Outcast

I just started playing, and I'm still in the early stages. It's very inconvenient; there's only undead around, and I have a Markal mage. There are no living neutral creatures to kill in the first week to build an army. I have a question: can Markal acquire racial mage skills? And which skill tree should he develop in? For example, to easily acquire all three skills for a powerful mage, Necropolis is the best choice, but Markal, as a mage, has Necromancer skills. Can he learn "Earthquake" if he has "Machine Basics" and "Banshee's Cry"? If so, then a mix of Necromancer and mage skills would be a powerful combination. I just don't know how to develop him yet – as a mage or as a Necromancer? I don't know if this is a bug or not, but if Markal dies, there's nothing to do because Kaspar is immobile. The game doesn't end, but you can't continue either; it's a dead end.