Necromancy

Origins of Necromancy
Necromancy, a sphere of black sorcery as it is known today, has been re-discovered by the human realms circa 700 SEC. It falls under the arcana of Black Sorcery, whose patron is Azh'uk'al. Eternally searching for new and forbidden knowledge hidden within the arcana waves,  Azh'uk'al, in the dawn of the world, found how the creatures that are of life, can be turned to that of death, in Lesrilon. Fascinated by this simple, yet at the same time complex discovery, the deity performed various experiments as if to see what causes this odd anomaly in the arcana streams. He had discovered how, as the life sparks, or souls, of the living power the stream by binding their mortal vessels to Lesrilon, upon death still leave a considerable amount of residue within the body. This residue amassed, but did not pass on back within the streams. It formed the negative side of Arcana – while slightly smaller in comparison to the size of the positive, it still proved to be a massive influence in Lesrilon. These residues actually allowed a magician to control the actions of the corpse, and in greater quantities, even the speed at which bodies decompose. As they amassed, Azh'uk'al discovered that a being whose resonance in the Arcana was powerful enough, could control the negative pools. Through eerie rituals of mutilation and desecration, the corpses could be controlled by their soul residue, empowered, and mutated. The earliest practices that can be related to necromancy are speculated to have been utilized by the early Anikalians. Whilst primitive when compared to the science, and possibly art, that is Urikhian necromancy, the earliest record of such is that of the Anikalian sorcerer and lord of the lost kingdom of Sephs, in which he had used the embalmed and skeletal remains of slaves and fallen warriors to defend against the enroaching kingdoms of the southern desert.

Necromancy in practice :
The definition of necromancy is simple : raising that which is dead, or using parts of that which is dead for various purposes. It is one of the most dangerous forms of arcana, due to the complexity and the consequences tied to it if the action of raising fails. While it is technically possible to raise a corpse to life, the improper handling of the soul, or the soul residue could lead to unforseen consequences, such as agitated wraith spawns, backlash soul rips, soul swaps, volatile corpse explosions, and several dozen others. The complexity lies within the rituals that are required for a corpse to be raised, and most of those rituals are specific to the type of undead to be spawned.

Common procedures that apply to all necromantic rituals are as follow :

Removal of palpebra superior and in most instances, palpebra inferior ( upper and lower eyelids ) with a precision removal tool.

Engraving of runes upon specific areas of the body in a predetermined order. This order may be circular or linear, depending on the type of result expected from the ritual.

Manipulation of the negative arcana resonance to achieve ressurection, control or mutation of the body.

The first step is often completed easily, as it is the most basic and taught first to novices. The eyelids are removed with either a necromancer's runic carving knife or a specific kind of tongs. To make it easy to cut the eyelids, it is often done while the victim is still alive to shorten the time and eliminate the resistance of the musculus levator after rigor mortis. If this is done post-humously, the palpebra is tied by a string and stretched for several hours to allow for a more precise cut. This first step is performed due to a belief that without the eyelids, the soul of the deceased shall find its way out of the body easily, reducing the chance of a wraith spawn. However, through time, it has also proved to have a psychological effect on the witness, as the constant, cold gaze of the undead is often enough to leave the enemy cringing in sweat. The wound left is at times cauterized, to prevent infection, but rarely does a necromancer bother him or herself with such a task. While the removal of the palpebra is common to all types of undead, further mutilation for specific undead types is evident in their appearance – it is simply to modify the body for the kind of use intended by the necromancer.

The second step is the most complex and important step, as it forms the link between the negative resonance and the corpse through soul residue left when the soul leaves the corporeal body. It has many room for error, none of which are pleasant, and most of which leave the necromancer either dead or worse. This step must be completed with utmost precision and focus, with the necromancer's personal runic carving knife. The runes are specifically that of Librarium Necrois, Azral's personal records of necromancy, as only through the lord of black sorcery may a mortal establish a direct link to the negative resonance of the Arcana. The rune pattern determines the type of undead spawned, but to be more specific, it technically shapes the resonance by directing the energy of soul residue through the body. These rune patterns may be circular or linear, and further, horizontal and vertical. Such patterns allow for easier distribution of the residue, and create a form of magical formula, which direct the arcana variables to create the desired effect. While in no way utterly deterministic, without such acts the effects of raising a corpse would be impossible. The reason to that is, while negative arcana resonance is technically a part of arcana as a whole and it exists, it is virtually dead. Negative arcana has no movement, nor does it effect the world by itself ; these patterns allow the necromancer to influence that by creating movement, which, when connected to the dead body, allow it to function once again, albeit not as a living. A common misconception here is that necromancy actually twists the soul and destroys the resonance, effectively ending the existence of a creature in the afterlife. The misconception is that the soul is left unscarred if the ritual is completed correctly ; however, if an error is commited during the action, it shall recall the soul from the arcana, the trauma of such conjuring an insane and murderous wraith, which is a major cause of necromancer deaths and possessions.

The third step is a direct follow up on the second – after the physical ritual, the necromancer must invoke the powers of dark sorcery to raise the corpse. To put it simply, if necromancy is a problem, the ritual a formula, then manipulation of the resonance is calculation of the result. The result will not always be what a necromancer expected, but that largely depends if the second step has been completed correctly. By loosely connecting his own resonance to the negative resonance, allowing him control of his army. This, in a way, creates an organism within the negative arcana, a nervous system with the necromancer's resonance directing the body, that is, his minions. However, the necromancer's resonance must always remain positive in order to be able to control, in contrast to the minions, whose resonance is always negative. This is why the necromancer, while technically being connected to his minions' resonance, does not feel any consequences upon their destruction, in addition to the undead being impervious to pain. Mutation works on the same principle, except requiring more soul residue to allow for greater control of the body – to an extent of shaping the flesh like clay

Removal of internal organs is completely optional, and experienced necromancers simply leave them inside to rot. While the myth of having to remove internal organs is dominant in cultures that are primitive in the art of necromancy, such as the peninsula of Maimah’Ladna, it really has no bearing on the quality of the corpse. In fact, it only gives it a greater stench, as the organs rot faster than the whole outer body which is mostly preserved due to embalming fluids. As such, amateur necromancers tend to be a lot slower, as the chore of removing the innards is taxing and tedious.

When rising skeletal creatures or creatures with little muscle tissue, the necromancer must take care to adapt the body and connect it with components such as linen strips, metallic bolts and similar replacements that keep the skeleton together and mimic ligaments. Runes must be inscribed upon the bones themselves, as the corpse is tied to the negative resonance, and not the materials keeping it together.

Amok’Tristar, the Grim Contract.
For the necromancer to be able to perform the ritual of raising the dead, they must tap into the well of negative arcana. No mortal may do this on their own, and as such require aid in the form of a conduit. This conduit is a lesser Stygian Spirit assigned to the necromancer by Azral.

For the aspiring necromancer to be able to attempt communication with the Stygian Spirit of Black Sorcery, they first must conduct a sacrificial ritual in his honour. This ritual, in itself called Amok’Tristar, requires human sacrifice, preferably that of an adolescent male. It is composed of the following steps:

Step one is preparing the altar, or the general area where the deed is to take hold. This would ideally be within an Azralite temple, or neutral ground, but by no means should it take hold on another God’s domain. The preparation consists of forming the enchanted rings around the altar. The protective ring keeps the Stygian Spirit or Daemon from destroying the necromancer should the ritual go wrong ( even if it is rarely effective due to the power of these beings ). It is also known as the outer ring and should be drawn by ordinary chalk, but carving the runes into the floor is preferable. The inner ring is to be drawn by blood of the sacrifice, slightly thinner than the protective one. This ring is used to establish the actual connection between the necromancer and the spirit.

Step two is preparing the body. It should be drained of enough blood to complete the first step. Following it, specific runes are to be carved following the length of the abdomen, identical to the procedure of raising the dead. This will allow the resonance to pass on and be collected by the summoned stygian spirit, acting as the true offering rather than just flesh that is the material body.

This step acts only as a form of showing respect to Azral than having any magical significance; a raven must be allowed to feast upon the remains of the sacrifice. After it the incantations may begin.

Incantations of the ritual are the last step, and consist of a multiple hour chant. The chant may be performed on any language as long as the runes inscribed upon the altar are that of Librarium Necrois. An aspiring necromancer is most vulnerable in this case, for the chant must not be broken at certain points.