The Priest Sphere (CBN)

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: We entered into the catacombs of Moradask by night, so as not to attract the Society to our presence, but we stumbled across the high priest in the dungeons anyway. Luckily for us, he did not notice us at first because of the darkness spell Talib used to hide us. Silent as wraiths, we glided behind the priests until they reached the Idol of Ishistu, hewn from solid ivory, with diamonds for eyes. Only in the temple did they finally seem to sense our presence, slamming the doors and sealing us inside.
: I will not recount in detail the horrors I experienced that night. The Plague Priests caused our limbs to blister and decay in front of our very eyes, and we would have all been lost had not our sister Jal' been a paladin, naturally immune to their afflictions. Cursed with blindness, Talib hurled spells wantonly about the chamber, sundering the idol and several priests with his lightning. In the end we triumphed, but we did not linger to savor our victory. I could hear the high priest calling upon Ishistu's aid, back in the sanctuary, and I had no wish to confront the albino rat god when he arrived. Of course, before we made our hasty retreat, I managed to pick up the diamond eyes of the shattered statue, but the gems served only as chilling mementos of that evening, since no one would buy them.
: —From Leyla's Lost Journal
The necromantic priest sphere does not bear the same negative stigma as the wizard school, probably because most of the clerical spells in the Player's Handbook are first described in a positive or even life-giving context. However, from the perspective of a death priest, the paltry and somewhat bland selection of spells in the necromantic sphere leaves much to be desired. This chapter presents over a dozen new and distinctive spells, arming the death priest with a much wider and more potent array of magic.
Not every cleric with knowledge of the necromantic sphere should automatically gain access to all of these new spells. The majority of these rites represent the most jealously guarded secrets of a few, highly specialized priesthoods. These sacred mysteries are rarely shared with outsiders, and they can only be discovered through careful research. As noted in the previous chapter, most necromantic priesthoods have access to only a few spells from this chapter.
Many of the new spells in this section are only granted to priests serving evil deities, greatly restricting their use by good or heroic characters. At the DM's discretion, a carefully selected minority may be made available to PC clerics. Beneficial spells like spectral senses, hear heartbeat, death's door, spirit bind (or its reverse, spirit release), cure insanity, and drain undead are perfectly appropriate for neutral or good priests with access to the necromantic sphere, provided the characters devote the requisite time to prayer and research. The remainder of the new spells should be reserved for NPC death priests.
All spells belonging to the revised necromantic priest sphere have been listed in Appendix Three. The sphere has been slightly expanded to include such standard spells as slow poison, remove paralysis, speak with dead, neutralize poison, and dispel evil, which would obviously help priests involved with the dying or the dead. In addition, evil priests need access to the spells poison and dispel good. Finally, since Appendix Three is intended to help the DM choose spells for NPC death priests (who tend to be evil), all spells have been listed according to their harmful title (not the helpful reverse, as they are listed in the PHB).