Today on Tough Traveling with Fantasy Review Barn, we deal with a topic close to my heart: necromancy!
It should be no secret that I’m fond of necromancers, because I say it all the dang time. I have to mention, though, that I mostly mean literary necromancers: not the real-world ones, who were (are?) basically mediums, and not so much the ones you can find in any fantasy game raising hordes of undead to attack the players. I play a lot of RPGs and MMOs, and Necromancer has never been a class I’ve really enjoyed in those — probably because they’re always a pet class and I hate pet classes! Argh!
Anyway, like I said, I prefer literary necromancers who split the difference between the game and reality. The Tough Guide entry cuts much more closely to the old/real definition too:
NECROMANCY is, in Fantasyland, the art of raising the dead, and you need a specialized Magic User to do it. You must expect to need to consult someone who is dead about two-thirds of the way through your Tour. You must hire or call in a favor from a Necromancer, who will do things with little pots of smoke over the grave and then summon the dead person in words that vibrate the earth and the air. After this, a misty version of the corpse (or sometimes one not misty enough for comfort) will arise, bringing with it a cold blast of air and a strong graveyard Smell. This simulacrum will be able to speak and will have all the memories of the dead person. You must ask it what you want to know. But take care to ask the right questions. Usually such a rite can not be repeated, and the dead are often as literal-minded as computers.
See also Black Arts.
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My response:
Bask in the glory that is my artistic skill.
The War of Memory Project 