Kalananda

Kalananda is the sanskrit name used for the magic of death by the Euthanatoi. In the west, it is often referred to as "Necromancy", but necromancy is only a fraction of the purview of the magic of death. Other, less charming, titles refer to Kalananda as the "Art of Corpses" or simply "the Black Art".

Overview
The practitioners of Kalananda are aware that the true authority of death and the dead lies not in their own hands, but in those of the gods - Yama in India, Hades in Europe and so on. Their symbol of authority is seen as a "staff" that divides the living from the dead. A practitioner of Kalananda then seizes this "staff" for himself, either through merging themselves with the god, or by enacting a rite of defiance. Both ways are risky and to avoid falling into the most common traps, the Euthanatoi have compelled an oral creed that defines the basic guidelines for interaction with the magic of death.

The Creed

 * Respect those who walk alone in the Underworld: The meaning of this is two-fold. For one, it advises against antagonizing denizens of the Tempest or the mysterious Ferrymen. The other meaning is that the mage should remain aloof of the ghosts inhabiting the Underworld, avoiding their petty struggles unless doing so serves a greater purpose.
 * Necessity is never defied twice: Remembering the fate of Orpheus, those who go into the Underworld should be brave enough to fulfill his wishes, but accept compromises and take the first reasonable offer that is presented to him.
 * For the dead, matter and spirit are one: This has a three-folded meaning. First, it reminds that everything within the Underworld, Wraiths as well as their surroundings, are made from Plasm. The second meaning is that everything that has a strong spiritual significance can be reflected within the Underworld as a Relic. The third is that the dead often ascribe spiritual importance to material objects, to which they are bound and that tie them into their half-existence.
 * Even the brightest siddha is a dark force for the dead: A warning to not improve a wraith's fortune with magic. Doing so never helps in the long run, but only strengthens their dark side, which eventually drives the wraith from its destiny. Like mages, wraiths have to ultimately resolve their affairs alone.
 * Live in dead flesh: This contains two warnings. The first is against announcing one's nature as a living or overemphasizing one's ties to the Skinlands, since most wraiths harbour some bitterness against the "Quick". The second is against attachment to one's life - everything will pass, even mages. Clinging overly to one's corporeal existence will likely cause the mage to become a Wraith himself.

Powers
Kalananda builds on two primary Spheres: Spirit and Entropy. Spirit deals with the ephemeral reality of the Underworld, while Entropy deals with its Resonance. Other Spheres that find general use are Matter (since dead flesh is under the purview of Matter), Prime (for animation via Quintessence), Mind (to allow for communication) and Life (normaly for the purposes of Necrosynthesis). Some paradigms include other Spheres, like Forces (for electrical animation) or Correspondence (for reaching through space into the Underworld). Each form of Kalananda has its own favourite spheres, but as a rule, wraiths are not that different from spirits, so most rituals that are used to bind spirits can be modified to affect wraiths.

Dabbling too much with Kalananda likely accumulates Jhor, the entropic Quiet that is exceedingly dangerous. Also, most Kalananda-practitioners tend to build up strong entropic Resonances that make interactions with the living more difficult.

Forms
The ultimate expression of these three forms is Lichdom, the transformation tino an undead being called a Liche, via a lost spell developed by an Etruscan mage on the base of the Spell of Life.
 * Necromancy: Communicating with the dead, usually for gaining information or convincing them to possess something
 * Necrourgy: Warding, banishing and binding the dead, compelling them to service or animating their corpses
 * Necrosynthesis: Bind the resonance of decay to a Life Pattern, blurring the line between Life and Death: The pinnacle of Necrosynthesis allows a mage to enter the Shadowlands.