"To learn necromancy you must first understand essence.

What is essence? It is the energy of life itself, the power that binds the body and soul. If any thing of the living or undead was to lose all of its essence then that binding would dissolve, releasing the soul and killing the body.

The art of necromancy at its most fundamental level is the manipulation of essence through magick, projecting the essence within yourself into whatever you desire from the inanimate to the organic and creating a bond that will allow you to control them so long as your will is stronger than theirs. Always remember that what you possess is still bound by their limitations, it alone does not allow a stone to move on its own or for a child to suddenly surpass the prowess of a man. Much of the living have a rather limited and finite supply of essence so a living necromancer must use their own sparingly but, just as you are able to project your essence into others, there are ways to take it from what is around you and make it your own. Be cautious in what or how much you choose to possess at one time as these bonds can be to your detriment if you lack the power to remain dominant and you will quickly find yourself being manipulated without even realizing it."
 
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"The phylactery, the final steps in your ascension to lichdom and proof of your mastery over essence.

As stated before, essence is the energy that binds our souls to the flesh. Without it the soul is no longer bound and, as a result, no longer secured to the physical world as it is quickly pulled by the ether into the hereafter.

A phylactery serves as a secondary binding, containing one's essence and anchoring the soul to the physical realm after the body has failed.

To make a phylactery there are three steps that must be taken. The first is to empty all of the essence in your body and channel it into an object of your choosing while enduring immense pain from every ounce of your living body reacting and doing all that it can to make you stop. When the transfer is complete the pain will cease and you'll find yourself in limbo with several gateways all around you, each of them leading to a different afterlife. Your second task is to venture into a realm and gather enough essence from there to invoke your phylactery, forging a connection between you and your phylactery with that realm so that you may transport your soul between it and this one. Choose wisely as each has its own adversities to face and once you choose there is no going back. Success will allow you to return here, outside of your corpse. The final task is creating a new binding with essence you will gather here and reassert control over your flesh.

Failing to route your essence into the object will result in not being anchored in limbo and instead being taken to the realm of the afterlife that currently has the greatest alignment to your soul where you will remain forever. Fail to gather the essence of the realm you chose to enter and you won't be able to invoke your phylactery to bring you back, trapping you in that realm for all eternity. Fail in the binding and you will not be able to reenter the physical realm, cursed to permenantly wander limbo as a specter.

Are you ready to begin?"
 
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"There are numerous realms that the dead call home and the creation of a phylactery will require a connection to one of them. As you advance you will have the opportunity to create more phylacteries and potentially align each of them to a different one. It should be a goal of all liches to achieve a phylactery in every one of these realms. With each new union comes a myriad of spells and possible applications for them, as well as a source of essence in times of scarcity; but beware, apprentice, that is necromancy that must only be used when necessary as it may have consequences beyond anything you or even I could possibly imagine. In these connections the phylactery functions as the bridge and the gate, the point of entry where you can choose to let the essence flow or not. In normal necromancy you use your magick to channel essence from either your current vessel or what surrounds you into various spells and rituals; but if this isn't enough for the task then there is the option of allowing the essence of your chosen underworld to flow into you."

Thorn conjures a steadily burning ball of red flames that hovers in her open palm.

"An unwatched flame grows until it consumes all physical matter that can fuel it before dieing."

The fire turns a shade of green.

"Add a bit of your essence and it will not only burn the flesh but also the soul. Fire fueled with essence from hell-"

The green colors of the fire gives way to waves of blue and red that clash violently, now appearing unstable.

"will engulf whatever it touches, continuing to burn long after it has incinerated all that is around it and not even an ocean's worth of water will kill it. This fire is now fueled by that realm and until the day comes that hell ceases to be this fire will burn unless you snuff it out by forcfully severing its connection to you."

Screaming voices can soon be heard from the fire, begging and pleading for help with menacing laughter in the background.

"This is another thing that you must be aware of when utilizing this necromancy. Just as before with linking yourself to more than you can control, connecting yourself to a realm is not one sided as the potential for it to influence your actions is always present. There are things from the other side that will try to cross over into this one through you and what you embue with the essence of it's realm. Keep in mind that every domain of the dead has its own ecosystem, complete with all manner of pests, predators, and plagues."

The fire in her hand is quickly extinguished and the screaming ceases as silence fills the void it leaves behind.
 
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