The School of Necromancy is notorious for its ill reputation throughout Tamriel. The Dunmer in particular who practice ancestor worship despise necromancy, even though they themselves summon the souls of their dead. But they are strict, only raising ancestral souls, and the raising of the dead by an outlander is blasphemy at best.

Near the end of the Third Era, Necromancy ?which was once simply ignored by the Mage's Guild- was officially banned by Hannibal Traven. The prosecution of Necromancers that followed has been received with mixed emotions, and many Mage's Guild supporters, Mage Council members, and mages within the Guild abandoned the Guild as a result. What happened thereafter was an outright war amongst mages, resulting in Hannibal Traven's death and the supposed destruction of Mannimarco, King of Worms, by the Arch-mage's successor.

Necromancy is still banned, and even before its banishment from the Schools of magic it was a despised art, a Black Art. This text will not go into detail as to the spells within this perverted School, but instead seek to explain how it is not like Conjuration, its accused cousin.

True, Conjurers summon undead beings, but their method is not the same as a Necromancer. What little could be gleamed from the more legal texts show that a Necromancer must exercise extreme patience as they prepare the corpses, and elaborate rituals must be used to imbue a dead spirit within the body and bend it to the Necromancer's will. In Conjuration, the summoned Undead has no soul: the will of the summoner is the soul of the summoned. But in Necromancy, it would appear that souls are forced into servitude of the necromancer, and the body's rotting processes are stopped. Conjuration does no such things, and therefore does not defile the dead to the extent of Necromancy.

The writer has never personally dabbled into this School in any extent, so does not know exactly how accurate these statements are. They have been gleamed from a few easy to obtain texts for research purposes that were later handed over to the Mage's Guild for containment. The texts hinted, however, at other uses for the School outside of raising dead. Further research was impossible.

It's rather like the difference between the other end of Conjuration and dealing directly with Daedra. The Conjurer brings a daedra to this world for a limited time. The daedra worshiper seeks to bring the daedra in for an indefinite time. The processes, are, I imagine, quite different.

There was a book in Morrowind that mentioned this. Apparently there are large, involved rituals for long-term daedric summoning. Can't remember the name of it, though.

Just finished reading The Black Arts On Trial, and i have a question.

Could the arrest attemp on Magister Ulliceta gra-Kogg have been Traven?s way of getting rid of anyone who wouldn?t share his opinion on the necromancy subject or was gra-Kogg really a hardcoe necromancer?

Don?t hold back any speculation, kids

A lot of lore stuff dosen't appear. "response to Bero's speech" or somesuch is one prime example of some awesome stuff we can't do in-game. That's why Lore is fun.

There was a book in Morrowind that mentioned this. Apparently there are large, involved rituals for long-term daedric summoning. Can't remember the name of it, though.

Apparently even the Temple uses this method, as they have an entire legion of Dremora serving in various pilgrimages and temples across the island.

Which begs the question: when the White Gold Tower fell and the Oblivion Gates started a'openin' in Morrowind, did the Temple Dremora fight dutifully next to their Dunmer summoners, or turn coat? How powerful a hold does this Temple Magic have over the actions of intelligent beings like Dremora?