The Secret Craft of Necromancy
History of the Craft
Ancient Origins
The dark arts of necromancy have been practiced in Mystara from as long ago as the time of Nithia and Taymora. And wherever these forces over death and undeath occurred, there was the inescapable attention of the Immortals of Entropy, most frequently the Hierarch Thanatos, Patron of Death.
But one particularly troublesome and ambitious Entropic, the Immortal Alphaks, wanted to gain some influence over necromancy in Mystara. He found a fitting pawn in the Traladaran princeling, Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany, a powerful necromancer in his own right. Living in the 8th century, Morphail was already well versed in most of the necromantic practices of the cultures on Brun, but was very much greedy for more. In exchange for terrible secrets lost in the destruction of Old Alphatia, and now known only to the Immortals, Morphail agreed to serve Alphaks the Destroyer. But, like all allegiances with the Sphere of Entropy, Morphail paid a terrible price: He became a nosferatu in AC 720. Nevertheless, Morphail effectively promulgated the evil of Alphaks, though his use of necromancy and through the spread of his own vampiric curse.
When the fearful Traladarans learned of Morphail's malevolence, they drove him out of Traladara. Morphail fled with his followers to the Flaemish Highlands. There lay not only the promise of lands and freedom to practice his dark magic, but also (by Alphaks' advice) more secrets of necromancy from Old Alphatia, in the hands of the Flaemish wizards, descendants of the survivors of the destruction of Alphatia.
Necromancy in the Highlands
Whereas the Flaems were hostile to most settlers, they were more tolerant of Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany and his Traladarans, and allowed them to settle in the inhospitable northern territories (later to become Boldavia). Morphail established himself as a powerful necromancer and servant of Alphaks the Destroyer, which the Flaemish wizards came to respect—and fear.
Many Flaemish necromancers moved to the Traladaran territories for easy dealing and with Morphail and his minions. The Flaemish Fire Wizards, who believed in the supremacy of Fire Elementalism, were only too pleased to be rid of their unsavory brethren. But their exchanges of knowledge and dark secrets would usually and ultimately only benefit only Morphail in the end. Thus, Morphail's mastery of necromancy was unchallenged for centuries.
The Necromancers of Klantyre
In AC 743, a group of necromancers from another dimension arrived at the Highlands. From the world of Laterre, the Kaelic people were led by the McGregor clan, who were escaping persecution from their land for practicing the dark arts. Their leader, Brannart "the Red" McGregor—named for the blood of the thousand enemies he had slain—was a terrible necromancer in their old world, and his arrival on magic-rich Mystara allowed him increase his lethal powers and become a lich.
This new group of necromancers, who preferred to call themselves "Death Masters," undoubtedly caught the attention of Morphail. Though their numbers were few and their influence in the Highlands was limited, what disturbed Morphail was that these upstarts wielded sorceries hitherto unknown in Mystara. Morphail tried to learn the secrets of Kaelic necromancy, though theft, coercion, bribery, and sorcery. He even offered an exchange of knowledge between him and the McGregors, but could only learn the easier, more basic spells and necromantic principles. Whenever Morphail would come close to a profound discovery, he would be mysteriously thwarted one way or another—usually at the cost of his minions. The McGregors too have lost their share of followers in this futile undertaking, and have come to blame Morphail for some treachery in this, prompting a deadly rivalry between the Death Masters of Klantyre and the Necromancers of Boldavia.
The School and the Craft
In AC 875, Étienne d'Ambreville, the founder and Grand Master of the Great School of Magic, wanted the wizard school of necromancy to be part and parcel of the magical curriculum. Grand Master Étienne—and quite a number of other wizards among the Sylaire, the Flaem, and the Alphatians—believed that necromancy was just a form of magic and not inherently evil, and, like any form of magic, it could be used effectively and advantageously. Thus, Étienne wanted necromancy to be taught at the Great School without stigma or bias. (Étienne's motives were not entirely academic. He knew that exposing the secrets of necromancy would undermine the power of Morphail and the McGregors, both his bitter political enemies.)
With the Grand Master's promotion, a new brand of light, untainted necromancy emerged: Necromance Appliqué or Practical Necromancy. Undead servants, charged with tasks otherwise too tiring, dangerous, or lethal for living creatures, became the vogue. The d'Ambrevilles set the trend using perfumed zombies dressed in black and white livery as maids and butlers. Even the Guild of Thugs was alleged to use incorporeal undead as spies or assassins for a time. Morphail seemed to take to the fashion, by replacing human labor with tireless skeletons for work in the mines and quarries of Boldavia. Among the rest of the Known World, Glantri became reputed—for better or for worse—as a place where necromancy was safe, beneficial, and accepted.
Only the elves of Belcadiz and Erewan did not take up on this disgusting fashion. Their hatred and bias against undead ran too deep. Rumors of cadres of elven slayers of undead cropped up from time to time, and whispers of an ancient sin of Thanatos against an ancient elven clan gave clues to this aversion to necromancy.
But where the wizard school of necromancy was receiving much exposure and even accolades, a more sinister from of the dark arts was brewing in the shadows. Under the cover of the hullabaloo, Morphail set up the Secret Craft of Necromancy, a clandestine cabal of Boldavian wizards sworn to keep the horrifying and terrible secrets of true necromancy from the eyes of the faddish Glantrian public. These Necromancers also kept a close eye on their lesser counterparts in the school of necromancy at the Great School, and did not hesitate to eliminate any dabbler that threatened to learn too much about the craft.
Recent Years
In the late 800s, the McGregors had heard of this Secret Craft of Necromancy and sought to infiltrate it. Only because Morphail endeavored to learn more about Kaelic necromancy did he allow a select few of wizards from Klantyre to join the Craft. But to his great dismay and outrage, the McGregors steadily grew in number and power within the ranks of the Necromancers, while his understanding of their necromancy was stagnant.
The rivalry between the Boldavian faction and the McGregor Death Masters intensified over the past century, threatening to expose to Craft—if not destroy it altogether! And as the High Master of Necromancy, Morphail has had no choice but to take control of the situation, even if it means negotiating and dealing with the despicable McGregors, rather than destroying them all outright! In any case, he has the luxury of the time of an eternal unlife.
Morphail is hoping to find an Immortal that would assist him in betraying Alphaks and attain Immortality. Over the last century, he has tried to ally himself with the Immortals Atzanteotl, Wogar and Yagrai "He-Who-Always-Rises," but to no avail. He is planning on contacting Thanatos, without alerting Alphaks. In the meantime, he continues to do Alphaks' bidding by serving as High Master of the Secret Craft of Necromancy.
Members of the Craft
High Masters of Necromancy
Famous Death Masters of the Past
Alexandru Kviepoly, Baron of Palatinsk. The greatest of a long line of necromancers from Traladara, Alexandru was a scholarly nosferatu and possibly the most knowledgeable expert of Necromancy, second only to the High Master himself. Alexandru chose undeath to be able to pursue historical and archeological studies without the effects of time or old age. He collected artifacts from ancient Nithia and linked their necromantic practices to the Immortal Thanatos. He also uncovered much of the McGregor's secrets of necromancy for Prince Morphail, and in his last investigation of AC 901, before he mysteriously disappeared, Alexandru had come to suspect that the secrets and origins of Kaelic necromancy are somehow guarded by some Immortal from Laterre.
Lothar McDonald, Duke of Fenswick. A cold-blooded military wizard from Klantyre, he achieved much notoriety in the Glantrian Army due to his brutal yet undoubtedly effective use of necromantic magic and undead in wide-scale combat. From his military success, he began a political career, marked with much cunning, cruelty, and ruthlessness. His many executions and massacres brought Fenswick to rebellion, and he was killed in AC 949 by the Fenswick hero, Robert Moorkroft.
Recent and Present Members
Author: Kit Navarro