I`ve `killed` lots of undead, but for the first time ever I killed someone bought to life by an evil mage and as it died it said `Thankyou.`

Never heard that before in all my time playing.

It also makes me think (yes, that again) that people raised from the dead by magic are actually somewhat aware of what is happening to them and do not like it. They maybe in agony or in some kind of mental anguish as they are forcefully paraded around like a string puppet.

So using magic to bring bodies up from the dead to fight for you is actually EVIL.

Thoughts?

p.s. Just a reminder that this is a game.

Wow, that's kinda morbid and creepy.

It's what they deserve for finding themselves at the wrong of my my sword. My killing sword.

I don't think so. They're essentially just zombies. That's what a 'Thrall' is. I don't see it as evil, the spirit already left the body.

Most of them are probably bandits that would kill you without a thought, it is a just punishment.

I don`t think you really comprehend what I wrote.

The `dying` body said "thankyou" as it died . Why would it say "thankyou" if it`s just a spiritless unaware body? And why even `Thank` me unless it`s glad to be returned to death?

This suggests that the body still has its spirit in there and is aware of what is happening and does not like it. Maybe it resides in the dead body a while or maybe the magic spell pulls the spirit back in to animate it, whatever, the body is aware of what`s happening.

This creates an ethical dilemma if you want to play a good person. I won`t use anything that creates zombies that`s for sure.

I have heard this as I banished a vampire lord and his thralls died when he did.
one time I heard 'Thank you' one time I heard something like a sigh 'peace'
I thought it was my imagination, it is just a sigh. Awesome that its not.

Meanwhile this doesnt mean my vampire will not raise bodies.
They should have been more careful about who killed em then, right.

It's Necromancy. Outlawed and all. Technically.

I think it`s a pretty nice touch to the game simply because it creates an interesting situation - a little like blood magic did in dragon age. It also gives an indication as to how some magic works and its effects on the undead. I used to think of them as all just empty bodies, but now I see them as tortured souls. Now for role play purposes there`s even more reason for my character to avoid bad magic and does everything he can to kill undead.

Raising skeletons and creating zombies from the rotting dead while creepy is not evil.Basically I think of them as bone and flesh golems.
When they start trapping the souls of the recently slain in the body and start using black soul gems it starts to cross the line into evil.

For the record I use black soul gems(Azuras Star) but only on bad guys...mostly

Necromancy is generally poorly regarded in Tamriel.

Necromancy has always been bad, in all games, and well explained why it's bad/evel.

It's very strange that in Skyrim Necromancy is merged with Conjuration, they are totally completely different schools of magic. Summoning creatures from oblivion and raising dead humans are very different things.

It's also strange how use of black soul gems yields no penalty and taint in any form, all we get to hear is that they're illegal aka rare.

This is unfortunately gamey mechanics so that people don`t whine that they suffer penalties for doing things evil because it would be `no fun` for them.

Necromancy is a tool. While I find it less useful than conjuring servants, I will still use it from time to time (especially the ritual stone power) and feel no remorse. Except I don't resurrect a dead guy to permanently follow me around because that's just weird.

Well based upon your conclusion then you could say a good portion of actions and events in this game are evil. Based on one's moral outlook you could say all magic is evil.

I agree that corpse reanimation (as well as soul trapping) is "evil", and that's exactly the interpretation that I love, because it gives my characters layers and shades of grey, instead of just being black and white.

For example - my character is, for all intents and purposes, "good". He doesn't murder, he doesn't steal, he obeys the law, and makes decisions that would be considered "moral", or "just".

However, his abilities include Necromancy and Soul Trapping - it gives him layers, because he is a good person, who dabbles in "evil" arts. He uses those abilities for the "greater good", but there still is the moral grey area of whether what he is doing can truly be justified or not.

In order to do good, he must acquire power, and in order to acquire power, he must steal souls to fuel his abilities, and manipulate the undead. So in order to do good, he must do something that is considered "evil". And then he must struggle with not becoming corrupted by these dark powers, and abusing them for selfish gains.

lol.. whatever makes you feel good about yourself.

anyways, yeah, i would put it in the questionable category. if the thralls don't like it, then obviously they're not mindless zombies. to be able to die and not live as a puppet is a good thing. no matter what you did, even the most deserving victims should die or get relief eventually. in a way, this form of necromancy is like a twisted version of a bully, who keeps repeating the same cruel joke over and over and over and over again, never to give their victims rest.

I always thought of it as placing your own magic energy inside a body joust to create motion. Sort of like when they try to use the defibrillators ( shocks pads used to jump start a heart for those who do not know what they're actually called ) on someone who is dead, though, without them actually coming back to life. Basically when the electricity enters the body and causes muscle twitches, the body moves without the person being alive. This is what I viewed necromancy as. But if they have awareness or some state of feeling then it truly is evil. Though I still think my previous way of viewing it was evil, as you're desicrating a body.

I don't care about morality, they're dead. Whether or not the mind is still partially sentient is not my problem. If they can be used past death I will do them the honor of giving them one last chance to be of use to the world. We should all be so lucky.

But you do care about some kind of morality. "We should all be so lucky". All you're doing there is projecting your own values in another way. You see a use past death as an honor, and wish others to participate. You're an angel of mercy, in your world.

They themselves apparently don't consider it "lucky" though. They reject your morality just as much as you do theirs. The only difference with your morality is it's the type that unapologetically inflicts his will on others, and tells them to like it.

Yeah, it's evil, but so what. I just wish they had an enervation, or life drain spell for non vampires to round out necromancy.

See, that's the way to respond. lol

Unlike the issue with trapping souls inside of soul gems, there is no ethical or moral dilemma here. While it may be considered wrong or evil to raise a body from the dead, a good character would not be practicing necromancy in the first place.

Seeing all your enchanted stuff and some creatures, the Dwemer machines, run on or are created with stolen souls evil is just the normal way of doing business in this game. After accepting this and building my first non good character, my very fine Dark Elf, I have come to enjoy the game even more at somewhere around 450 hours. He is not really EVIL but has a wide range of morally dubious attributes and he is bad but somewhat short of nasty.

I raised my first dead just the other day. I had played characters that used Atronachs but never as Necromancer type before. I like they way they get up.

I've been playing evil or at least lawless bastards since Morrowind. But I wouldn't deny it's bad.. that's all. There's no clever excuse or rationale for it, if my characters were actually real people. They're sociopaths, plain and simple.

I occassionally like good guys too though. And I think it's somewhat possible. You just have avoid quite a bit of the game to do so. Like it's cool enough for a sort of speedrun or something.