Talk:Thanatology skill

GameMaster Armifer's explanations of the skill and the requirement.

About

One of the open secrets of necromancy is that there is no "force of death." There are certainly forces in the universe that are deadly in nature or function, but not a single one that rules over or is generated by a corpse.

Magical theorists have a clue about this absence by studying Life mana. Life mana is not resonate with a healthy Elanthian standing in front of you, but with the process of living. It resonates with joy and tears; the moment a woman gives birth and a man exhales one last time. Life is a single force that marries both pain and glory.

The lack of cosmic duality continues right down to the core: the manipulation of life and death are the same thing. The "dark force" that Necromancers wield to animate the dead is the misuse of vital energy.

Life mana is not sacred, but the next step is much harder for Necromancers to take. Directly manipulating life force, whether to heal the innocent or infuse a mockery of life in a corpse, can only be done by Transference. The link is a door to numerous wonders and horrors, but the Empathy to use it is self-regulating (to a point) and antithetical to necromantic practice.

Though as the saying goes, when Maelshyve closes a door somewhere she opens a window.

In the physical sense, Scarification is a set of rituals that allow Necromancers to forge their version of the Transference link. The skill gets its name from the most dramatic part of the process, when the Necromancer must reach out and cut a ritually significant pattern into the subject's flesh. The physics behind this process are baffling to outsiders, yet it works. If the cut is made to the proper specifications for the Necromancer's intent and his ritual is sound, the Transference link is violently forged between him and his subject.

In the supernatural sense, Scarification is the technique of manipulating life energy to the Necromancer's ends. Since they lack Empathy and the ability to perceive life force, their manipulations are alternately brutish or rote, yet unshackled by Empathic Shock. Just as necromantic manipulation is injurious to an Empath's talents, empathic manipulation requires a degree of ability and technique that Necromancers cannot muster. Empaths and Necromancers may share this supernatural power, but they use it to wholly different ends.

Learning Scarification is a mixture of both the physical and supernatural techniques, with a balance that varies from Necromancer to Necromancer. Exquisite cuts and ritual intonations can cover for a lack of supernatural talent, while mastery over the subject's life force can wring more use out of a sub-optimal ritual.

Due to the shared practice of Transference, Empaths and Necromancers find themselves with an uncomfortable degree of common ground. Both sides are loathe to admit it, but when you strip away from bodies of lore that comprise Empathy and Scarification, you are left with the single ability of Transference and life manipulation. Necromancers can refine their technique with the help of the intuitive masters of this art, and Empaths can gain insights through exposure to experiments that they could not accomplish themselves. It would be comforting to say this sort of alliance is rare, but Necromancers aren't skittish about pressing an advantage and there are always Empaths degenerate or stupid enough to trust them.

Why

Part of it is consistency. Even though Astrology is important to the identity of a Moon Mage, they are magicians first and foremost. The bread and butter of the Moon Mage lifestyle is being a magic user, everything else takes a back seat to that.

Scarification is important to the identity of Necromancers, but in modern times their first and foremost concern is to survive. The Great Work / your own private undead army / redemption isn't going to matter much if they strip your soul naked and hang you first.

Part of it is lore-based. Astrology and Scarification both represent manipulation of forces that even their practitioners do not fully understand. If there is such thing as a Astrology Prime Moon Mage, he is a seer without modern peer, perhaps like Jares Braun and Master G'nar Peth of old. If there is a Scarification Prime Necromancer, the dread lich is well and truly buried in history.

Usage

Copied from Post:Thanatology - 4/5/2009 - 11:55

Zamidren?

Caraamon, Zamidren was outed very publicly and is a known Necromancer and known to non-Necromancers to be the one that gathered the Philosophers together. In addition, posting his name on the Necromancer boards as the guildleader is entirely kosher at this point in time. I don't think censoring his name here is appropriate. Reene 07:44, 23 February 2010 (UTC)