In my test fortress I've ran into the joy of retrieving one scroll that concerns the secrets of life and death. Good thing I caught it with only one of my civilians having turned into a necromancer so far (though I do need to go through rest of the literature fetched from the necromancer towers to check that there truly was only one scroll..). This has got me thinking: Now I have the potential to create more necromancers(, and fun)!
First thought with it would be to militarize it. A squad of immortal skeleton creators does sound fun. Questions remain, would this actually be useful when sending the squad out to raid sites? Would they use their necromatic arts during the battles or be just regular soldiers? If they do, would the creatures they rise during out of home combat follow them when they return?
The plan does have some gaping questions to it. I believe there's no way to control who reads which scroll, so the squad would most likely be completely randomized? Can children read the necromancer scroll and become necromancers? If this is possible, do childmancers ever grow up to adulthood?
And well.. I've now forbidden the book. IS this enough to stop anyone from reading it for now? Can this scroll be duplicated and if it can, do the copies of it also turn people into necromancers if read?
Possible downside of the plan is of course the fact I have huuuge piles of bones everywhere as my animal industry got a bit out of hands. Thus I'd need to constantly pay attention and be sending the squad out the moment they arrive so they won't cause any fun at home. One sketal Emu doesn't harm anyone but if they get into the butchering area we got other issues..
Of course if this all is viable, I am sitting at the edge of a civilization changing question: Should I try and turn my whole fortress into necromancers? It'd be a big project, since I now have over 700 workers + children on the site.
Anyone have any experience with friendly necromancers and have tips and tricks on what I could do with this (un)fortunate acquisition of mine?
[EDIT] I have discovered I have a total of THREE Nercomancer scrolls and thus I now have a squadful of Necromancers. That fixed itself quick... Now to experiment.