Why would someone begin necromancy?

Bruccius

Being a Necromancer doesn't make you a bad person. Just make your character someone who was always charmed by the conjuration school of magic, and was curious about Necromancy. So long as your character roleplays to only resurrect the bodies of outlaws of criminals, you should be fine.

Eporem

there is this consideration as well...

A wise necromancer does not wish to fight for control of his creation with an angry spirit seeking a way back into the world. Best to be certain all of a creature's soul has departed before reanimation begins.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:On_Necromancy

edit:

though I am a bit confused of the skills needed to reanimate the bones/skeleton of one whose original soul has already left... soul gems maybe?....alchemical recipes of reanimation solutions?

Grandesdar

Eporem wrote: »

there is this consideration as well...

A wise necromancer does not wish to fight for control of his creation with an angry spirit seeking a way back into the world. Best to be certain all of a creature's soul has departed before reanimation begins.

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:On_Necromancy

edit:

though I am a bit confused of the skills needed to reanimate the bones/skeleton of one whose original soul has already left... soul gems maybe?....alchemical recipes of reanimation solutions?

Oh my god, you just gave me a crazy idea to role play. I'm gonna "sacrifice" my soul gems for necro rituals.

phwaap

Mazza-mirri in the Ashen Scar has the answer:

Redeem the dead that went astray by having them fight at your side

robertbmilesb14_ESO

You could merely see yourself as a conjurer:

https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:The_Legend_of_Vastarie

Eporem

is a Sigil Geode considered the same as a soul gem?

mann9753b16_ESO

To raise a family

robertbmilesb14_ESO

Eporem wrote: »

is a Sigil Geode considered the same as a soul gem?

It would appear they are in the same "family".

See the quest Eyes of Azura.

Dojohoda

I made a back story just to goof off a bit. My Nord necro, Crud Sifter, is an apprentice and he gathers bodies for his boss, a Master Necromancer. She pays him with gold, so she is somehow making profit from necromancy.

(It's a secret, but she is hired and paid a lot to cause certain peoples properties to become haunted.. shhhhh.)

Meanwhile, my Nord necro is picking up all y'all's corpses from dragon fights and carting them off to his boss. He actually wanted to fight the dragons along with ya, but ended up getting this job instead.


Edit: ooops, Just noticed this is in Lore category.

LennoxPoodle

Strychnos wrote: »

I've got two necromancer characters that I've had for a while, neither of which I'd consider outright evil.

One is an Imperial that made a pact with Peryite to save his parents from the Knahaten flu. Peryite agreed in exchange for his soul. When his parents ended up dying anyway (they didn't have the Knahaten flu, just a normal flu), he decided that he would never die so that Peryite could not exact payment. To this end, the Imperial studies necromancy in order to extend his life (hopefully indefinitely). While he definitely takes evil actions, the end goal isn't simply power.

My other necromancer character, which I think I'll play the Elsweyr story with, is a Khajiit private investigator that often works with the Khajiiti government. He definitely raises the dead, but mostly does so in order to ask them questions so that he can solve mysteries.

Well objective achieved I guess, Molag Bal got your Soul and won't hand it over to Peryite. Also by becoming a higher Soulshriven hrle became immortal (and a daedra in a way).

But there could be even more reasons. Maybe your character has a fundamental academic interest in death. Were does it begin/end? What comes afterwards? What exactly happens to the reanimated? What are it's implications on the greater cosmos?

Maybe he sees corpses as just dead flesh, having nothing to do with the departed. So he thinks desecration is a nonsensical concept. Those bodies are resources which can be easily used. This might even be an alternate interpretation of certain aspects of the green pact. The bodies if the fallen aren't supposed to go to waste. Great for a bosmer Necro. Aren't the Camorans having a future history of necromantic invasions? (Long before Mankar)

LennoxPoodle

Oh forgot one. Maybe after Coldharbor your character was really amazed from it and the potential he experienced there. Maybe this imprisonment lead to him finally discovering his true calling and talent, Something he unsuccessfully searched for his whole live. The ultimate self discovery;-)
Your soul remaining in that realm might also forge a deep connection to it.
It collides a bit with the Elsweyr tutorial though.

Minyassa

Just a thought...evil people generally *do* think of themselves as having good intentions. They think they are right. They think they are the most moral. They think that if what they do is against the law, the law is stupid and wrong. So you don't have to have a scenery-chewing puppy-kicking mustache-twirler to play someone who just plain thinks that what he or she wants to do is just fine and it's everyone else's attitudes that are screwed up. Evil people don't really think they're evil, outside of kids' cartoons.

tsaescishoeshiner

Sorta makes sense that someone would do necromancy for the same reasons they'd do anything: They're good at it, it pays the bills, it's what they know.

Fills-Houses,

We must speak at once. I've figured out how to fashion talismans from the small bones in this cave that produce a ... strong calming effect. If I can make one that's bigger, maybe you can use it to quiet that guar that keeps us up at night. And consequently keep the nords from hearing us until we make it back to the border gate.

Meet me in the bat room, and bring any bones you can find. Any bones you can find. The fresher the better.

J

----

Morndas

This one has decided to teach the little rascal how to tickle the tethers of death. She feels bad seeing that dog maim ring-tails every week, but the foul dunce of a beast surely won't know the difference between a fresh ring-tail and a creatively reused one.

With any luck, this one will be able to teach the youth more than just the technique. The day will come when she will have to learn the first true lesson of conjuration: its dancing partner, consequences"

khajiitNPC

My reasoning is more or less curiosity. As she develops her necromancy skills she begins to understand its potential. It also opens up more questions and conflict. A perpetual state of learning. Nothing more.

Tycleton

Perhaps you focus only on the animation of those who's soul is damned for their misdeeds in this life? You have no guilt over helping them pay for their damnable sins. Think of it as retribution for what they did to others in this life. It could be the start of a small cult, perhaps based on a lesser deity where you would have greater RP control due to lack of lore info.

HappyLittleTree

Tucker3711

Maybe he had no friends, so he conjured up some.

Eporem

robertbmilesb14_ESO wrote: »

Eporem wrote: »

is a Sigil Geode considered the same as a soul gem?

It would appear they are in the same "family".

See the quest Eyes of Azura.

do you remember what Sotha Sil used to power his Fabricates?

VDoom1

One word, revenge. Sort of.

Alright so to explain. To make it more fun I make backstories for my characters, especially for my new Necromancer. It feels like it has to make sense, at least to me. So why on Earth...Nirn, did my Khajiit choose the very dark and kinda evil path of Necromancy?

The backstory is that he lost his family and his home to Euraxian soldiers. On top of that the royalty of Elsweyr were murdered by Euraxians with their necromantic powers. Enraged, watching his home burn with dragon fire and desperate my Khajiit thought to himself "fight fire with fire", turn the enemies own weapon against them. So he embraced the dark but very powerful art of necromancy. Giving the Khajiit who died at the hands of the Euraxians or the dragons a chance to fight for their home once more!

This makes perfect sense to me. Anyone who has lost everything, watched their home burn will most likely submit to a darker path. Which is also why my Khajiit Necromancer of course looks a bit evil to.

Do note that this Khajiit is by no means evil himself. Let's call it fiercely protective of his homeland, where he will even raise the dead to protect it.

Nephthys

I really enjoyed reading everyone posts, so though running in a little late, I thought I'd share a section of my character's back story.

I guess it isn't very original but it adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the game for me.

My young Dunmer who was studying sorcery heard whispers of necromancy from some of her fellow pupils. She could not help feeling a little thrill at the thought of the forbidden art but her parents forbade her from speaking of it at the dinner table. She was advised to concentrate on practicing her sorcery in the traditional and ethical way it had been through the ages.

As fate would have it a raiding party razed her village, killing all. She watched in horror as even the strongest sorcerers fell to the axe. With eyes shut tightly she waited for the final blow that would end her life, but it did not come. Instead she heard the blood curdling sound of rattling bones, of howls and groans. Between squinted eyes she saw a tall thin stranger with burning red eyes & greasy black hair, leading a band of things that were surely dead. Her would be killer dropped his axe in terror and fled, finally to be overcome by the dead things. She closed her eyes, fearing what she would see.

When she finally opened her eyes the stranger was gone. She comforted her dying parents and with his last breath, her father whispered “Take us with you. Find the stranger.”

And she did.

WildRaptorX

After being captured by the worm cult and kept prisoner for so long, you picked up on some of their skills. Now you utilise these skills to slay dragons and daedra

Sephyr

Tucker3711 wrote: »

Maybe he had no friends, so he conjured up some.

I definitely agree with this adage, but I take it further.

Make some friends, maybe raise a family.

Grandesdar

Sephyr wrote: »

Tucker3711 wrote: »

Maybe he had no friends, so he conjured up some.

I definitely agree with this adage, but I take it further.

Make some friends, maybe raise a family.

But that family would consist of suicide bombers, then.

2Weenies

Most of the time, I feel that a necromancer's origins should tie in with a lust for power, whether it be for good or bad. Maybe their loved ones fell, and they wish to truly resurrect them. Or perhaps they're vile and twisted individuals who take pleasure in subjugating their victims.

In the case of my Telvanni, it's a myriad of reasons that all stem from desire for said power. Won't be constantly threatened if you kill and reanimate your assailants as a fearful lesson. Won't have to buy more slaves if you can raise them back. Won't have to be as curious about various things done to physical forms if you don't have to worry about the pack of enraged Dunmer calling your experiments "a perversion against all existence."

RebornV3x

former mage most Necromancers seem to be proficient in other areas of magic so you could role play a mage thats lost there way and dabbled in more forbidden magic.

Llidoryc

couple of ideas:
lost someone special and trying to bring them back,
fear of death for whatever reason (made a bad deal with a daedra maybe?),
showed promise in forbidden magicka at a young age and exiled from town/tribe/clan,
grew up in a place where necromancy is not a forbidden practice,
forced into tutelage by a known necromancer,
take your pick.

valeriiya

I would try to bring my pet khajiit back

cynicalbutterfly

Personally, I like to think my necromancer just felt like studying necromancy because it seemed interesting. While everyone else was studying healing and elemental magicks, my guy was in the back of the room poking dead things. He has problems but I won't judge (I am but don't tell him that).

Bazeric

2Weenies wrote: »

Won't have to buy more slaves if you can raise them back.

Funny, I've been mulling over a magcro Khajiit that works a shady Moon Sugar plantation this way and uses necromancy for this reason.

As for OP if they're still working out their stamcro Orc, it would help to know what kind of Orc they are i.e. Clan Orc, City Orc, Wood Orc.

For Clan: You could use the typical revenge over massacred clan trope, alternatively you could have something like a clan that specialized in necromancy and 'you' simply adopted it as a way of life because you were raised that way.

For City Orc: (Kinda borrowing from other posts here) You could have been down and out looking for a job, wandered to a cemetery randomly while being pissed about your life situation, where upon you find the "Gravedigger" (who is really a necromancer) who offers you a job and teaches you necromancy for their X,Y,Z whatever. This might be good too if you don't want to be "Evil" you can always feel bad about what you're doing and eventually raise up against your employer.

For Wood Orc: Hmm... don't know enough about them to be specific but... The woods can be deep dark places where weird Sh...stuff happens. Maybe you were tripping hard and accidentally raised an undead and now you are stuck with the consequences, shunned out of the woods, forced to move around the world, forever stigmatized from these events.

Clan vs Wood seem interchangeable I guess as I feel they are very tribe-centric origins.

AnomanderisPurake

Necromancy grants one greater understanding of death and in order to preserve life or reverse damage to life, one must have intimate knowledge of death- and thereby intimate knowledge of life.

I have a necromancer who is a Telvanni Wizard Lord, he studies necromancy for the purpose of healing. While restoration magic can heal, it cannot reverse grievous or fatal wounds, the only way to heal quickly the most grave wounds, he uses Necromancy. By transferring life-force from animals or plants he can mend flesh in a way no cleric can. Plus, restoration magic comes from Stendarr, mortals cannot actually control it, what if Stendarr doesn't answer your prayers?

So a Necromantic Healer utilises the life-force of living beings and heals people, it's all a game of transference, you siphon from one place and deposit in other, enabling flesh to mend itself. The study of death and disease will have made you an expert healer, far outstripping in scientific knowledge the Templars who rely more on their faith and may not actually understand biology.

So there you go, an ethical use of Necromancy. Even loved ones could willingly give a part of their life force to supplement the strength of an ailing loved one, helping them fight disease and overcome it quickly. So many possibilities...