By Aura Bigstep, 163 AR Annotated by Grimnirs Woldhart.
"Dedicated to those who seek the deepest truths to seek the highest ideals."
I. Introduction
Dear Reader,
Contained within this tome I shall compile my observations on the nature and function of that most reviled of elements, negative energy. The ideas presented herein are the result of my own observation and ponderance alongside an extensive education and research into planar affairs and historical fact.
It is my hope that this effort will further the general understanding of the nature of this energy, which is often dismissed as simply 'evil' without further investigation, and tabooed via religious doctrine and general mores based on surface symptomatic observation rather than true understanding.
For the purpose of this work, I will exclude morality as a deciding factor for any conclusions, and instead focus on its effects upon the Prime Material Plane as the ultimate arbiter of its place within it. I hope this does not offend; the purpose of this work is not to defend the animator or decry the druid, but to understand deeply WHY these mores have arisen, and examine these mores' utility in relation to metaphysical fact. Please read at your leisure and do not feel the need to rush.
II. ELEMENTAL REALITY
Physical reality- that which we can feel, smell, see, hear, and taste- is purportedly composed of six elements which make up what we call the Inner Planes:
Fire, which burns and consumes, and gifts light and heat and destruction.
Air, which moves and shifts and fills our breath and our skies.
Water, which rolls and flows and fills the rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans above and below, and which sometimes deigns to fall from the sky.
Earth, which endures, upon which we walk and within which we find the gems and metals with which we create art and tools, and upon which grows nearly all plants.
Positive energy, the force of life and creation, which can be channeled to heal injuries.
Negative energy, the force of death and decay, which can be channeled to cause injuries.
This last energy has the most notoriously antagonistic relationship with mortality, for in malevolent hands it is often its doom. It is usually only studied by those looking to exploit it for their own personal power because of these taboos, and thus those seeking the righteous path are often left wanting when asked to explain its ban, other than calling it 'evil,' 'unholy,' and 'corrupting.'
To understand it, we must first understand its qualities, behavior, and sources, from which we can derive a satisfactory explanation of its functionality.
III. FACTS AND HYPOTHESIS
1. Negative Energy Harms Life
In large enough quantities, negative energy results in internal decay and even death. Many spells make use of it to bring this effect about. This energy is only observed to have such pronounced effects on living beings; objects are not nearly as susceptible.
2. Negative Energy Fuels Undeath
The creation of undead involves filling a corpse with large amounts of negative energy. The specific manner in which the corpse is prepared and the specific rituals used to animate it determine the kind of undead created, but all of them are filled with this energy, so much so that it acts to restore them to well-being just as positive energy does to the living.
3. Negative Energy Exists in Nature
A terrifying fact of our reality is that undead also appear spontaneously, often at sites of great battles or tragedies where many die. The lack of any involvement of necromancers or any pre-existing noticeable negative energy in the environment suggests one true fact that must be understood to unravel the remaining mysteries: Negative energy is produced in the Prime Material when things die and decay. This enables several other factual observations:
4. Negative Energy is the Final State of All Elements
Indeed, we can conclude much about the nature of reality and the Inner Planes with this observation. Positive energy is the force of raw creation and life, which solidifies into solid elemental states and then undergoes decay into Negative energy. Such is why when living things composed of positive energy die, they release Negative energy.
5. The Negative Energy Plane is Destination, Not Source
Because the Positive Energy Plane's limitless creation results in the sustenance of the elemental planes, which through the negative quasi-elemental planes decay into the Negative Energy Plane, it can be concluded that the function of the Negative Energy Plane is to collect all errant negative energy, attracting it with energy of its own kind deposited from all creation. Indeed, with such vast amounts of decaying force it would be possible to destroy the energy itself, ensuring everything created by Positive eventually fades from Negative so renewal and replacement can continuously occur.
6. Prime Material Negative Energy Naturally Travels to the Plane
If there was not some filter removing this energy from the environment, this world would have long become an undead hellscape. I posit the Negative Energy Plane's pull extends to the material through the Ethereal plane, performing its subtractive function on its own energy as the mechanism by which it dissipates. This hypothesis pairs with several others to complete the model, herein described.
7. Environmental Effects are a Matter of Concentration
The Ethereal Siphon formed by this function must only function well with small quantities, because while normal life cycles do not result in any permanent damage when beings die and elements wither, there are several circumstances that can bring about spontaneous undead with some reliability.
Firstly, many beings dying at once often results in a few of them rising as undead from the suffusing of negative energy.
Secondly, a particularly awful death of a being unprepared to die can as well.
Thirdly, some particularly awful beings, if not slain in the correct manner, will soon rise as undead despite having no necromancy involved.
Therefore, the long-term corrupting effects of negative energy require a certain concentration, which we will call the Siphon Threshold. Concentrations beyond this threshold are not dissipated out of our plane, but remain to cause decay to life and element alike, as well as permeate the dead and cause them to re-animate.
8. Negative Energy Begets Negative Energy
Locations in which undead reside become noticeably 'corrupted,' as plants wither and animals become emaciated and sickened. In these places, further spontaneous undead become increasingly common as time passes. The presence of large concentrations of negative energy therefore interferes with the siphoning by overwhelming the capacity, causing the siphoning to shut down and the negative energy to become endemic until external factors such as holy magic and undead-slaughtering reduce its hold.
The Siphon Threshold could therefore be described as 'a total amount of negative energy present in a particular Material location.' Above the threshold, more negative energy accumulates as it is unable to escape to its normal destination.
ANNOTATION This is however false, as various organisms maintain the niche of transmuting negative energy into positive. This is the very act of consumption. To consume is to destroy, but from that destruction yield nutrition; to spur new life. Areas like this as described by Aura, that persist seemingly indefinite (though this timescale is debatable), are due to constructed impediments, be they purposeful or ignorant. //
IV. IMMATERIAL UNDEAD
As a matter of study, these observations also help explain the functionality of immaterial undead, such as ghosts, specters, and wraiths. They are partly Ethereal in composition, but composed of negative energy; it could be concluded that they are the result of sudden reversal of flow in the Ethereal Siphon.
Souls unwilling to depart the material due to some trauma or desire for vengeance can will themselves to existence; they recall the energy that once composed their farm and has become Negative, forming their undead existence. This energy likely has not had the time to even make it all the way through the Ethereal Plane before this process occurs, and in becoming composed of it from its destination the spirit simultaneously exists in both the Material and Ethereal.
Academically, this demonstrates well the difference between body and soul; the material of the body becomes negative energy and departs for the destination plane, while the soul's fate is to travel through the Astral to the Outer Planes, often stopping at Kelemvor's Wall to be claimed by their worshiped Power.
Intelligent undead are a direct result of the denial of the Astral process. The soul recalls what it can to remain in the Material; if they are quick and have the remains for it they might retain physical form like a Wight, but if their body is beyond use (either from a delay of rising or tragic end) they will instead assume such Ethereal-stepping forms.
ANNOTATION Shadow seems far more likely than Ethereal. In fact, I have never seen nor interacted with the Ethereal, beyond hypotheticals and hearsay. We can observably walk and interact with the Shadow, and it bears far more undead. Follow the observable facts, not simply what some books tell us. //
V. ANALYSIS OF MORES
The facts, hypotheses, and observations presented make it abundantly clear that having too much negative energy in one place causes long-term health risks to life itself. This fact, learned time and again by developing communities throughout history that experimented with it, has formed the foundations of its prohibition.
Understanding all herein presented, how many undead is too many for the maintenance of the Siphon Threshold?
One. Undead cannot exist without an amount of negative energy that exceeds the threshold to animate them, or they would crumble immediately as their energy is reclaimed.
ANNOTATION This logic does not withstand its own scrutiny. Given enough time, undead would still eventually crumble, due to their amassed energies being naturally drained. In fact, for one to intentionally create undead, it seems they would be forcefully amassing negative energy. And then with intention, they could disperse these undead, forcefully releasing some of that negative energy, and plausibly feed it back to the Void, rather than keeping here within the Prime. //
The practice has been proclaimed wrongful, profane, immoral, and evil for so long that few even understand this reasoning. This ignorance can lead many astray, interpreting a lack of information as the conclusions ingrained in culture being misinformation themselves. It is the responsibility of those who understand to explain the 'why' to the up-and-coming, lest we despoil our farm-land and make the world uninhabitable. Undead must be destroyed and their energies scattered so it can complete its journey to the Negative Energy Plane.
But what of lesser acts of necromancy?
This is a hotly debated subject. From historical and personal observation of these various magicks- Harm, Wail of the Banshee, Inflict Wounds, Finger of Death- they do not seem sufficient to exceed the Threshold on their own. Repeated use in rapid succession could perhaps achieve this, as could too great a release of negative energy all at once; a Banshee Wail slaying a large number all at once would likely result in the problem from a single casting.
All of this taken into account, the rational answer to the cost-benefit of killing and harming magic is thus: If used sparingly and in a targeted way, they can be utilized responsibly without harming the fabric of the Material. Religious doctrine, law, and personal morality may offer different answers which are not to be considered invalid, but this is the one supported by evidence in relation to long-term harm to the environment. The author provides neither endorsement nor condemnation for the practice; that is a matter for the reader's decision.
VI. CONCLUSION
Negative energy's reputation is indeed earned, but it only becomes problematic in great enough quantities. The exact parameters for exceeding the Siphon Threshold remain unknown, and for good reason, as testing such a hypothesis is unwise due to the dangerous end. It is advisable to steer well clear of the Threshold, and if you personally must utilize the energy for necessary benefit, make its use singular and directed.
The goal of breaking down Siphon stoppages is a noble and necessary one taken up by many faiths, as these problems never resolve themselves without external intervention from proficient parties.
All that is will eventually become negative energy, replaced with new creation wrought from positive energy. Understand the balance, disturb it as little as possible, and consult local clergy before use.