“Congratulations to our newest Prophyte, Adrian Beckett! Adrian has been a tireless member since joining to assist us after one of the darkest times of our family. During his time as a Neophyte, Adrian immediately and singlehandedly took on dealing with our IT, an area that was sorely lacking until his arrival. Then, as he reached the level of Acolyte, he became dedicated to the shells of rebirth, caring for The Sister who Sleeps in Blood until her eventual rebirth, honing his knowledge of renewal both mortal and mechanical, and the secret teachings of the purification and creation of the lifeblood, to the level of a true master. Now that he has reached the level of Prophyte, the first to attain this position in over a decade, Adrian has dedicated himself and a small collection of Acolytes to the study of other magics and cults, to help protect us from the faceless darkness coming again to test our strength.”
Reanimation, the first school of Necromancy, gives life to dead matter through the creation of an artificial spirit to create a new servitor. With skill, a practitioner of Reanimation can increase the complexity of the “personality” and intelligence crafted, to the point of full mimicry of a real spirit.
The second school, True Necromancy, deals with conjuring the spirits of the dead to gain information. The spirits are entirely incorporeal, with no ability to interact with the world - this school is for learning from the dead, rather than turning their power to practical purposes. Skilled practitioners can call the spirits of specific people, using mementos that were important to them in life, and can call to spirits that are centuries old.
The third school of necromancy, Spirit Binding, is the study of taking spirits, naturally occurring or otherwise, and binding them into receptacles. The creation of magic mirrors and other sentient items are seen as the pinnacle of this craft. A skilled practitioner may even be able to bind the soul of a living being to allow it to return to life in the event of death.
The absolute pinnacle of necromancy is resurrection. By taking a body, using True Necromancy to call its spirit from the netherworld, binding it back into its body with Spirit Binding, and then using it as the animating force for a Reanimation, the master necromancer can create a fully sapient undead creature that remembers who it was in life and has all the skills and knowledge that it once possessed. That is an incredible feat, though, limited to true masters of necromancy. Only Queen Alyx is currently believed to have this ability, as it takes more than the human lifespan to master all schools.
“An interesting turn of events as a new hero hits Abizyl. A mystery hero known only as the Whisper of Death has appeared several times to warn underlings of their villain's upcoming destruction at the hands of powerhouse villain The Faceless Eater. There have been some reports of families of underlings lost to the faceless eater being visited by the Whisper of Death, who asks questions of the passed, then allows the family to say a last goodbye to their spirit. The questions arise though: Why is a necromancer in Abizyl, and what are they planning for the Faceless Eater?”
“They been calling Adrian a hero. True true. Heros are mean to people having fun, Adrian is mean to us. We go fishing Adrian say “stop stealing whales naughty Yattermain”. We play house Adrian say “bad Yattermain don't steal buildings”. We give buildings back Adrian say “no dropping buildings on people.” We try to take the nano Adrians offline to stop him ruining our fun and Adrian uses the time out hole and brings it back online. Adrian is mean.
[…]So to conclude. Your new Committee for the Underling unions 59th Bi-annual nominations are: President- Viadine Hulake, Secretary- Olba Roneto, Treasurer- Adrian Beckett, Non-organic officer- Sayida Roseanna Perkins, Union security officer- Essoy Imperial […]”