Supernatural Organisation Data Files: Necromancer Cults

Supernatural Organisation Data Files: Necromancer Cults

Summary: There are still many cults of necromancers throughout the world, despite the efforts of the Meander Corporation to unify all necromancers under a common banner. These cults vary from loose organisations of ‘equals’, to secret societies, and through to truly cult-like organisations (including their means of recruitment). Most of these cults are small, however, a few (detailed in other files) have around fifty or so members.

            Beyond their shared interest in experimenting with necromancy, there are few certainties when dealing with necromancer cults. Most will worship or revere necromancy to some degree, have undead protectors of some kind and often a means of acquiring bodies for experimentation without notice.

Structure: There are three primary structures encountered: loose groups that follow a teacher and apprentices style, secret society style groups which perform their experiments only part of the time, and true cults that find an isolated location to use for recruitment and experimentation.

            Most loose groups and secret societies take the form of a council, with members voting on aims and activities. They exist primarily for necromancers to share knowledge with each other, and also to share resources (such as bodies, money, basic necessities). The main difference between looser organisations and secret societies is usually distance: some of the looser groups will see each other only once a decade.

            The true cult groups are cults. Members are inducted and convinced using normal cult techniques into fervent belief into either a powerful individual or necromancy itself. Of note is that necromancer cults have an advantage over most: they are able to use magic that truly defies expectation and possibility. This proof of the supernatural is often used – by careful and despicable individuals – to convert even the most cynical about religion.

            Cults will usually centre around a central figure or a few stronger necromancers, and often will have been founded merely to cover the activities of these individuals. Only some will actually teach their members necromancy, and even these rarely choose any except the best of their members. Ordinary cultists will often be used as an easy source of bodies, or to take the fall for crimes such as grave robbery or murder.

History: Necromancer cults began appearing shortly after the discovery of necromancy’s ability to raise the dead, around seven hundred A.D. Working from initial experiments performed by one enterprising necromancer, they quickly developed techniques to create undead that would last for months before decaying. Not long after this – the initial mastery of the creation of zombies – they began to war with the elemental mages (whose magic shared an origin with theirs).

            This war erupted due to the distaste the elemental mages – and, in fact, anyone else aware of it – felt about necromancy. It is, in a way, anti-life. There is not more disturbing force known to us even in the modern day. At first the war was small scale – necromancers being occasionally caught – but shortly after the peak of the elemental societies (around the twelfth century A.D.) the necromancer cults chose to go on the attack.

            Unfortunately, the ultimate result of this war was the destruction of the elemental magic societies. Necromancers were initially forced to work in secret, and were able to infiltrate the societies deeply. Their experience in remaining undetected and knowledge of the societies and the habits of many elemental mages allowed the necromancers to eliminate the societies almost entirely by around the sixteenth century, leaving the necromancer cults only threatened by the holy orders (who found hunting down truly human monsters difficult).

            Following their victory over the elemental societies, the necromancer cults mostly moved on to researching more openly and into possibilities that had been ignored while under threat. Several small scale conflicts broke out between groups, but nothing on the scale of their fighting with the societies.

            Around eighteen-forty the Lich emerged as the leader of the Meander cult. This exceptional achievement made Meander quickly grow into the by far largest necromancer cult (they had, in fact, already been one of the largest). Around eighteen-fifty the Lich – or a powerful member of the cult – came up with an idea. The creation of a company, working all over the world, that would cover and support the activities of Meander. The Meander cult, ‘They by the river’, became Meander Incorporated, and later the Meander Corporation.

            Shortly after becoming a company, Meander began to absorb other necromancer cults. Some joined freely, others after being threatened. Then those that had been threatened but refused were forced, or hunted down. Meander Corporation single-handedly wiped out any threat to their dominance of necromancy, and ended the vast majority of cults.

            This effort was toned down around nineteen-fifty (long after most cults were destroyed) however, necromancer cults have still been under occasional attack until the present day. The activities of the remaining cults, while terrible, are minimal to avoid detection by Meander. Following our alliance with Meander, we have passed them information on several cults that have been subsequently destroyed.