[KaVir]

The original meaning? Someone who summoned the spirits of the dead in order to ask them questions. Thus the word "necromancy", which derives from the Greek νεκρός (nekrós), "dead", and μαντεία (manteía), "divination" (see Wikipedia for more information).

Today you'd probably call such a person a "medium" or "spiritualist".

That's more of a modern definition, but I think the original spiritual aspect is something which has a lot of untapped potential within muds - and a lot of sources of inspiration. TV series such as "Medium", "Ghost Whisperer" and "Afterlife" might be a little cheesy, but they have some interesting ideas.

A couple of books worth checking out are "Necroscope" by Brian Lumley and "The Summoner" by Gail Z. Martin, both of which have a main character who can talk to the dead.

You could also check out "Guilty Pleasures" by Laurell K. Hamilton, where the main character is a necromancer who works for Animators Inc; she literally raises the dead for a living, usually for legal purposes (resolving contested wills, questioning murder victims, etc).

Necromancers don't have to be evil!