I. BASICS

What are necromancers?

In Imago Daze, a necromancer is someone who is born with the unrestricted ability to communicate with the supernatural and bring order to them. Necromancers can do this in several ways, whether it be by bringing lost souls to the afterlife or hunting down demons.

The origin of necromancy

Necromancy began a long time ago when ancient civilizations had different deities to represent death. These deities gave their most faithful and devoted servants a slice of their power as a blessing that would be passed down to all their descendants: being capable of controlling supernatural life on earth.

The practice continued for a while until the civilizations / religions the gods belonged to faded into obscurity because of colonization or war. As a last ditch effort to remind humans of their power, the death deities put all their effort into training established necromancer bloodlines to wield their skills for the good of the world.

Are there multiple ways to become a necromancer?

Nope. The only way to become one is to be born into a bloodline. Giving your powers to people or learning it as a hobby isn't possible.

Then what if a necromancer bloodline runs out?

Most lines take great care in preserving their legacy. However, in the situation that they cannot, a rare exception to the above question will be made. A person (often a child) picked from what is essentially a 'waiting list' for powers (determined by character and supernatural experiences) will have powers transfered to them.

A necromancer's basic powers

In some cases, the skill of a necromancer is determined by what culture they come from. In most cases, though, they usually have this set of abilities:

• Being able to see and communicate with supernatural beings as if they were physically present in the mortal realm
• Send supernatural spirits to whatever version of the afterlife they belong to
• Open portals that give them access to the afterlife
• Bring souls from the afterlife back to the mortal realm for a temporary amount of time
• Cleanse people of demons or impurities
• Raise the dead...but we don't talk about that.

Contrary to most popular media, the necromancers in Imago Daze consider it a taboo to raise the dead. Their main goal is to keep the scales of life and death in balance, and bringing someone back to life would tip that scale over. The next section will go more in detail of how necromancers keep a balance.

II. POWERS IN-DEPTH

Seeing + interacting with the supernatural

This is the most basic power of necromancy, which allows necromancers to see on a wavelength of light hidden to regular humans. The ability to see supernatural beings is passive and is unable to be 'toggled on' or 'off'.

In the same way that humans talk to another, necromancers can also talk to supernatural beings. This requires the same amount of social skill as a regular conversation would have. To add to this, there is no way to telepathically communicate with the dead.

Using scythes

For the following powers, necromancers must use a medium that channels their power. The medium frequently takes the form of a scythe for no reason other than it being synonymous with death (and looking very cool), though any object can be used in the same way as one. This paragraph's purpose is to emphesize that scythes are NOT a way to wield necromancy, only a tool to guide it. For more information, read the Magic Links encyclopedia page.

Reaping souls

Taking souls to the afterlife by the process of reaping is complicated and may require training for less experienced necromancers. The cost of incorrectly reaping a soul can be diastrous and may lead to the appearance of demons.

First, the necromancer must ensure that the soul being put into the afterlife is in an OK state of mind. This means that the soul has no unfinished business left on earth and feels ready to move on. If the soul is not ready, the necromancer has to spend time with them until they are in that state: a task that can take up to months to complete when people have died due to traumatic circumstances or have gone through harsh pasts.

Fortunately, the rest of the procedure is easy. After consoling the soul being reaped, the necromancer opens a portal to the afterlife with their scythe. They say goodbye to the soul before letting them go for eternity.

The final step is to make a small sacrifice to the deity that granted to the powers to the necromancer's bloodline. It doesn't have to be something extravagant and is often something simple as a flower or a physical belonging from the reaped soul. This is both a reminder of the fragility of life and the sources from where all necromancy flows.

Traveling through realms

Remember the whole 'sending someone to another realm' shenanigan in the reaping section? Necromancers can also travel through the portals they create, causing their souls to separate from their bodies as they do so. The only setback is that they can only stay in such a state for so long (~ten minutes) before the separation becomes permanent and they go into a coma. There are even some instances where it has been a cause of death.

A necromancer may need to travel for a variety of reasons. Some do it for research or documentary purposes to help guide the next generation, or as a way to see if they can find relatives or friends who have passed.

(An sad sidenote: it is impossible to find people you have had worldly connections to in the afterlife.)

Getting rid of demons

Part of balancing the scales of life and death is gauranteeing that beings that should reside in the lower levels of the afterlife, demons and evil spirits, do not reside in the mortal world.

Doing this can be handled with several methods. Some necromancers have specialized equipment, including holy water, while others prefer to utilize their scythes to open portals to the realm the demon belongs to.

Bringing back souls from the afterlife

This is by far the riskiest, dangerous, and concerning thing a necromancer is capable of. Not only does it require learning several rituals and incantations (which I cannot list for...legality reasons), it also needs to be done without the consent of the soul being retrieved. That in itself is rude, but to add to the unethicality of it all, souls who don't come back with their own free will are 'owned' by the necromancer who summoned them. They have no self-sufficiency of their own and are bound to their necromancer, which is an unsesttling experience. It saddens me to think of power hungry folks who would get a kick out of something so cruel.

Unless, you know...their dad died and November 2nd seems very very far away. But nah. We don't talk about that. Speaking of, if you want a specific time where brining back souls is considered okay, check out the DotD encyclopedia page to see how some of the holiday works in Imago Daze.

III. THE PRICE OF POWERS

Learning to use them

Every necromancer must learn to harness their powers correctly as a child. This is a job that takes years of endurance and patience, both for the child and trainer (who is always a parent or relative that has experience with necromancy). It is especially stressful on the kid's side, as they have to endure the hardships of handling death at a young age, seeing otherworldly creatures, and having no control of things such as portals opening or being a magnet for demons.

Physical energy

Utilizing items infused with magic links take a toll on their user. Because necromancers must have a magic-linked item to do their job, using it for long periods of time without breaks or to do stressful tasks can lead to exhaustion and loss of energy.

Mental trauma

Many necromancers in Imago Daze are very sensitive. Their powerful emotions let them relate to many souls with different stories. However, it can easily spiral into hyper-empathy, causing the necromancer to feel overwhelmed by negativity and worry for the supernatural beings they can take care of. Some people may try and use this as a way of manipulation.

Regardless of a necromancer's empathy, though, they would still have mental issues. Taking Santiago for example: could you imagine your job listening to the million ways people die, their regrets, what they left behind, and how much they want to see their loved ones again? Sit on that for a second. It's similar to showing up to the after math of every disaster in the world and meeting with every victim.

Gender dysphoria

Most deities of death have gender identities, or at least genders that their civilizations portray them as. However, that does not mean their gender matches up with the genders of people born into necromancer bloodlines. In cases where this happens, necromancers can suffer through gender dysphoria and handle it for the rest of their life. Most families are supporting of this and will contribute what they can to secure the safety of their loved ones, particularly in countries where LGBTQIA+ have no rights.

Note that necromaners can also have dysphoria for other reasons, not just ones tied to deities. ALSO NOTE that necromancers don't need dysphoria at all to be trans :)

The unwritten price

"The unwritten price" is a common term passed around by necromancers to refer to the isolation from society they receive. Not many people have powers like them, and necromancers interacting with each other is something usually forbidden in culture due to fears of combining powers. This means that the only "people" that understand the depths of their job (other than family) are supernatural beings, which don't even exist in the physical realm. This can be frustrating when it comes to forming relationships. For some, it can even mean being feared by society or by potential significant others.

IV. FUN MISC QUESTIONS

Do necromancers dream of sheep?

Sometimes! However, sleep is very important to necromancers because it is a direct link into the subconscious, a place very near and dear with death. When necromancers dream, they often see visions or peeks of the afterlife. The souls they reap, as well as close people who have passed, can also be spotted. However, necromancers can't interact with them. It often leaves them feeling sentimental when they wake up. Sheep would be better any day of the week.

Are necromancers allowed to date each other?

Not really. In most societies, it is agreed that necromancers shouldn't meet with each other for too long lest there be a plan to combine powers and do evil shenanigans or something. Also note that would be nice to be in a relationship with someone who understands you, sure, though it would also be reasonable to have someone that brings you further from your pain rather than closer to it. I doubt that many would form special relationships with each other, even if the opportunity was given to them.

How many necromancer bloodlines are there?

It all depends on the culture and these questions: how important is death, how big is the population, and how much do the people believe in the supernatural? If there's a high answer for all three, then there should be a lot. If there's a low answer, then perhaps only a few.

Were necromancers ever seen as deities?

Sort of. More accurately, though, most necromancers were seen more as a direct link between humanity and deities. People used them as a way to understand the gods' wills, as well as a resource to know what needed to be done in order to please higher beings. There may be some rare occassions where a necromancer's blessing is misunderstood and taken as a sign of ascension, but there are currently no documents on that.

Where do necromancers go after they die?

The same place everyone else goes - which is to say, they still need to be on earth and have someone reap their soul. After that, they go to whatever afterlife they believe in with the rest of the souls they reap. You would think they would be sent to the afterlife of the god they descended from, but not unless the necromancer believe in them as part of their religion.