Redeemed (ideology)
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The Redeemed
The Redeemed style themselves as "good guy Necromancers," but the reality of their existence is far from romantic. While the Redeemed have often faced the character flaws that drove them to necromancy and became better people for it, temptation and taint will follow them to their graves.
Necromancers do a lot of bad things. It is simply a reality that in the course of practicing the discipline, a Necromancer goes against all societal norms and even the express wishes of the gods themselves. It is impossible for anyone except the most misanthropic to do these things without some lingering regret.
All Necromancers eventually confront the bitter truth of their discipline, and in turn most Necromancers fall. They tell themselves lies, they steel their hearts, and they refine whatever drove them over the brink into a burning mania. A rare few Necromancers face the darkness in their soul and come out of it with a moral and spiritual awakening. Realizing the horrible mistakes they have made in their lives, they kneel in supplication to the gods once more. In the glory and mercy of the Immortals (some of them, anyway), they are granted redemption.
Redemption has its price. The gods expect the Redeemed to forever give up the profane arts: they may not use Animation or Transcendental Necromancy magic, nor may they ever again create a Risen. However, the gods do not do anything to prevent the Redeemed from doing these things. The gods judge the Redeemed silently, ready to strike them down once more if they slip even once. The Redeemed fear this fate more than death itself. By becoming Redeemed, a Necromancer burns all his bridges among the cults. The twice-damned has twice as far to fall, and no friends in the pit he would land in.
Further, while the gods have forgiven the Redeemed, society has not. The governments of the Provinces do not care about a Necromancer's fanciful tales of revelation and redemption, seeing it little more as a disgusting ploy for leniency. The Redeemed are hunted just as surely as any other Necromancer by the followers of the gods that have forgiven them.
The Redeemed regard the other ideological camps as monsters who have fallen to moral and spiritual decay. The other camps regard the Redeemed as sycophants who cling desperately to the tyrannical gods that disowned them to begin with.
Spells While Redeemed
Two of the four spellbooks are prohibited when you're Redeemed: Animation and Transcendental Necromancy.
Should you choose to use either spellbook you will have the capability to do so. However, you will no longer be considered Redeemed. The gods will not stop you from using them, but they'll judge and punish you if you do.
Corruption and Blood Magic spells can be used as normal.
Current Numbers
Scholars estimate that the number of Redeemed existent at any time is less than a dozen.
Redemption
Outside of bypassing the Immortals related problems (favor issues & divine outrage penalties), there's no mechanical benefit to redemption.
Redemption for a Necromancer is, playability wise, a bad thing. The gods pat you on your head and give you a cookie...at the cost of locking out vast tracks of your spells and never again using your guild's signature ability and skill. That's a terrible deal, and only really exists as a gear in a larger design (the Necromancer's moral struggle) and for people who really, really want to do "good guy Neccies."
It's very likely that most players of Necromancers will evaluate the state and decide that it gives up way too much for the little it provides. That's both perfectly fine and intentional. It provides contrast to people who want to play "neccies" and "white Necromancers." If you want to be a good guy Necromancer, the gods have given you a way -- a long, very torturous way. If you think the cost is too high, then obviously your character didn't want to be a good guy so badly after all.
Can Redeemed Necromancers switch guilds?
Absolutely not.
The Necromancer who manages to seize redemption might, after the initial euphoria drains away, notice that something is a little...wrong. They may be redeemed in the eyes of the gods, but the damage they inflicted on their souls is still there.
A Redeemed still sees the sickening whorls of Arcane mana out of the corner of his eye, stalking him like a beast. The supernatural forces of Elanthia will still reject him: his Inner Fire has smoldered, his Empathy is shattered. Nature abhors him, the Plane of Probability is closed to him, and the aether spirits will not heed his call. Even if he is Redeemed, he is a Necromancer. No matter how long or how hard he runs, he can never fully escape his past.
Opinions among the Redeemed on this issue are split. Some simply fade away into lives of obscurity. They take up the plowshare and accept that whatever will be, they have at least won free from the madness and spiritual decay of their discipline. The wounds in their soul remain, but they do not fester.
Others see this as, in a bizarre way, part of a divine quest. They look for any sign by the gods that may suggest that they can prove their sincerity and win not just redemption, but rebirth and purification. Some of these crusaders attempt to do some measure of good to others, even though the powers they possess are greedy and destructive. Some of them turn inward, reckoning that they alone have the knowledge and means to beat the Necromancers at their own game.
The later ones inspire fear out of proportion with the chance of encountering one, but a homicidal Redeemed is one of the worst things any other Necromancer (including other Redeemed) could meet. There are tales of lone Redeemed murdering entire cults, conjuring acid and poison with one hand and wielding torch-fire in the other.
No matter what road a Redeemed Necromancer takes, however, purification is a long ways away.