Necromancy

Description
Necromancy is a form of magic involving communication with the deceased – either by summoning their spirit as an apparition or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to discover hidden knowledge or use in an aggressive manner (such as sending the undead against ones enemies). The term has sometimes be used by the Chantry to refer to the forbidden magics and for this reason such magic is called "Death magic" in the Necropolis to disassociate from the assumptions made of necromancy. Arguably though the death mages of the Necropolis are the original necromancers.

As with any magic is can be used for innocent or malign goals.

The word "necromancy" is adapted from Arcanum; "necromantia, which is evidence of the school coming to prominence when the Imperium occupied Nevarra". Necros means "dead body", and mantia means "prophecy or divination". This school is listed by the Chantry as one of the foremost among the "forbidden arts", it being a methods of divination, supposedly dealing with demons, though this is ironically often not the case.

"Unlife is linked to entropy and enervation is a desirable trait in necromancy."

"That spark you sense is the residue of death. Not a spark of life. It is the mark of passage into the Fade, of the violence of death and the more tragic and aggressive the end the stronger the mark is the longer it remains and slower it fades from this realm."

The reason the Chantry list is as a forbidden art, beyond the suspicion of demonic influence, is that often the art is linked to bloody rituals not dissimilar to blood magic sacrifices as well as most necromancy taking place where there has been violence. The entropic energy aids in summoning the dead, which is why the Necropolis is the ideal place to learn the art. There violent deaths of millions congregates in a single place. For a necromancer entropic energy can be found at the site of the death (the more violent the more energy there is, so naturally the assumption is most necromancer murder violently to create this energy though this is not a common practice it is done by a few) or it can be found where the bones rest. Since the Neverrans bury and do not burn their dead they have higher amount of entropic energy at the sites of their tombs. The Avvar also have similar sites, since they have sky burials, but it is the Chasind Wilders who practice more necromancy, though it is known by the Avvar as well, just not as common.

The theory is that where something violent has occurred or a tragic death transpires a mark of the passage to the Fade is left, such as Fade tears. Entropic energy is created - this is what can be siphoned, a common spell in the school of Entropy (which is a sister school of necromancy and often taught side by side) - and in necromancy is used to perform death magic. Not just raising the dead, any mage of the four schools can learn THAT (it being a branch of the school of spirit). No... summoning and controlling and properly raising the souls of the dead is a skill that requires more than Circle training.... It requires entropic energy, touching the Fade and many other secret rituals and talents and spells that only the very few possess.

Elves have a strong tie to the Fade, their race intricately linked to the Beyond, thus when they die they leave a strong mark upon the world, the sites of elvhen deaths often haunted or cursed or blessed, depending on the spirit and who comes across it.

Limits
Since the Chantry sees necromancy as a foul magic necromancers are treated the same as maleficarum simply out of suspicion. Death mages are tolerated by watched and regulated in the Necropolis and rarely leave it. Bare in mind that this would create a very odd kind of mage, their function in the Necropolis is to control the entropic energy and heal Fade tears (which are a problem of course).

Necromancy is seen as something dark and twisted, a perversion of the death magic taught in the confines of the Necropolis (which is like a monastery).

Necromancers cannot bring people back to life, they can only contact spirits and raise corpses, not people.

Origins
The beginnings of the school of necromancy are shrouded in mystery, but the fact is that in each area of the world where it is more heavily practised (Nevarra, Rivain, The Frostbacks and Korcari Wilds) the same story is told. A mage, seeking the mysteries of the dead, made the first phylactery by capturing the soul of a loved one. This process changed the mage and they became what the stories refer to as a Liches. It was the Liches who taught the art of necromancy, the secrets of which they learned from traversing the realm of the dead; some believe this to be the Fade itself, whilst there are those who talk of a mysterious realm known only as the Void.

A Liches is believed to be a creature that has been transformed, always a mage who has bound their intellect and soul to his animated corpse and thereby achieve a form of immortality. There is one suspected example of this, though in the form of a curse - the people of Kirkwall know this Liches as the proprietor of the Black Emporium.

Liches are cadaverous, their bodies desiccated, often completely skeletal. Liches are believed to hold power over hordes of lesser undead creatures, using them as soldiers and servants. Unlike zombies, which are mindless, or a part of a hivemind like the Darkspawn, a lich retains independent thought and is usually at least as intelligent as it was prior to its transformation. Liches can be distinguished from other undead by their phylactery - an item of the Lich's choosing into which they imbue a soul along with their own, giving them immortality until the phylactery is destroyed.

This is a myth and Liches are not a playable creature at the forum.

In reality it is possible these "liches" are just death mages who have extended their natural life span and can only be found in the Necropolis. The first necromancer became a "lich" and passed on his/her knowledge to other death mages.

Precepts and how they are taught
Necromancy manipulates the energies of death and entropy and it is believed that as life energy decays it then becomes death energy, or "entropic energy". The fresher the corpse, the better for a necromancer, since the early converted entropic energy is the strongest and the tie to the soul is still faint.

A necromancer must have mastery of entropy and be able to animate the undead (skeletons etc). However, true necromancy is not just raising corpses, its manipulating entropic energy and being able to drag sentient souls back from the Fade. Some master necromancers are rumoured to be able to store a soul in a phylactery, though this takes life energy from the mage and is a very risky spell. In fact, some believe that it changes the nature of the mage and pushes them into insanity. There are so few rumours regarding this spell since those who have succeeded have all succumbed to madness.

Death mages are rare and are almost always trained in the Necropolis (which is a part of the Chantry). Necromancy itself is just a rumour in Thedas, but feared nonetheless. It is a severely restricted school and in this setting can only be used by a character if they have it as a specialisation (such is the training required).

This school is mostly taught in the Necropolis, the Frostbacks by Avvar shaman, by Chasind Wilders and some Rivain tribes. It is also seen amongst some Circles and other cultures.

Abilities and Spell Trees
Yes we borrowed heavily from Forgotten Realms, hehe.


 * Reanimation Tree
 * Cursebite (when a raised undead bites a mortal they slowly turn into a zombie)
 * Control Undead
 * Create Undead
 * Mastery of the Undead


 * Death Magic Tree
 * Circle of Death (a spell that snuffs out the life force of several living creatures in all directions)
 * Horrid Wilting (a spell that damages a creature via dehydration. This spell evaporates moisture from the bodies of all the subject living creatures)
 * Dance of Ruin (a spell that seriously damages Fade Creatures. Often used by the death mages in the Necropolis to fight Fade incursions, the shaman of the Avvar and Chasind have their own version of this spell. The caster dances wildly and chants. After they finish their dance, a wave of crackling energy flashes outward up to the extent of the range. All Fade creatures within the area are damaged and sometimes expelled from the material plane depending on the mana and experience of the mage)
 * Death Knell (a spell that finishes off a dying subject and saps their entropic energy to strengthen the mage. You draw forth the ebbing life force of a badly wounded creature and use it to fuel your own power or your own ebbing life energy)


 * Master Necromancer Specialisation (see custom specs for full information)
 * Enervation (a spell that severely weakens the subject. The death mage must touch the enemy, thus releasing a black bolt of crackling entropic energy that suppresses the life force of any living creature it strikes)
 * Dread Blast (a spell that fires a beam of entropic energy at a target and shatters it)
 * Ray of Enfeeblement (a spell that casts an enveloping green mist which saps at the strength of anyone (including the casting mage) caught inside of it or who breathes it. It is a direct attack upon the creature's soul. The spell drains the mental faculties of the casting mage leaving them vulnerable.
 * Wail of the Banshee (a spell that evokes a scream from the Fade, channelled through the death mage, and paralyses all who hear it. Often those who hear the scream are driven mad, claiming to see "ghosts" and "demons", normally where the Veil is thin.