Valdemar's Tome of Advanced Necromancy.
A contribution from Markus Olavi Montola.
This book I have compiled is made for those who come after me to
see the worst horrors of the Glantrian Necromancy. The story of my life and career is
long, but during it I realized the horrific nature of the black magic I practiced, and
after moving to Darokin, I let Valerias' light fall into my heart. Now as I have aged over
comprehension, and I am dying, I have decided to compile the blackest secrets to this
tome, to let someone know how to fight the worst of the worst of the northern Glantri. Few
know what they can do, and my wish is that this book will show everyone the true powers of
death.
Do not let these secrets fall in the wrong hands. If you yourself plan to use this magic,
prepare to face my wrath as you read further. But the man with good intentions will suffer
no ill.This book includes many spells designed by mighty necromancers, including Morphail
Gorevitch-Woszlany and Brannart McGregor. It was rather easy to gather those with my
magics, as the dead souls hold no secrets from a mighty magus.
Valdemar of Ostbruck
The Eyes of the Dead Man
by Szasza Markovitch
Level: 3
Range: gaze
Duration: varies
Area: one person
Szasza's spell allows the caster gazing to the eyes of a dead body to see the last things
he saw before dying. He sees one minute per level of action, but can hear nothing. The
eyes can also be used on the undead, who get a saving throw against the spell. The undead
is also forced to watch his death as the caster sees it, which usually puts them to raging
frenzy against the caster, or drives them away horrified. The mindless undead don't care.
Szasza's Vengeance by
Szasza Markovitch
Level: 6
Range: 30m
Duration: permanent
Area: one victim
Szasza's Vengeance is a powerful curse that can be only cast by a necromancer who is dying
at the time of the casting. The spell requires only a very simple gesture and gaze, so
usually even the dying can cast it. As the Vengeance drains caster of his life-energies,
he can never be brought back to life. Szasza's Vengeance works in three different ways.
First, the victim is instantaneously and permanently drained of two levels of experience.
Secondly, three nights after the caster is killed, he comes back as an intelligent spectre
with all his spell-casting abilities (except Szasza's Vengeance), but which is completely
obsessed with killing the victim. The spectre vanishes as the victim dies, but if the
victim is drained to zero levels of experience, he turns to a spectre and is left to haunt
the place of his death. Thirdly, until the spectre tracking the victim is destroyed, the
victim sees every night nightmares of his death, and the lack of sleep gives him -2
modifier to everything he does.
The Wraith Curse by
Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 6
Range: touch
Duration: 1r / level, or until it hits
Area: one edged weapon
The target weapon is surrounded by black, crackling aura for the duration of the spell.
When the spell is in effect, the dagger must be used to kill someone with one strike or
cut. If the target dies, the next round he turns to a wraith under the necromancer's
control -- if he doesn't, the spell wears off. The wraith lives until killed, but the
necromancer must every evening make an intelligence check to maintain the control over the
undead created with this spell. If he fails, the wraith is set free, if he maintains the
control for seven nights, the wraith is obedient forever. Usually the Wraith Curse is used
against deadly wounded or helpless victims.
Soulcage by Morphail
Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 6
Range: touch
Duration: permanent
Area: one object
Soulcage prepares a container for the soul of one specific person. Enchanting the cage
takes one hour per level of the victim. The container may be just about anything, but it
must have been in the possession of the victim at least a year. The cage turns black (as
if burnt) as the result of the spell. After the Soulcage is created, it can not be
dispelled without physically breaking the cage. It works even within anti-magic zones.
Creating the Soulcage requires a couple of components from the victim like hair or nails,
and the knowledge of all the names victim has regularly used in his life.
Bind Soul by Morphail
Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 6
Range: 10m
Duration: permanent
Area: one soul, one Soulcage
Using Bind Soul requires a container prepared with Soulcage, and a bodiless soul. Bind
Soul effectively forces the soul to the Soulcage, where the soul is trapped until it is
freed by physically breaking the container. Bind Soul can not be dispelled without
breaking the container. After the soul is trapped, other soul magics can be used against
it. It is possible to communicate with the soul by using ESP or similar forms of magic.
The Mark of the Damned
by Brannart McGregor
Level: 7
Range: touch
Duration: until removed
Area: one person
The Mark of the Damned is an invisible magical sigil that must be placed on the victim's
forehead. If the victim fails the saving throw, he knows that something is horribly wrong,
if he succeeds, the Mark fails. All those who see the victim's face, will treat him as if
they saw the face and the body of a lich. They see him just as he is, but their attitude
is altered, and they can't explain why. The victim causes them to panic, rage, fear...
Even if he can get someone believe that he is cursed, the spell is not broken. The Mark of
the Damned can not be dispelled, but a Bless or a Remove Curse by a lawful cleric of
necromancer's level will remove the Mark. The necromancer can also remove the Mark.
Steal Soul by Morphail
Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 7
Range: 10m
Duration: permanent
Area: one victim
This spell effectively drains the soul of the victim permanently from his body. The body
doesn't die, but the soul appears pure and naked white misty form next to it. The soul can
be harmed only by specific magics, and it can only move (fly) at walking speed. If the
soul is still free after five minutes, it is drawn to afterlife. Before that happens,
other soul magics affect the soul. If the victim has any soul magics (like Magic Jar), he
can use them. The soul can use no other form of magic. The victim may save vs. death magic
to avoid the soul-stealing. The victim can be raised from death, if the soul is not
trapped somehow. Bodiless
soul can not resist soul magics in any way. Only sentient beings' souls can be stolen.
Eclipse by Brannart
McGregor
Level: 7
Range: 0
Duration: 20min / level
Area: 1km radius / level
Eclipse prevents sunrise within a given area, postponing it by 20 minutes per level of the
caster. Practically it reflects all the sunlight within the area back to the sun, but lets
starlight and moonlight through. The area of effect moves with the caster. Eclipse can be
only cast before sunrise, but it lenghtens the duration of all spells lasting for one
night. Note that powerful mages can prevent an entire day (at least in winter or in a
valley), making the night very long indeed. Eclipse cannot be cast on two subsequent days.
Rebirth by Valdemar
Level: 8
Range: touch
Duration: permanent
Area: the caster and a woman
My long research on reversing undeath brought me to this spell. The way is long and hard,
but there is this way back. Rebirth must be cast by an undead to a fertile, willing woman.
Effectively, the spell makes the woman pregnant, and places the soul of the necromancer to
the unborn baby, thus leaving the caster's body uninhabited. When the baby is born, it has
no memories of it's previous life, but it has all the mundane skills it had. Thus, there
might be a baby very adept in babbling in arcane languages. The personality is also the
casters. As the baby ages, every month he remembers five months of his previous life,
regaining also his character, arcane abilities, maturity and personality. When the child
is physically ten years old, he probably is very potent mage again.
Soul Surge by Morphail
Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 8
Range: 30m
Duration: 30min
Area: one victim
The Soul Surge removes the soul of one person from the body, and lets the necromancer
transform it to an overwhelming surge of power. The first victim gets to save vs. death
magic, if he makes the roll, the spell is cancelled. If he fails, he dies as the soul is
drawn from the body and absorbed in a great flash of light. Note that the body doesn't
die, but the person inside does. The necromancer will get one point of power per victim's
level for the duration of the spell. A power point may be either used to fire black bolts
of lightning (one target only, save for half, maximum of 20d6 per bolt) for d6 per
expended power point, or to temporarily increase the caster's level for one level per two
power points, or to instantaneously re-memorize one spell level per two power points. The
victim can never be raised. The burning energies of the Soul Surge cause one hitpoint of
damage to the necromancer per victim's level.
The Night of the Dead by
Brannart McGregor
Level: 9
Range: 0
Duration: until sunrise
Area: 1km radius / level
The Night of the Dead is a ritual spell takes an hour to cast, and requires some equipment
(magical symbols, candles, braziers) and one sentient living victim to be sacrificed, who
can never be brought back to life. After the spell is cast, every dead body within the
area is turned either to skeleton or a zombie (depending on their condition) under the
caster's control, every mindless undead succumbs to the caster's will and every sentient
undead has to save vs. spells or be also controlled by the caster. The sacrificed victim
is transformed to a vampire under the caster's control for the duration of the spell. The
caster can give telepathic orders to all the dead within the area. Every undead (incl. the
caster) under the spell, is strengthened by 1hp / hit die, and they strike with +2 to hit
and damage. All turning attempts against the undead are made with 2/3 of the turner's
level. The visible effects of the spells are horrific; the dead rise from their graves and
from the long-forgotten battlefields, strong icy wind blows spreading thin white mist
swirls everywhere. The undead animated by the Night drop dead when the sun rises, and can
never again be animated by the same necromancer.
The area of effect moves with the caster, and if the undead happen to walk out of it, they
drop dead. But as the caster walks on, more and more undead rise from the graveyards to
serve him. The Night of the Dead can not be dispelled by Dispel Magic, but the spell ends
if the necromancer is killed or the vampire used in the ritual is permanently destroyed.
Grasp the Mortal Flesh
by Brannart McGregor
Level: 9
Range: 0
Duration: permanent
Area: caster
Brannart McGregor designed the Grasp to protect himself from death when he still was
alive. Grasp the Mortal Flesh binds the soul strongly to the flesh; the caster just stays
alive even if dismembered, no matter if he has -10 or -50 hitpoints. He never loses
consciousness, but if he has negative hitpoints, it is rather difficult and painful to do
anything. The rule of thumb is that the soul is in the caster's head unless it is
destroyed. If it is, the soul flees to his heart if they are still connected. The caster
can only be killed permanently if the head is severed and then crushed, or the head is
crushed and the heart cut to pieces. The problem with the Grasp is, that the soul may be
forever trapped in the severed skull, driving the necromancer insane and torturing him
forever. Brannart always memorized spells that made it possible to Magic Jar someone to
get few healing spells cast to his original body. Any and all healing spells can heal the
necromancer's part where the soul resides. The Grasp can only be dispelled by a caster of
higher level than the necromancer. If the caster's soul is successfully drawn from his
body (like Steal Soul), the Grasp is dispelled, but the soul stays in the necromancer's
body.
Cheat the Death by
Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 9
Range: 1m / level
Duration: 1r / level
Area: caster and one other person of the same race
Morphail's last defence against death is a very potent version of the Magic Jar. If the
caster dies while this spell is in effect, every living (or undead) humanoid within the
range must make a spell vs. death magic, beginning from the closest to the dead
necromancer. The first one to fail the save dies, as the soul of the necromancer
permanently takes over the body. Cheat the Death can be dispelled before it takes effect,
but the effect is not magical after the necromancer has inhabited the new body. If
necromancer was undead, his new body begins to die, eventually turning to undead. The
necromancer keeps his mental abilities, but takes the physical properties of the victim.
If he dies in the new body, and is tried to be brought back from dead, there are equal
chance that the victim is brought back instead. If the necromancer is alive when Cheat the
Death ends, he must save vs. death magic or die; if he dies, he still has the chance to
cheat the death.
Embody Soul by Morphail
Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 9
Range: touch
Duration: permanent
Area: one soulless body
One of the Morphail's masterpieces makes it possible to cast a soul to a soulless body
permanently, effectively bringing dead back to life. To embody a soul, the necromancer
must have a bodiless soul, and a soulless body (can be made with Steal Soul, Soul Surge or
Magic Jar (if the victim has used Magic Jar himself)) of the soul's race. The body can
also be created (the result looks like a flesh golem or Frankenstein's monster) or grown
(which is quite a feat in itself), or hit in the head until he is what mundane people
would call brain-dead. After the soul is present and the body is present, the necromancer
must do a night-long ritual. If the ritual is not interrupted, the soul inhabits the body
permanently. The soul keeps his mental abilities, but takes the physical properties of the
body. The effect can not be dispelled, and if the body dies and is raised from death,
there is an equal chance for the original person and the newcomer to be raised. If the
soul was undead, his new body begins to die, eventually turning to undead. Soul can also
be embodied to an undead body, which then stays undead.
Fetter of Soul Power by
Morphail Gorevitch-Woszlany
Level: 9
Range: touch
Duration: permanent
Area: one Soulcage with a soul, and the living body
To enchant a Fetter of Soul Power, the necromancer must have earlier prepared a Soulcage,
and he must have bind the soul to the cage. First hen must do a grotesque bloody ritual
lasting for three uninterrupted nights, during which he kills the body physically, and
after which there is practically nothing left of the victim's body. After enchanting the
fetter, he must cast the Soul Surge to the soul, thus transforming it to pure energy.
After he has done these preparations, the Fetter is ready. It has one charge per level or
a hit die of the victim. Each charge may be expended to give the necromancer one magical
ability of the victim for six hours, or to increase caster's level by one for six hours.
If the victim was a thief, caster may use a charge to get one thieving skill. If the
victim was a cleric, he can take the turn undead ability. If the victim was a mage, he can
memorize instantaneously one full spell per three charges. Other abilities are described
in the monsters' description. The victim must be a sentient being, but he can be of any
race. Using the charges of the Fetter damages the caster by one hitpoint per charge.