Liliana Vess (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2024-01-17 11:05 pm
deathsmajesty) wrote in fandomhigh2024-01-17 11:05 pm
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Necromancers Guide to the Undead, Thursday, Period 1
Mornings were still an Abyss bedamned curse, but Liliana would be lying if she tried to say she wasn't in a better mood than last week. Clearly, it was because she was looking forward to actually starting to teach, rather than just make small talk. If she wanted to host a social hour, she'd start holding salons in her own home, at a reasonable hour of the day.
"Now, to clear up a common misapprehension, necromancy doesn't inherently involve the creation or control of the undead, though most necromancers either are undead themselves or do use undead servants in their work. No, necromancy is a wide field of study that specializes in the application and utilization of death magic, in any and all of its forms, including the Cabal's dementia casters and skinwitches, Innistrad's geistmages, Grixian galemages, and the Orzhov thrull-creating fleshmages, who differ from the more common fleshcrafters, as well as the nigh-emblematic ghoulcaller. Necromancy also overlaps with other disciplines, such as sangromancy, lethemancy which can be accessed either via necromancy or telepathy, curse-wielding anathemancy and hexmagery, and diabolism. Because of this overlap in skills and abilities, it is not surprising or particularly unusual to find, say, a diabolist or a sangromancer who is also a necromancer, but they are two complementary fields of study, not the same thing. Nor is every necromancer a master of every aspect of its art. I myself am an unparalleled ghoulcaller, as well as a skilled fleshcrafter and ghostslaver, but I'm only a passable lethemancer at best and I know the theory of galemagic far better than I practice it. And there are some aspects of necromancy I avoid entirely; I am most emphatically not a skaaberen--" Her lip curled a moment in distaste for the concept, "--nor am I a wakedancer, or a necro-alchemist."
Pffft, see? Bet none of you realized the field of necromancy was so vast and nuanced! This was what happened when you let popular culture dictate your understanding of a complex field of study! Sure, possibly because magic didn't exist in your world, but that sounded like your world's problem.
"However, even though necromancy itself is a rich discipline in and of itself, this class focuses specifically on my specialization: the undead. 'Undead' is a general classification for beings that are created or reanimated from the mortal remains of living creatures for a variety different purposes." That was an important definition folks, she suggested writing it down. "There are a number of reasons that one might seek to create or control the undead, but they can generally be grouped into four overlarge categories: the first, to curse or punish; the second, to extend a mortal lifespan; the third, to deepen one's understanding of death and death magics; and the fourth, to create or harness obedient servants, either for their skills, knowledge, or the simple biological fact of having a body." Don't knock the power of a mindless creature willing to throw itself at a wall simply because you told it to. Especially if you had an entire army of them.
"As for the undead themselves, there are any number of different ways to classify them, but most of them are so broad and generic so as to be worthless, or so specific and precise as to also be worthless, at least in a survey class like this," Liliana continued. "The best way for you to consider them, then, is whether they fit into the subgrouping of body, mind, or spirit. The body subgrouping is where you have your typical zombies or ghouls, your skeletons, your mummies, and the like. These are undead that have been reanimated from the physical remains of something, usually dead bodies, though there are both plant and fungal zombies as well that we will be covering in a later class. These creatures are generally mindless, either left feral or with very basic instructions from their necromancer, usually something on par with 'kill' or 'defend' or 'destroy.' They will carry out their creator's will to the best of their limited ability - consider them a cudgel, rather than any kind of blade. But then," she smiled thinly, "if you have to pass through twenty ranks of zombies in order to even get close enough to me to attack, they don't really need to be subtle to be effective."
But they'd talk about the benefits and weaknesses of zombies and the like later, this was only the basic introduction. Still, it wasn't her fault that they were so interesting that she just wanted to keep talking about them at length!
Love what you do, folks, and you'll never work a day in your life. Especially if what you love is necromancy, because then you'll have the physical undead to do all that gross menial labor for you.
"The next subgrouping are the undead that are generally fall under the heading of spirits: ghosts, geists, shades, spectres, wraiths...mostly intangible entities composed of energy that's related to a deceased person. There is some overlap in the concept of spirit as 'a worshiped object or concept,' but the latter is rarely the purview of necromancy, unless it's been corrupted in some way. Different types of spectral undead are created in different ways and from different parts of the mortal spirit and psyche, which makes a great deal of sense if you think about it. While bodies can be crafted into any number of forms, in the end, it is still a physical mass of flesh and bone. But the soul is infinitely complex and can manifest in any number of ways. The best necromancers who deal with the spectral undead are those that have made a study of the mortal mind and spirit, along with telepaths and empaths - they are quite skilled at interacting and communicating with spirits because they know the language of thought and emotion. Spirits are also the most naturally occurring type of undead, as at its most basic, a spirit needs little more than overwhelming emotion and a deep source of mana to coalesce."
There were some places in Innistrad, you couldn't move without tripping over a ghost or a geist or hearing a banshee wail at you.
"The last type of undead is the intelligent undead. Vampires are generally in this grouping, as are all the various types of liches, and, of course, intelligent zombies. While intelligent zombies can spontaneously self-manifest, it happens very rarely, and is usually the result of a self-aware ghost getting trapped within their own body. Other types of intelligent undead cannot happen spontaneously - they can happen by accident, yes, usually the result of carelessness, but there needs to be some kind of inciting incident - a vampiric feeding gone wrong, perhaps, or a botched spell. Now, of course, the distinguishing aspect of the intelligent undead is its intelligence, not its form. So you can have an intelligent zombie or mummy or skeleton, just like you can have an intelligent ghost or specter. So make no assumptions about what you're dealing with based on appearances alone."
Ah, her coffee was done, time to bring this lecture to a close. "We will get further into particulars about each time as we cover them individually, but for now, does anyone have any questions about the basic classifications or what an undead creature actually is?"
"Now, to clear up a common misapprehension, necromancy doesn't inherently involve the creation or control of the undead, though most necromancers either are undead themselves or do use undead servants in their work. No, necromancy is a wide field of study that specializes in the application and utilization of death magic, in any and all of its forms, including the Cabal's dementia casters and skinwitches, Innistrad's geistmages, Grixian galemages, and the Orzhov thrull-creating fleshmages, who differ from the more common fleshcrafters, as well as the nigh-emblematic ghoulcaller. Necromancy also overlaps with other disciplines, such as sangromancy, lethemancy which can be accessed either via necromancy or telepathy, curse-wielding anathemancy and hexmagery, and diabolism. Because of this overlap in skills and abilities, it is not surprising or particularly unusual to find, say, a diabolist or a sangromancer who is also a necromancer, but they are two complementary fields of study, not the same thing. Nor is every necromancer a master of every aspect of its art. I myself am an unparalleled ghoulcaller, as well as a skilled fleshcrafter and ghostslaver, but I'm only a passable lethemancer at best and I know the theory of galemagic far better than I practice it. And there are some aspects of necromancy I avoid entirely; I am most emphatically not a skaaberen--" Her lip curled a moment in distaste for the concept, "--nor am I a wakedancer, or a necro-alchemist."
Pffft, see? Bet none of you realized the field of necromancy was so vast and nuanced! This was what happened when you let popular culture dictate your understanding of a complex field of study! Sure, possibly because magic didn't exist in your world, but that sounded like your world's problem.
"However, even though necromancy itself is a rich discipline in and of itself, this class focuses specifically on my specialization: the undead. 'Undead' is a general classification for beings that are created or reanimated from the mortal remains of living creatures for a variety different purposes." That was an important definition folks, she suggested writing it down. "There are a number of reasons that one might seek to create or control the undead, but they can generally be grouped into four overlarge categories: the first, to curse or punish; the second, to extend a mortal lifespan; the third, to deepen one's understanding of death and death magics; and the fourth, to create or harness obedient servants, either for their skills, knowledge, or the simple biological fact of having a body." Don't knock the power of a mindless creature willing to throw itself at a wall simply because you told it to. Especially if you had an entire army of them.
"As for the undead themselves, there are any number of different ways to classify them, but most of them are so broad and generic so as to be worthless, or so specific and precise as to also be worthless, at least in a survey class like this," Liliana continued. "The best way for you to consider them, then, is whether they fit into the subgrouping of body, mind, or spirit. The body subgrouping is where you have your typical zombies or ghouls, your skeletons, your mummies, and the like. These are undead that have been reanimated from the physical remains of something, usually dead bodies, though there are both plant and fungal zombies as well that we will be covering in a later class. These creatures are generally mindless, either left feral or with very basic instructions from their necromancer, usually something on par with 'kill' or 'defend' or 'destroy.' They will carry out their creator's will to the best of their limited ability - consider them a cudgel, rather than any kind of blade. But then," she smiled thinly, "if you have to pass through twenty ranks of zombies in order to even get close enough to me to attack, they don't really need to be subtle to be effective."
But they'd talk about the benefits and weaknesses of zombies and the like later, this was only the basic introduction. Still, it wasn't her fault that they were so interesting that she just wanted to keep talking about them at length!
Love what you do, folks, and you'll never work a day in your life. Especially if what you love is necromancy, because then you'll have the physical undead to do all that gross menial labor for you.
"The next subgrouping are the undead that are generally fall under the heading of spirits: ghosts, geists, shades, spectres, wraiths...mostly intangible entities composed of energy that's related to a deceased person. There is some overlap in the concept of spirit as 'a worshiped object or concept,' but the latter is rarely the purview of necromancy, unless it's been corrupted in some way. Different types of spectral undead are created in different ways and from different parts of the mortal spirit and psyche, which makes a great deal of sense if you think about it. While bodies can be crafted into any number of forms, in the end, it is still a physical mass of flesh and bone. But the soul is infinitely complex and can manifest in any number of ways. The best necromancers who deal with the spectral undead are those that have made a study of the mortal mind and spirit, along with telepaths and empaths - they are quite skilled at interacting and communicating with spirits because they know the language of thought and emotion. Spirits are also the most naturally occurring type of undead, as at its most basic, a spirit needs little more than overwhelming emotion and a deep source of mana to coalesce."
There were some places in Innistrad, you couldn't move without tripping over a ghost or a geist or hearing a banshee wail at you.
"The last type of undead is the intelligent undead. Vampires are generally in this grouping, as are all the various types of liches, and, of course, intelligent zombies. While intelligent zombies can spontaneously self-manifest, it happens very rarely, and is usually the result of a self-aware ghost getting trapped within their own body. Other types of intelligent undead cannot happen spontaneously - they can happen by accident, yes, usually the result of carelessness, but there needs to be some kind of inciting incident - a vampiric feeding gone wrong, perhaps, or a botched spell. Now, of course, the distinguishing aspect of the intelligent undead is its intelligence, not its form. So you can have an intelligent zombie or mummy or skeleton, just like you can have an intelligent ghost or specter. So make no assumptions about what you're dealing with based on appearances alone."
Ah, her coffee was done, time to bring this lecture to a close. "We will get further into particulars about each time as we cover them individually, but for now, does anyone have any questions about the basic classifications or what an undead creature actually is?"
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Also feel free to ask about the rough subclassification system she's outlined for you, but expect a fair number of those answers to be 'we'll cover that more in-depth later.'
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Using it as a cut text barely even counts.
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The idea that that would extend after death was horrifying.
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He hadn't said much at all yet, really.
"I just... wondered at the name."
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It went without saying that such an organization - much like the Necromancers of the Multiverse - did not actually exist.
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She shrugged. "For the record, I don't actually require you to approach things from a value neutral standpoint. You have opinions, you have morals, these things are expected. You, personally, have a history with slavery and are therefore sensitive to it. That's understandable. It also doesn't matter, not to 'ghostslaving' as a term, nor to ghostslaving as a concept, and, in this particular instance, not to me.
"I am teaching you what is. Not what should be or what might be. What is. It is called ghostslaving, regardless of whether you feel it is an accurate name, and it can involve enslaving ghosts, whether or not you approve of the practice. There may be time when I make space to discuss those other aspects, but you will be informed when I am doing so. But regardless of whether you were simply airing your opinion to make sure we were all informed of it or letting me know that you disapproved and thought the name should be workshopped a bit until it met your standards, either way, it does not matter. It is my job to teach you what is. What you do with that information going forward is up to you, but it will happen outside of my classroom."
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