Necromancy
Death[edit]
Within the Faewild, Rhyst and Void does 'death' have their own inherent meanings and cultural symbolism deeply intertwined within. From the most elegant of ego-death to the most classical of the absence of a soul and the cessation of a heartbeat, death remains a constant despite numerous attempts to defeat the concept. It is linked inextricably to life which, in turn, is linked inextricably to the soul. Even immortals who are immune to the ravages of time find death at the hands of any force or foe who can rattle the vessel that holds their soul, freeing it to be drawn into the River Styx.
The moment of death is inherently traumatic to the soul even if the body is unperturbed. A soul's escape from their vessel is sudden, wicked and swift as a kaleidoscope of lingering senses experience a series of sudden jumps and transitions on their way to the darkness of the Styx. So, too, is the process not complete; the whole soul fails to be lost upon 'death'.
As if a cup, once full of water, were suddenly tipped over are there lingering remnants of the soul tied to the vessel in which it were given life like droplets left within a glass. These fragments of a soul contain the thoughts, memory, consciousness and id of the soul that once inhabited it. Through this 'shedding' of id and ego do the souls enter upon the Styx untied to the 'personality' that they once were, lost within their death.
This is not to say, however, that the soul itself remains. These 'droplets' the are left behind are nothing more than whispers, remnants, and inklings of what was there. Like pressing an inky hand to a page to leave a handprint, the hand truly leaves the wall, just as the residual mana, naim, and memories remain near the body.
The Veil[edit]
Eventually, be it by the devouring of a scavenger or the natural decay of flesh, the last remnants of a vessel fade. The last lingering ego of the soul remains even through this, decaying on it's own slow accord as an ambient essence in the air. Typically, these remnants fail to shift far from the point of their death.
Haunted houses, ghost sightings and other such 'supernatural' phenomena can be easily traced to a sudden burst of activity within an area that forces the lingering essence to 'manifest' in an echo of a memory. Some have reported specters harmlessly walking between the walls or, at times, angrily throwing objects off shelves. Exceptionally rarely can these manifestations cause any physical harm to the corporeal living, and any that can are caused by Voidic influence in most cases.
As these lingering essences are invisible and intangible for the almost entirety of their decay the 'realm' of these 'apparitions' is tongue-in-cheeky called 'The Veil'; the land between life and death.
Undeath[edit]
Though the denizens of the void may call this natural essence something separate, 'undeath' is so named for the ability to excite the remnants of a soul long passed. Acting as a conduit that attaches to the lingering id of the dead, undeath energies allow these untethered essences to once more act and influence the world around. Undeath applied to a deceased body is titled 'reanimation' as the corpse once more begins to act and move as if it were alive. Undeath applied to ambient remnants of a soul can cause their visage to 'manifest' like a ghost.
Undeath is not a replacement for an actual soul, however. Those creatures risen from their proverbial graves lack agency and, if left to their own devices, will simply replicate lingering memories within the id left behind. A ghost may wander between kitchen and bed, performing a mourning routine forevermore. A deer may grace, circling around their non-existent herd before laying idle to simply repeat the feat moments later.
Proficient wielders of undeath can force these creatures to act as a vessel for their will, channeling their own desires through the essences that give animation to force the shambling bodies to carry out their will. However, no mental processes exist within the reanimated dead, their souls which give agency and consciousness still missing.
Ghostfire[edit]
Common to any sufficiently powerful conjurer is the thought that elements can be mixed and matched to new effects. Typically ineffectual, it has often been a test of a magical academy's finals to attempt to combine the effects of water and lightning into one spell.
Some elements take to each other more than others, fire being chief among those which can be warped to any manifestation. 'Ghostfire', as it is dubbed', is simply a hybridization of the typical common flame found in every plane with the essence of undeath.
Though it holds no particular power of reanimation on it's own, the vivid cerulean light it gives off illuminates the vestiges of the souls around. Occultists often favor ghostfire as a prized possession for lighting up 'sacred' ritual areas to see the spirits of the deceased to commune with them.
Interestingly, given fire often is quite hot and the touch of undeath is quite cold, the cerulean flame is almost intangible and fails to burn those who run their hand through though they swiftly feel numb from the touch.
Necromancy[edit]
Reanimated dead lack agency as they lack a soul. Necromancy is the act of re-attuning a soul to a given vessel. While the logistics of pulling a soul from the River Styx is a feat in and of itself, the act of Necromancy is fickle and dependent on quite a few criteria.
The necromantic union of a body and soul, when the soul was attuned to the body that was lost, results in a near-perfect bonding as body and mind reunite. Though they are now artificial, they must be steadily kept full of undeath lest the bonds of their reunion be broken again. If a revived body loses connection with undeath for a full year, the union breaks apart and the soul returns to the River Styx.
Typically, however, this is a feat only completed by the severing of a connection between the necromancer and the necromanced. Should a body be reunited to a vessel that were not originally theirs, nothing of the previous mind is restored. Lacking the traces of id and ego, the newly formed soul is forced to come to grips with life anew as if they had been carried through the River Styx itself, now bound to an artificial vessel.
Finally, should a reunion come where only a partial body is recovered, only a partial restoration of their mind will come. Lacking the union of the full id and ego, some level of corruption to the original mind is overcome as fractured, shattered memories haunt their existence as they try to recall faces and names they cannot picture, experiences that cut short in disjointed agony.