Introduction

The ruins of Ysawis were cloaked by the jungle when I rediscovered the broken city walls with my first husband, Sumulael. That was in the early years of our marriage, when my devotion to the Forbidden Arts ran strong with the careless impetuousness of youth. We had been led to the city by disgruntled spirits, in search of a legendary talisman. Even with our ghostly guides, the ruins of the vine-choked city were extensive, and the exact location of our prize eluded us.

At first, when my husband and I beheld the bones of the city’s former citizens, we amused ourselves by raising the moldering remains to attend us as ghastly servants, skeletal porters, and shadowy messengers. When the quest for the talisman yielded nothing immediately, we animated more of the city’s dead to expand the search. Before long, our new slaves uncovered royal cemeteries where the kings and queens of Ysawis had been buried for centuries before the city’s disastrous end. I remember quite vividly my delight at this discovery. With a wave of my hand, I cracked open the tombs’ monolithic stone doors, while Sumulael, cackling with wicked glee, called forth the city’s ancient royalty, commanding even the oldest of padishahs to stumble forth, wrapped in their worm-eaten shrouds or burial robes, from the corrupted depths of the crypts and into our eternal slavery. And while the dead gave up their age-corrupted treasures, none carried my coveted talisman.

Thus Sumulael and I raised up the inhabitants of Ysawis from their crypts and tombs to serve us. We lived there like exiled royalty for many years, until my husband’s insanity and revolting habits grew intolerable. I ended up killing the monster, eventually, with the help of adventurers who had discovered my secluded city in the wilderness. That is how I met my second husband, Talib. He was one of the explorers who assisted me in destroying Sumulael and helped me find my long-sought talisman.

I soon came to love Talib, after a fashion. I taught him all of my hidden secrets. We were happy together in Ysawis, rebuilding the city to its former glory. But in the end, that marriage also failed, for I found that you cannot practice the Art when you are happy, nor advance in its study if you are content. So I left behind my beloved, to write this book in solitude and focus my mind on the difficult road ahead. Come join me on this path of knowledge and self-discovery. Let us explore the Art of Necromancy together.

—Foreword to Kazerabet’s Art of Necromancy

Death is the final arbiter. It claims everyone, regardless of class or station, fame or notoriety, gentleness or depravity. In some cultures, death is regarded as the threshold to an elevated spiritual existence or as the doorway leading to another mortal life in a never-ending cycle of reincarnations. In other societies, death is believed to be the ultimate ending of awareness, marking complete annihilation and utter oblivion.

Since ancient times, scholars and priests have devoted their entire lives to studying, explaining, and revering the final chapter in human life. For some individuals, however, death has become an obsession, a source of magical power, or even an object of religious adoration. These beings are necromancers, and they are universally feared and loathed as the purveyors of unremitting evil.

According to popular myth, the necromancer practices vile and forbidden arts. He is the macabre sorcerer who roots about in graveyards, searching out moldering components for his obscene spells. She is the evil priestess who calls upon restless, tormented spirits of the long-deceased, seeking their immortal arcana. In their dark and secluded lairs, the mute undead, the monstrous familiar, and the ravening fiend serve the necromancers in their ghoulish endeavors. In the literature of fantasy and horror, the necromancer is usually portrayed as the consummate villain.

Yet there is another side to the necromancer and the death priest. Consider the compassionate ghost-hunter who lays tormented undead to rest, or the dutiful priest of the Dead who helps guide spirits on their eternal voyage to the netherworld. Necromancers can also have a constructive and positive role in the campaign.

This book is devoted to exploring both aspects of necromancers and death priests. We explore their varied roles as not only villains, but also as healers, mentors, and patrons. These spellcasters are among the most complex, versatile, and powerful characters available in the ADVANCED DUNGEON & DRAGONS® game. This tome reveals all of their secrets and powers so that you—as the Dungeon Master (DM)—can bring these master wizards and priests to life for the players under your care.

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