Heroes 5 - NECROPOLIS - The Necromancers

ID Card:

Associated colors: black and toxic green
Worship: Necromancers worship the Primordial Dragon of Order in a twisted version of her destructive aspect
Core philosophy: “Embrace the Void”. Morbid fascination for death and fanatic devotion to the cause
Country/kingdom: None (they are a secret society hidden within Academy and Haven)
Capital city: None (same reason)
Key symbols: the mother spider

Description:

Necromancers are a split-order of the Wizards. They study death-magic to become eternal. They can control the spirits of the deceased (ghosts) or raise the dead form their graves (skeletons, zombies).
Necromancers believe that pleasures are sensual (linked to our five senses) and that each pleasure leads to pain (being sick from eating too much, grieving the death of one’s beloved, etc.). The solution is to embrace death, which is perfection through sensory deprivation. Necromancers believe in an eternal, unchanging, neutral life rather than maintaining moderation in all things until the next life.
High-ranking Necromancers become Vampires: eternally young, beautiful and powerful, but as cold and insensitive as alabaster statues.

On the battlefield, Necropolis troops are generally weaker than their opponents. However their cost is lower as they are less dependent on “material” resources to grow. So they tend to benefit from a clear numeric advantage.
But Necropolis troops also compensate their relative weakness with other abilities. All Necropolis creatures are Undead. Undead creatures are not affected by morale: the dead don't care, you can't motivate them with the prospect of victory and they are not afraid to die. Mind Effects and poisons also don't work on them: they don't have minds or bodies.
On top of that some units will drain life from their enemies or remain untouched by non-magical attacks.

BRIEF HISTORY

The origins

62 YSD: The Schism of the Seven
Schism between the disciples of Sar-Elam, who can’t agree on the best way to follow the road laid down by the Seventh Dragon and, hopefully someday surpass him. Sar-Antor founds the Blind Brothers, a congregation of healers, seers and embalmers dedicated to the worship of Asha. Sar-Badon founds the Dragon Knights, a martial order disciplined in both body and mind.
The other disciples, led by Sar-Shazzar, the most gifted of them all, lead an exodus of wizards and like-minded humans to found the Seven Cities (the first kingdom of Magic) in the southern deserts.

74 YSD: Mysterious death of Sar-Shazzar
Sar-Shazzar dies in his sleep. When attendants attempt to move his body to the Necropolis for preparation and burial, it crumbles to ashes.

461 YSD: Discovery of Necromancy
Belketh, a disciple of Sar-Shazzar, discovers the path of Necromancy. Necromantic experimentations begin in the Seven Cities.

610-660 YSD: Rise of the Necromancers
The Necromancer presence grows until they are a powerful political force in the Seven Cities

The modern ages

751-770 YSD: Purge of the Necromancers - Civil war in the Seven Cities
Jealous of the power acquired by the Necromancers, the Wizards of the Seven Cities initiate a large-scale persecution, ranging from the seizing of their properties, to banishment, to the spectacle of public executions.
A long and gruesome civil war ensues. The ancient cities are destroyed and much of the land is rendered uninhabitable.

771 YSD: Foundation of the Silver League
Survivors of the Seven Cities establish the Silver League (the second kingdom of Magic) in the lands to the south. Necromancers flee east to the haunted valley of Heresh.

813-822 YSD: War of the Broken Staff
The Necromancers attempt to crush the newborn Silver League but the Wizards gain the upper hand and invade Heresh. The Necromancers are utterly defeated and their kingdom shattered.