User:Reene/WWZ

The multi-page document has been scrupulously copied by an apparently meticulous scribe on crisp off-white parchment. Attached to the document is a sheaf of disorganized notes written in much sloppier handwriting.

Necromancy and the Undead: A Treatise

Necromancy has a long history in and around Kermoria. Stories of its use stretch back to before written history and extend right into modern times, from the aptly named Fallen Prince to the likes of Velmix or Veyne. However, for obvious reasons, actual facts about the practice are scarce; after all, anybody that demonstrates more than the most vague and rudimentary notions of how one might create an undead creature or conjure flesh-eating necromantic acid tends to get strung up and burned alive for their trouble. This is the best course of dealing with their kind, but does leave us lacking when we are faced with "people" capable of doing just that, as the study of actual necromancy from even a scholarly point of view is nonetheless unacceptable. Still, despite these limitations, researchers have accumulated years of distant observations and put together portions of history to make some kind of sense of necromancy and its practitioners. What follows is a summary of some of that research as it may relate to the coming conflict, as well as a few of my own theories based on personal observation and study.

Necromantic magic distilled into its most base parts is a sorcery typically composed of Life mana mixed with almost any other kind of mana; the most notable exception is the inability to mix Life and Holy manas together without horrendous backlashes, which curiously make a "Holy Necromancy" impossible. Necromancy manifests invariably in themes of corruption, blood, bone, and acid, but mixed into the average Necromancer's repertoire tend to be other lesser petty sorceries such as Limb Disruption. Spiritual necromancy is a rare, separate subset of all of these, and few Necromancers have displayed the ability or inclination to engage in magic meant to manipulate the soul; the reasons for this are unknown, as it is certainly possible, though perhaps presents some extra difficulty or other obstacle that most cannot or do not wish to surmount. Dessication of the flesh and alteration of physiology - both that of the Necromancer's and that of his victims - occurs commonly however, either as a side-effect while accomplishing a different intended result or as a direct product of the tampering of the Necromancer. Examples of this can be either overt or subtle and include such acts as the rearranging of the caster's own flesh to create a sort of shield against physical attacks, or causing the pain senses of a victim to become so heightened that the slightest skin contact is agonizing. Having experienced the latter myself, I can say that it is no less terrible for its relative subtlety.

However, a Necromancer's "art" occasionally extends beyond common mutilation. Some of the most potent and deadly poisons and diseases in recorded history had necromantic origins; supernatural plagues engineered to spread, mutilate, and kill without further interference from the Necromancer, or else poisons capable of ripping the soul from the body of a victim and forcing it to walk the Starry Road. Instances of the latter are thankfully rare, though absolutely devastating when they have been used (see the deaths of nearly the entire Moon Mage High Council for an example of such) but there are still occasional breakouts of these necromantic plagues capable of devastating an entire city in a fraction of the time it would take a normal disease to spread. The recent consumption outbreak that temporarily crippled Rivercrossing and Riverhaven is an example of one such plague, having been developed and spread by Adan'f Necromancers. Once this consumption reached a certain presence threshold among the population, it was spread easily and readily by people simply being people: ignorant, frightened, and occasionally malicious.

The Undead

The most recognizable act of any Necromancer is, of course, the creation of undead beings. When your average person thinks of an undead creature, they imagine the classical image of a shambling, mindless zombie bent on inflicting as much raw destruction on behalf of its creator as possible. While this certainly happens, and their abundance is a good reason that it has become the iconic representation of an undead abomination, it is far from the only blasphemy in a Necromancer's repertoire. Corporeal undead are still by far the most common, ranging from from the mindless but vicious examples above to undead that seem to possess a startlingly cold intellect and the ability to plan, ambush, and even use magic. Further, there are recorded instances of undead creatures that not only retain their intellect and abilities, but portions of their personality and possibly even free will; more on these later.

Noncorporeal undead being controlled by Necromancers are rare in comparison but have been observed on a few occasions, and are typically possessing of much more startling abilities. The reason for their rarity is unknown; they may simply be so difficult to conjure and control that most Necromancers don't bother, they may require some extra component or ritual from the Necromancer, or there may be some other reason, as with spiritual necromancy in general, that most Necromancers do not dabble. No matter what the cause, we can be thankful that we rarely see Necromancers wielding them.

Against all kinds of undead, Holy magic is the most effective tool of destruction. Non-Holy magic is impeded and weakened when used on corporeal undead and will fizzle without adding additional added power to the spell pattern, but most types may still be used to decent effect. Non-Holy magic won't work at all against noncorporeal undead, leaving one with the sole option of wielding a blessed weapon against them and hoping for the best. Bless is an absolutely vital addition to the arsenal of one wishing to go toe-to-toe with any undead creature, corporeal or non, and indeed a weapon that has not been Blessed will simply pass right through a noncorporeal creature.

Most prominent and interesting among research into the subject of the undead is the existence of an undead creature known as Penelope, or Lady P. Lady P was a Moon Mage and Astrologer of great distinction believed to have originally been born and died long before the Empire of the Seven-Pointed Star, and is best known for her research into the phenomenon of the Bloodworm Comet (which is at the time of this writing visible in the constellation of the Mongoose), thought to be a portent of great ill. She taught some of the most brilliant mages in the history of the guild, including Sanyrsen Astoshe, Guildleader Mortom Saist and Guildmaster Prime Taramaine Braun, and she was responsible for multiple breakthroughs in enchanting and spell research.

Nonetheless, she was most definitely an undead creature, and though she appeared seemingly oblivious to her condition there is no doubt about this fact; indeed this led to her "death" in more recent times. Many refer to her as a lich, including those in my guild, but I disagree with this label. I believe the term lich implies choice, a willing undertaking by a Necromancer to descend into undeath, preserving themselves and the core of their personality in some manner. Lady P never expressed the remotest inclination toward necromancy, nor the temperament you would expect to see in such an individual (Necromancers, particularly those on that level, are invariably megalomaniacal, destructive, and arrogant creatures) nor even the most basic awareness of her condition. Further, even a living Necromancer is nigh-impossible to kill successfully; when brought down, they have a nasty tendency to get back up, and the skill it would presumably require to make yourself into a lich would almost assuredly come with some level of indestructibility. But on the contrary, when attacked, Lady P never raised so much as a hand against her attackers, instead begging them to stop and asking them why they would want to hurt her. When she fell, she did not get back up. So one of the greatest minds of our time was lost; some would say this is a good thing, and that any undead creature should be destroyed on sight, and yet...

Why is this relevant to our discussion? Simple: If Lady P was not a Necromancer that transformed herself into a lich, then it follows that she must have been _created_ by another Necromancer instead, with her personality, intellect, powers and quite possibly free will intact. What became of her creator and why he never apparently intervened in her recorded life is unknown, but it fits with her apparent ignorance toward her condition. And if one Necromancer could do it, another certainly could, particularly of the caliber of Lyras. Thousands of shambling undead abominations is one thing, but giving them the ability to think and plot is quite another. Indeed, the more exposure we have to Lyras's servants, the more we must realize that we need to tear down our preconceived notions of what a Necromancer is and is not capable of, and face a much more grim reality: Our opponent is more dangerous than we ever thought.

On Lyras

Lyras, alternatively known by aliases such as the Chaser of Cats and Dogs or (more recently) the Devourer, seems to break many of the rules we've come to identify. She wields powers of spiritual and corporeal necromancy the likes of which have never been seen before, and her army is vast and apparently under her near-total thrall. Little is known of the mortal Lyras was before her conquest and undeath, much less how she acquired her powers or why.

...

Miscellaneous Notes

This list is incomplete, but it is a reasonable start.

• Brittle skeletal peons
  • Utterly weak and ineffectual individually, but what they lack in strength they make up for in sheer irritating numbers.
  • Usually find them with the mutts.
  • Areas sighted: Northern Trade Route south of Kaerna in Zoluren.

• Fractured revivified mutt
  • Same as the peons, and they swarm together.
  • Unique throat-grabbing maneuver, potentially nasty and painful, at least if you're a paraplegic.
  • Areas sighted: Northern Trade Route south of Kaerna in Zoluren.

• Mange-covered rotting Prydaen/Rakash
  • Same crap, different woof. On par with faenrae reavers.
  • Areas sighted: Northern Trade Route south of Dirge in Zoluren.

• Rotting Elf corpse
  • Well isn't that unpleasant. About like sand sprites.

• Shambling Elf corpse
  • Same as above.

• Mutilated transmogrified oaf
  • Comparable to silver leucros, maybe a little more challenging. Hard to tell.
  • Found with the beasts.
  • Areas sighted: Roads around the North Gate of Crossing in Zoluren.

• Noxious flea-ridden beast
  • Found with the oafs, with about the same killing power.
  • Resistant to puncture attacks. Blunts seem to work very well.
  • Areas sighted: Roads around the North Gate of Crossing in Zoluren.

• Cracked bone warrior
  • On par with a black leucro.
  • Resistant to puncture attacks.
  • Typically seen with the shambling horrors.
  • Areas sighted: Southern Trade Route north of Leth Deriel in Zoluren, along the road through the Dark Forest in Ilithi, general park region in Outer Hibarhvidar in Forfehdhar.

• Shambling horror
  • About the same as the warriors, and usually seen with them.
  • Areas sighted: Southern Trade Route north of Leth Deriel in Zoluren, along the road through the Dark Forest in Ilithi, general park region in Outer Hibarhvidar in Forfehdhar.

• Necrotic warrior
  • Same as above.

• Putrefying shambler
  • About like a small peccary or black leucro.
  • Areas sighted: Langenfirth in Therengia, Southern Trade Route in Ilithi.

• Leathery grey ghoul
  • About like the shamblers.
  • Areas sighted: Langenfirth in Therengia, Gorbesh Fortress in southern Ilithi.

• Preserved zombified Prydaen/Rakash
  • Same crap, different purr. Probably on par with geni.
  • Areas sighted: North Road in Therengia, out the West Gate of Shard in Ilithi, Sky Road west of the ford in Forfehdhar.

• Unctuous Rakash/Prydaen zombie
  • Unsure on skill levels, partially due to...
  • Powerful magic resistance, like a bloody Barbarian. Figures.

• Arisen Rakash ranger
  • Also a ranged user, and not a very good shot at that. Maybe comparable to orc scouts.
  • Areas sighted: Gorbesh Fortress in southern Ilithi.

• Stark white bone archer
  • Ranged user (obviously). Just one poor cliche after another, isn't it? Unsure of skill.
  • Areas sighted: Sky Road east of the ford in Forfehdhar.

• Amalgamated fleshreaper
  • Comparable to mature gryphons.
  • Massive! Large enough to stomp and create tremors to knock people in the area down. Sure Footing helps negate this effect. Bloody Warrior Mages.
  • Weak-minded, extremely susceptible to psychic attacks. Didn't stay down very long though.
  • Areas sighted: Out the West Gate of Shard in Ilithi.

• Patchwork abomination
  • Ugly and about as mean as the fleshreapers.
  • Areas sighted: Out the West Gate of Shard in Ilithi.

• Gestalt draugen
  • Heard these compared to malchata.
  • Stealthy and difficult to see.
  • Massive and horrendous, vaguely canine and feline; has the same sort of biting attack as the mutts, but infinitely more deadly.
  • Areas sighted: Out the West and North Gates of Shard in Ilithi.

• Cadaverous assassin
  • Seem to be very dangerous, about the same as the draugens.
  • Areas sighted: Ilithi

• Cadaverous hulk
  • People I queried about this thing (sighted once) mumbled 'Jhime' under their breath and wouldn't say much else. 'Nuff said.
  • Areas sighted: Near the ferry to Ain Ghazal in Forfehdhar, Ilithi.

Lieutenants

These all share the common trait of being undead Necromancers, as well as (presumably) the same spell pool. Of the three, Gurglesnout seems to be the least threatening while Klusarlaik is easily the most, with Tachid somewhere in between. All of them seem to be able to call undead troops to their locations and show amazing levels of endurance and the ability to regenerate wounds at an alarming rate, as well as the ability to instantly snap out of any kind of stun, immobilization, unconsciousness, or other disability. Tachid referred to himself as "Risen," presumably by Lyras, and based on commentary by the other two I assume they are also creations of hers versus self-styled undead like Lyras herself. Do not approach these creatures alone. Singular acts of aggression are more likely to be fatally stupid than they are heroic. The cooperation of a middling to large group of people focusing as many damaging attacks on the Necromancer is the most successful way of dealing with one of them in combat. Fire also helps, though it pisses Tachid off something mighty if you mention it.

• Tachid
  • Halfling. Remarkably well preserved, considering. Not sure what those sigils on his scalp do.
  • Been having visions of him for months. Seems almost childlike in temperament.
  • Handy with a throwing knife (seems to prefer butcher's knives) as well as various other necromancies.
  • Funny little bugger in a gallows humor sort of way.

• Gurglesnout
  • S'kra. Seems to be in good condition.
  • Prefers throwing blades. The only spells I saw him cast were not fatal ones.
  • Talkative, and apparently not as aggressive as the other two; he only attacked when we all started aiming at him.
  • We have begun to "affectionately" refer to him as Gigglesnout instead. I tentatively approve.

• Klusarlaik
  • Rakash. Horrendous condition, looks like she was really torn up before she was raised. Half her face and throat is missing.
  • Rumors that this is actually Sharlir. No clue there, but Klusarlaik definitely wasn't her original name - it means Dead in Rakash. She doesn't respond to Sharlir in the positive or negative.
  • Seems to prefer using her bare hands. Only picks up a weapon when she needs to. Extremely bloodthirsty; even kills her own troops.