Blood, the essence of life, serves as a reminder of mortality. Once being what animated the bodies of those who now passed away, its purpose is once again to animate the dead or shape the ground.Necromancy, the magic of the followers of Lithos, enables the Necromancers to manipulate death and earth and use them to their advantage.
Necromantic spells are premade spells just like Sorcerous ones, which means that they are prepared beforehand and are stored in a talisman until needed. But unlike Sorcery, Necromancy gives magical talismans only one charge.
To cast a Necromantic spell, there is first need for reagents, which are natural materials that are used up during the incantation process. These must be placed within an empty bag, which then must be closed. After this, the Necromancer must use the Key of the Caretaker upon the bag to channel the energy of Lithos into the bag. If the reagents in the bag are a correct combination, the Necromancer will speak the words of incantation and the reagents will be consumed, to be replaced by a talisman. This talisman is the spell, and can be used whenever the Necromancer wishes.
In the patched version of the game, each reagent weighs 0.1, while without the patch, reagents weigh 1 unless stacked, when some would weigh 0.1.
Due to their natural nature, Necromantic reagents can be found almost anywhere, from the Plateau to Argentrock Isle. However, Stone Cove generates reagents infinitely, so that is where to go if reagents are needed badly. Some reagents are found also in the Cemetery, to start off with, but more are found in the Catacombs.
These are the known Necromantic reagents:
Blood, the essence of life, serves as a reminder of mortality. Once being what animated the bodies of those who now passed away, its purpose is once again to animate the dead or shape the ground.
Bone, which was once the source of blood as well as of the will, reminds any animated creatures of the life they once embraced. Bone is therefore used to bind the will of any animated creature to the caster, allowing him to summon the undead or communicate with them.
Wood is used for preservation, so that it can protect the caster, as wood from an old tree can be extremely tough. However, it is also used to bind creatures summoned in mass.
Dirt will protect the caster as the earth protects the roots of a plant.
Blackmoor is an odd mixture of the earth element and Blackrock, retaining its power from blackrock and allowing it to be used with earth.
Executioner's Hood represents death, and is black in colour, dark in purpose and shaped just like the hood of the executioner, hence its name. It is used to show death or bestow it upon others.
Dead Man's Elbow is a mysterious reagent, as its purpose is unknown and it is not used for any of the known spells. It is only meant to be delivered to Vividos. In the unpatched version of Ultima 8, it is simply called "sticks", therefore it may be confused with other wood, but dead man's elbow is a particular type of wood, light in colour and thin in dimension.
Once the proper incantation takes place and the reagents are consumed, a spell talisman with one charge appears inside the bag, awaiting to be cast. Each of these talismans weighs 1, and can be used at your pleasure. Note that mana is consumed during the process of casting a spell, not when making the talisman.
The following are the known spells that can be cast up to Scion level. It is not possible to know the full potential of spells that a full Necromancer can cast, because although it seems there may have been plans for the Avatar to become Necromancer, this never came to be. Here are the spells:
Death Speak will allow the caster to have one conversation with the Ancient Necromancers buried in the Lower Catacombs. Details:
Mask of Death will make the caster appear to be dead for about 60 seconds, so creatures will not see the need to attack you. However, this is a rather useless spell, even in the catacombs when it is meant to be cast; the daemons there can be simply outrun. Details:
Rock Flesh makes the caster nearly invulnerable to damage, even to lightning, for about 100 seconds. Details:
Summon Undead will conjure a number of undead warriors to assist the Necromancer, attacking any not bestowed with Necromantic powers. Most of the time, one creature will be summoned, and one should be cautious after having assigned a target to the mindless creature summoned, as it may attack the caster afterwards. Details:
Open Ground is a necessary spell that will open weakened ground or walls. At least five of this spell should be composed (two to enter the catacombs, one for the Zealan Shrine, one for Hydros and one for the Heart of Earth. Details:
Create Golem is a necessary spell to finish Ultima 8. Written by Galious, this spell will create a golem from a patch of dirt, which will assist you on one or more commands you can choose from a menu. Its most important command is the Open command, which will allow you entrance into important places such as the Hall of the Mountain King and the Pit of the Dead. Details:
Withstand Death will allow the caster to resist death itself and resurrect with full health once he dies. Although various sources say that this can be cast only once, gibberishh reports that it can in fact be cast as many times as you like. Details:
Grant Peace dispels the magic keeping an undead creature animated, giving it eternal rest. Details:
Call Quake was the spell left by Lothian, and is found in a chest within the Tomb of Moriens in the Cemetery. This spell will cause the ground to shake, confusing and injuring enemies. Details: