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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5622000" data-attributes="member: 58197">(Note: I tend to assume a darker version of necromancy than the mechanistic view one sometimes sees. The undead are not mere bone-puppets on magical strings. Their presence is a blight on the world and they spread death and decay wherever they go. Furthermore, those who practice necromancy risk being corrupted by the dark magic they wield.)Philosophy: Power over life and death is not merely the ultimate power, but the only power. If you're going to die someday, any power you possess is meaningless. If you have the power to live forever, no other power is necessary. The army that cannot die is never truly defeated. The king who cannot die is never permanently overthrown. The person who cannot die can pursue any goal until she reaches it, however long it takes.Personality/Character: Necromancers are obsessed with survival above all. Most are focused on self-preservation. Others--and these are often the strongest, most powerful and inventive of the breed--are trying to preserve lovers or friends, or whole nations.To the necromancer, death is anathema. To buy continued life, anything and everything is on the table, including things that less clear-minded souls would say "make life worth living." The necromancer scoffs at such conceits. Life is worth living for its own sake, and even the most tortured and desperate existence is preferable to destruction. Most necromancers do not believe in an afterlife, regard it as equivalent to annihilation, or subscribe to Xykon's philosophy: "Be a vampire, or a ghost, or an immortal with a paint-by-numbers portrait in the rec room. Even a brain-in-a-jar, in a pinch. Anything to avoid the Big Fire Below."Lichdom is, of course, the ultimate expression of this view, and many necromancers walk that road quite deliberately. Others try different approaches--just because you can live forever by becoming a cold, corrupt, dead thing doesn't mean it isn't worth looking into other options. Vampirism is popular among those who want a more lively and sensual existence. The boldest and most ambitious necromancers look for ways to become immortal while remaining alive.As one might expect, necromancers are not the most balanced individuals. The popular stereotype regards them as cold, humorless, and grandiose, and many are exactly that, but those traits are far from universal--some are quite charming and witty. The one thing that unites all necromancers is their capacity for obsession. When a necromancer decides to pursue a goal, she does so ruthlessly, relentlessly, ignoring all other concerns and making any sacrifice needed. Often, by the time she achieves it, she has destroyed or forgotten whatever started her pursuing the goal in the first place.</blockquote>

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