Necromancer

Cursing her ill-fortune, a Tuskaar with a split right tusk backs into the corner of the room. Of all the times to come across a cursed necklace, it just had to be in a tomb. She grips her staff in her trunk as she hastily shoves the maps she was working on into her bag. Satisfied, she turns her attention to the shambling corpses creeping closer. She slams her staff on the ground, shouldering her pack as a wave of skeletons and ghausts surge from the ground to drag her would-be attackers back to their graves.

A snowy Paradisian alights in a narrow mountain pass. His feathers blend in, making him look at home on the icy crag marking a frozen waterfall. Below, his foes reach for guns and bows, unable to match his speed on the wing. With a snap of his fingers, he summons up a thick wall of bones to block the projectiles and delay his pursuers. With any luck, he'll lose them in the cave system ahead.
Tangled in the vines of a massive carnivorous plant, an Orc reaches for her pack only for it to tumble to the ground out of reach. She sighs as the vines begin to transfer her toward the plant's smooth-walled pitcher of acid. Her eyes flutter closed as an aura of reek and rot begins to pulse out from her. The plant wilts and she tumbles to the ground in a heap of moldering plant matter. She'd hoped not to have to kill the specimen, but some things can't be helped.

A Dark History

The existence of Necromancers is a touchy subject. Originally created and commanded by the Abyss, Necromancers were gifted the abilities needed to lead the Abyss’ demonic armies and set the stage for his march of destruction against Adia. As a result, Necromantic magics were, for a time, considered to be demonic in nature and regarded with concern. After Death reclaimed his Scythe though, the tide turned and Necromancers, once titled Summoners, were brought back under the control and guidance of the Fire Eternal following the First Abyssal War.
Necromancers are chosen by the Fire Eternal and given a duty to fulfill a task. This task may be direct, or it may sound mysterious to any asked. Most Necromancers must make peace with the fact that they will not know their place in the designs of the war between Adia and the Abyss. These individuals also complete some of the heaviest burdens given to anyone. They carry out their duties as a bridge between the physical world of Adia and the dead that wish to fight on to defend their former home.
Every Necromancer bears the weight of their assigned task as well as the burden of their tainted history. Demons skilled in magic similar to a Necromancer’s are a thing especially loathed by those of this class. The demons they so often hunt are a physical reminder of what could happen to them if they were to fall to the temptations of the Abyss. Often on the wrong side of the law, Necromancers travel far and wide to complete their duties whether those duties are to hunt demons, seek cursed artifacts, or track the whereabouts of a tome lost to the tides of war and history.
Shadow of Suspicion As a profession that was, until rather recently, controlled by the Abyss, Necromancers are regarded with healthy suspicion. Not all people have ever seen a Necromancer, and there are still many that believe that Necromancers serve the darkness. As a result, many Necromancers choose to keep their skills out of the common view of society. They often gain a reputation of being eccentrics or collectors of dark oddities as they research and fulfill the tasks set to them by the Fire Eternal.
Some Necromancers work to improve the public view of their profession which reaps both benefits and troubles depending on their audience, but these individuals often consider their work to be integral to fostering unity in the event of the return of the Abyss. No small number of Necromancers have found a calling as a means for the living and the dead to communicate. These Necromancers are drawn to areas wrought by disaster to allow the dead to return, help where they can, and speak to their loved ones once again.
Studious and on the wrong side of a seemingly constant stream of bad luck and challenges, Necromancers seek answers where few dare to tread. They understand better than any that the space between life and death is miniscule and that death does not always mean the end of a journey. Though they are often seen as opposed to the designs of the Fire Eternal because of their connection with the undead, Necromancers are in some ways more devout than even the Paladins of the Fire Forge as, unlike the Paladins supported by their brothers and sisters, many Necromancers go their whole lives without seeing another on their quest. It is a lonely road, but one they walk gladly.

The Undead

Necromancers call upon the magic of Death himself to summon Skeletons and Ghausts. Unlike the actual Undead summoned by a Necromancer, Skeletons and Ghausts aren’t true living creatures. As its name would suggest, Death Magic, unlike the Arcane, is not something that is living, and can only bring motion to these creatures. These Ghausts and Skeletons have no ties to the living world and act almost like golems, following the instruction of their summoner. This is very unlike a true Undead created when a Necromancer of the Fire Eternal summons the dead back to life. These Undead are souls that have chosen to leave the side of the Fire Eternal to return to Adia to give their strength and guidance. These Undead have free will and appear almost like specters with pale translucent skin that is often blue. Their eyes glow white or shades of blue as they are creatures made of Spirit.
This, however, is not true for Undead summoned by a Necromancer that follows the Abyss. Necromancers of the Abyss do not care for the willingness of the soul being summoned as they force them to inhabit their reanimated bodies and sap them of their free will. Unlike those that have willingly returned, the bodies of these Undead experience rot and decay as the soul within battles for freedom from being held as a Thrall.

However, this measurement of how to judge an Undead's intentions is not foolproof. There are times where an ethereal undead may leave the side of the Necromancer that summoned them and fall to empty promises of being made whole again through the power of the Abyss. Other times, decaying Undead may roam after being released from the hold of an evil Necromancer as a result of the sudden shift in power caused by Death's Scythe being retrieved. These Undead, though often stricken with grief, have once again regained their free will and do the best they can to reclaim what they can of their restored time on Adia.

Creating a Necromancer

A Necromancer has a task they must complete, but that task is up to you to choose. Are you here to aid in the battle against the Demon Hordes? Are you here to seek out the ancient relic known as the Azashael? Or will you choose to fall into your origins of the Abyss and seek out the writings of the Lich Tramotomas? This is for you to choose as you enter the world of Adia anew.