#cotl asks

As for an answer with some effort put into it... Consider this the "starting to cook" level... it could've just been a consequence of his search for Rami. Meaning he was just waking up random spirits to find answers, and just left them cause... well, he had to. They don't have wool they can be put back inside. Their corpses are being used for the ritual. And only Gods of Death can actually free souls into the afterlife. [see: Necromantic Dagger]

Which—and idk if the devs realize this—makes him a necromancer.

And from here it's all deep theorizing--

Back before DND popularized the idea of a wicked magic-user commanding ~undead forces~ for combat, necromancy was known as just the act of communing with the dead to divine information. General wisdom, predictions about the future, the key to immortality, resurrection, etc etc. All that cool stuff mortals aren't meant to know.

It was considered forbidden magic. Like, it was literally a form of heathenry. Not just because it was (allegedly) used to do "unnatural" things, but because it went around the Christian God. So that's relevant. And, fun fact, necromancy is considered by some to be the sister of alchemy. So... also happens to be relevant. Coincidence? Maybe. Who knows anymore.

Is Marchosias The Necromancer, then? (Connected to Divine Blight, Death's Attendant, and Touch of the Revenant) ...Potentially. It's on the table as an option. Yngya has like five different titles, I don't see why Marchosias can't have a few too. As a treat.

Either way. o3o Marchosias doing necromancy. That's the answer to a lot of the questions you ran into. It also means his former Bishop was either Kallamar or Narinder, the resurrection buddies.

Which is funny, because in regards to Kallamar, I've talked about this exact subject. I proposed that there were two necromancers—one who fits the traditional definition, and one who fits the modern pop-culture definition.

Shamura's lines seen in common fanon as predictions of the future (five becomes, etc) aren't actually that. Jojo clarified that those have always been intended to be like hymns lol. They're singing. Which tracks, because the text effect is the same one used by Ratoo when he's singing. And I've talked about rhyming not being a natural part of who Shamura is before. A few times, even. So I'm extra inclined to believe that Shamura is reciting something that someone else came up with. Along with other things I've analyzed about that damn spider (lovingly).

But I'm getting off track-- We're talking about Marchosias. XD

I'm assuming they've made electricity apart of his character because it was one of those things considered witchcraft back when it was first invented, but it was really just science. Like most alchemy. That's kind of the only connection there is. He's the ~science guy~. So the electricity might not be properly tied in with the necromancy.

"Release those trapped souls that clamor for freedom." "Retainer of death, attend your master." "Omen of great ill-fortune."

These are the Curses of the Necromancer I mentioned before. I'm having trouble finding the post (maybe I never posted it...?) but I remember writing about how I believe the curses aren't things the Necromancer did, they're things that befell the Necromancer(s). The Legendary Weapons set a sort of "precedent" that I would think loosely applies to everything else—that it's what people remember about an individual or something they were involved with.

An easy example, the Zealous Weapons. The Fanatic was a known zealot, and they had a sort of "deal" with their higher power(s) to spill blood in their name as an alternative form of worship. So they literally fed off people's zeal against their 'cause'. ((something that is a core aspect of curses))

*These images are all from either Silk Cradle or Purgatory, so the colors are off. What's pink is actually purple. What's orange is actually red.

I don't have pictures handy, so bear with me, but "souls" and "spirits" take different form. Spirits look like the person who died, but souls are more abstract in appearance. Yngya's Fleece summons lamb spirits, while Lambs' Slaughter summons lamb souls. The souls from Lamb's Slaughter act just like the souls from the Necromantic Weapons. I'm going to assume that's intentional.

The weapons require the user to kill something to summon that soul. But the curses just summon the souls with no bodies attached. In the case of the Revenant Curse, the ground is literally being ripped open to let the souls out. To me, this reads as the weapons belonging to Death Gods—those who cared for spirits in the way Hagar did for the lambs. I doubt there were a lot of executioners like Hagar haha...

On the flip side, the Necromancy Curses are just invoking the power of death. But the users have no significant connection to Death itself. They found some other way of accessing that power (going around a God). The Curses therefore represent what happened as a result of them sticking their hands in pies that weren't for them. Probably.

tfw you make a mfer so mad it manifests as a physical phenomenon

I can't prove he's freeing lamb souls for altruistic reasons... but I can prove that he did do it. On purpose. It comes down to what the rot actually is. As opposed to the flowery, poetic description it gives itself.

so they're just stuck in this constant state of volatile decomposition, forming and unforming and sticking together and mutating trying to become something new because they're supposed to become something new but they're Not Allowed because of the aforementioned Vengeance so they create these messed up monsters in a constant state of rotting yet seeking form

The most important part here is that they're supposed to become something new, but they're not allowed to. (Death is a change, we're told). Their pain manifests as a side effect of being unable to change. It's forbidden by either the Disciples or Yngya (subconsciously), since if they properly decay, they can't be used for the ritual. I think this emphasizes just how long the Disciples were expecting to have to wait.

The rot is "living" decay. What is it that makes something alive in this setting? Not souls, Rotten Followers don't have those. That leaves spirits as the only option.

Jojo implied that Marchosias had the reaction to the rot that he did because he lacks any augmentations to, I guess... keep it in check? He (and Thistle) aren't vaccinated, basically lol. Gorgo and the 'Estors are. This doesn't contradict with Research Tablet 3 either.

The Fighters were "vaccinated"—they were introduced to a version of the rot that was already dead. So living rot leaves them alone, for whatever reason. The ones dying are the ones exposed to living rot first. There are quite a few diseases out there that can't be cured once caught, they can only be vaccinated against. Smallpox and measles come to mind. Cough cough.

Marchosias can't cure the rot, but he can stop it from proliferating and spreading. And we know he can stop it from doing that because he uses it to augment the Pack Members. Gorgo is Gorgo. Mestor, Nestor, and Festor have wings. There's those half-ice creatures with the teeth... etc.

He turned the rot into, not only something technically new, but something stable and disconnected from Yngya. Their bodies don't morph or fall apart. They don't express being in any pain. They don't need to be cured when they enter the cult. And they don't die after two weeks.

To put it shortly, he knows how to kill rot. And what's causing the rotting (well, the lack of it) is the spirits themselves. They're what's keeping Yngya's heart beating. What makes your heart beat (and your muscles move, for that matter) are electrical impulses.

And so, I've come full circle.

All Lamb did was free Yngya from it. They didn't actually kill the rot. And there are specific instances where we can see rot actually "die". With these enemies, who specifically exist to generate more rot. Rotten Marchosias summons these enemies, but Rotten Yngya doesn't.

It and everything it generated turns grey and withers away when it "dies" proper. Something that. Wears a spiked collar. Presumably, anything with eyes is something that has a soul—meaning it's someone who's been infected and taken over by the rot.

Something with a soul hosting something that doesn't.

In conclusion, Marchosias most likely did free those 80 lost spirits that Lamb then shoves back into the meat grinder. Quite the God of Death we are. Wandering "lost" is an objectively better fate than being trapped inside Yngya's husk of a body, because that way they can eventually find their way to an afterlife on their own.

And see, "lost" has a dual meaning in this setting. To be "lost" also means to renounce one's faith in their God (or to otherwise stray from approved doctrine). That's Marchosias' whole thing, isn't it? Making Followers lose faith in their Gods? Religiously speaking, guiding someone "lost" back to their "flock" just means bringing them back in line with approved beliefs... so indoctrination. hah. haha.

Marchosias once again proven to be the fallen hero of the story /hj

Of course, electricity can't hurt spirits. Jojo made sure to specify that. Which means these spirits strayed of their own volition. Almost like Yngya did something to make them lose faith. Something like... abandoning them. Or selling them out to the Old Faith for the sacrifice.

......

Not Lamb re-indoctrinating victims back into their cults on two different levels. lmao. what was the moral of the story here? That Lamb is the worst ever? XD

Feeding spirits to the mountain strengthened the rot (and Winter). So taking spirits out would weaken those things. It would help explain why it was kept under control until recently too.

That gives two solid reasons why Marchosias would be freeing lamb spirits under this line of thought.

1) His own sick enjoyment (lovingly). He kills rot to use in his experiments and to give to his Super Soldiers; killing rot innately means to free the spirits from it (or otherwise sever the meat's connection with Yngya/the heart). Despite being powered by electricity, being struck by lightning still kills people lol Something about it being so much that it cancels it all out. idk im not a scientist. But clearly, it's well within his toolset to use lightning to stop the mountain's heart and all the rot born from it.

This would also give a reason as to why the Rot went "fuck this guy in particular". Besides the lambs' prejudice against canines, and it will never not be funny that they didn't intend for that to be present apparently.

2) To end the eternal Winter Ewefall is subject to. Whether it's Winter or Summer, Ewefall is covered in snow. Through Aym and Baal it's confirmed that terrible blizzards regularly hit the mountain, even if we can't see that via gameplay. Marchosias notes that he doesn't understand why it's snowing in Research Tablet 1. Suggesting it's not natural/expected. The stronger Winter is, the harder it is to survive. To weaken/end Winter is to do the same to Rot.

Aaand, that's my two cents, I suppose. Anon, you're a genius. I was so blindsided (and honestly annoyed) by the ghost thing, I didn't know where to begin XD But your theory helped reconnect some dots back into place.

The whole "formerly enslaved" thing they left implied in there also leaves room for his reason actually being because he strongly believes it's wrong for these spirits to be trapped. And everything else I just listed is just a nice benefit that comes with saving them.