Necromancy Must Remain in the Shadows

by **Swan Emperor Arenfel** Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:45 pm

The following notification can be found in the Stormwind Mages District; the Dwarven District; the Flying City of Dalaran; and in many Arcanist newsletters.

Citizens of the Grand Alliance, it is time we addressed the issue of Necromancy. For years beyond measure, the act of raising the dead has been outlawed. Spiritually, morally, and magically corrupting in its uses, we must never allow a second Kel'thuzad to emerge into this world less we find ourselves unable to repair the damage a second time.

Yet, some of you may find the power tempting.

In a time where loss is the norm, the gift of magic can bring us many salvations and even more ways to destroy ourselves. Just as the Arcane can take life; it can equally restore it. Though, it is a power controlled by mortals. We as mortals, are not perfect beings. The act of resurrection and mending has always remained a sacred and godly power, it is in faith that the Light or the Spirits decide the fate of mortality.

As a man of great scientific prejudice, I am inclined to disagree. But even a faithless creature such as myself, disagrees with the art of Necromancy. It is an Arcane method of weaving energies into a state, that re-animated dead or damaged tissue into a mobile state. That is all, it does not fully restore the soul of an individual who has found the Lights embrace.

Even the faithless amongst us agree, agree with the finality of death.

Imagine a world where the Kirin'tor have sanctioned Necromancy as common practice, where Magi are free to play god with life and death. A single resurrection of a misfortune soul leads to much more...

Where does it end?

With the knowledge of a second chance or even infinite life, our very way of life is compromised. Without the grief; there is no rage. No rage to be directed at our enemy.
Without the loss; there is no moving on. No mistakes learned, we stagnate.
Without the fear, there is no caution. Putting ourselves in harms way would become more normative, without the fear of death there is nothing to bar us from pursuing our hedonistic desires or fiendish desires which would infer imprisonment or death.
Imprisonment itself would have no meaning; and at the same time become death itself.

Necromancy must never come to this world, and must be eradicated in full. We – the Kirin'tor – encourage you as citizens to report any mention or suspicion involving the art to our Magi.

You have the power to reject this foul magic, and everything it represents.

- Arenfel Serpentine, Archmage of the Kirin'tor.

by **Zalissa** Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:46 pm

*likes*

by **Rmuffn** Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:49 pm

Zalissa wrote:*likes*

by **Drustai** Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:49 pm

*dislikes*

by **Skarain** Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:15 pm

Drustai wrote:*dislikes*

by **Coppersocket** Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:18 pm

Zalissa wrote:*likes*

by **Lexgrad** Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:19 pm

*Dislikes*

by **Valerias** Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:24 pm

This isn't facebook you giant scrubs!!!111one

==

Holding a glass of dark port wine in one hand, Gerard leans over his dimly-lit desk and squints at the words of the Kirin Tor's recent declaration.

'Hrm,' he mutters, looking up at the snowy owl staring back unblinkingly from its perch. 'Same old story, isn't it, Garaveth?'

by **Sonitus** Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:02 pm

#necromancybad

by **Swan Emperor Arenfel** Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:10 pm

Sonitus wrote:#necromancybad

Stupid cow, that's twitter not facebook!

by **Gesh** Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:54 pm

Approved!

A lot of necromancer roleplays tend to forget these corpses their throwing around had families and friends.. vengeful families and friends! More consequences! please!

by **Seranita** Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:52 pm

Zalissa wrote:*likes*

(had to be done)

by **Thelos** Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:44 am

I meant this to be a short and concise IC response but somehow it ended up being a dialogue.

---

'Well?'
'Well what?'
'What do you think?'

Thelos rises from his low chairless desk and turns to face the young Sha'tari vindicator. The boy, clad in bright armor, eagerly awaits his reply. He looks stern and stoic – yet, the fire of zeal can be seen burning in his eyes.

'If one can be right for the wrong reasons, does that mean that one can also be wrong for the right reasons?” Thelos asks the lad, 'And what truly is the difference between doing evil for the right reasons, and doing good for the wrong reasons?'

The vindicator runs a plated gauntlet trough his neatly groomed blue hair. After pondering for a while, he resumes in his confident, thunderous voice.

'Necromancy is vile. The Auchenai must be stopped. If there are more Auchenai on Azeroth, they must be stopped also. Such is the sacred decree of A'dal.”

Thelos sighs as he attempts to mimick the vindicator's gesture, only to rub his palm over a bald surface. 'Believe me, friend, when I say that there are no Auchenai on Azeroth. Nor anywhere. You and your brave compatriots have seen to that.'

'By K'ure, Thelos!' the vindicator exclaims, 'Are you implying that the Auchenai were purged injustly? Such a-'

'No, no, hold on to your britches, son, I would not dare imply anything of the sort.' Thelos interrupts the vindicator wearily. 'Say, have you ever been to Azeroth?'

'Yes, brother.'

'I meant – outside - of the Exodar.'

'No, brother.'

'Well, you should.'

'When A'dal-'

'Yes, yes,' Thelos interjects again, 'When A'dal descends once again, on another world, you will descend with him, to another world. Which you expect to be Azeroth. Of course. Nobody is stopping you from scouting on ahead to secure the perimeter, though. I am sure you can earn Its blessing'.

The Sha'tari vindicator pauses before resuming. 'I will consider requesting it.'

'Good. Send my regards to the Bishop of Stormwind, Fortesgue Witherthorpe.'

'Bishop? What's a bishop?'

'Indeed?'

The vindicator sighs and shrugs his mighty shoulders. 'I must resume my duties. May the Naaru guide you, Thelos.'

'Light's Grace.'

by **erwtenpeller** Wed Mar 21, 2012 10:08 am

Delidah sits down on one of the slopes overseeing the city of Shattrath, basking in the fresh sunlight of a new day. She pulls the latest Issue of "Wizards & Wands" out of her hat, obtained from the Drustai's study, and begins to skim through it. Her interest is tickled by above article, making her eyebrows flop up and down.

"Hmmrrm.. Yeah well, duh, nothin' new there."

Delidah sighs and skips through to the short stories, comical misadventures of famous wizards, witches and mages. This weeks story is the fictionalized account of Lady Proudmoore's first encounters with the polymorph spell. Delidah flops onto her stomach and giggles as she reads through, as the sun slowly rises... She yawns. It's been a long night.

by **Sanara** Wed Mar 21, 2012 12:04 pm

*someone appears to have scribbled "<- JEALOUS MUCH?" in crude lettering beside Arenfel's name on a few of the posters set up in Stormwind*

by **Skarain** Wed Mar 21, 2012 12:15 pm

Skarain reads the same article from the newsletter found in the scryers library. She perks her eyebrow slightly and sighs. "Anything and everything can be used for bad, just as it can be used to good. I wonder if the wise will ever see that fully" she shakes her head and puts the newsletter aside, returning to her study"

by **Drustai** Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:33 pm

The following is delivered directly to Arenfel, carried by a shaggy rat. The envelope says, "Read. Circulate if you have enough respect for people to allow them to see both sides of the argument and come to their own conclusions."

Additionally, a very small handful of copies are pasted next to some of the posters in Stormwind Mage and Dwarf Districts. No copies are pasted in Dalaran--it's clear Drustai is unwilling to risk it even while at her full power.

"Citizens of the Alliance, members of the Kirin Tor, and magi of all creeds,

Though I imagine this response will be culled rather than circulated, I feel it is appropriate that I, the necromancer known as Drustai, respond to these recent publications. Perhaps the authorities will see fit to allow individuals to form an opinion from both sides of the story, though more likely censorship will continue to leave room only for the voices of those in power, expressing nothing but socially-accepted opinions and antiquated fears like the sheep they are.

Regardless of who actually sees this, I ask only this: Read with an open mind. Master Arenfel considers himself a man of science, and yet he speaks from emotion instead of empirical evidence--even openly admitting this in his own article. I ask you, the enlightened population of Azeroth, to think with logic. If by logic you still consider me wrong, then so be it. At least reasoned thought will have been given.

The issue of necromancy is a trying one. No other magical school deals with a topic of such morose, disturbing caliber. Death is a sensitive issue, regardless of what culture you come from. And as such, it should be treated with respect.

Master Arenfel does not do this. He speaks of death from the standpoint of human culture.

To the elves, gnomes, dwarves, my fellow draenei, and our occasional dragonkin guests... do Arenfel's words ring out to you? Does he express a viewpoint of death that applies to your culture?

No, he does not. He details human culture, and in his arrogance attempts to pass it off as universal to all species. To state an example: He speaks of 'rage' as a consequence of death that is to be desired... even though to my kin, rage, anger, is a hindrance, a vile influence of the Darkness that should be resisted at all cost lest we find ourselves being distanced from the Most Holy Light's embrace. Indeed, rage is an emotion spurred by shadow--a desire to destroy--and thus is as much an act of necromancy as any spell. Are we to discourage necromancy, while embracing the temptations of shadow? I ask that Master Arenfel consider his words more carefully in the future, lest hypocrisy ruin any viewpoint he wishes to argue.

Let us continue to explore the cultural discrepancies. He speaks of stagnation--that immortality causes stagnation. Unsurprising that it is a human--the shortest-lived species and thus apparently the one with the most "advancement"--who is making such a remark. Especially ironic when one considers that it was the elves who brought magic to the humans--not vice versa.

Death does not mean the same thing to all species. We are not all human. For many of us, death is not an expectation, it is only a possible development. We are not all as flies, being birthed, eating, breeding, and then dying. Some of us have greater purpose than to simply be rotating baby factories--indeed, for many of our cultures a birth is actually a rare and marvelous thing. To say that a birth-breed-death cycle is required for a civilized society to exist is preposterous and insulting to anyone that is not human.

Now, Master Arenfel does make a decent case for fear, and how the fear of death might prevent one from pursuing foolish or risky actions. Unfortunately, it is an unenlightened view. I would ask Master Arenfel to orchestrate his own demise and resurrection, and then see if he wishes to repeat the ordeal. I have a feeling he would be quite unwilling to undergo it more than once. Fear of death is not eliminated simply because permanent death is eliminated. Even a temporary death is an incredibly painful event--physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Anyone who has ever been brought back, regardless of the method, would tell you the same.

Ironically, the issue most essential to Arenfel's case was not mentioned. For his benefit, I shall present it here: Death culls the population. Without it, Azeroth would soon flood with people, yes?

With human breeding capability, yes. Eventually the population would become unsustainable.

However, this too can be averted. On the individual level, efforts can be taken to reduce the chance of pregnancy. On the global level, one can remember that the universe is not comprised of simply one world. When the population threshold on one world has been breached, civilization can expand to a new world. While interplanetary teleportation is complicated, astromancy and transmutation alike offer methods of unlocking the coordinates to new worlds and establishing functional portals between them. Indeed, such a task is likely far simpler than making every sapient being immortal, so we would likely have the capability of expanding long before we have breached Azeroth's population threshold.

Now, I imagine some of our audience by now might be wondering what all of this has to do with necromancy. Where's the undead? The diseases and plagues? I'm afraid I must inform you, dear reader, that those at the crust of society enjoy manipulating you to suit their own opinion. You only hear about undead, diseases, and plagues, because it is all that people like Master Arenfel want you to hear. They never tell you about the good that necromancy can do, such as healing of the body, mind, and soul, or that it can restore youth, or be used to commune with spirits. Instead, students and faculty of Dalaran, among many other mage academies, are only told of the evil parts, the undeath, disease, and plagues, in order to make them believe it is evil and worth being banned. The best way to mold someone to follow your belief is to simply tell them only the story you want them to hear.

As a necromancer, I will tell you that undeath is a flawed experiment. Similar to a fizzle or miscast of an improperly researched spell, undeath was a failed attempt at altering the cosmic configuration of a being's soul. Even the most sophisticated forms of undeath are unnatural creations that can only mimic life. That so many necromancers delve deeply into this field represents lacking skill and creativity rather than excellence. It is like a sorcerer, a hedge wizard--trying to control magic and constantly having it blow up in his face, yet thinking that's how it's supposed to work because he doesn't know any better.

Not knowing any better. The reason so many necromancers have focused on undeath is because of that simple fact. The fact that instead of instructing necromancy in a safe, complete, regulated environment, it is banned and its users exiled. Dalaran states that it wishes to train magi properly, yet it withholds information from its students (except from individuals like Master Arenfel himself, who freely used two necromantic cantrips in a Stormwind courthouse without legal consequence).

The finest example of this is the one that Master Arenfel has already brought up--Kel'thuzad. Now, I will not defend his eventual actions, but I will present his motivations. Consider this simple fact: Kel'thuzad was once one of the Six. Not only an Archmage, but an Archmage upon the highest pillar of the Violet Citadel. This was no impulsive student, refusing to listen to his instructors. This was a learned, studied, and most importantly respected mage.

He sought to study necromancy. His peers knew this, and if you look into the records you can see that he expressed his viewpoints for many years. Yet always he was rebuked by his fellows, insulted and called a maverick. His holdings were illegally searched, and he was eventually stripped of his rank and exiled from Dalaran.

Is it any wonder, then, that this once highly-respected archmage would go on to found the Cult of the Damned? A cult that's very ideological roots was based around uplifting the downtrodden and helping them find a better life? (whether or not it actually accomplished this is irrelevant, I merely point out its proclaimed goals)

You see the same story with nearly every necromancer, nearly every practitioner of shadow magic. A student, a teacher, an archmage, often knowledgeable, cultured, and respected, all wanting to study, and all being cast away for it.

By casting out those who seek to grow and understand, you encourage them to seek out more unreliable sources of knowledge. You encourage them to practice more dangerous, unrefined spells. You encourage them to start using fel magic. You encourage them to seek vengeance and strike back. You create your own villains.

Many of these magi could have been productive members of society. Instead, they were shown that society will expel anyone that goes against the status quo. They were taught to hate society. They were taught to be evil.

Is this how you train 'proper' magi, Dalaran?

No, it isn't. The proper way is not to outright ban all mention of it. Instead, provide proper instruction so that they might grow to become responsible users. Teach people it, let them study in a safe and respectful setting, while also instructing them in the necessary discipline so that they do not succumb to evil.

On its own, necromancy is not evil. Only fel magic is truly evil. While necromancy can be used to evil ends, but so too can a fireball be used to evil ends. Banning it does not solve this problem, because the problem isn't necromancy. If you wish to prevent people from using necromancy to do evil, then you teach them how to use necromancy to do good.

Several cultures already do this. I myself was an Auchenai Death Priest, a religious order that tended to the dead and communed with the spirits (before the Auchenai were unjustly slaughtered by the Sha'tar out of their fear and prejudice). Shamans likewise commune with the spirits, and can even project themselves upon the Realm of Shadows. Arathorians commune with their ancestral spirits, and practice a religious form of blood magic. All of these are forms of necromancy, and none of them are doing harm.

You all have the potential to overcome these backward ways and cut a path to the future. Despite his talk of stagnation, it is in fact men like Master Arenfel who prevent progress. People unwilling to cast aside their conservative viewpoints due to their fear. Necromancy is key to transcending the mortal condition, to become something more than what we are. Do not let that opportunity be thrown away because of regressives like Arenfel.

One last point I wish to address before I finish: The religious viewpoint. To this I say... there are certain individuals out there who have no confidence in their faith. People who allow their emotions to blind not only their reason, but also their devotion. It is painful to witness.

Mending the soul through necromantic spells does not damn it. Returning an individual to life with necromantic spells does not damn the soul. Even undeath does not do such a thing. They may scar the soul, but never damn it.

It is blasphemous to suggest that a necromancer has the power to counteract the will of the Most Holy Light. It is blasphemous to suggest that a necromancer 'steals' souls from the Light. If it is the will of the Light, the soul will return to It, regardless of whatever has been done to the soul. If a being is able to be resurrected, regardless of the means, it is because they still have a purpose to fulfill on this world--it is not their time.

No one can damn a man's soul except himself. Not necromancy nor fel magic can do this. They can corrupt the body, they can even corrupt the metaphysical aspects of the soul. But never damn it. The spark of Light within all beings remains pure. If that soul has lived a just and virtuous life, if it is time for that soul to return to the Light, then it will return regardless of what anyone does to it.

The Light does not abandon Its champions."

~Signed
Archmage Drustai of Koramor
Necromancer

-----------------------------------

((OOC:

Arenfel/Mikhael wrote:... we must never allow a second Kel'thuzad to emerge into this world less we find ourselves unable to repair the damage a second time."

"You called?"

/kelthuzad_laugh

by **Thelos** Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:47 pm

((Epic read. Convincing in the rebuke, though not completely convincing in its positive points, yet still a fascinating viewpoint. I would ready a response on Thelos, but that would both be metagaming and breaking character. I'm expecting Master Arenfel to step in to the public arena!))

by **Lexgrad** Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:31 pm

Unaethralas talks for many hours on the subject to an audience in Stormwind. When he is finished he bows and walks away leving the crowd unsure what side of the debate he is on or what his point was.

by **erwtenpeller** Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:36 pm

(( Epic read indeed, dru, but how "canon" is this entire story? This seems to be more of a personal split-off from wacraft lore and drustais personal beliefs then it is something that is canon within warcraft.

In other words, necromancy in wow is evil. ))

Lexgrad wrote:Unaethralas talks for many hours on the subject to an audience in Stormwind. When he is finished he bows and walks away leving the crowd unsure what side of the debate he is on or what his point was.

...Typical.

by **Yarnaat** Wed Mar 21, 2012 2:46 pm

((Sweet mother of god, reading all of this will take a while..))

by **Rmuffn** Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:23 pm

IT'S SHAMANISM YOU MONSTER! We commune with spirits, we don't force them back to eternal undeath in the world of the living!! Necromancy is forbidden and evil, is taught by the Ancestors themselves! *huffs* ))

by **Skarain** Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:29 pm

((The wall of text was an awesome read. So many pointers why Arenfel would be wrong, and necromancy not really evil. Also the end was a nice change to a more religious view. Be it her way of viewing things...be it truth or not...that is damn good stuff))

by **Braiden** Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:31 pm

A robed man approaches the board and reads the response, he frowns and rips it down. A few hours later the rest of them have been removed from the boards.

by **Thelos** Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:47 pm

Drustai wrote:The following is delivered directly to Arenfel, carried by a shaggy rat. The envelope says, "Read. Circulate if you have enough respect for people to allow them to see both sides of the argument and come to their own conclusions."

((Just to reiterate. Whether this essay becomes public is up to Arenfel.))

Edit: Herpaderp ignore this.

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