Necromancy

Through a variety of dark, mysterious rituals, necromancers are able to summon the souls of the dead and then bind them to a vessel. The undead are the deceased that have been revived once again. Typically, a necromancer's commands cannot be disobeyed by the raised undead creature.

Using necromancy is an inherently depraved act as it damages the life stream, and is forbidden in The Book of Kraus (which is revered as a holy text by the majority of Valmasians).

Necromancy Tiers: Each requires an approved application on the forums. Intermediate and master necromancy should showcase what your character has used necromancy for since your last application.

Apprentice Necromancy - 'Summon Undead' spell and able to conjure and sustain up to three PC skeletons at any one time.

Intermediate Necromancy - Able to revive and sustain one player-controlled character. The undead may try to resist their necromancer's control and whether they're successful or not is decided in a 1v1 RPB.

Master Necromancy - Able to revive and sustain up to three player-controlled characters.

Necromancy

Human necromancers, even if they're a master in the art, can typically summon no more than three hundred undead, with the average being at around ten for an experienced Magi. This number becomes lower depending on the power of the souls they've revived, for instance, if a powerful Magi is brought back, this may count as a hundred average undead.

Relics of Azrael, scattered throughout Eternia, and legendary for the destructive events they've caused, greatly enhance a necromancer's power. A novice to necromancy can summon hundreds of undead if they possess one of these tools, for instance. A master necromancer scales into the thousands.

History

The founder of this magic is Azrael; the strongest Angel, excluding Kraus. His desire was to use it to slay all of humanity and then revive them all, bound to his will as immortal beings. Through this, he would stop humanity from waging war on each other. Azrael's abilities in necromancy were so great that his undead possessed flawless bodies which could regenerate entire limbs almost instantly, and was able to command hundreds of thousands of undead.

Azrael's initial creation of necromancy comprised of rending apart the barrier between the earth and the heavens- Permanently scarring and rending the barrier that would ordinarily protect the stars from mortal meddling. The very act lead to his fall, staining his wings black with the selfish shortsightedness and utter madness it required.

Whilst many necromancers have practiced their art throughout history, the most notable of Valmasian history are Samael Cnila, the devoted Azraelite who unearthed Azrael's Fist and unleashed it unto the world to raise a horrific army to serve his dark deity. The east from Byson to Tilandre was summarily conquered, to be defeated by the convening of Valmasians living in Danarium.  Namarre Sakete and her rise to power through the same artifact and the reclaiming of Alteros.

Two major necromancers created horrific fodder and monstrosities for the mimics that arose, the copy of Namarre, and the doppleganger of a rising Malpercian occultist of great power, Kudlak Malpercius. The Lich King Dominic Falco, childhood friend and advisor to Empress Aria Hirano, commanded terror and obedience from the people of Nostvale with the aid of the coldstar, Acrux he created as an amplifier. Known for his ruthless killing and exploitation for the corpses of the most potent drakanites of his era, a triad of bone dragons heeded his call.

Binding the Undead

To conjure an undead, the summoner must either possess a physical link or the soul itself to bind. The most reliable physical link is a piece of the intended's flesh, or ideally, the entire body. This includes ash from the bone.

Once used to summon an undead, the remains of circuits are burnt out of what is left of the body if the soul departs. They may never be raised again.

Mimics are unable to be revived through necromancy. These magical aberrations, forged of meteors and orichalcum, are an utterly accidental byproduct and twisted corruption to the life stream. As a result, necromancy has no result on their usually rapidly deteriorating bodies.