Masks of the Sorcerer

[Nev the Deranged]

Not long ago I read a good novel by... um... dammit I forget who by and I don't feel like getting the book out of my trunk right now.  Anyway, the book was

 Mask of the Sorcerer

 It wouldn't be that good for classic Sorcerer but for Sorcerer & Sword it would be really cool.

 The basics, as I recall them:

 Demons are: Former Sorcerers.

 Humanity is: Empathy for your fellow man (most definitions would work here, it's pretty broad)

 The concept:  There is a difference between Magic and Sorcery.  Magic is something a Magician does, by chanelling the will of the gods.  Sorcery is something the Sorcerer is, and cannot be escaped.  The most common way to become a Sorcerer is to kill a Sorcerer- and become instantly haunted by them, and all those they have killed themselves.  Unfortunately, when you kill a Sorcerer, it doesn't matter whether you meant it, or even knew about it- you are doomed to become one.  Embrace it or hide from it, you must master it or it will consume you.  

 The world the book is set in, while interesting, isn't all that important... the main part I thought would make a cool S&S concept is the sort of Sorceror meets Highlander idea.  When you kill a Sorcerer, their spirit becomes one with your own.  A niggling voice in the back of your head.  A vision in your dreams.  How did you know that incantation?  You never could play the pipes before... could you?  Did you move your hand just then... or was it someone else?   The souls of the Sorcerer you slew and the souls of all those within them join their knowledge and art to yours- but even in death they have their own agendas and will try to manipulate you into fulfilling them by withholding information or even taking over your body if you aren't vigilant.  

 I suppose it's a form of necromancy too...

 I apologize for not having this idea all worked out, but I haven't played any version of Sorcerer yet and I couldn't begin to work it out in mechanical terms.  I just thought I'd drop the idea and see if anyone was sparked by it.

[Ron Edwards]

Hey, that would work really well. The killing sets up a 'Token' in the terms of Sorcerer & Sword, and the demons/sorcerer-ghosts would be either Inconspicuous or Possessors. I really like this.

Who was the author?

Best,
Ron

[Nev the Deranged]

I'll look it up after work and post it.

[Gordon C. Landis]

Sounds like a book by Darrell Schweitzer (who I think gets a mention in Sorcerer & Sword for a different work).  Very Egyptian in tone, if it's the one I'm thinking of.

Gordon

[Nev the Deranged]

It is indeed Darrell Schweitzer.  Good book.  Chock full o' Sorcery.

[Ron Edwards]

Little reviewing later ...

Yeah, the necromancy rules in Sorcerer & Sword are just peachy for this concept. I also love that drifting, horror-filled writing style of Schweitzer's, in which the hero slowly looks up from whatever internal hell he occupies only to see a bigger hell in which he was walking without knowing it. He's one of the few writers who can actually deliver angst without getting po-faced.

Best,
Ron

[Nev the Deranged]

"po-faced"?