was previously impossible with the Dirk due to the death likely to be caused by the Dirk's incision.

Any creature wholly changed by Conversion becomes a 'Strigoi', the common Ranseran phrase for the true undead. They appear to live significantly longer than others of their race, and have the strengths - and weaknesses - of undead tissue as described in the Mortifier's Dirk. The dead can in a way be returned to life this way, though without Transference they will likely have rudimentary intellect, largely derived from instinct and conditioning.

Undead made by Conversion tend to be strongly influenced by the Necromancer who built them. The Necromancer's words and commands leave psychological impressions on them, like strong imperatives that they find little reason to deny. Without a mixture of intense psychological subversion and alteration with other Tools, they cannot be wholly controlled, but like a dog they appear driven by the validation of their master regardless of who they once were.

Impact

Necromancy, more than many other world magics, has had a profound effect on life in Ransera. As much as it is treated with revilement and suspicion by traditionalists and the highly religious, as well as those with anxiety around magic in general, Necromancy has found a way to weave itself into virtually every society at a fundamental level. When one speaks of medical science in Ransera, they speak of Necromancy, to the point where many scientists believe Necromancy has held back improvements in medical science merely through its existence.

Equally as many argue that Necromancy, generally called Briomancy when used in the context of healing and medicine, is superior to all scientific alternatives and that it has done immensely wonderful things for the global populace. Necromancy, while difficult to perform and certainly to master, has been used in the past to save countless lives, cure terminal illnesses and diseases in specific individuals and even to alter genes in others, granting them resistances. Furthermore it has been used to transplant organs, infuse blood, restore eyesight to the blind, mend cripples and all manner of truly phenomenal deeds. As such, particularly for the wealthy, Necromancy is sometimes seen as the norm in medical service. While common doctors and surgeons are the go-to of the middle and lower class, the truly privileged of society see mage-doctors first and foremost.

But there are other effects on society that Necromancy is not so loved for, but equally well-known for doing. Creating entire underground subspecies and chimeric life-forms, often prioritizing their experimentation over other living beings. Creating super-beasts, though over time and with severe dedication, that are capable of assaulting towns and providing them with megalomaniacal power and influence. Not allowing loved ones to move on in death; stealing purpose from living beings through the Instinct Capturer, and of course, imbuing corpses with instinctive and rudimentary intelligence so as to command them to the Necromancer's will.

They are equally, also, known for their hubristic desires for immortality. While many assume that the folly of Necromancers attempting to achieve immortality ended with the fall of Silor, it is a little known fact that prototypal-Liches are still being culled by the Black Sigil even today, cursed for their impudence. Prototypal-Liches are often considered the worst of all mages, blinded by a desire to achieve, expand and remain, seemingly bound to look down upon others with ire and spite. For these reasons and many more, Necromancers are often hated as much as they may be viewed as a necessary presence in life.

Novice

A Novice Necromancer is poor at, really, anything more than transplanting easily-grafted organs and generally only with great medical expertise. They have access to no more than the Carving Hook and Embalmer's Tongs, and most Necromancers at this stage focus on forensics and dissection, learning of biology and physiology through direct experimentation.

Apprentice

Apprentice Necromancers are known for their Briomancy; the ability to direct Necromancy towards healing and mending others, the magic corrective and reactive in nature. Given access to the Grafting Needle and Sinew Threads, their ability to mend and repair imperfections and wounds is considerable, though at this stage in their development they are rather slow and inefficient, and many of their fixes act as bandages rather than true replacements or repairs.

Journeyman

The Journeyman has gained access to the Grafting Iron and Shaper's Pen, allowing them to rapidly regenerate, alter and degenerate life forms. Their Briomantic capabilities are much greater now and Journeyman Necromancers are highly skilled at saving critical patients, as well as embalming the dead to near-perfect liveliness. The Journeyman is now capable of creating templates through Grating or through their own construction, which allows them to add whole limbs or organs to other beings, as well as skillfully extracting previous ones in order to change their physiology.

Expert

With the Instinct Capturer and Burnishing Balm now able to be properly harnessed, the Expert Necromancer focuses on permanence within their changes, capable of permanent genetic and cognitive alterations. It is at this point where a Necromancer truly becomes capable of creating new life forms, as they are able to dramatically modify both the living and the dead. The line also begins to blur a lot more between the two, now, with cognition seemingly far from limited to the living.

Master

As the Necromancer gains access to the Essence Calcifier at this level, they are able to preserve the soul of a living being, providing said being with longevity or even the chance at immortality. More than that, they are able to transfer souls between beings, even able to go as far as to capture the essence of ghosts and provide them with physical forms. A Master Necromancer appears to wholly cut the boundary between life and unlife, as the soul of the dead may furnish the living, or other dead, and intellect appears wholly transferable. Decay can be inflicted on the living, and the dead can be wholly preserved; they are the most skilled of organic manipulators, carefully constructing and deconstructing every detail, able to manipulate and reforge organics largely to their will.

Restrictions

1. Any Necromantically adjusted life forms that have been made subservient to the Necromancer must be submitted to the Player Creations forum for approval, and will be monitored and regulated.

2. Changes made to a PC by a Necromancer must be listed in their CS, in a dedicated area titled 'Addendums'.