Undead=Evil

[Blightedmarsh]

Those are necessarily small job markets though, unless each artifact is only tied to a handful of "workers." If that's the case then the cost will rapidly become a problem, and "workers" being stolen will be that much more likely. And what happens when one of these devices breaks? Accidents happen and in this case accidents result in a group, possibly a large group, of dangerous creatures being set free to run amuck, until they can be contained and either destroyed or recaptured. At least with machinery accidents don't result in the machine actively seeking to kill people.

I Think that these control artifact would be rented out to people/businesses by registered necromancers. They would control no more that a score of undead and would have a serial number stamped into each talisman. This would be a major source of revenue for the state and the low taxes that this (amongst other things) would allow would be good for the economy.

I can also well imagine a limited charge summon/control device being sold to adventurers or a rechargeable version issued to military NCO's and public works officers.

I do imagine that many skeletons would be stock piled in cold storage as a kind of strategic/economic reserve. Most of the time bodies would be used as magical reagents or focuses.

******

Remember when I said that the souls of the citizenry are tied to the artifacts, heirlooms, monuments and buildings of the land? Well tying the non citizens to their own bones and using them would be the entry level of this. To have better would require that you are deemed to have contributed more, earned better in this life for your next. Note that this may lead to a caste system if you wanted to spin it that way.

It's only somebody else's problem until political infighting weakens the governing body to the point that outside forces can start to make serious headway in undermining their authority or overrunning the border. Spies and sabatuers can complicate the political landscape even further with an eye toward deliberately creating blind-spots or simply weakening the government in preparation for either fommenting an uprising of the populace or starting a more conventional war.

Nice... Plot hook. Still it requires an outside actor or Cesar figure. It is very different from the waring states vibe I was considering when I wrote about succession.

Skilled politicians know that a secret war should always be used before, or in place of, a traditional one whenever possible. Bonus points: a secret war makes for great gaming.

A ruthless, cutthroat, Machiavellian, Byzantine bulpit of a political system should make an excellent training ground for those skilled politicians then. Particularly if they have to go through centenaries of paying their dues to get to the top flight.