Necromancy is a catchall term for magic, of any discipline or none, that deals with the dead - specifically, with ghosts. Many necromancers have observed that extreme circumstances (such as accidental consequences of the Five Laws) can produce lingering spirits or echoes of personality, in one way or another.
Typical necromantic abilities might include identifying and understanding these shades, compelling them to answer questions or perform tasks, or binding them to objects (anything from places to trinkets to dead bodies in various stages of decay). One necromancer might spend their time conversing with ancient spirits; another might raise skeletal armies; another might focus on laying the unquiet dead to rest.
Necromancy is not a popular field of study, as many necromancers wind up inspiring fear, loathing, and serious irritation. It's also quite dangerous, for reasons to do with the Five Laws. Unwary necromancers generally transgress a Law and die horribly. Surviving in this profession requires common sense, presence of mind, and an excellent sense of proportion.
Typical necromantic abilities might include identifying and understanding these shades, compelling them to answer questions or perform tasks, or binding them to objects (anything from places to trinkets to dead bodies in various stages of decay). One necromancer might spend their time conversing with ancient spirits; another might raise skeletal armies; another might focus on laying the unquiet dead to rest.
Necromancy is not a popular field of study, as many necromancers wind up inspiring fear, loathing, and serious irritation. It's also quite dangerous, for reasons to do with the Five Laws. Unwary necromancers generally transgress a Law and die horribly. Surviving in this profession requires common sense, presence of mind, and an excellent sense of proportion.
- The First Law. It is easy to assume that the dead have already paid the price of a given magical act. This may be so in specific circumstances, but more than one necromantic adept has assumed they could pawn off the price in every case. Those who avoid consequences tend to reap them. Physical corruption has been known to result.
- The Second Law. Otherwise-intelligent necromancers have attempted to bind souls permanently, creating potent artifacts or lasting undead. This is commonly considered a very bad idea; consequences are unpredictable. Wiser practitioners set defined and realistic end states for any such binding. (Best practices and common sense suggest that 'you are free when I die' may be a counterproductive end state to set.)
- The Third Law. Occasionally, a practitioner will tire of questioning ancient spirits and aim to look back in time in a more explicit way. This is the sort of experiment that can kill even a master magician. Time is not to be trifled with.
- The Fourth Law. Nothing is immortal; even the strongest spirits fade away given enough time, and noticeable ghosts are the exception, not the rule. A skilled necromancer can give a spirit a new body of one kind or another, but the price is always steep and lethal. More than one magician has crossed this line by accident and wound up immutably dead.
- The Fifth Law. Fortunately, this law is not relevant to necromancy. It is the one law that necromancers aren't going to transgress by accident.