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LordofBones
Master of Realmslore

1477 Posts

Posted - 31 Jul 2018 :  11:15:30  Show Profile Send LordofBones a Private Message  Reply with Quote
One of the 2e books - the one that describes the Baatle of Bones - has a blurb about two necromancers. One was a 24th level female human necromancer.

Edit: Her name's Phthta Thak.

Edited by - LordofBones on 31 Jul 2018 11:17:14
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 01 Aug 2018 :  04:26:18  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

One of the 2e books - the one that describes the Baatle of Bones - has a blurb about two necromancers. One was a 24th level female human necromancer.

Edit: Her name's Phthta Thak.




How the hell do you pronounce that first name? Futhta?

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 01 Aug 2018 :  04:34:47  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas

quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

One of the 2e books - the one that describes the Baatle of Bones - has a blurb about two necromancers. One was a 24th level female human necromancer.

Edit: Her name's Phthta Thak.




How the hell do you pronounce that first name? Futhta?



Fred. It's a weird dialect.

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The Masked Mage
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Posted - 01 Aug 2018 :  08:26:24  Show Profile Send The Masked Mage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Sneeze while trying to say it and you'll have it just about right.
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Storyteller Hero
Learned Scribe

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Posted - 02 Aug 2018 :  00:40:52  Show Profile  Visit Storyteller Hero's Homepage Send Storyteller Hero a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Shaaan the Serpent Queen uses necromancy to strong effect in the novel Spellstorm.



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The Masked Mage
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Posted - 02 Aug 2018 :  00:55:40  Show Profile Send The Masked Mage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Shaaan isn't a necromancer, however.
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The Masked Mage
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Posted - 02 Aug 2018 :  02:42:13  Show Profile Send The Masked Mage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Iggwilv was mentioned earlier - alternately known as Natasha or Tasha (the one with the Hideous Laughter Spell), comes to us from Greyhawk. She is one of the BIG villians of that setting - like - only Iuz and Vecna, both of whom become gods are bigger.

Basic facts about her:

She was the adopted daughter of Baba Yaga - refer to Dragon Magazine 83 for more about that.
She was the apprentice of Zagig Yragerne and a member of the Company of Seven with him, Keoghtom, Murlynd, Nolzur, Quaal, and Heward... They ALL became at least minor gods btw - one of the reason she is believe to be a demigod now as well.
She was Iuz's mother, and the lover/mate of Grazzt, a demonbinder without equal - male or female - and the creator or the Demonomicon.
She is the central villain in several AD&D adventures, and counted among the best of all time (again, according to Dragon Mag)

All that said, she is not a Necromancer. Never was. She did have levels as an illusionist back in the 1st edition rule, but that I assume is because Illusion spells were restricted then...
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The Masked Mage
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Posted - 02 Aug 2018 :  02:45:00  Show Profile Send The Masked Mage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If you include Al'Qadim as part of the realms, I'd say that Tisan Balshareska was a kind of necromancer - though that is not specified.

She was seriously badass too.
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe

204 Posts

Posted - 10 Aug 2018 :  01:33:40  Show Profile Send Thraskir Skimper a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Does it matter? One thing about Thay is that women, especially Red Wizards are all Equal reguardless of Sex.

Thay Red
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 10 Aug 2018 :  02:57:54  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Thraskir Skimper

Does it matter? One thing about Thay is that women, especially Red Wizards are all Equal reguardless of Sex.



And this has what to do with women necromancers in the entire setting?

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LordofBones
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Posted - 10 Aug 2018 :  06:49:23  Show Profile Send LordofBones a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage

If you include Al'Qadim as part of the realms, I'd say that Tisan Balshareska was a kind of necromancer - though that is not specified.

She was seriously badass too.



Tisan was given statistics in 2e. She's a wizard 20/cleric 15. I guess in 3e she'd be something like wizard 5, cleric 3, mystic theurge 10, geomancer 10.

Geomancer's a terrible, terrible prestige class though.
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe

204 Posts

Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  01:51:05  Show Profile Send Thraskir Skimper a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Thraskir Skimper

Does it matter? One thing about Thay is that women, especially Red Wizards are all Equal reguardless of Sex.



And this has what to do with women necromancers in the entire setting?



Does it matter? In Thay there are probably more Necromancers than every where else combined. In Thay it doesn't matter if you are Male or Female or Alive or Undead or Homosexual or Hetrosexual or Unisexual or Asexual or other. It only matters if you are a Magic User and Red Wizard in Particular. I do wonder if Lawful Good persons could be Undead or Homosexual or Unisexual or if that would make you evil? Being Chaotic Evil there are no such restrictions.

Thay Red
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LordofBones
Master of Realmslore

1477 Posts

Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  03:20:16  Show Profile Send LordofBones a Private Message  Reply with Quote
>OP asks about female necromancers

>WHO CARES, THAY STRONK!

Oh Thraskir.
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The Masked Mage
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Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  04:12:26  Show Profile Send The Masked Mage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage

If you include Al'Qadim as part of the realms, I'd say that Tisan Balshareska was a kind of necromancer - though that is not specified.

She was seriously badass too.



Tisan was given statistics in 2e. She's a wizard 20/cleric 15. I guess in 3e she'd be something like wizard 5, cleric 3, mystic theurge 10, geomancer 10.

Geomancer's a terrible, terrible prestige class though.



In 2nd edition Al Qadim - there was no "necromancer." There were other wizard kits that were similar (ghul channeling negative energy for example), but a necromancer would be just called outland wizard.

Tizan's whole scheme was to resurrect and create a new circle of 9 long dead geomancers. Very necro
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  04:58:07  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Thraskir Skimper

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Thraskir Skimper

Does it matter? One thing about Thay is that women, especially Red Wizards are all Equal reguardless of Sex.



And this has what to do with women necromancers in the entire setting?



Does it matter? In Thay there are probably more Necromancers than every where else combined. In Thay it doesn't matter if you are Male or Female or Alive or Undead or Homosexual or Hetrosexual or Unisexual or Asexual or other. It only matters if you are a Magic User and Red Wizard in Particular. I do wonder if Lawful Good persons could be Undead or Homosexual or Unisexual or if that would make you evil? Being Chaotic Evil there are no such restrictions.



Okay, first of all, I don't know where sexuality came into this discussion, but it can go right back out of the discussion. There is no correlation between sexuality and alignment. Period.

Secondly, the original poster asked explicitly for "other female necromancers of note" and all you've offered is that there are likely some female necromancers in Thay. This does not indicate that any are noteworthy, and it certainly doesn't mention any that are. It did not contribute to the discussion.

We get that you're a fan of Thay. There's no need to mention that at every opportunity, especially when it's not even relevant to the topic.

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Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 13 Aug 2018 05:01:08
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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 13 Aug 2018 :  15:30:06  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

quote:
Originally posted by The Masked Mage

If you include Al'Qadim as part of the realms, I'd say that Tisan Balshareska was a kind of necromancer - though that is not specified.

She was seriously badass too.



Tisan was given statistics in 2e. She's a wizard 20/cleric 15. I guess in 3e she'd be something like wizard 5, cleric 3, mystic theurge 10, geomancer 10.

Geomancer's a terrible, terrible prestige class though.



If one wanted to give them 20th level casting as a wizard and 15th as a cleric, the character level needn't be that high. The 3 levels of cleric and say 3 levels of wizard could start them into mystic theurge, getting them to 13th/13th caster level. Then they could go 9 levels of geomancer and be 20th wizard / 15th cleric. That would at least reduce the character level to say 25th instead of 28th, and by 23 they could be casting as a 20th level wizard (the last 2 levels of geomancer upping their clerical casting).

I agree, not the greatest build though, as the ley lines only increase caster level and not save DC's, etc... The one gain I do see is that they could focus solely on intelligence and just have a decent enough wisdom to cast their spells (say 17), and due to the class ability, end up using intelligence for their DC's etc... as a cleric. Still, it would have the advantage of only having them 3 levels behind in their wizard casting at any given time, and the ability to cast 8th level and lower level wizard spells without fear of arcane spell failure. If they had some means of daily doing a couple still spells, then even 9th level spells become not a problem.
Of course, this makes an entirely different look for Tizan, as she's not pictured as a spellcaster running around in full plate.... though I kind of like the idea of her armor suddenly coming to her ala "iron man"... or mabye its ghostly/ethereal of some sort and is "summoned" into solidity when needed, and thus maybe she doesn't wear it on a daily basis.

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe

204 Posts

Posted - 16 Aug 2018 :  03:13:29  Show Profile Send Thraskir Skimper a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Female Necromancers of Thay

Umara Ankhlab

Zola Sethrakt

Skannon Tolker

Varriel

Eseldra Yeth

Phaia

Zahnya

Zaralda


Possibly

Naglatha

Rowena

Thay Red
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 16 Aug 2018 :  04:56:45  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thank you. Have any sources, or info on why these necromancers are noteworthy?

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sleyvas
Skilled Spell Strategist

USA
11686 Posts

Posted - 16 Aug 2018 :  13:28:49  Show Profile Send sleyvas a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

Thank you. Have any sources, or info on why these necromancers are noteworthy?



A lot of these are just NPC's within the 4e/5e era or late 3e.

Umara is from the reaver novel

Zola was the temporary Zulkir of necromancy on the "rebel" Zulkir side during the Thayan Civil War (the one who was killed by Nevron just because).

Eseldra Yeth is from the Rise of Tiamat Module.

Naglatha wasn't necessarily a necromancer, but she was a low level Thayan wizard active in Sembia known as "the black flame". She was working as a spy of sorts. She also made an appearance in Crimson Gold.

Phaia is from the Dead in Thay modules

Zahnya was from the adversary novel from the sundering

Alavairthae, may your skill prevail

Phillip aka Sleyvas
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe

204 Posts

Posted - 17 Aug 2018 :  01:19:26  Show Profile Send Thraskir Skimper a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Most of these are noted in the Forgotten Realms Wiki.

Umara Ankhlab was a female Red Wizard of Thay and a necromancer-in-training.
She was tasked by Szass Tam with the mission of finding the young Chosen of Lathander Stedd Whitehorn.

Zola Sethrakt as noted above was one of the Necromatic Fools to oppose Szass Tam. She was the representative of a group of Necromancers who considered herself to be powerful by title not actual power. Her loss was noted but not really to be remembered outside of her footnote.

Skannon Tolker was a Red Wizard of Thay necromancer residing in Illefarn.
Around 1480 DR, Skannon came to believe that Arvik Zaltos and his other apprentices pursued the secret of the elemental keys in order to overthrow Szass Tam, so she planned to undermine their efforts and afterward reported to Tam. However, Skannon was unveiled by the returning Arvik (in truth, the disguised rakshasa Nadir) and put in prison.

Varriel was a Red Wizard of Thay in Waterdeep.
In 1479 DR, Varriel discovered notes about a necromancer's laboratory inside Undermountain.

Phaia was a Red Wizard assigned to the secret complex of Doomvault under Thaymount. She was a subordinate of Lahnis, but also there to guarantee the loyalty of her superior to Tam's cause.

In the 1480s DR, she was tasked with draining the soul of a prisoner, Kelson Darktreader, in order to power undead creatures. When the heroes of Daggerford arrived, Phaia fought them and was defeated.


Eseldra is a vampire and a follower of Szass Tam that was appointed Tharchion of Lapendrar circa 1387 DR and remained in that position until the Tyranny of Dragons a century later. She remembered well the War of the Zulkirs and to avoid a return to that time wanted to eradicate all exiled Red Wizards. A band of adventurers who were working against the Cult of the Dragon convinced her to gather together all the other factions to thwart Rath Modar's faction because he planned to ally with Tiamat and conquer Thay.

Zahnya is a female Red Wizard of Thay and a necromancer.
She was tasked by Szass Tam with the mission of finding and destroying the secret camps where the Shadovar amassed the captured Chosen.
For this, she gathered an undead army.


Zaralda a necromancer and Red Wizard of Thay in Kryptgarden Forest in 1489 DR.

She went to Kryptgarden where, in order to broker an alliance with the old or new factions of the Cult of the Dragon, she helped Claugiyliamatar to corrupt the forest.


Thay Red

Edited by - Thraskir Skimper on 17 Aug 2018 01:20:08
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LordofBones
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Posted - 17 Aug 2018 :  03:21:54  Show Profile Send LordofBones a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There's that apprentice Szass had in that short story (Of Red Dreams, I think) by Jean Rabe. While we don't have her stats, it's logical to assume that the apprentice of the Zulkir of Necromancy was herself a necromancer.
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Thraskir Skimper
Learned Scribe

204 Posts

Posted - 18 Aug 2018 :  01:51:57  Show Profile Send Thraskir Skimper a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

There's that apprentice Szass had in that short story (Of Red Dreams, I think) by Jean Rabe. While we don't have her stats, it's logical to assume that the apprentice of the Zulkir of Necromancy was herself a necromancer.




You must mean Frodyne the Immortal?

Thay Red
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Bragi
Seeker

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Posted - 18 Aug 2018 :  08:30:40  Show Profile  Visit Bragi's Homepage Send Bragi a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Here are some from a list of necromancer NPCs I created a while ago.

Espera - 17th level resides in the Undardark ref Underdark pg. 131
Morasha the Netherese Necromancer - Lords of Darkness pg. 76
Nyressa Flass Zulkir of Necromancy (slain in 1157 DR) - Grand History of the Realms pg. 122
Zola Sethrakt Zulkir of Necromancy (slain in 1385 DR) - from the novel Undead



In Pursuit of Better Worlds,
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Sturma
Acolyte

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Posted - 19 Aug 2018 :  13:15:30  Show Profile Send Sturma a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There are three that I know of from H.P. Lovecraft:

Asenath Waite ("The Thing on the Doorstep")
Keziah Mason ("The Dreams in the Witch House")
Lavinia Whateley ("The Dunwich Horror")




In Ferro Veritas
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
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Posted - 19 Aug 2018 :  19:27:44  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Sturma

There are three that I know of from H.P. Lovecraft:

Asenath Waite ("The Thing on the Doorstep")
Keziah Mason ("The Dreams in the Witch House")
Lavinia Whateley ("The Dunwich Horror")








Asenath Waite I can agree with, I think. Keziah Mason I simply don't recall. Lavinia Whateley I would argue with, because I don't recall her doing anything at all that touched on necromancy.

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Sturma
Acolyte

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Posted - 19 Aug 2018 :  23:40:45  Show Profile Send Sturma a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Asenath Waite used her knowledge of necromancy to switch bodies with her husband, leaving him trapped inside her decaying corpse. She owned a copy of the Necronomicon until it was burned.

Keziah Mason was the main antagonist in "Dreams in the Witch House" who could travel between dimensions, served Nyarlathotep, and had a familiar named Brown Jenkin, a rat with a human head that she fed with her own blood.

Lavinia Whateley learned necromancy from her father and used that knowledge to summon Yog-Sothoth who impregnated her, giving birth to the Dunwich Horror. She also made use of her father's copy of the Necronomicon.


In Ferro Veritas
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LordofBones
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Posted - 20 Aug 2018 :  00:56:55  Show Profile Send LordofBones a Private Message  Reply with Quote
The Necronomicon of Lovecraft is less "Big Book of Necromancy" and more "Big Book of Icky Stuff". Additionally, the summoning of ol' Yoggy would be under Conjuration, not necromancy.
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Wooly Rupert
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Posted - 20 Aug 2018 :  01:23:06  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If only she'd had access to a good dating app, so much trouble could have been avoided...

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Icelander
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Posted - 20 Aug 2018 :  01:28:10  Show Profile  Visit Icelander's Homepage Send Icelander a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

If only she'd had access to a good dating app, so much trouble could have been avoided...


She did. Called the Necronomicon.

As far as I can tell, the dating pool there is slightly better than Tinder, about level with OK Cupid.

Still a better love story than Twilight.

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Sturma
Acolyte

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Posted - 20 Aug 2018 :  02:20:45  Show Profile Send Sturma a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by LordofBones

The Necronomicon of Lovecraft is less "Big Book of Necromancy" and more "Big Book of Icky Stuff". Additionally, the summoning of ol' Yoggy would be under Conjuration, not necromancy.



We know that it also contains rituals for animating/raising the dead since it was used along with other texts to raise the necromancer Joseph Curwen from his ashes in "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward". The Necronomicon is several hundred pages in length so it's hard to say how much of that consists of spells vs. lore about "icky stuff", but anyone who studies and learns from it can be presumed to possess such knowledge, as the other stories I referred to indicate.

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