Necromancers (Non-Pagan)
This article is about the Necromancers as seen in Sosaria, Britannia and on Serpent Isle. For For other uses, see Necromancers (Disambiguation).
| Necromancer | |
|---|---|
 Necromancer (Ultima I manual) | |
| First appearance: | Ultima I |
| Last appearance: | Ultima VII Part Two |
Sosarian, Britannian and Serpent Islander necromancers are magicians specializing in the magic of death, specifically how they might cause and control it. Such enchanters readily fall to wickedness when tempted with it, and could once be found plaguing the landscapes of ancient Sosaria during the time of Ultima I, having allied themselves in great numbers with Mondain.
Description[edit]
Necromancers are differentiated from the tamer death-specializing magicians known as "necromages" by the scope of their work. Where necromages are content to study death and the dead passively, through seances and observation, necromancers take an unfortunate "hands on" approach to the death process, and may inflict great suffering upon others for the sake of sating their mystic curiosity. Such practitioners are responsible for plagues such as the animate skeletons[1] that haunt Britannia and there is little doubt that mages thus inclined may opt to take on the mantle of lichedom.
Lore[edit]
| “ | The Necromancer is a mage whose specialty is the practice of the arcane arts that pertain to the dead. Practitioners of such a morbid specialty were naturally drawn to the foul Mondain as jackals are to the carrion of the plains. – from The First Age of Darkness (Ultima I)
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Notable Examples[edit]
- Horance: While better classified as a liche within the context of Ultima VII, this Skara Braean magician's control over the dead indicates that he may have existed as a necromancer in the days before his transformation.
- Vasculio: A famed necromancer of Moonshade who eventually escaped execution for his crimes by transforming himself into a vampiric revenant; appears in Ultima VII Part Two.
Trivia[edit]
- An illustration for the necromancer only appears in the manual for the original Apple II version of Ultima I.
See Also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Albert, David. "Bestiary". The First Age of Darkness (Ultima I). Origin Systems, Inc.: 1986. Page 16.