He just said the temple is open to us. Let's play the curious children, and explore the whole temple! Which coincidentally includes the basement.
For now, check on the kids using our own magic, then grab Omo and go snooping in the basement. We should be careful to not to touch the thing- It might possess us, or set off an alarm, or something similarly nasty.
When checking out the basement, use our own magic detecting spell to see if there are any magical effects going on nearby. It should alert us to magical traps that protect the source.
"Well, what should we do now?""Let's take a quick look at the kids, then check out whatever is in the basement."You step into the main room of the Temple. The children are as you left them, but the man in the far cot is awake and sitting up, leaning back on his pillows. You cast about for a name- Ado Drunkenstumbles, a survivor of the zombie attack. Seeing him out from under his blankets, you realize that he is hurt quite badly- his left side is swathed in bandages, and his face and arms are heavily bruised. He directs a sour look at you as you enter- you nearly turn around and leave, but decide to press on. You're sharing sleeping quarters, after all, and it seems as though his dour mood has more to do with his own bedridden state rather than anything you've done.
Standing by the children, you decide to start with your
Detect Magic spell, as you'll want that active during your explorations anyway. Unfortunately, as far as you can tell they are completely free of magical energy. However, you quickly notice that the same cannot be said for Ado Drunkenstumbles- he seems to be wearing a layer of magic like a second skin. It's no magic you are familiar with, but it seems likely to be some form of healing, given the circumstances.
You realize you've been staring when Ado fixes you with a glare of his own, and you hastily return your attention to the children. You discreetly cast
Sense Vitality, and frown at what you feel- two Vitality each. That's what they had when you brought them back last night, and although it wasn't all that long ago you would still have expected them to recover
some Vitality. Maybe it's just shock from their rough treatment, or maybe it's an effect of their soullessness. You wonder why Eko didn't cast any healing spells for them the way it seems he did for Ado.
Uncomfortably aware of Ado's continued observation, you decide to check one last thing. Quickly, you stride to the outer doors, where you had first noticed the Necromantic presence in the basement. Sure enough, you find a faint line of magical energy, seeming to disappear into the walls. Again, you don't recognize what sort of magic it is (though it seems distantly related to the spell on Ado- perhaps because they are both Order spells?) but you would bet anything that this is a ward similar to what encircles the forest. Experimentally, you step outside for a moment- sure enough, your awareness of the Necromantic Energy vanishes.
You glance up the road in the direction Eko left- of course, you see nothing but a few villagers going about their business. You go back inside, quickly walking through the main room and into the kitchen where Omo is waiting.
"Well?" Omo raises an inquiring eyebrow.
"They're unchanged." You sigh.
"Completely unchanged- they don't seem to be healing at all."Omo grunts.
"Well, I didn't really expect anything different." Omo points at the door marked with Eko's symbol.
"I stuck my head in there, and it looks like an office to me, and where he keeps his ceremonial things. Eko's bedroom is at the end of the hall- not much in there except a shelf full of books I don't understand. But that storeroom he mentioned had a trapdoor in the corner.""The basement, then. Let's go."Omo leads you to the storeroom, a small space crammed with cupboards and shelves. The shelves themselves are rather sparce- a few sacks of grain, a keg of ale, a bowl of dried fruit, and another big pot of that soup from last night. Omo moves straight to the far corner, pulling up on an iron ring set in the floor. The trapdoor swings up, resting on the wall and revealing a steep staircase descending into darkness.
You light an oil lamp sitting on a nearby shelf and cautiously walk down the stairs. The air smells musty down here, with that peculiar damp earthy scent familiar from the wine cellars back in Yicelafo. You are also surprised to smell a spicy odor that must have been pungent when it was fresh- you find a shallow bowl with scented candles resting on a barrel at the base of the stairs. The basement is full of junk of all kinds. A bucket of nails rests on a short stack of wooden planks next to a char with a splintered and broken back. One wall is lined with barrels, some full of food, some filled with tools, most covered with a rough tarp. Thick coils of rope hang from hooks on another wall, along with rusty, broken lanterns, a short ladder, and a tasseled spear. What appears to be a narrow window high on the wall has been boarded up.
Omo peers about the cluttered room uneasily, but you pay little attention to the dancing shadows. You walk across the basement to a cleared section of wall. Along the wall here there are obvious holes in the rough stone floor, covered with thick wooden hatches. You don't know what might be stored in such places, nor do you investigate- one hatch is covered with a tarp and a barrel. You might not have realized that the hatches extended that far if it were not clearly the source of the Necromantic energy.
You check the area. You detect no wards, nor any magic of any kind. Signalling to Omo, you wrestle the barrel away, then pull the tarp clear. The hatch beneath is shut securely. The Necromantic energy hasn't moved at all, not since the moment you first stepped into the temple. Omo shoots you a questioning look, and at your nod he grabs the handle, pulling the hatch open.
The zombie below lurches against its restraints, silently struggling to attack you.
You step back, suppressing a retch. The zombie is quite thoroughly decayed, and the stench of rotting flesh is overpowering. Omo curses, coughing as he jumps back. You put a hand to your nose and lean back over, examining the zombie. The bloated and rotten corpse is wearing the dirty, tattered remnants of a soldier's uniform over a stained suit of leather armor. It is missing one leg. The creature is held in place by lengths of thick rope, binding it to a pair of wooden boards wedged between the walls of its prison, holding it immobile. Some of the rope is loose where it has sawed into rotten flesh. You grimace- upon closer inspection, the zombie's arms are nailed to the wood. Its glowing purple eyes remain fixed on you as it strains to break free.
"Blood and ashes!" Omo scowls in disgust.
"What is this?"Vitality- 10/11
Mana- 10/12
XP- 24/35
Inventory- Belt Pouch (
80 Silver Pieces),
Elven Traveler Garb,
Elven Cloak, Headband, Belt Knife,
Hatchet, Leather Backpack(Bedroll, Flint&Steel,
Weak Mana Potion, Scroll Case(4 blank Parchment,
Charcoal),
Trail Rations Fishing Equipment,
Spare Traveling Clothes x2,
Prestidigitation for the Beginning Practitioner by Joddo Meadtrust, Crystal(5oz))
Abilities-
Sense Necromancy(Passive),
Improved Necromantic Sight(Passive)Skills-
Competent Fisher,
Dabbling SwimmerStatus- Super grossed out
Twenty one days since Manifestation
General
Detect Magic- 1 MP - Detects spells and magical items near you
Calm Animal- 1 MP - Causes wild animals to become peaceful
Sense Vitality- 1 MP - You can detect the Vitality of living things, with a bit of effort
Brew Mana Potion- A Mana Potion takes twice the potions potency in Mana cost, and requires 1/2 hour per point in brewing time
Waterproof- 1MP/Hour duration - Makes an object non-absorbent. Does not prevent corrosion (such as from acid or rusting) or magical effects related to water/liquid
Necromancy
Raise Zombie- ? MP - You can take the formerly living body and turn it into a zombie, but you lack understanding or even much knowledge of the particulars. It seems the mana cost is related to the overall quality of the corpse, and maybe the size?
Command Undead- 2 MP - You can merge your awareness with an undead creature, gauging its general condition and issuing explicit orders it will obey to the best of its ability. You can also give orders that will persist beyond the end of the spell.
Steal Vitality- X MP - Range: Line of Sight. You can suck the Vitality out of living things. This spell removes up to 2X Vitality from the target and gives 1/3 of it to you.
Animate Object- 4 MP - You can force Vitality into inanimate objects, things that were never alive to begin with. It seems to be more complicated than Zombification though- your Rock doesn't do anything, which is hardly useful. You'll need to experiment with this more.
Alter Golem- 2 MP- You can make basic alterations to an existing construct or animated object.
Impair Undead- 2MP- Range: 30ft (close enough to see in detail.) You blinded a zombie with this spell.
Vitality- 12/13
Mana- 1/3
XP- 29/35
Inventory-
Elven Tunic,
Elven Cloak, Headband, Belt Knife, Torch(lit), Leather Backpack(50' Rope,
Camping Supplies, Waterskin(mostly full), Torch),
Masterwork Elven StaffAbilities-
Track,
SurvivalistSkills-
Novice Observer,
Competent Ambusher,
Competent Staff User,
Poor Liar,
Dabbling SwimmerStatus- Bandage, left arm
Omo Thunderjaw- Your best friend, brave and true. He is currently an aspiring Ranger, and is eager to leave the Vale.
Eko Cleanvise- The priest of the village of Bedscaled, his wards against the undead have failed him
Curo Nightroar- The Necromancer of Thrimesdur, said to be insane, he controls a massive army of the Undead and threatens the Cremated Empire.
Pirate King- The Necromancer operating along the Jeweled Coast, he commands a mixed force of human and lizardfolk pirates along with his undead minions.
Fale Packunion- A mysterious figure who appeared to you in a dream, attempting to recruit you to the cause of his Death God. May or may not be the Pirate King or some other known figure.
Morka- The aforementioned Death God. You know basically nothing about him/her/it, except his link to the other Necromancers.
-This one's a bit morbid, but bear with me. Take two crayfish. Shell one, leaving the meat inside as intact as possible. Remove the flesh from the second while leaving the shell as intact as possible. Attempt to revive both and compare the results. Is vitality in flesh or in bone? In both? Neither? Regardless of what we find, it should prove instructive.
-Try to find out if zombies have a memory, if they can be made to recognize specific objects. I recomend starting with a ball or something, and instructing a zombie to follow that specific ball wherever it goes. After testing it to make sure it works how we expect, substitute in another ball that has a different colour or a different size, and see if the zombie knows it isn't the right ball to follow. We can move to more abstract things from there, like having if understand things like "any ball" "any non-red ball" "the biggest ball" and stuff like that, or even to sort a pile of pebbles into stacks by colour.
-Attempt to raise a pile of ashes from a cremated corpse.
-Raise an earthworm and then, once it is raised, cut it in half at the border between two segments. Which ends, if any, are still animate? Continue cutting into halves at segment lines until all parts are dead or it has been divided into a prostomium, peristomium, pygidium and a pile of ordinary segments.
-See how much damage a dead body can sustain before it is unraisable
-Also, it seemed interesting that the loop was recognized as the center of life. We should test raising different rope Golems, some who are linear, some who are looped or knotted in different ways. How does the golem react to music, and what if we made one out of clay, with more distinguished features?
- For Animate Object, see if you can make an object levitate, or move to your will. Maybe this could develop into telekinesis..
- we should try pricking our finger, and stealing the vitality of an insect or something, and see if it will heal the cut.
- Another thing we need to play with is fire. Fire golem? HELL YES.
-Play with blood. Maybe that's what the golem needs. Blood. Mix some of your own blood into the clay.
-Like we tried to be the ropeman when we raised our first golem, we can try to be the earth when we make a clay or earthen golem, etc.
- Try to infuse vitality into the crystal to see what it does.
- See what happens if you infuse Mana and Vitality into the same crystal.
1. Imbue a small, uncrushed mana crystal with mana. Cast Detect Magic on it, comparing it to a mana potion.
2. If successful, turn the imbued mana crystal into a golem using 2 vitality. It is important to later experiments that we use exactly 2 vitality. Continue observing with Detect Magic.
3. If successful, attempt to Alter Golem in order to imbue the mana cystal with the ability to cast a cheap spell using the mana stored within it when commanded to. I recommend Detect Magic, since that should be easy to test.
4. If successful, continue to have the crystal cast Detect Magic even after it has run out of mana, in order to see if it can cast the spell using vitality like a mage can. Assuming this works, we will be able to discern the conversion ratio between vitality and mana.
5. If successful and the conversion ratio is > 3 mana per 2 vitality, have a mana crystal that is able to hold at least 3 mana wrapped in thick leather with a single small hole. Firmly attach this leather-covered crystal to a stick that is suitable as a handle
6. Imbue 3 mana into the crystal before turning it into a 1 vitality golem that will cast Steal Vitality as quickly and often as it can on anything that comes within 4 feet of it, draining the vitality into itself.
7. Note to ourselves that, because Steal Vitality works on line of sight, only things that come within line of sight of the single hole in the leather will be drained of vitality.
8. Enjoy our new lightsaber.
- Trying to develop a destroy vitality spell, using the same principles of the steal vitality, except without keeping it usable. It might be possible to do it for cheaper or causing more damage for the same mana.
- Trying to use the principles of the destroy vitality or the steal vitality spell for a disinfectant spell. It will require a lot of fine control, but it should theoretically be possible.
- We could also try to overbuff a zombie. Is there a max to the amount of vitality a zombie can have? And what happens if a zombie gets a lot of vitality?
* Remove someone's soul. Try to store it for a time in a living thing like a tree, or confine it in a mana crystal, then put it back later. See if they're functional.
* Attempt to swap souls between two different bodies.
* Carefully attempt to displace our own soul from our own body. See if we can move around apart from our bodies, like astral projection. See if we can cast while in this state, enter other occupied bodies like a possession, then return to our body later.
World Map
Northwest Thrimesdur
Author
Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions (Read 684963 times)