Morthagi lore
Cruel reminders of our own folly, the Morthagi have been around since magic first blossomed. Is it any surprise? What secret have we ever sought but that which gives us primacy over death?
Ironic, really, that the now-forbidden study of necromancy is perhaps our most storied accomplishment, our most often-plundered trove of understanding. Banal necromantic mages have created hosts, armies, of mindless undead, while the more imaginative and successful warlocks instilled spirit, conscience, thought, even ambition into their finest and most dreadful works.
A quick look through our documented encounters will reveal animated skeletons—some beast, some man—risen and rotting corpses possessed of atrocious and endless appetites, stitched-up golems, soul-infused liches, wraiths and specters of unknowable and frankly tantalizing life force… The Morthagi are without singular or traceable origin, and are not altogether bonded to one or another goal. It takes a powerful mystic to exert his or her will over even one manifest morthage, let alone many. Still, if there is one thing we have learned about magic through the ages, it is that, wherever and whatever its limits may be, they are so far beyond our sight and knowledge that they may as well not exist at all.
Fighting the Morthagi is a prospect no one relishes. That’s not to say that a skeleton can’t be shattered, or a ghoul burned to dust. More, the danger lies in the very interaction with, the presence of arcane engineering. Where magic dwells in perceivable manifestation, it tends to have been nesting for a great long while, accumulating power and prejudice. Some of the greatest wizards ever were necromancers, and this is understandable. Necromancy, as we’ve been hinting, is perhaps the essential human goal; it merely goes by different names in more civilized society: medicine, literature, art. Physically and metaphysically, we are always toying with, seeking to harness, and struggling to overcome our real and metaphorical deaths.
Still, essentially, our task remains to combat our oppressive foes. Sticks and stones can break brittle bones, but swords and axes are better. Of course, there are other means as well: magics may be devised that specialize in turning and defusing necromantic bindings. Such studies would of course require looser restrictions and oversights, as well as extensive delving into dark and ambiguous places…
Speaking of dark and ambiguous places, we have taken a vote, and we all agree that this dungeon could use a few more latrines. Not to single anyone out, but certain high-minded scholars seem to take forever in there…
--These Informed Opinions submitted by the Order of Kralar on <Date>
