by George Pletz (ger353@desupernet.net)
The masses perceive life to be the polar opposite of life. This engrained fear is due to its sudden and occasionally violent nature. In reality, death is the end of a natural cycle. What lies in the beyond may preclude us but there is still a connection between life and death.
The common misinterpretation has caused a distorted view of the occult study of this relationship. Practioners of this study have been erroneously portrayed in folklore as The Necromancer. This had been either been due to hysterical exaggerations or conscious efforts to discredit the study of Mortimancy
Contrary to common conceptions, The Mortimancer doesn't simply speak to and for the dead or revive their corpses. They are sharers of the life force that they posses or accumulate. It is due to their frequent communions of spirit that Mortimancers are sensitive to the mortal traces of all spirit. Mortimancy is as much as a Life Magic as it is a Death Magic.
The Taboo of The Mortimancer is that they may not directly kill those who they draw charges from. To kill causes them to lose all charge they have accumulated. How a Mortimancer chooses to deal with this taboo decides what path they will take.
They may elect to recruit killers or criminals to do their work for them thus avoiding their loss of magic energies due to the act of Murder. Since soul harvesting requires expediency if The Mortimancer is to aacquirea major influx of soul, they must be that right at the moment of departure. It is this need to get it as fast as possible that gets Mortimancers of this ilk the nickname Ambulance Chaser. Some Ambulance chasers may hold jobs in emergency rooms or morgues to gather minor and significant charges. They may manipulate others to commit mercy killings so they make reap the benefit. Ambulance Chasers require a variety of means to get their charges. A major contributing factor of this is eventually the help wants to know why and may require more than money or a sense of purpose. Ambulance Chasers are greedy when it comes to the infusion of life force they need. It is The Ambulance Chaser which closely resembles the Necromancer of folklore.
The Sharer on the other hand has elected to use their own life force to heal the living or manipulate the dead. This doesn't mean they cannot gain infusions of life force but it is something which is taken to be an act of great sacrifice on the part of the dying. They nearly always gain their significant charges from people they have had close relationships with. For Sharers the gaining of life force from the dying stranger is a form of ddesecration Some Sharers have been known to assist those slowly dying of terminal ailments by offering a portion of their soul through The Breath of Life spell which gives the dying a short time extension on their life. Despite their ability to slow disease, aging and other ravages of the body, The Sharers healings and life extending procedures are merely fforestallersand not permanent. Eventually that which was gone will return.
A Sharer is more likely to be a Duke than part of a cabal. The Ambulance chaser on the other hand may be the head of a clueless cabal who are employed as flunkies.
Mortimancy Blast Style: Though they may not kill, the mortimancer has the means to kill. By expending life force, they can increase the natural decay and aging of their opponent. It causes hair to grey or fall out, fingernails to grow wild and wrinkling of skin. If enough damage is done,death can occur. The person killed will look as if they died of natural causes. For aging purposes treat the amount of damage as the number of years aged. To cast it costs a significant charge and damage is always a quarter of the mortimancer's Body attribute. Both caster and the one being blasted both take the damage if the victim is hit. If the victim survives the blast, they will be prematurely aged as long as the mortimancer is alive. The mortimancer ages as well but will gain five points of body a day until back to normal. Effects of premature aging are upon GM to decide.
Generate a Significant Charge: Collect one humour (blood, bile, sweat, tears or skin) from a body that has been dead for no longer than three hours. Amount is irrelevant. Must be burned in a Crucible or stored in a Chamberpot (see below).
Generate a Major Charge: Either of the methods listed above performed on another mortimancer at the moment of death. No less than five minutes after is a good rule.
Taboo: Mortimancers may not directly kill anyone directly or they lose all their charges. This will negate all spells still in effect and return all storage mediums(see below) useless.
Random Magick Domain: For all their focus on death and dying, most of their random spells are centered on the prolonging life and the animation of dead organic matter.
Starting charges: