The Gift also does not affect mundane elements or otherwise "unawakened" entities.
Seems obvious, but it comes into play when interrogating a tree, or, if on the Path of Strife, speaking to flame or stone, or a Guernicus interrogating a necklace.
Criamon works well for strictly ghost-oriented necromancers, but not for walking-dead necromancers.
And, of course, it opens up the old "kill first, ask questions later" gambit for conducting investigations.
I seem to have misplaced my notes for several of my characters.
I will try to type up some of my necromancers soon-ish.
Interested, and also if you've got the Character Sheet... 
(Hey, I just love watching characters! 
And this may always be useful)
But feedback is always nice lol 
Thibaud
Covenant: Turris Eburnea
Characteristics: Int +3, Per 0, Pre 0, Com +2, Str -2, Sta +1, Dex 0, Qik 0
Size: 0
Age: 26 (26), Height: 160 cm, Weight: 55 kg, Gender: Male
Decrepitude: 0
Warping Score: 0 (0)
Confidence: 1 (3)
Virtues and Flaws: The Gift, Hermetic Magus, Book Learner (Book Quality: +3), Affinity with Corpus, Affinity with Mentem, Apt Student (Learning Bonus: +5), Second Sight, Puissant Corpus, Puissant Mentem, Major Magical Focus (necromancy), Custom Tradition, Spirit Familiar* [Familiar Type: Spirit], Magister in Artibus, Chaotic Magic*, Weak Magic Resistance (When wet), Cabal Legacy, Lame (Penalty: -6 on moving quickly and agility, -3 Dodge and -1 combat), Temperate, Restriction (Cannot cast on a boat), Fear (Boats)
Personality Traits: Tidy +2
Combat:
Dodge: Init: -1, Attack --, Defense -1, Damage --
Fist: Init: -1, Attack -1, Defense -1, Damage -2
Kick: Init: -2, Attack -1, Defense -2, Damage +1
Soak: +1
Fatigue levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: -1 (1-5), -3 (6-10), -5 (11-15), Incapacitated (16-20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Arabic 3 (About medicine), Artes Liberales 5 (ritual magic), Concentration 2 (spell concentration), Hebrew 2 (About Medicine), Leadership 2 (intimidation) (2), Latin 5 (hermetic usage), Magic Theory 4 (Creo) (1), Medicine 5, Parma Magica 2 (Mentem), Penetration 3 (Mentem), Philosophiae 2 (ritual magic), Provencal 5, Second Sight 2 (ghosts)
Arts: Cr 10, In 3, Mu 0, Pe 0, Re 10, An 0, Aq 0, Au 0, Co 12+3, He 0, Ig 0, Im 0, Me 12+3, Te 0, Vi 0
Equipment: Words of Creations (Tractatus, Topic: Creo, Quality: 8) (Type: Tractatus; Total Quality: 8; Quality: 8; Topic: Creo; Language: Latin; Covenant Cost: 8; Subject; Author: Thibaud)
Encumbrance: 0 (0)
Spells Known:
Corpus 110
A Corpse for a Day (CrCo 20) +36
Gentle Caress of Aesclepius (CrCo 30) +35
Awaken the Slumbering Corpse (ReCo 25) +36
The Leap of Homecoming (ReCo 35) +26
Mentem 120
Lay to Rest the Haunting Spirit (PeMe 5) +16
Coerce the Spirits of the Night (ReMe 20) +36
Ring of Warding Against Spirits (ReMe 20) +36
Voices from Hollow Spaces (ReMe 35) +36
Incantation of Summoning the Dead (ReMe 40) +46, Mastery 1 (penetration)
Not a terribly experienced necromancer, but interesting for showing some of the limits of the concept.
At age 26, he has most of the more necessary spells for both corporeal and Ghost-focused necromancy.
There are stll a lot of thngs to explore, but the most essential spells are there.
Thanks very much Tellus!
I seem to note a lot of Lame necromancers in my experience. Must be part of the overall "feel" of necromancers in many people's minds.
Well, it depends what you mean by "lame".
I have 2 necromancers in a current saga; one is powerful and another is without any doubt in the top 5 of the Order power hierarchy (whatever sense you give to power).
... I'm guessing, Lame as in the Flaw 
Ah. Oh.
Never occured to me to give Lame to a necromancer 
Heh. That is funny. (Mainly because it's exactly what I thought too - "Seen so many lame necromancers - need some good examples!)
(For our non-native English speakers, "lame" literally means "crippled" (and usually re the legs/walking). But as an idiom it means something like "weak, pathetic, incapable, obviously deserving of criticism".
As in - "I thought my team was better than that, but last week they were just lame", or "Let's go - this party is lame."
Lame necromancers. The worst kind.) 8)
Mea culpa!
I thought the capital letter in Lame would be sufficient. I did not consider non-English speakers, or other ways it might be misconstrued.
Vrylakos
This spell creates a human corpse, R: Touch, D: Sun - fun when there's no convenient "natural" corpse nearby.
Without requisites, the no clothes are created with the corpse.
On his to-do list, but not invented yet, is
Call the Dead Turb
CrCo 20 Ritual
R: Touch, D: Momentary, T: Group
This spell creates 10 (or fewer) complete human corpses. Highly useful for the necromancer with squemish covenant-mates who refuse to let him use the bodies of fallen foe (or grogs). Please Not that the corpses will decay naturally without further magic to preserve them.
How can this spell be made permanent? A corpse without mind, and more, without soul? It's not really natural, and doesn't it fall outside of permanent creo?
Well, once someone is dead, his corpse is just meat. The soul is no longer there, and it has no mind at all. A soulless, mindless body is the perfect, natural definition of a corpse.
It just lies there, not doing anything, like a man gutted yesterday.
Plenty of those around, all naturally.
To animate it, seperate spells are needed.
Ah ok, you intend it to be just a corpse, not a walking dead.
However, without a mentem requisite, I don't think they have the brawl abilities of the dead corpse mentionned in the Walking corpse (?) spell.
Awaken the Slumbering Corpse?
My book mentions no brawling abilities under ReCo at all?
I'm a little confused here
Then it's in ROPM when they speak about ReCo spell - undeads. Or in HOH, one of them. anyway there is a book where it's said
Ah, the Brawl ability of Undead, RoP:M. We ruled that snce the magus controls it, the animated corpse uses the caster's finesse.
No real issue there. 