Necromancy is probably the oddest of the elemental schools. To begin with, the name is something of a misnomer. The element involved is darkness, not death. The term "necromancy" - or rather the Ancient Prophan "NEKPOMANTEIA" - really means "divination using the dead". Ancient Prophan necromancers, before their expulsion, commonly called forth the spirits of the dead from the Underworld to inquire with them.1 One might then wonder what darkness has to do with the dead and the Underworld. The Underworld is commonly referred to as "the Shadow of Maikros" in poetry in many languages - some even refer to it as such in regular speech. This is helped by the fact that the darkness spirits make their home in the Underworld. Being thus associated with the Underworld, it is not a huge leap for the necromancer to associate their art with the spirits of the dead.
Furthermore, this has been generalized into an association with spirits and iss in general - helped by the Underworld featuring a limitless amount of iss. Thus, necromancers have made themselves able to craft spirits. These are usually rudimentary, able to operate a mobile, solid body and follow simple commands. This is the basis of the creation of constructs. However, a mobile body is difficult and time-consuming to craft, whether the joints are magical or mechanical. Enterprising necromancers discovered that they could use corpses for the bodies of quick constructs, as long as they weren't too damaged by either injury or time.+This is why raised skeletons are practically unheard of on Maikros - that's just as difficult as animating a pile of rocks, as the joints must be magical instead of mechanical. This, of course, led to even an even further association of necromancy with the dead, and further revulsion with the school from those who already reviled it.
Why would anyone revile the school before the invention+Well, inventions. One of those things discovered independently in various places. of construct creation? Simple. Necromancers have a distressing tendency to go insane if not trained properly to avoid it. This comes from the fact that mages of a given elemental school seem to have an affinity for iss spirits of the same element, allowing mental communication. This is how Maikrosian iss spirits admonish mages they see as threatening the Iss Cycle. Necromancers are unique in that because of their association with spirits, all iss spirits can speak to a necromancer. However, it is the darkness spirits that matter the most here, because unlike their Maikrosian brethren, the darkness spirits actively seek to interfere in the lives of biological sapients, and are quite malicious about it. There is a reason they are commonly referred to as demons in lay speech. As such, darkness spirits use their affinity with necromancers to constantly whisper into their minds, eventually causing them to go mad. It takes much willpower training to be able to overcome and silence these whispers. Such training is employed by organizations such as the Order Necrotica and the Black Cloak Brotherhood, which train necromancers. Nevertheless, the image of the mad, murderous necromancer has been common across the world, and though this image has been at least somewhat diminished on Salenzis and Toletska, Necromancy still has its opponents even in those places - most notable being the Sublime Goddess and her followers.
Aside from all that, Necromancy does still have within its purview things more obviously thematic of the element of darkness. Necromancers can diminish sources of light, render others blind - temporarily or otherwise - move swiftly in shadows, and other such feats. Their elemental sense is within darkness, so necromancers can easily find their way around at night or in a dark room. Some necromancers even go so far as to make a habit of being blindfolded.
On the cutting edge of Necromancy, however, is something much more related to the underworld. Because necromancers can create portals to the Underworld,+Which allow access to its infinite iss, an important resource in magical research. and the Underworld is a sort of pocket universe derived from and attached to the primary universe, recent necromantic research has been into the creation of other such realms. The first experiments into this by the Black Cloaks led to their development of Choromancy. However, more recent such research, by both the Black Cloaks and the Order Necrotica, has remained within Necromancy.
Furthermore, this has been generalized into an association with spirits and iss in general - helped by the Underworld featuring a limitless amount of iss. Thus, necromancers have made themselves able to craft spirits. These are usually rudimentary, able to operate a mobile, solid body and follow simple commands. This is the basis of the creation of constructs. However, a mobile body is difficult and time-consuming to craft, whether the joints are magical or mechanical. Enterprising necromancers discovered that they could use corpses for the bodies of quick constructs, as long as they weren't too damaged by either injury or time.+This is why raised skeletons are practically unheard of on Maikros - that's just as difficult as animating a pile of rocks, as the joints must be magical instead of mechanical. This, of course, led to even an even further association of necromancy with the dead, and further revulsion with the school from those who already reviled it.
Why would anyone revile the school before the invention+Well, inventions. One of those things discovered independently in various places. of construct creation? Simple. Necromancers have a distressing tendency to go insane if not trained properly to avoid it. This comes from the fact that mages of a given elemental school seem to have an affinity for iss spirits of the same element, allowing mental communication. This is how Maikrosian iss spirits admonish mages they see as threatening the Iss Cycle. Necromancers are unique in that because of their association with spirits, all iss spirits can speak to a necromancer. However, it is the darkness spirits that matter the most here, because unlike their Maikrosian brethren, the darkness spirits actively seek to interfere in the lives of biological sapients, and are quite malicious about it. There is a reason they are commonly referred to as demons in lay speech. As such, darkness spirits use their affinity with necromancers to constantly whisper into their minds, eventually causing them to go mad. It takes much willpower training to be able to overcome and silence these whispers. Such training is employed by organizations such as the Order Necrotica and the Black Cloak Brotherhood, which train necromancers. Nevertheless, the image of the mad, murderous necromancer has been common across the world, and though this image has been at least somewhat diminished on Salenzis and Toletska, Necromancy still has its opponents even in those places - most notable being the Sublime Goddess and her followers.
Aside from all that, Necromancy does still have within its purview things more obviously thematic of the element of darkness. Necromancers can diminish sources of light, render others blind - temporarily or otherwise - move swiftly in shadows, and other such feats. Their elemental sense is within darkness, so necromancers can easily find their way around at night or in a dark room. Some necromancers even go so far as to make a habit of being blindfolded.
On the cutting edge of Necromancy, however, is something much more related to the underworld. Because necromancers can create portals to the Underworld,+Which allow access to its infinite iss, an important resource in magical research. and the Underworld is a sort of pocket universe derived from and attached to the primary universe, recent necromantic research has been into the creation of other such realms. The first experiments into this by the Black Cloaks led to their development of Choromancy. However, more recent such research, by both the Black Cloaks and the Order Necrotica, has remained within Necromancy.
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1. The other elemental schools of magic also being named with -mancy is a later phenomenon reflecting a turn to the other elemental schools for divination, after the sane necromancers were gone. The nonelemental schools being also named such is simply by analogy. Outside of Southern Salenzis, the schools are usually named more sensibly. It should be further noted that divination, in the sense of accurately predicting the future, only exists in extremely limited form within the nonelemental school of Chronomancy.
1. The other elemental schools of magic also being named with -mancy is a later phenomenon reflecting a turn to the other elemental schools for divination, after the sane necromancers were gone. The nonelemental schools being also named such is simply by analogy. Outside of Southern Salenzis, the schools are usually named more sensibly. It should be further noted that divination, in the sense of accurately predicting the future, only exists in extremely limited form within the nonelemental school of Chronomancy.