Necromancer

Name	Necromancer
Race	Varied
Type	Varied
Faction	Varied
Premiere	Desideratum: Blood Bonds
Relative(s)	None Applicable

Necromancy (/ˈnɛkrəmænsi/) is a practice of magic involving communication with the dead – either by summoning their spirits as apparitions, visions or raising them bodily – for the purpose of divination, imparting the means to foretell future events, discover hidden knowledge, to bring someone back from the dead, or to use the dead as a weapon. The word necromancy is adapted from Late Latin necromantia, itself borrowed from post-Classical Greek νεκρομαντεία (nekromanteía), a compound of Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós), “dead body”, and μαντεία (manteía), “divination by means of”; this compound form was first used by Origen of Alexandria in the 3rd century AD. The Classical Greek term was ἡ νέκυια (nekyia), from the episode of the Odyssey in which Odysseus visits the realm of the dead souls and νεκρομαντεία in Hellenistic Greek, rendered as necromantīa in Latin, and as necromancy in 17th-century English.

Necromancers are usually adept at wielding the type of shadow magic known as “Death Magic”. While a select few humans are born with innate abilities in casting shadow magic or death magic (for example, Evelyn Addams), most necromancers require years of study in the occult to master the techniques of raising even a single body from the grave. The other, quicker method is for the necromancer to seek out the power of a dark god or demon lord. For example, Ah Pwash is typically one of the most powerful death gods. However, relying on such beings for power usually requires contractual obligations or pacts with the entity and almost without exception leads to the necromancer becoming little more than a puppet. Just about any sentient being can learn the spells for necromancy, but humans, Nightbred, and demons are the most common wielders of such magicks. The most powerful of these casters can raise entire armies of the dead, but the caveat to their power is that upon their own demise, their army simply crumbles to dust and bones.