Necromancer Sacred Scrolls

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The Necromancer Sacred Scrolls are a series of holy texts that form the heart of Necromancer Religion. The bulk of the text comes from the Endu Epics composed sometime before 3500 B.G.A.. The rest of the canon solidified during the first centuries of the Golden Age of Necromancy on the Arcol Steppe. In an event not included in the text but known to all necromancers, the scrolls were "frozen" or declared complete and immutable. Since then the text has changed very little, and necromancers regard the texts as sacrosanct.

The primary language of the sacred scrolls is Endu, and according to all necromancers that is the only language. However, at the time the canon solidified, most Arcol necromancers were bilingual, and Classical Necromancer Literature contains a blend of Endu and Common. The later portions of the text also borrow many elements of Common such as spacing and punctuation not present in the Epic portions of the text. Non-necromancer linguists who analyzed the scrolls have found that the bulk of the words are indeed in Endu, but many loan words from Common(spelled phonetically in the necromancer alphabet) have been identified. A number of words are also believed to have been adopted from other languages that existed in the region at the time, including a few now lost languages. Some scholars even believe the sacred scrolls could hold actual words from the only speculated-upon Sepal language.

Officially within the necromancer faith, an object only "counts" as a sacred scroll if it includes exactly the text of the sacred scrolls hand-written in blood on papyrus. However the need for every family to own at least one(and often multiple) copies of the entire cannon has led to the creation of "pseudo-sacred scrolls". These are typically printed leaflet books that contain the text, making them much more accessible to the faithful. Printed(or later electronic) versions of the text do not need to be venerated as the objects themselves are not regarded as sacred. Every Necromancy Temple, however, must own a complete set of actual sacred scrolls and make them available to the faithful. A complete set or individual scrolls are often owned by wealthy necromancers and kept in a personal shrine. A papyrus scroll inscribed with carefully chosen bits of scripture is a very popular gift for a youth completing the Nip'zet ritual.

Pseudo-Sacred Scrolls

Another collection of books given the same importance but not the same veneration are referred to as "The Pseudo-Sacred Scrolls". These primarily concern medicine and time-worn wisdom in use by the temples. Most of these books were written while the Necromancer population was in confinement during the Alliance era.