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Message: <blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 5621274" data-attributes="member: 1210">"...power, fear of mortality- bah! These are cliches, these are what the common man thinks motivates one such as I, never understanding the purity of our real state of mind."Necromancy- the so-called Dark Arts, though those of us learned enough to understand them disdain such a bigoted term- is all about free will."You see, most people allow themselves to be swept along by life, rushing towards its inevitable conclusion: death. And throughout their journey, fear rules their actions. From the moment they know that death comes, that the ultimate endpoint of the journey is the ultimate end of the journey, their choices are dictated by the frantic scrabble to avoid reaching that endpoint. Oh, certainly, some few are so drawn to death that their actions are the reverse- suicide, for instance- but either way, death rules the duration of... their lives."A necromancer sees much more clearly. One who understands death need not fear it. There are ways to continue, making it an irrelevancy. A necromancer understand this, and thus is free to make real choices, to actually act as a free agent instead of a creature driven by instinct to an inevitable set of decisions that inevitably fail, leading to the death it so fears. Necromancers are thus some of the only creatures that truly exercise free will in a world full of creatures that exhaust their lives in a dance of frantic determinism."What's that? Resurrection? Of course resurrection doesn't change anything I've told you. Knowing that the proper ritual or divine intervention can restore you from beyond the veil doesn't give you free will, it just gives you another way to try to stay alive. Only by understanding and actually exploring death can one overcome the power of fate that will otherwise direct his entire life."Please! I have already stated that the term 'Dark Arts' is distasteful. Ask yourself this: which is a 'darker' art- summoning a demon or closing a wound? Not the one that merely manipulates the energies of life and death. Indeed, there are many more 'necromancers' than admit to their craft. That bard who sings your hurts away? Her music is affecting the flow of your life force, concentrating it to heal you. That is necromancy. Every time a priest's god sends healing energies through you, bear in mind: that is the so-called 'Dark Arts' at work."Oh, I admit that there are death spells and worse in the necromancer's arsenal. How is that any worse than a blast of flame that roasts your flesh and boils your eyes? At least necromancy offers a quick death, rather than a lingering agony as you writhe like a roasted pig. And don't get me started about those wizards who control minds- if that isn't a 'Dark Art,' I don't know what is! Imagine being forced to kill your own brother or child by an enchantment. Now imagine a spell that makes you weak for a time. I ask you, which of those spells is a 'Dark Art'?"I'm glad you asked. Yes, necromancy has a foul reputation, and it does indeed deserve it- but not the way most people see it. Yes, necromancers work with corpses. It is the art of life and death, after all! One cannot surpass death unless one has seen it. We necromancers deserve a reputation as hermits, for who would want to live next to someone who works with dead bodies all the time? We do deserve our reputation for unsavory odors and scents, for we work not only with putrefying flesh and tissue, but also with reagents, chemicals and preservatives. But do we deserve the reputation of always being vile menaces that must be stopped? Of course not! We are individuals, just like any wizard."Ah, my dinner! Now, I'm afraid I must ask you all to leave me while I eat. Thank you very much. Thank you. No, I'm afraid I must eat alone. Go on, now. Go on, before I become cross with you."</blockquote>

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