Necromantic Aura

What is a Necromantic Aura?

There is an aura that develops around old necromancers and undead of any age. It distorts colors at the least, creates illusions in moderate strength, manipulates emotions when particularly strong, and at its most extreme manifestation creates a bubble of false reality around the necromancer. The more extreme a state of "decay" that a necromancer or undead exists in, the more extreme the necromantic aura. False reality bubbles are almost unheard of and many scholars on Theoma have never witnessed one, this phenomenon being least uncommon around ancient ghosts.

The necromantic aura also flares when necromancers cast spells, which can create impressive and chaotic spell effects. Temporary flares of this nature are typically the only kind of necromantic aura that young necromancers manifest. Truly awesome exertions of necromancy can cause a bubble of false reality to exist temporarily around even a living necromancer, though spells of that level typically kill their caster with accelerated necromantic decay; such manifestations are typically interpreted as a kind of spell effect, and scholars in Theoma have not linked the rumored reality bubbles of ancient ghosts with the temporary 'flares' of false reality around necromancers exerting themselves in unusually extreme and life-threatening ways.

Are necromantic auras considered desirable?

Generally, no. The chaotic illusions and ugly distortions that writhe around ancient necromancers and undead who are particularly far gone is bad for the mental health of all who witness it. Undead who pass for living (such as the recently deceased or very well-preserved) produce very little necromantic aura, which is considered favorable. By contrast, skeletal undead are a very rare sight, because they're usually surrounded by a disturbing necromantic aura. To control the necromantic aura, blessed body coverings are favored by skeletal undead.

It's an unusual thing to do, but necromancers living or undead can study the necromantic aura to try to control and manipulate its manifestations. This is known as "illusionism" and is considered a category of necromantic spellcraft. It is the general belief among necromancers that illusionist spells incur too much decay for effects that are highly transient and too often just disturbing. Illusionism is nonetheless a study for which ancient necromancers have been known to return to necromantic colleges to pursue. Once the necromantic aura becomes a permanent fact of life, controlling its manifestations is a quality of life concern.

What is a false reality bubble?

A false reality bubble can be anything. It's typically a space that is very personal to the necromancer, manifesting a zone centered on the necromancer whose decorative themes and contained objects express their personality. False reality bubbles generated due to spell flares are sometimes described as "kaleidoscopic", since the zone moves with the necromancer and fluctuates constantly until the spellflare that created them ends. Most environmental alterations end when the flare ends, but there is often some debris and objects seized from the zone often persist in the hands of the one who seized them.

Ancient ghosts produce more dramatic false reality bubbles. They carry a fragment of seemingly geomantic reality with them and do not have to remain centered within the zone. The zone around an ancient ghost may be more appropriately termed an altered reality zone rather than a false reality zone. If the bubble of altered reality around them is undisrupted, ancient ghosts can tangibly incarnate in any body of their choosing, and do not have to remain centered in the zone.

False reality bubbles can be disrupted by competing necromancy, though as false reality bubbles are difficult to manifest, they are also difficult to break. Geomancy is temporarily disjoined within a false reality bubble, but land god incarnations do not lose power within a false reality bubble, and can trivially disrupt them at their will.

Illusionists who believe in false reality bubbles consider them the apex of the illusionist spellcraft: the point at which the illusion becomes something physically tangible and real. In theory, an illusionist whose spells generate false reality would no longer be casting illusions at all, but would be engaging in geomantic manipulation akin to what land gods do within their theomes.