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Benefit

Your skin becomes sallow and pinched, giving you the appearance of a zombie or lich. Your bond to the world of the dead provides you with two benefits. When you cast a necromancy spell, your effective caster level is increased by one. When you spend an action point on an attempt to turn or rebuke undead, it applies to both the turning check and the subsequent turning damage check. while true followers of Vol (including high-ranking members of the Order of the Emerald Claw) have a hostile reaction. Undead of any sort have a hostile reaction. DEAD, DEATHLESS, AND HALF-LIVING The Aereni elves care for their dead. They have perfected the art of embalming, and some of them practice this trade in the great cities of Khorvaire. As an elf's body is prepared for burial, two chronicles of his life are made. One copy is buried with his body, and one is kept in the great library of Shae Mordai; thus, he will never be forgotten, and anyone who finds his body in a future age will learn of his deeds. The bodies of the fallen are preserved in catacombs deep beneath the cities of Aerenal, filled with the assembled dead of tens of thousands of years. Grave robbing is considered a heinous crime in Aerenal, and a repeat offender might be killed and cremated, with no record made of his death. The elves reserve the gift of undying immortality for their greatest heroes--sages and artisans as well as warriors and wizards. Most elves are consigned to the catacombs after death. An elf who shows great promise might be raised from the dead if he was cut down in his prime. But traditionally, an elf can only become deathless after he has lived three centuries. The Priests of Transition view life as a journey on the path to deathlessness; even the worthy must experience a full life to appreciate what comes next. A deathless elf does not automatically gain membership in the Undying Court. Military heroes usually become undying soldiers. They continue to defend the nation, and can be found in the catacombs and all the major cities of Aerenal. Newly raised undying councilors serve as sages and administrators-- although the living perform the most vital tasks, so that they can complete the journey of life and avoid becoming dependent on the dead. After a thousand years, a councilor is considered for admittance to the court, where he tends the ascendant councilors and studies with the elders. What happens next is a mystery the uninitiated cannot understand; the ascendant councilors are truly alien beings, thousands of years old and charged with the energy of Irian. The Aereni maintain the distinctive tradition of halflife. Some followers of the Undying Court--especially those of the line of Jhaelian--undergo alchemical and spiritual treatments that result in flesh that seems to be decomposing, as if the living elf was a zombie. Non-elves often see this as a horror, and cannot imagine a reason for it. For the elves, it serves two purposes. It gives one a closer bond to the world of the dead, strengthening his necromantic gifts. Furthermore, the Aereni believe that life is the least part of the path of existence. By giving up physical beauty and acknowledging that appearance is transitory and insignificant, an elf prepares for the path he hopes to follow and serves as an example to those around him. One more stage lies between the living and the deathless: the spirit idol. The Priests of Transition hold a great responsibility. They believe that Aerenal can only support a certain number of undying councilors. Sometimes the priests feel that a fallen elf has not earned a place among the undying, but that it would be a great loss to let his soul slip away to Dolurrh. In these cases, they use the create spirit idol spell to bind his spirit to his corpse. The spell keeps him away from Dolurrh and allows necromancers to call on his wisdom in the future. Necromancy Level: