Necromancy in Nex

[Bizzare Beasts Boozer]

I haven't read Impossible Lands so I don't know if there is an official answer to this, but how does Nex (the country) view Necromancy?

Is it considered a lesser form of magic because it was Geb's speciality? Do they want to advance it using their own, superior (as far as they are concerned) better arcane approach? Do they have the general squimishness about its immorality?

As a related follow up question- are there any examples of specific Nexian Necromancers?

[GM_3826]

I'll start by noting that necromancy is one of 8 schools of magic, and it includes under its umbrella literally anything to do with positive and negative energy. Even on the arcane (wizard) list, which was stripped of most of the anti-undead effects in the transition to 2E and never had healing, the overwhelming majority of necromancy spells on the arcane list are centered around makings things dead, rather than undead, as is assumed of necromancers on Golarion and out.

Undead are the thing that the country of Nex explicitly has a problem with. As part of the imperialist themes of the Impossible Lands, Nex (and specifically the capital of Quantium) is welcoming of everything and everyone except undead. Nex is well aware that they're in the midst of a cold war with Golarion's only functional necrocracy and is therefore (somewhat understandably, given they're creatures driven by an inherent need to consume and destroy) xenophobic against undead.

Of course, since you don't actually have to create undead to be a necromancer, proving that you won't is enough to make you set. Nex is a fairly educated place as a magocracy, after all. The easy way would probably be to take the Hallowed Necromancer archetype to achieve the older "necromancer that fights against undead" flavor that 2E necromancers generally struggle with, but even non-Hallowed Necromancers could probably find work in positions where the ability to instantly kill things is useful, like as a magical executioner.

There's an example of an evil undead-creating fleshwarper in Zhane Faltrizan, but honestly it's unsurprising that many Nexian ctiizens have no interest in becoming necromancers given the traditional associations between the school and undead. That doesn't mean that every wizard doesn't use necromancy spells in some capacity—in fact, two new incarnate spells that are meant to represent the pinnacle of Nexian engineering have necromantic abilities!

[keftiu]

You gotta understand the enemy's magic to fight it, but it's probably a bit distasteful to some.

[Perpdepog]

Like GM_3826 said, I suspect necromancy is still practiced in Nex, it's too useful and too large a school of magic to be ignored by a culture as fixated on magical progress as Nex's is, but the focus is likely very different. Nex would focus much more on the manipulating positive energy and life force sides of necromancy, I feel, either to learn how to combat their undead rivals or to learn how to harness life energy to further optimize their fleshforges and create more powerful servitors.

[GM_3826]

I disagree that they would focus on manipulating positive energy, because that's not something you can really do with arcane magic. Arcane magic can only be used to manipulate negative energy so that necromancers can exist at all!

Arcane magic is based on the Matter and Mind essences. Arcane magic users are very good at working with physical forces and the mind, but the spirit and vital essence are something they struggle with. Necromancy is generally either based on Life essence or Spirit essence, which includes spells that manipulate negative energy. The necromancy spells that arcane magic users do get are a compromise between "wizards shouldn't be able to work with Life and Spirit essence" and "necromancers have always existed and play a major role in Golarion's history". As I mentioned, the one wizards do get are almost invariably negative energy-based, either creating undead or ending life.

Nex is not a nation that is focused on magic in general. There are other places that take a broader view on magic and magical education, particularly Nantambu and Osirion. It is a nation of wizardry, specifically, although they're also experts on alchemy. So as I said, those who study necromancy are likely to be viewed with suspicion, but will be left alone so long as they prove they aren't creating undead. Nexian necromancers would focus on anti-undead magic instead, so I imagine that some take the Hallowed Necromancer archetype, but that requires a good alignment (for now), a religious education, and greatest investment. Some won't bother.

On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason why other wizards wouldn't take necromancy spells that don't create undead. Again, it is undead in particular that Nex has a problem with. If necromancy gets a bad rap, it's only by correlation.

[SOLDIER-1st]

Soul Warden was a 1e prestige class that was quite literally a Nexian anti-undead spellcaster that manipulated positive energy.

(To be fair, they were ostensibly a single group originally, and there’s no info on how widespread the practice was)

[Gisher]

GM_3826 wrote:

I'll start by noting that necromancy is was one of 8 schools of magic, and it includes included under its umbrella literally anything to do with positive and negative energy.

I updated that for you. ;)

[Sibelius Eos Owm]

"The branch of magic which the Runelords of Thassilon once categorized under the virtue/sin rune of Gluttony, also known by scholars as 'necromancy', which typically includes spells which manipulate positive and negative energy, as well as souls, and for reasons scholars have debated for literal millennia, diseases and poisons."