Graven One

Who are they?

While Necromancers struggle to push forward in their broad craft, the Graven One excels in their narrow field. Once Necromancers, a Graven One has dedicated their entire lives to a single field of study and, in doing so, learns to master their chosen art.

Powerful, semi-dead casters, Graven Ones are terrors on the battlefield. With their scythes and pale flesh cloaked in dark robes they symbolize the death and decay they visit upon their enemies. Thoroughly lost into the dark arts of Shadow and death, the Graven One's morality and mind have long since drifted into the cold reaches of the grave.

Who likes them?

Very few people. Only Forsaken would respect and tolerate a race that is so dark and twisted by Shadow and Necromancy. They are loathed by all Light worshippers and either hated or outright mistrusted by everyone else.

Training

Requirements

Necromancers, Priests, Mages and Warlocks can play Graven Ones.

Alliance » Dwarf Gnome Human Night Elf

Horde » Blood Elf Forsaken Orc Troll

Strengths

• Necromancer Training

The Graven One retains all past abilities of a Necromancer.

• Mastery

The Graven One is a Master of Shadow and Necromancy magic.

• Mana Reserve

The Graven One has a higher reserve of Mana that allows them to cast high powered spells easily and without fatigue.

• Shadow Resistance (Soul/Resurrection only)

Shadow Damage is half as effective upon a Graven One.

• Frost Resistance (Frost Only)

Frost Damage is half as effective upon a Graven One.

• Scythe

They are strong in combat when wielding their Bone Scythe.

Weaknesses

• Frail

Has low endurance or agility, making them weak and receive no health bonuses.

• Specialized

Without their Bone Scythe they are poor in combat.

• Evil

They are injured by the Light, suffering double damage.

• Decay

They smell of death and smell. It makes them an outsider in cities and civilization.

Skills and abilities

• Bone Scythe

All Graven Ones can summon a weapon made of bone, colloquially refereed to as a Bone Scythe. The Bone Scythe does not necessarily need to be in the shape of a scythe. A Bone Scythe is called from soft, yielding earth. The bones appear from the earth and knit together to form the weapon. This weapon can remain with the Graven One indefinitely until either lost or destroyed. It can only be summoned out of combat.

• Minion

Graven Ones can summon Minions to their aid in battle. The minions are determined by their School.

Resurrection Graven Ones summon their powerful skeletal flesh abominations to their aid. They are as strong and durable as a normal warrior/caster.

Soul Graven Ones summon spirits made of multiple souls fused together. The spirit beast is a combat creature whose touch causes Soul Burn. The minion is weak to spells but strong against physical attack. They have significantly less hitpoints then a player.

Frost Graven Ones summon frost spirits, an icy soul of darkness and shadow. The spirit is a combat creature who casts frost bolts and swings a frozen blade in battle. The minion is strong to spells but weak against physical attack. They have significantly less hitpoints then a player.

• Drain Soul

The Graven One drains a portion of the target's soul, strengthening themselves and weakening their enemy.

• Cold Snap

The Graven One lashes out at an enemy with a bolt of frost that does frost damage and slows their attack and defense reflexes for one combat turn.

• Vampiric Minion (Resurrection only)

The minion's successful attacks heal it by as much damage dealt.

• Soul Fusion (Soul only)

Infuses a target with a soul, strengthening their defense and attack for two turns.

• Frostbite (Frost only)

Launches a bolt of Shadow and Frost at an enemy. Causes a damage over time effect, where their flesh gradually becomes more and more frostbitten.

• Graveyard of the Damned (Resurrection Only)

The Graven One summons skeletons beneath the target. The skeletons rise up partially out of the earth to hammer, claw and bite at the feet of the enemies for one turn. An AoE attack for three people.

• Soul Storm (Soul only)

The Graven One calls forth a storm of souls upon a target. The souls burn the enemy, damaging the for one turn. An AoE attack for three people. Damage brought upon targets can be used to heal friendly units or self.

• Black Blizzard (Frost Only)

The Graven One calls forth a storm of blackened ice upon a target. The ice burns the enemy, causing Shadow and Frost damage. An AoE attack for five people.

• Flayed Mirror (Resurrection Only)

The Graven launches an attack at the enemy. The attack flays muscle and flesh from their body and the Graven One uses it to create a magical construct of them. The construct has half as much health as the enemy after they suffered damage from the attack. The minion has all the skills of the flayed enemy.

• Soul Demon (Soul Only)

The Graven One binds a torrent of souls within them. They transform into a Soul Demon, a mutated creating with shifting features. For (/roll 3) turns the Graven One is strong, faster and more durable.

• Ice Prison (Frost Only)

The Graven One summons icy tendrils around a single enemy target. The icy prison holds them up to three turns (/roll 3) and keeps them from attacking or defending. When attacked they immediately suffer the damage but are broken free from the prison. They cannot be frozen again for the duration of the fight.

Training Outline

Only Necromancers or necromancer-aspirants may become Graven Ones. And Necromancers only become Graven Ones whne they become fed up with only have a bare understanding of the multiple fields. A Graven One must willingly cast aside the broad focus of the Necromancer and take on one of the three fields of study.

Before they decide the field however, the Graven Aspirant must first find a teacher. These can be found wherever Necromancers or the dead congregate. Graven Ones, after all, thrive in quiet, dark places where the dead and dying are common. A demonstration of skill and desire is required for the teacher to take on the pupil, a test that changes from person to person.

After that, the Aspirant must decide which school to pursue. Each school offers different abilities and strengths.

Resurrection School

Resurrection is a school based around the summoning of minions and strengthening them. It is a commanding school, where students often prefer to lob spells from afar while their minions wade into battle to soak up damage and distract foes.

To become a master of resurrection, the Aspirant and teacher take up residency in a graveyard or other private location where the dead are kept in large numbers. They remain their, isolated from others, for the duration of their studies.

The first test is that of mastering the art of dealing death. The Aspirant is taught to summon and wield their bone scythe. They carve runes upon the blade, learning the rites nad rituals needed to invoke the power of their new favored weapon. With the runes of a Resurrector, a Graven One's scythe is able to heal their minion with a single strike of their magical weapon.

The next stage is the creation of a minion. The Graven Aspirant is sent out into the graveyard to collect the parts of heroes and great warriors. They gather the elements together before finding and trapping a living hero. The Aspirant learns the rituals necessary to bind the heroes spirit to the skeletal abomination. The heroes' will is then subjugated and bent to the Graven One's will, creating a loyal minion that can be summoned and controlled at will. The minion's abilities in life determine the minion's strengths. If they are a caster the minion will become a caster and if they are a warrior the minion will become a warrior.

The final act of the Aspirant is to understand and respect death itself. In this phase they willingly imbibe a special poison. The poison puts them in a death-like state, expelling their soul from their body and casting it into the Shadow Realm. In this shadowy place the Aspirant must come to terms not only with the deaths of all that he has loved, but also of his own mortality. Overcoming this through deep meditation and struggle the Aspirant forces his soul back into his body, drawing himself from the precipice of death and returning to life.

After this stage the Aspirant is a full-fledged Graven One and a master of Resurrection.

Soul School

Soul manipulation is a school based around the use of soul magic to enhance your own power and those of your teammates. It is preferred by people who enjoy participating in battle as a member of a team, working in conjunction with others to reach ultimate victory.

To begin their lesson, the Aspirant and teacher go to a dark, forlorn and empty place, such as a dungeon, castle, old fortress or dark wood. There, with only the master at his side, the Aspirant begins to delve into the nature of Soul Manipulation.

The Aspirant's first lesson is that of the value of his weapon. He is taught how to summon and wield his bone scythe. After mastering the weapon he is taught the rituals to inscribe it with Soul Runes. The Soul Runes allow his every strike upon a foe to cause Soul Corruption, a gradual soul burn that damages the enemy's spirit over time.

After that stage the Aspirant is educated on how to with and manipulate souls. Through meditation and practice they are taught how to use Shadow to bind and drag forth souls from the great beyond. They are challenged all throughout this stage, each spell becoming incrementally more and more difficult until they are finally tested. The Master summons forth a wave of souls and the Aspirant must harness them and store them away, binding them all into his blade and self safely.

The final lesson for the Aspirant is one in respect. The Aspirant's soul is severed from their body and cast away into the world. They must return to their corpse, wandering through the world as an invisible observer until they reach their corpse. There the teacher re-binds their soul, using runes and spells to partially keep it linked to the flesh. In this way the Aspirant is able to leave his body at will for short periods of time.

After this stage the Aspirant is a full-fledged Graven One and a master of Soul Manipulation.

Frost School

Frost magic is a school based around the idea that brute force and magic is the only way to victory. Destructive people who prefer to wade into battle alone to deal the most damage choose this school for the high-damage spells it offers.

The Aspirant and Teacher trek into the cold reaches of the world to study the art of Frost magic. Inundating themselves in snowy woods, desolated tundras or frozen caves, they are given the perfect solitude to study their eldritch art.

The first lesson is that in combat. The Aspirant is taught to summon and wield his Bone Scythe to lethal efficiency. They are also taught how to etch Frost Runes upon the blade, enabling each of their strikes a chance to deal damage that cripples or otherwise slows opponents.

Their second step is learning how to infuse Shadow into their Frost attacks. They practice out in the cold tundra, learning different ways to wield their magic. Their final test is in combat with their teacher, whom they must best before they can be deemed strong enough to reach their next step.

The final stage in their study is one of mastering their dangerous art. They are cast into the wilderness of the frozen world and forced to survive. They must wield their magic and ability to hunt and kill, eating and surviving in the frigid cold. Once they have survived for a week they return to their master triumphant.

After this stage the Aspirant is a full-fledged Graven One and a master of Frost.

Active Graven Ones

• Astus Duskwither
• Redis Taylor