I think Carl's suggestion is quite good, but it's too radical to
make to the current running game.
I still favor Bind spirit, albeit without the aura-duel factor.
It could be used by either the dead noble's owner, or a fiendish
necromancer after the body. It doesn't require changing any of
the existing commands, it only adds to them. And it's a fairly
minor change from the current system.
-- Rich Skrenta <skrenta@pbm.com>