I had thought of the portal thing too. I think its a good idea. Finding the spell that would take the party to the Necropolis would need to be a super tough super quest.
I read the Books by David Eddings too. The Diamond Throne was good but i prefered the books with Garion and Belgarath. Also theres a series by Raymond E. Feist called The Riftwar Saga. The first book was called Apprentice Adept i think. In this series its abouta young boy who is trying to learn the art of magic. only problem is he cant learn it. something happens and he finally successfully uses magic--- but its not the kind hes been taught. He's discovered a whole new magical system. If you could work someting like this into the story where your normal human being is transported into another world it would enable that character to become a magic user. I dont knoqw if it will work but you could give it some thought.
btw i added you to my msn messenger and you can also add me too
earthdog_65@hotmail.com
i sent my last post about 30 minutes ago i think and i just read your reply.my messenger is on if youd like to chat. Take it easy.