Not bad at all, Iain

Thanks for the suggestion.
-----------------------------------
PM to strolen, regarding necromatic magicI caught your conversation with manfred after I left, last night, So I thought I would try and help clarify for you

09:39:58 [Strolen] I am looking for a reson to become a necromancer and I don't see the pull for it besides being evil...which doesn't give a lot of motivation.
-First, these people don't worship Ophreal to get necromatic powers, they worship him so in the next life, Ophreal rewards them. The necromancy is just a bonus.
09:40:24 [Strolen] I guess control over the dead is a pull.
09:40:39 [manfred] Learn about things from "the other side", literally.
-Necromancy, though generally 'evil' has a lot of uses which could be far FROM evil:
*Summoning an undead to save a family from a dangerous creature, without risking ones own life.
*Talking to the spirits of dead animals in the same way the druids could talk to the spirits of the trees, and learn things about the future
*Blinding/confusing a creature to make your escape
And so on.
09:40:57 [manfred] Immortality, not to forget this one.
Yes - Studying the dead will also give longevity over life, divulging secrets of the other world. There won't be immortality as such in this world, but the 'under' people will certainly have a longer life span.
09:41:58 [Strolen] Immortality. OK.....sick of all the shiny happy people looking for another power. It is a tough once since they have to catch animals which seem to be pretty rare.
09:42:24 [Strolen] I think it would be rarer then elementalism then probably.
No, you do not understand - how is hunting for some creatures so much more difficult than hunting for a rare plant. First, the druids have to BRAVE the creatures to get TO the plant, then the plant itself may be poisonous or hostile in some way. Necromancers can just set up large pit-traps and check on them once a week, they will have caught a variety of creatures! And it doesnt matter if they have been killing each other or not, because all necromancers need are the ingredients, not the animals. One more thing: these people will be USED to bieng underground. They will be able to see in the dark, and they will know their surroundings very well, not to mention the haunts of certain animals, plus what those animals strengths and weaknesses are. The only problem they may have is collecting feathers from a bird in the treetops

09:45:59 [manfred] Thirst for Knowledge is always a great motive.
09:48:14 [manfred] Now, even a shaman is a necromancer in a way... he speaks with the Dead (ancestor spirits), and can ask them for favours.
09:48:51 [manfred] So why such upheaval if you make corpses serve you?
09:50:57 [manfred] It's almost the same thing...
09:51:33 [manfred] And if you don't believe in any afterlife... then there is no problem.
What he said

09:53:17 [Strolen] I'll buy that. It is just the difficulty vs. return investment I was looking at. Judea worshippers are magic heavy, everyday occurance almost taken for granted. I would think they could get quite powerful. So why turn to this dark art that requires difficult hunts for rare animals (that are still scholar wizards after all, not rangers) just to command a few dead? I was looking for the key hook to draw in more necro recruits and I am not so sure that I am convinced entirely on the why.
Necromancers are also magic-heavy, everyday occurance things, and they would get quite powerful as well. They would simply use their spells for different things. Druids tempt their crops to grow with druid magic, and necromancers hunt food with offensive spells. Also, 'powerful' in the sense of this world for druids, means bieng able to make several trees grow at once, though useful, its nothing outrageous. But if used properly, it can mean the difference between life and death (entangle a dangerous creature by making some vines grow at an accelerated rate, wrapping around its legs and bodice.)
And as said, for necromancer, its no more difficult to hunt for creatures as it is for druids to hunt for plants, because they have lived down there for generations and know what they are doing.
09:54:06 [Strolen] There has got to be a key ingredient that provides the pull that life goddess can't provide.
09:54:22 [manfred] Creating eternal servants...
Creating eternas servants

better defence
longevity
But one thing I dont think you are realising, Strolen: These people have lived down here for generations upon generations. Necromancy and worshipping Ophreal is all they know to DO! It isnt as though they migrated down from the trees a few years ago and suddenly decided "Oh, I might as well give Ophreal a try!" Why not ask your same question from the necromancers point of view (just imagine for the moment that they are the focussed on people for now, and the treetop people are the rumored people)
*Edit:Shadoweagle* 09:54:06 [Strolen] There has got to be a key ingredient that provides the pull that the death god can't provide.*/Edit*
09:57:12 [Strolen] The servants have to have some kind of intelligence though....vampires popped into my head for some reason..
Zombies/skeletons/basic undead for menial tasks. Ghouls for relaying messages safely to another town (they can glide straight through whatever danger there might be) Vampires for a bit of intelligence with the undead power (Raising a vampire would be something only the most powerful of necromancers could do). And so on.
09:59:03 [manfred] Maybe looking for a way to create an artificial soul? Something the gods have no "copyright" on?
Yes. Piecing together flesh/claws etc from many different beasts would be an interesting experiment that necromancers could do. "Create the perfect creature"
10:00:10 [Strolen] There is something with what you are saying but I still feel unsatisfied.
One last thing to realise, and this is OOCly. Necromancy isnt for everyone. Why do some people go warriors? Rogues? Chaotic? Lawful? It depends on taste. You may not think this complete, others may

-----------------------------------------------------------
/////
I'm aware there may be some holes in my setting. Please be aware, though, that I STARTED this just a week or so ago, Im still working on it, looking for errors/ideas that don't work (Such as the fact 220 thousand people would be extremely difficult to live up in the treetops. Ive refined to 22 thousand

[Thanks Manfred

])
So please bare with me while I add to it and work it around. of course, a lot of things I say don't make much sense anyway

All the same, I DO appreciate if people point out errors. I mean, how can I fix it if i don't know it's
THERE!?