The Veterinarian Necromancer

The caravan had been stranded at the base of the dune for three days, many of the animals dead from the sand-slide. A storm had come soon after, half-burying their valuable cargo. It would have been a death sentence to ride into that storm, but staying was proving no more fruitful.

That was when one of the scouts saw... something in the storm. It was hard to be certain through the sand, but a creature lumbered toward them. A huge, hulking thing, it creaked and groaned as it traversed the sand. As it grew closer, they saw it had huge tusks, the ivory glinting in the sun. A leather hood covered a fleshless skull, and empty sockets stared out at the world. The wind whipped the canvas that clung to its ribs, and just as the caravan guards were loosening their weapons in their sheaths, the skeletal colossus ceased moving. It raised its head up, and a tent flap drew aside. A man stuck his head out. He wore the heavy scarf of the Rada-shan, with silver bells along the fringe that named him a worker of death magics.

"My apologies if I startled you," the dark-eyed traveler said. "But you seem to be in dire straits. Do you seek aid?"

Death is coming for you... but death might lead you out of this place, too.

Of Beasts and Bones

When most people think of necromancers, they think of black-robed sorcerers attended by armies of skeletal warriors, or surrounded by hordes of rotting zombies. These warriors, by and large, were once men and women, and they act as a kind of mirror, showing the living that they fight against their own mortality.

The veterinarian necromancer, though, knows that most of what makes a human, an elf, or a dwarf special is erased by the process of animating their body. Even powerful warriors are little more than thralls, often dispatched with ease. And, let's face it, using the bodies of those who were once thinking, feeling creatures is a unique kind of blasphemy. A violation of their bodily autonomy as they are reduced even beyond death to nothing more than component parts for the necromancer's use.

Beasts, by contrast, have so many additional uses.

 

Whether out of practicality, or a respect for the bodies of intelligent creatures capable of moral decisions, the veterinarian necromancer focuses their talents on using the remains of beasts and lower animals for their needs. Whether it is using the sheer might of an undead mammoth to help pull a stranded caravan from the sinking desert sands, or raising a swarm of skeletal crocodiles to retrieve the treasure aboard a boat sunken in the black waters of a swamp, there are all kinds of uses that dead animals could be put to.

And while people are still going to be put off by skeletal beasts and shambling animals, they are less likely to see it as inherently sacrilegious in the same way they would if it were the bodies of men and women, elves and gnomes being put to use.

The key is to make this affinity with animals more than just a preference for the necromancer's servants; they must be involved in every part of the life cycle in order to truly stand out. From birthing calves, to caring for sick hounds, to trying to set broken bones, this character should have the skills to heal and handle animals. And while some may see what they do as a perversion of the natural cycle of life, there is no denying the results one can achieve with the proper application of necromancy to the right frame.

Alternatively, for those who are more interested in botany than biology, it's important to remember that turning a creature into a zombie only requires a corpse. This opens up your vistas, and makes a lot of different things possible. It can be particularly useful for forest-dwelling necromancers who keep a kind of death-dome for their experiments, seeing what can be done with the bodies of plant creatures once they have passed.

Also, for the sharp-eyed readers out there, this concept was inspired by the small-town doctor who just happened to be a necromancer found in my supplement 100 NPCs You Might Meet at The Tavern, published by Azukail Games!

Evil Doesn't Mean You Aren't Helpful

As some reading this will no doubt point out, creating permanent undead is an evil act in games like Pathfinder. This will reflect in your character's alignment, causing them to keep a capital E in their box if they twist the natural order of things too often. There is no moral difference between using this spell to revivify a squad of knights, an ogre, or a simple riding horse; casting the spell is still casting the spell.

The veterinarian necromancer is not necessarily good-aligned. Why they keep to bestial servants could be practical, personal, or even spiritual in its own way. Attempting to care for the living before using the dead also shows that they want to be sure they choose the most efficient means  while using the materials they have on-hand. But they are willing to embrace a much wider variety of possibilities, and to use tools others wouldn't even consider in unique and unusual ways.

 

For more suggestions to get your gears turning, don't forget to check out my 5 Tips For Playing Better Wizards!

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That's all for this installment of Unusual Character Concepts. Hopefully this one gave you something to chew over, whether you're a player, or a game master.

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