Necromancy: The Art of the Damned

Admin Antall Innlegg : 209 Join date : 2012-07-18

Necromancy: The Art of the Damned

INTRODUCTION.
Necromancers are mortal practitioners of death magic, commonly referred to as necromancy. Channeling their knowledge of the arcane into manipulation of the forces of life and death, these men and women were instrumental in the forming of the Scourge in Lordaeron.

Necromancers are spellcasters whose magic manipulate the power of death. In calling upon this power, necromancers risk being consumed by it — until eventually they join the ranks of the undead. Necromancers twist arcane magic to manipulate the power of death. Commanding the undead, generally in the service of the Scourge, they gradually take on the characteristics of the dead — hollow eyes, shambling gaits, pallid and sunken skin, foul odors and so forth.

A few necromancers are uncorrupted. In this guide, everything about necromancy will be discussed in extreme detail, Undeath itself will be greatly discussed.

CONTENTS.

I. What is necromancy?

II. Types of necromancy?

III. How to become a necromancer?

IIII. History of Necromancy

IV. Lichood.

VI. TBD.

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I - What is Necromancy?
Necromancy is the art of using the arcane to bring back the dead as your servants, or create painful plagues and devastating diseases. Necromancy is not safe, legal, or for the light-hearted. It involves disturbing the dead and preforming sickening experiments.

To show you how much necromancy is disliked and illegal, I present and excerpt from the Schools of Arcane Magic -- Necromancy.

Necromancy is the study of magic involving the dead. It is highly illegal and should be avoided at all costs. I discuss necromancy here only because it is our obligation to have a basic understanding of the magic employed by our enemies - and make no mistake, any practitioner of necromancy is your enemy. Necromancers and their followers are the enemies of all living things. Their influence must be avoided at all costs.

Necromantic magic has other uses besides raising the dead. The masters of necromancy are able to summon festering disease, harness shadow into 'incendiary energy' and 'chill the living with the power of undeath.' Necromancy can also be used to reconstruct the flesh of the dead and undead, allowing them to function again after destruction. The necromancer is a dark champion of the dead and vile bane to the living. Their undead creations will inspire terror into their foes while they rain destruction from afar in the form of disease and pestilence. Those alive fear their name, and the dead seek them.

In that respect, the necromancer is not entirely evil. As evil is perspective, one might say. The forsaken necromancers, many of them at least, are quite unlike what described above. Some indeed create vile plagues and weave destruction, but they tend not to have minions simply because they were once enslaved themselves. "Although Forsaken heal naturally" many will go to necromancers to be repaired. Interestingly enough, necromancers are able to free enslaved or mindless undead, and many research spells that may one day restore the Forsaken to life. While the Forsaken distrust necromancy, for obvious reasons, Sylvanas realized how valuable it was to their cause, to heal, strengthen, and replace her people.

Necromancers (and Fel users, though this doesn't belong here) are acknowledged by one of the greatest magi in existence as more powerful.

As I have said before, I am becoming increasingly disturbed by the dangerously vast potential of certain schools of magic, and the contrasting amount of laws and boundaries that should be set to limit them. Furthermore, comprehensive research on these volatile schools shows a trend of decreasing academic prerequisites yielding increasingly powerful outcomes.

A student of mine asked me today, "Why are there so many limitations on traditional portals, when Fel portals can be made twice as large and last ten times as long?" The student was not yet educated in the abstraction of what is practical versus what is achievable, yet the question held within me a certain duality: What future is there for the established practices of magic when so many wild variations threaten to overshadow them?

I do all I can to stifle studies of Fel magic and necromancy here, yet I find myself both disturbed and enthralled by their potential. I refuse to believe that that their efficiency so soundly trumps the common criticisms of being unstable or "evil" that these schools hold the monopoly of avenues for magical progress. Yet when witnessing the massive infernal for one's self, or seeing acres of land blighted at the wave of a hand, I fear my beliefs may soon shift from gospel to dogma in the minds of my peers.

As we can see from this, Antonidas is amazed and disturbed by the potential of necromancy (and Fel). A prime example of necromancy in action is the Undead Plague, Kel'thuzad, and the entire Scourge.

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II - Types of Necromancy.
III - How to become a Necromancer? ^^

History of Necromancy.

Necromancers have been around since the beginning of the Nathrezim race of demons, the first beings ever known to raise the undead. This was done from Night elven corpses in the war of the ancients. But in known history, to date, it can be traced to the initial corruption of the orcs by the Burning Legion. Gul'dan was instructed to open a school of necromancy, and through it Kil'jaedan taught the first necrolytes. In the first war, their main purpose was to raise the fallen as undead. While they did have other magical abilities, they were worthless compared to the other orcish warlocks.

Unfortunately, when Orgrim Doomhammer rose, and spared Gul'dan's life, the orc warlock promised to create a legion of undead riders able to use magic. The necrolytes couldn't do it, which angered their master Gul'dan, but he even so he did see potential in them. He ritually slaughtered them, and they would rise to become the first death knights. Each newly raised was given a jeweled truncheon to focus its power, akin to rune blades but with more power than the playable death knight rune blades, but less than the newer vampiric blades. These necrolytes didn't entirely die out; they remained within the Stormreaver Clan, and can even be found within the Fel orc/ regular orc populations of the Outlands.

Most modern necromancers, though, were trained by Kel'thuzad or the other Master Necrologists within Scholomance, the school of necromancy beneath Caer Darrow. Surprisingly it wasn't discovered by the Crown of Lordaeron, and remained functioning till long after the Third War. It contained the lich Ras Frostwhisper and Darkmaster Gandling until they were slain.

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Ten years ago, the cult of the damned turned the crypts beneath Caer Darrow (which was an Arathor Fortress) and turned them into a necromantic school. The cult trained its mortal agents here, preparing to unleash the Plague of Undeath. None in Lordaeron knew, except for the Barov family. In return for the land, however, the Lich King offered his blessing of immortality, and the nobles were slain and turned to undead monstrosities. After Kel'thuzad went on to grander things, Araj the Summoner became headmaster.

After the merging of Arthas and Ner'zhul, the Lich King entered a period of dormancy as he slept and dreamed atop the Frozen Throne. In the meantime, his minions rebuilt Ice crown Citadel as he made his plans for conquest of all of Azeroth. Finally, after several years, the Lich King awoke and unleashed his attack on the unsuspecting world. The forces of both the Alliance and Horde then arrived in Northrend to confront the Scourge on its home soil, until they were prepared for a final assault on Ice crown. After facing a gauntlet of the Scourge's most powerful leaders, the greatest champions were able to reach the Frozen Throne to confront the Lich King himself. In the epic battle that ensued, Tirion Fordring used the sword Ashbringer to shatter Frostmourne, releasing the spirits within that then aided the champions as they sent Arthas to his demise.

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This did not mean then end of the Scourge, however, as the spirits of both Uther the Lightbringer and King Terenas Menethil II had warned that without anyone to control it, the Scourge would be free to destroy the world. As Fordring contemplated placing the crown upon his head (thinking there was no one else who could accept such a burden) the disfigured Bolvar Fordragon appeared and stated that it was his fate to be the Jailer of the Damned. In addition, he said that the world must be told that both he and the Lich King were dead and never know the truth about what had really happened if it was to live free from the tyranny of fear. Fordring then reluctantly crowned Fordragon as the new Lich King, and moment’s later ice imprisoned the Lich King once more.

By the time of the Cataclysm, the Scourge is little more than a shell of its former power. The Lich King is dead, the Scourge command structure all but wiped out, and the remaining legions of undead held in check by Bolivar’s sacrifice. However, there are still sizable Scourge forces in the Plaguelands of Lordaeron who continue to serve their now-dead master. The island fortress of Caer Darrow, home of the Scholomance, is the major Scourge holdout west of the Thondroril River, and their forces can also be found in Andorhal and in some of the more easterly farms of the Western Plaguelands, a continued blemish on the slowly healing land.

Some former servants of the Scourge have found their way into the ranks of the Forsaken. The val'kyr, the winged harbingers of the Lich King, were brought into Sylvanas' fold after the Lich King's demise; the Banshee Queen used their necromantic powers to solve the problem of her people's limited numbers by raising their slain mortal enemies as Forsaken.

After the Shattering, both the Alliance and the Forsaken started making major efforts to expel the Scourge from Andorhal. The ruined city became a warzone between the Alliance under the command of Thassarian, and the Forsaken under the command of Koltira Deathweaver. Araj the Summoner leads what remains of the Lich King's forces in Andorhal, their power diminished by the death of their lord. This major conflict in this war effort came to be known as the Battle for Andorhal. The combined forces relentlessly slaughtered Scourge and ultimately slew Araj.

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Lich-hood.

The lich is the ultimate goal of the necromancer. While they may not lust for the tremendous magical prowess that these arch magi of necromancy possess initially, as their dark magic corrupts them, soon they will seek out the unspeakably evil rituals that create a lich. During Ner'zhul's mortal life as the warchief of the Horde on Draenor, he led numerous warlocks, shaman, and even some of Gul'dan's death knights. When the dark sorcerers were taken by Kil'jaeden and the Burning Legion, their bodies were transformed into twisted aberrations of their former selves. At this time, Ner'zhul became known as the Lich King because he led these liches. Their new undead bodies were now immortal, though they were bound to Ner'zhul's iron will. Due to their unwavering loyalty to their master, their free-will and intelligence remained intact, and due to their grand service, the former shaman granted them control over the 'furious elements of the cold north.' They now wield frost magic along with their own destructive necromantic spells.

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The liches are the most powerful allies of the Scourge, and their service is laden with evil intent and great power. They usually command armies as generals, and are surrogates for the Lich King himself. By law, these creatures must be power-hungry, devious, and vicious, and unless someone was forced into their lich-hood, there can be no exceptions to that rule. Their great intellect and unholy prowess is use not only to serve their master, but also to destroy one another in subtle political machinations. They gain strength and renown from each opposing liches death. The liches are not friends with one another, though they will ally if it suits them.

They resemble a skeleton with a frozen blue emanating from seemingly inside of their bones. They most often dress in flowing robes, usually that of a king or high priest. Their followers call them by powerful-sounding names. Sometimes they claim their powers are directly from Ner'zhul, as if he was a god and they are his prophets. Instead of walking on the filthy soil as the disgusting mortals do, they float above it effortlessly on frosty mist. They float 6-12 inches from the ground, and so they do not trigger pressure plates or similar traps, and they do not leave footprints. Difficult terrain does not inhibit liches, and they cross water and any other liquid with this ability. Oddly enough, the lich can fall down pits unless they are maintaining a spell unique to their kind that grants them spell-powered flight. This is the same ability that allows them to pilot the dread necropolises of the Scourge, like Naxxramas.

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Typically, the Lich King will elevate only necromancers to lichdom, but there are rumors of mages or shaman who attain this status. In fact, some tales say that a spell caster with enough personal or magical strength can willingly turn him into a lich, which is proven in Cataclysm by Morbent Fel. Powerful necromancers can call upon the Aspect of the Lich, temporarily becoming a lich and gaining their sinful power. But the unprepared necromancer should be warned, casting this spell is the point of no return, and after the effect ends and they return to their mortal form, their body will have decayed due to the near limitless necromantic energy that had flown through them, and they will forever more be undead. (Think of a human casting it, then becoming forsaken in both state and appearance.)

After the Burning Legion's defeat at Mount Hyjal, the Lich King's hold over the Scourge weakened. AT this point, a few liches chose to serve the demons in lieu of Ner'zhul. The most important of these were Ras Splinterspine and Morbent Fell (not to be confused with Morbent Fel, the necromancer mentioned that seems to follow the other Morbent's footsteps.)

Almost every lich has a physical amulet, a phylactery that contains its soul. As long as a lich's phylactery remains intact and undamaged, the foul monstrosity's body will regenerate and return to undeath. The knowledge of a phylactery's mechanics is unknown, and therefore, many thought dead liches may still return.

Rogue liches walk Azeroth with nary the intention of raising an army, unlike when they served the Legion. Even a single undead draws attention, putting together a large group would get the populace upset. Instead, they harbor a single goal. Vengeance. They seek those who helped bring their downfall, first destroying all they hold dear, and then bringing the ultimate retribution on their target.

Apparently, liches may not have phylacteries, contrary to popular belief. Ras Frostwhisper was once a human mage, and when he turned himself over to the Lich King he received immortality. In Stratholme, upon tainted ground he took a knife to his own neck and cut his throat while smiling. His corpse fell onto Menethil's Gift, and there he was raised into a lich. His soul can be found at Menethil's Gift, but he did not clearly 'make' a phylactery. Whether or not the Menethil's Gift acts as his phylactery is unknown, but it would seem not. During a quest-chain, one finds a Keepsake of Remembrance, an object from the man's past, and the soul will cling to it, and then when used on the lich, it will cling to his physical form, thus restoring mortality.

I watched as the human, Ras Frostwhisper, pledged his undying soul to the Lich King. He drew the dagger to his own throat and with a smile, cut from ear to ear. His body collapsed inside the borders of the pentagram. The Lich King stood over the fallen mage and with a single motion, Ras Frostwhisper the lich, was born.

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Yes, I remember. What you seek has a name - Menethil's Gift: The ground blessed by the Lich King - holy ground to Scourge.

So you may be asking yourself, "How do I become this... this... amazing beauty?!" I will tell you.

Firstly, a lich MUST be evil. While debatable in certain cases where one is forced to be a lich as with many of Ner'zhul's shaman, playable liches should be evil as the ritual for one to willingly become a lich requires such. Playable liches should be necromancers, mages, or warlocks, and rarely warlocks.

An integral part of becoming a lich (at least the kind playable) is creating a magic phylactery in which the character stores its life force. The only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy the phylactery. If one destroys the lich's phylactery, it is immediately weakened and knows that it was destroyed. They must make a new phylactery before their death, or they die permanently, though after a lich's death it may appear as a powerless and incorporeal ghost.

Each lich must make its own phylactery, and they must be able to cast powerful magic. This relic is extremely expensive and takes an extremely long time to make. Phylacteries can take the shape of a metal box, rings, amulets, or similar items.

Unfortunately, the ritual to become a lich is "unspeakably evil" and none know its secrets. So the first and greatest rule is BE CREATIVE. The acts must be so evil that they can never be spoken of, by anyone, ever. Think torturing Draenei children and absorbing their souls or anything worse. In fact, they should be much, much worse. As long as it makes sense, it has to somehow contribute to a flow of power or a mental change that allows one's body to reflect their inner evil.
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Necromancy: The Art of the Damned The_ne10