Post by Hematite on Jul 26, 2014 12:11:28 GMT
Necromancy
Necromancy is undoubtedly the oldest blood magic in existence, being first developed as Mortis by Cappadocius in the First City and passed along to his brood. However, that ancient art bears little semblance to what most practitioners would now consider to be Necromancy, being primarily a scholarly pursuit looking into the nature of death and the Cainite condition. Over the millennia, Necromancy has expanded in odd leaps and bounds and been studied by Cainites of nearly every clan and sect. It is now perhaps the most disjointed and largest of paradigms of blood magic. Necromancy covers nearly any effect that has some relation to death, dying, the Cainite deathless state, the Underworld, wraiths, corpses, fear of death, entropy, and the manipulation of the soul.
Perhaps no other blood magic shows how much the paradigm of practice is affected by the beliefs of its practitioners as Necromancy. Other magics have arisen around a certain belief structure, but only Necromancy has been shown to expand to cover so diverse a paradigm over many belief structures. Necromancy draws its power from the inherent fascination with death shared by all living and undead creatures. Death is forever the great mystery to us all, the thing that will one day claim each and every one of us, and while many fear its clutches, it is the path of the Necromancer to walk the razor’s edge and stare into that unknowable void in an attempt to understand the infinite. Necromancy as practiced by Cainite blood sorcerers uses the blood and will of the Cainite channeled through the deathless energies maintaining the curse to power its effects.
Unfortunately, just as death holds a great fascination for many, it also holds a source of great fear. It is natural to fear what we do not understand and there is nothing less understood than death. The very name for this art comes from Nigrimancy, literally “The Black Art”. For millennia Necromancers have been ostracized and shunned, hated and feared, and even attacked and killed for meddling with forces that were not meant to be meddled with. There is something inherently repulsive about the arts of Necromancy that disturbs most of those who see it done. Many rituals involve components that would sicken observers, but these components are not merely an aspect of a sick death fetish, they are often a necessary tool to rid the caster of any lingering doubts he might have himself. It is hard to fear the corpse when you have just finished having sex with it, and any lingering fear of that corpse, a shudder at the wrong moment could interrupt the ritual with disastrous results. Nevertheless, by the very nature of what they do, Necromancers have long stood apart from others in their society, and this is no less true for Cainites. This is due both to the disturbing aspect of their work that often makes others wish to stay away from them, but also due to the inherent way the practice of Necromancy changes those who practice it. Necromancy is a philosophy as much as it is a magical practice, and involves an entirely different way of looking at life and death. It does not take long for an experienced Necromancer to shift his world view such that he can hardly understand his contemporaries anymore. The basic concepts of those around him are now alien and it is a struggle even to relate on simple terms with others who do not understand the beauty of death as he does.
Principle of Taboo
Like all magic, Necromancy must still obey the key principles of intent, will and power. However, the revulsion at their arts and the condemnation from Christianity led Classical Necromancers to discover a new source of power that overcame many of their early limitations. These Classical Necromancers posited that based on an old Platonic logic that the rules of a given society formed an inherent spiritual and psychic force. Those who stood by those rules could draw power from them and this was the basis of many traditional forms of magic. However, even greater power could be drawn from the shock and revulsion of deliberately breaking these rules in heinous and disturbing ways. This was posited and practiced at the dawn of the Christian era when all magic, but Necromancy in particular was being decried as blasphemy. This coupled with the Christian laws about manipulation of mortal remains led to this principle becoming a great source of power. The theory goes that the greater and holier the law, the more deeply and widely held the belief, the more power can be gained from breaking it. As such, many necromantic rituals, particularly the most potent ones appear to break the most dearly held laws of society. This has adapted as the laws of society have changed, but the principle remains the same.
Principle of Authority
The other important principle that became a pillar of Necromancy was that of Authority. This was posited and successfully researched in the third century A.D. based on the work of the anti-Christian magician Iamblichus and his ideas of theurgy. The theory followed the laws of correspondence to find power, not in the doctrines of a particular faith, but in the iconography and symbolism of all faiths simultaneously. He developed a hierarchy of gods, demons, angels, wraiths, spirits, shades, monsters and heroes that could be called upon as a focus in supplication when needed. The Necromancers of the time theorized that if such entities were able to be placed in such a hierarchy, that they were clearly not all equal and that the lowest of those in the model (wraiths and other forms of the spirits of the dead) could be approached as masters rather than as supplicants. It is this model that dominates modern Necromantic theory, seeing wraiths as little more than tools and power sources.
What About Religion?
This is always the pink elephant in the room whenever discussing something like Necromancy. Every religion the world over has a different answer for what happens to the souls of the dead. The cynical claim that is precisely what religion is for, to give answers to the unknowable, and what could be more unknowable than death? This has never really bothered Necromancers.
By its very nature Necromancy is a calculated and clinical art, even when practiced under the paradigm of a given religion. It is precise and cold, and adding the trappings of religious doctrine don’t change that, they simply add different forms of what we would now call scientific rules that they operate under. Think of Roman doctors who would offer sincere medical advice that fevers should be cured via the sacrifice of a white rabbit to Spes, and mean it truly as sound medical advice tested under what they understood as scientific conditions. Necromancers often have such a practical relationship with religion, seeing the trappings of each new faith as merely more tools in their arsenal to be used in understanding the larger picture. For example, Necromancy was an established and respected art among the Greeks and Romans. The idea of the journey through the Underworld and contacting the Shades of the deceased was well documented and thought to be understood by the Priests of Hades and later Pluto. When Christianity came to prominence and took the world by storm, most Necromancers simply shrugged and started incorporating the ideas of the new faith alongside those which had been shown to work under the old paradigm, summoning damned souls up out of Hell right alongside making offerings to Pluto for his wisdom. The contradictions have never seemed to bother them much, since for whatever reason, it worked. And what is repeatable under laboratory conditions must be correct.
Many forms
As said earlier, Necromancy comes in many varieties, some almost unrecognizable from each other. However, they are all part of the same paradigm and may be learned by any other practitioner of the Black Art, if those practicing diverse forms can manage to communicate past their different understandings of how they see Necromancy. All of the forms below are part of one paradigm, and though they may be learned as one, players should have a good justification for mixing and matching between them.
Mortis
Necromancy, as stated above, began with the arts of Mortis. Cappadocius wanted to understand what he had become, and ever the scholar, developed the tools he needed to further this research. He began studying the nature of states of life and death to try to comprehend what force it was that held Cainites in their stasis. Over time he became an unparalleled expert in the Cainite condition. Saulot initially studied with him, but turned aside in favour of his own avenues of research, seeing Cappadocius’ obsession with how Cainites worked to be a distraction from the greater question of why Cainites were.
As his studies progressed, his childer and students developed many potent tools off of his research that became many of the Paths and Rituals of Mortis. Mortis is defined as a primarily scholarly form of Necromancy that has nearly been lost to the modern world. Mortis deals primarily with the undead nature of Cainites and how to manipulate it. It channels death energies and focuses on the state and process of death, understanding it from a medical and early scientific perspective. Mortis has nearly no concepts of any form of afterlife and does not deal with wraiths or other denizens of the Underworld (all rituals in Mortis that do such were added later, some by later Cappadocians in Greece and Rome but most by the Giovanni and really mark the breaking point of the Mortis form).
Giovanni Necromancy
This is by far the widest-practiced form of Necromancy in the modern nights. The Giovanni were worthy successors to those 3rd century Necromancers who twisted the philosophy of Iamblichus to allow for domination of the dead. They have formed a paradigm of slavery and tight control in the service to their god Dis Pater. They have taken the Principles of Taboo and Authority further than anyone else, showing no respect for the dead whatsoever, save only for those who were once members of their debased family.
The Giovanni were once a family of merchants and sorcerers who were taken in by the Cappadocians who wanted to incorporate their alternate understanding of the ways of Nigrimancy into their own more clinical practice of Mortis. They were initially shocked at the brutality and inhumanity with which the Giovanni worked their arts but quickly adapted to the new paradigm.
Giovanni Necromancy is primarily concerned with the manipulation of the Restless Dead, which they see in the wraith paradigm of Spiriti and Spettri. They more than any other form of Necromancers have truly taken the time and energy to understand wraiths as the wraiths understand themselves and thus do not approach the Underworld with preconceived notions or religious contradictions. This allows a far more fine and complete control over their slaves than any other form of Necromancer as they can relate to them on terms of their own understanding. This form is practiced by the family in all corners of the world tonight.
African Necromancy
This form combines the traditional paradigms of African hedge magic with the basic principles of Necromancy. The arts of Necromancy originated in Africa with the Mla Watu, a bloodline of Cappadocians who had lost touch with the parent clan and as such, Mortis formed the baseline. However since the Giovanni adopted the Ghiberti family of West Africa, an infusion of their own style has mixed in with the traditional practices as well, turning the whole practice to a more vicious end. There has been some issue in dealing with the wraiths of Africa, as they do not appear to follow the same rules as American and European specimens. They have a 4 part soul rather than simply the usual Psyche and Shadow. As such, those unfamiliar with dealing with these odd spirits are at +2 difficulty.
Vodoun Necromancy
This bizarre form of Necromancy has always appeared somewhat incomplete when viewed from the outside. This is largely due to its connection with the arts of Wanga, which composes the other half of the coin. In many ways, Vodoun Necromancy and Wanga are part of the same magical paradigm, and yet they are different enough that they compose different disciplines. This art was first seen in Haiti with the appearance of the Samedi. As no one is entirely sure who or what the Samedi really are, no one really understands the origins of Vodoun Necromancy either. It has do do with calling on the Loa, who can be best described as bizarre amalgamations of very powerful wraiths and Umbral spirits. The animosity for the Giovanni from the Samedi has made further research into this form difficult at best.
Vodoun Necromancy is largely based on the channeling of death energies from the Loa of death in the form of vicious curses. The practitioners, or hougans, of this perhaps blackest of arts, are deeply steeped in the religious trappings of Vodoun, give great store by pomp and ceremony. The fear of death is a major aspect of how their rituals draw power, and an effective hougan is very good at spreading fear.
Vodoun Necromancy is unlike other forms of magic in that it cannot be simply taught as any other discipline (though its paths and rituals may be learned and adapted by other Necromancers). To learn Vodoun Necromancy, the prospective hougan must undergo an initiation ceremony where he beseeches the Loa Baron Samedi to mount him and teach him his secrets. The Baron is usually quite willing to do so, endlessly mocking vampires as foolish creatures who he likes to watch dance in their own oblivion. However this comes at a price. After one has willingly been mounted by the Baron, he may return to visit, taking control of the vampire at his leisure thereafter. Practice of this magic also attracts other spirits, both wraith and umbral, to come and attempt possession.
This form of magic is discussed in great detail on pages 106-113 of Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy.
Eastern Necromancy
There have been necromantic practices in the Eastern world for millennia, mostly reverential practices focused on ancestor worship. However most of these practices would be largely unrecognizable to most Cainite Necromancers. The lack of much of a Cainite presence in Asia has largely prevented the adoption of Eastern practices into the Necromantic paradigm until quite recently. It is only with the addition of the Della Passaglia and Li Weng families to the Giovanni that the scope of these arts has become known to the wider Necromantic community. It turns out they had been working with select agents of the Kuei-Jin who called themselves the Song of Shadow or the Bone Flowers to convert some of their rites back and forth, and to everyone’s surprise discovered a great deal of compatibility.
Eastern wraiths or Chi’n Ta are perhaps even more alien than those found in Africa. They bear almost no resemblance to wraiths as Western Necromancers understand them, and practice wildly different Arcanoi. The Giovanni are playing catch-up, trying to assimilate this new knowledge, but this is not made easy by the unfriendly relations they have with the Kuei-Jin, who have no respect for the Family, referring to them as followers of The Dishonourable Path of the Ghost-Bully.
Aztec Necromancy
This form of magic was lost for many years with the Spanish conquest. However, enough of the culture survived for long enough that the death practices of the Empire became of interest to the first Giovanni merchants to come to the New World. The family sent one of their greatest experts, the Premascine who would come to be known as Pochtli to acquire this new form of Necromancy for the fledgling clan. He found and embraced the Pisanob family in the ruins of the former Empire, protecting them somewhat from the devastation soon to follow in exchange for service to the family.
Aztec Necromancy is far more primal and vicious than most other forms. The Aztecs set great store by the value of human sacrifice, and life was considered cheap. They are also grand believers in pageantry and ritual. Ritual implements are so important to the practice of Aztec Necromancy that not having the specially prepared tools (usually an obsidian dagger and a black obsidian mirror at the very least) take a +2 difficulty penalty on all uses of Necromancy unless they spend a Willpower point.
Egyptian Necromancy
This is perhaps the least developed form of Necromancy. The Setites made some early Necromantic discoveries in the Old Kingdom of Khem, but they largely abandoned the practices with the development of Akhu. Akhu, while drawing energy from the Western Lands is not truly Necromancy, though it has many elements in common. Nevertheless, there are still some Necromancers among the Setites, and some small number of Egyptian Necromantic practices have been added to the pool of knowledge.
Practitioners
Necromancy is practiced all over the world by members of every clan in nearly every sect. However, there are several key groups where such study is usually gathered.
The most well known group of Necromancers are the Giovanni who practice their form of slavery of the Restless Dead over the whole world. The Family Giovanni has become synonymous with Necromancy in the modern nights and very few Cainites will think of anyone else if Necromancy is mentioned.
Perhaps the second-best known group of Necromancers are the Samedi. Practitioners of Vodoun Necromancy, very little is understood about the Stiffs, only their dedication to their mysterious progenitor Baron Samedi and the Voodoo practices of the people of the Caribbean.
In recent years a new group of Necromancers have exploded on the scene. These are the Harbingers of Skulls who 15 years ago joined the Sabbat and gave the Giovanni with their Camarilla alliance shivers the world over. Scions of the old Cappadocian line, twisted and driven insane by 500 years trapped in the Labyrinth, they have returned to fulfill their promise and launch their crusade against those traitors who destroyed their clan. Harbingers of Skulls practice a mixture of traditional Mortis and early Giovanni Necromancy that was adapted before the Purge of 1444.
The Nagaraja of the Talmahe’Ra are a curious case in that they practice their own, independently developed form of Necromancy unrelated to Cappadocian Mortis. They originated as a cult of Chakravanti mages who made themselves over into Cainites following their death-studies. Their magic is based primarily on the manipulation of the forces of fate and entropy, though their life in Enoch in the Underworld has led to an understanding of wraiths that rivals that of the Giovanni. However, the Nagaraja do not abide by the Principle of Authority and very rarely take Spirit Slaves in the manner of the Giovanni.
In the Caribbean, there is a 3-way battle for Necromantic supremacy going on. All three groups have received the blessing of the Baron and are true practitioners of Vodoun Necromancy. He appears simply to be laughing at them all. These are the followers of Hemmet, the Samedi, and the Serpents of Light. Details on this conflict can be found in Blood Magic: Secrets of Thaumaturgy page 106.
Within Clan Tremere is a secret order known as High Saturday which is dedicated to studying Necromancy. These Tremere have even invited members of the Giovanni to join them in the hope of greater discovery. Of course the Tremere only want to steal the Giovanni’s power for their own, but thus far several real discoveries on both sides have actually resulted. Most Tremere members of High Saturday are not actual Necromancers themselves, but a few have paid the extortionate price of the Giovanni to learn the Art.
Wraiths and the Shadowlands
This page is not the time or place to discuss everything that needs to be said on the subject of wraiths and the Shadowlands. Keep an eye out for the Shadowlands Primer for all the necessary details. In the meantime, know only that Emerald Coven Chronicles uses Wraith: The Oblivion and all its canon save for the final conclusion of Ends of Empire as canon for our game.
The 6th Great Maelstrom raged worse than any previous Maelstrom for 6 years, only finally calming down in 2005. The Underworld was irreparably altered, all known civilizations of wraiths decimated by the force of the storm. New Societies are forming, but as of yet they are still too new and malleable to be of much use or much strength. The Underworld has primarily returned to a state of barbarism, of might makes right and every wraith for himself.
In places, the Shroud returned to normal. In others it has hardened into something new called the Stormwall. These are places where the Shroud is a solid barrier, no longer truly permeable. These places have given rise to a new mortal necromantic art practiced by a group called Orpheus Corporation. The Giovanni are aware of Orpheus, but as of yet have not decided on what to do about them.
Becoming a Wraith
By canon, it is extremely rare that any supernatural creature will return as a wraith, and even rarer that a vampire or shifter will do so. However there is a chance that may be rolled by any character (or NPC) upon final death, save those whose soul was destroyed such as by diablerie.
To determine if a character becomes a wraith after death, the STs should make a WoD check. It requires 2 net successes on this WoD check in order to become a wraith after death. This WoD check starts at 0 successes, modified up or down by a number of factors listed below. For each “+” factor that applies to the character, they begin up one success on this check and for every applicable “-”, they lose one.
+Deceased had True Love merit
+Deceased had 9 or 10 Willpower.
+Deceased had a morality rating of 8 or higher.
+Deceased was on Path of Bones, Path of Death and the Soul, or Road of Bones
+Deceased was killed failing to accomplish something important to their Nature.
+Deceased had the Nature Survivor, Rebel, Penitent, Deviant, Masochist, or Fanatic.
-Deceased was a supernatural creature.
-Deceased was a vampire or shifter (in addition to above).
-Deceased had 4 or lower Willpower.
-Deceased had a morality rating of 4 or lower.
-Deceased died willingly or upon the completion of a personal goal.
-Deceased had the Nature Martyr, Sadist, Rogue, Loner, Conformist, or Thrill-Seeker.
If a character becomes a wraith, that character immediately loses all vampiric traits including virtues, Path Rating, and disciplines. The Beast is gone and replaced by the far more devious Shadow. These traits are gone and are not coming back. At this point the player receives 33% of the experience points spent on any of these lost traits back as if retiring the character. This is mostly an acknowledgment that these traits are permanently gone. This experience is now no longer counted toward the character total when the character is eventually fully retired. The player will not receive the refund for these points twice.
The character retains all Attributes and Abilities. Backgrounds will be instantly lost if the character is known to be dead. If this death is concealed, the backgrounds will deteriorate at their normal rate, unable to be maintained with downtime actions unless another uses subterfuge to attempt to acquire the former backgrounds of the deceased. If this is the case, this is handled via story, adjudicated by the STs.
As for Wraith-specific backgrounds, the character immediately receives a rating in Eidolon equal to his former Conscience/Conviction, and may begin with a rating in Memoriam and Legacy as determined by the Storyteller based on their story and actions thus far in the game.
The character then gains 5 points to spend in Arcanoi. These may be placed in any of the standard Arcanoi from Wraith: The Oblivion 2nd Edition or the alternate levels from the Guildbooks.
The character begins with a Corpus of 10 and if he did not already have a Willpower of 5, his Willpower increases to 5 without the need for xp expenditure.
The player should then work out the details of 10 points of Fetters and 10 points of Passions (possibly more if Freebies are spent, see below) with the Storyteller.
The character loses all merits and flaws he previously had. He then gains 15 new Freebie points which may be used to gain new merits and flaws as well as increase other traits. These new Freebies may not be spent in any trait in which the character has already spent experience points. He may also take up to 7 points of flaws, which may be the flaws he previously had in life, or may be entirely new ones depending on his new state.
The character may then immediately spend up to 25 xp from his bank on his character in this new state. This xp may be spent to purchase any traits he wishes at standard costs. After this initial 25 xp, all expenditures will need to be made according to the usual use of downtime actions.
The player must work with the Storyteller to create the Shadow. This is created according to the rules for Shadow Creation in Chapter 6 of Wraith: The Oblivion 2nd edition and in the Shadow Player’s Guide. The player has the final say on Shadow Creation, but should work with the Storytellers to create a Shadow appropriate to his character.
It is notable that the new wraith does not necessarily appear in the Shadowlands anywhere near Seattle and may remain in his caul for a significant amount of time. Each week after death, the wraith should make a Willpower roll at difficulty 9 and the Storyteller should make a WoD roll. If any of the WoD tests results in the player testing down, the caul is found by a slaver or other unfortunate occurrence before the new wraith can break free on its own. Once the new Wraith accumulates a total of 10 successes on this Willpower roll, he may break free of his own caul. If he botches any of these rolls, he loses all accumulated successes. This roll should be made reasonably early in the week and the player informed so that he may appropriately plan for the following game.
Necromancy in the Sabbat
Necromancy was never a particularly widely practiced art within the Sabbat. In many ways, the religious nature of the Sabbat prevented it, as the principle of Taboo often resulted in brutal visits from the Inquisition for heresy. But even more than the Inquisition, the Sabbat as a whole have worshipped the idea of taboo and the throwing off of human restraint to such a degree that it is quite difficult to find the necessary shock and awe.
Nevertheless, other than the odd independent Necromancer scattered throughout the sect, there are a few dedicated groups of Necromancers within the Sabbat. One of the official paths of the Sabbat, the Path of Death and the Soul, originated with a Tzimisce who had been a close ally of the Cappadocian Lady Constanicia (now the terrible and insane Unre) before 1444 and learned the arts of Mortis from her. Her line and her students continued the practice as a matter tradition and an alternate source of power, finding the clinical arts of Necromancy far more suited to them than the primal and chaotic power of Koldunic Sorcery.
In 1967 when the Serpents of Light officially joined the Sabbat, they brought with them both the arts of Wanga and those of Vodoun necromancy. Sadly, they proved unable to teach their Necromancy to other non-Necromancers as it required one to go through the initiation rite at the temple in Haiti, but their own strength was considerable, particularly those who had mastered both sides of the coin and learned Wanga as well.
However the largest group of Necromancers in the Sabbat did not arrive until 1999 when the Harbingers of Skulls approached the Consistory and declared their allegiance in return for support on their crusade of vengeance. The Harbingers are still somewhat at odds with the rest of the Sabbat, practicing their arts away from most others and seldom joining packs, but they are growing to trust the Sabbat more and more as they see the effectiveness of the Sect. Only a few hundred Harbingers initially came to join the Sabbat, but they have embraced since to prepare for their great Crusade, though they are extremely choosy as to their selection of progeny.
The Inquisition has long since cleared Necromancy as an acceptable form of magic, though it did come with a rider that some of its more extreme practices may be heretical even if the magic itself was not. Necromancers are watched, if only because they deal with forces outside the sect that most do not fully understand. Vodoun Necromancers are watched very closely, as the Loa bear just a bit too much relationship to demons, and the way that Vodoun Necromancy is acquired feels far too much like Infernalism to make anyone comfortable. The Inquisition, under pressure from above at the time who wanted the allegiance of the Serpents of Light, declared that Vodoun Necromancy was not heretical, however no one at the time was happy about it, and there are many within the Inquisition who are just waiting for the thinnest of excuses to declare it to be a branch of Dark Thaumaturgy and call for a Night of the Long Knives on all hougans in the Sect.
Learning Necromancy
With the exception of Vodoun Necromancy’s unique requirement, there is no special impediment to learning Necromancy. Theoretically any path may be a primary path, however by long tradition each group has their own primary paths that are always taught first. The Giovanni teach the Sepulchre path, the Mla Watu and the Ghiberti teach the Cenotaph Path, the Harbingers teach either the Ash Path, one of the old Mortis paths, or the new Mortuus Path and the Samedi teach the Path of Thanatos. Whatever primary path is learned, a new Necromancer must gain a rating of 3 in the primary path before any secondary paths may be learned.
Learning Necromancy in the Sabbat is not easy, but not impossible either. There are enough practitioners that finding one is not too difficult, though their art is rare enough they are unlikely to give it away for free.