thanergy (death-energy) is released when cells die; it is retained like a charge by corpses and bones.
thalergy (life-energy) is held by living cells; there is a lot of thalergy in fresh blood.
soul (spirit-energy) is the consciousness that accumulates within any living thing; every complex living system has a soul.
A necromancer is a person born with the ability to perceive thalergy, thanergy, and soul. This functions like a sixth sense. As a tradeoff, necromancers tend to be skinny, sickly, and physically frail. They are the highest social class in John's canon; their powers are considered a blessing from God (John) himself.
When necromancers want to manipulate thalergy-rich materials (like blood or the body), or interact with souls (like ghosts), they use thanergy (death-energy) as a power source. They can use bones as batteries, or kill something for a sudden burst of power.
Upon death, souls are swept into the River: a chaotic, disorienting afterlife-space. It does not map 1:1 onto physical reality, so John and his demigods can traverse it as a form of fast travel. The living cannot survive in the River— only John and his demigods, or lyctors, can do that. A lyctor is a necromancer who has murdered a loved one and eaten their soul, which will burn forever as their power source.
John is considered the source of all necromancy, with his lyctors as holy saints enacting his will. There are several schools of necromancy:
River magic, the secretive eldritch shit performed by John and his demigods.
Draining thalergy from the living, which withers away their vitality; or pouring that stolen life-energy into someone else, as a boost in combat.
Flesh magic, the practice of molding human bodies like clay.
Thanergetic fission, the practice of turning bodies into bombs.
Spirit summoning, the calling and binding of ghosts.
Psychometry, the ability to read echoes of energy to gain insight into an object's history.
Preservation and stasis of corpses and souls, preventing decay or preventing a soul from reaching the afterlife.
Soul siphoning, the practice of suspending a soul between life and death as a conduit for energy. This risks waking eldritch enemies from the depths of the River.
Bone magic, the practice of molding skeletons like clay, or programming them as autonomous constructs.
NECROMANCY EXPLAINED
- thanergy (death-energy) is released when cells die; it is retained like a charge by corpses and bones.
- thalergy (life-energy) is held by living cells; there is a lot of thalergy in fresh blood.
- soul (spirit-energy) is the consciousness that accumulates within any living thing; every complex living system has a soul.
A necromancer is a person born with the ability to perceive thalergy, thanergy, and soul. This functions like a sixth sense. As a tradeoff, necromancers tend to be skinny, sickly, and physically frail. They are the highest social class in John's canon; their powers are considered a blessing from God (John) himself.When necromancers want to manipulate thalergy-rich materials (like blood or the body), or interact with souls (like ghosts), they use thanergy (death-energy) as a power source. They can use bones as batteries, or kill something for a sudden burst of power.
Upon death, souls are swept into the River: a chaotic, disorienting afterlife-space. It does not map 1:1 onto physical reality, so John and his demigods can traverse it as a form of fast travel. The living cannot survive in the River— only John and his demigods, or lyctors, can do that. A lyctor is a necromancer who has murdered a loved one and eaten their soul, which will burn forever as their power source.
John is considered the source of all necromancy, with his lyctors as holy saints enacting his will. There are several schools of necromancy: