+1 to what Zako said about how well thought this necromancy is and how you managed to finish that game. Also loved the descriptions of viewing the vitality network. It was like I could see it.
It seems like souls are indeed (at least in part) vitality constructs. The existance of ghosts and spirits raises the question of whether or not we could create a necromantic construct made out of pure vitality. Too bad we don't have a Life mage with us. Since they, like us, focus on vitality and have a very similar spell, it stands to reason that they would know at least some things about vitality and souls. Hmmm... that curse may be simple to solve. It may just be that no one with the right set of skills has come along. Someone who can understand what's going on here. A life mage or a necromancer. Maybe even nightroar can't understand what's going on here, since he seems too preoccupied with killing everything.
Perhaps the zombies can carry out more complex commands because they are human. We know that raise zombie recreates part of the vitality network of the corpse, so the more complex the corpse, the more complex the vitality network will be and thus more complex commands can be carried out. Then again, their creator may have altered their vitality network to be able to understand more complex commands.
"Go out and gather corpses..." Seems like whoever created them is building an army near the northern edge of the haunted forest. That means that Nightroar is still gathering his armies and preparing to strike. But why is he so close to Aloclesno? Is he moving to strike the elves first? Is he afraid of the human armies? Or could he have sensed us? Is he close enough to Command Undead? Is that why the wards "failed"?
Why would Eko hide the zombie? He could say he was afraid that the villagers would panic, but that's a weak excuse. He is very suspicious. We should find him and confront him, if not now, then soon.
We could do Animate Object and Alter Golem on the lock to open it and then Steal Vitality to destroy the golem, however that would take too much mana. By the time we were done, we would have no mana left. Too dangerous.
Hmmm... The question now is, can we recreate the vitality network in the children? Is the lost vitality stored somewhere for later consumption by whatever stalks the forest?
That flask seems weird. I wouldn't expect a follower of Order to be constantly drinking. And why is he constantly carrying one with him? It can't be a mana potion, he wouldn't need to drink from it all the time. Maybe some other form of alchemy? Maybe we should investigate it, try to take a small sip.
So for this turn I say:
1.Test the flask. Smell it, take a small sip, etc...
2.Find Omo and then go find Eko.
3.If there is nothing wrong with either of them, confront Eko about the zombie. Ask him why he didn't warn the villagers. Tell him we found the zombie while exploring the temple. Tell him we understand the need to perform experiments, however that's no reason to keep his fellow villagers in the dark. If they knew, they could have better defended themselves. Also ask him how did he manage to capture it without it killing him?
4. Prepare to venture into the forest.
Not so sure about 4, but I think it's the best we can do right now.