Necromancy is immoral. Necromancy is far from the only branch of magic that has been outlawed, but it holds a special place and seen as particularly evil. It's no wonder that it is seen as such. When people think of necromancy, they often have visions of the dead reanimating and clawing out of their own graves to assault cities. This isn't exactly unreasonable expectation. The Gallis massacre is but only the latest example, and has lead to the forbidden nature of necromancy as it stands today, over 200 years later.
But for Saerin, she only considered the laws momentarily as she delved deeper and deeper into her research. At first, she would never have considered such a taboo art. It hadn't been until she was reminded of an old story she hadn't heard in years, really more of a fairy tale or a myth, than something she should take any advice from. But, desperation drove her to an area that had been off-limits.
In her months of research, she discovered something else about necromancy. There is another type of magic, that is perfectly legal, that has it's basis in necromancy. These people call themselves "mediums". Saerin knew that most mediums are crocks. They use psuedo-magic to convince people that they are the medium that connects the physical realm with the mists.
They are imposters. Saerin moped as she left an appointment with one such medium. It left much to be desired, but it did fill the young girl with a fervor that she had never experienced before in her life. If mediums are fake, if they can't speak into the mists, then perhaps someone else could. Thus, her new journey began.
Several months later, she found herself laying on her stomach thumbing through a text book skimming over non-essential information. All of the furniture in her room had been move off to the side. Her lap top lay open with the web browser filled with way too many tabs open, it was a wonder it could even still process it all. A mountain of books surrounded her as she threw one book behind her and reached for another. If anyone else had been around to see her, they'd have thought that she had gone crazy.
Saerin herself would have to deny the claims. Sure she may have become engrossed in her studies, but who hasn't about one of their passions? Right?
Books weren't the only means of studying these days. Social media, movies, news articles; all had been helpful in understanding the risks and promises of any new undertaking. She did find out quite a bit about necromancy from all of these. Social media had been almost absent of all things necromancy, outside of a few meme's or jokes about it. Curious, she discovered that social media companies had been pushed to ban all things considered "illicit forms of magic."
Movies and news articles only showed negative sides. Movies consistently showed necromancers as one of, if not the, most pronounced antagonists. Far too often it was "Now you have to fight your reanimated spouse." Saerin was embarrassed to admit that she had gotten a little more into those movies than she should have.
Lastly, news articles only ever showed them after a crime was committed. Last year a man was found after he had been carrying on his life with his wife, three months after she died. The pictures that were associated made her sick.
A stack of books tumbled over as she pulled out a new one simply entitled "Runes of the dead." Within it contained all kinds of magic runes which are considered "dead" meaning that they aren't currently used for modern forms of magic.
Runes are the oldest and most basic form of magic. In ancient times, they would write out the runes in their own blood because they believed that you had to inscribe yourself into the spells for them to work properly. This has long since been debunked as magic and science evolved and learned. Basic spells these days can be performed without runes, and with nothing more than with an incantation, imagination, and a little bit of mana to fuel it. The spell that she was attempting though, was a very old, very complex form of magic. One that has long since been deemed "forbidden."
