A shade, alone in a void, for untold time. It waits, barely aware of its experiences melting away.
It notices a small white fluffball of a cat, and everything shifts blue. It ponders its lack of vision, and this sense that is not sight. It notices the thoughts, and likens it to being jarred awake. It notes its lack of name (Self, now). Self knows it has been chosen for something, and that it now has a chance to retain its dissipating memories. Self tries to keep what it can, but it's like holding a large ball of Jello together.
Alex sat behind a shop counter, trying to practice his meditation exercises. His excitement for that evening made it difficult. Four weeks ago, he had been hiking through the woods when he discovered a small hidden cave with a dying stag. He'd warily paused outside the entrance, but heard nothing.
His cautious investigations didn't help to find the cause of death, just an apparently healthy corpse, but a small crater-like hole in the floor held a book bound in black leather. Another glance around the single-room cave revealed that nobody else had been there recently. He went back outside and leaned against a nearby tree to think.
Books were rare in his new world. Not as rare as Medieval books from his first life, but only a small handful of people in his town had even one. He wanted it. Perhaps he would find a buyer, and get out of a lifetime of manning a shop in Cow's Hoof. Twelve years on a farm, then he'd finally shown he had a "head for figures" and got an apprenticeship with a shop for the last six years. It was better, but he'd needed out. He'd
needed that book. He ran back into the cave, grabbed the book, ignored the small shock he as he picked it up, and moved back outside.
After ensuring he was alone, he'd looked at it more closely. It'd had a plain cover, and looked new. He had nearly dropped his treasure when he'd opened it. It was a book on necromancy. He would be killed if it was found. Giddy at the prospect of learning magic, he'd silently vowed that it wouldn't get found.
The door closed, jarring him out of his musings. "Afternoon, Mrs. Harris, you're early this week. Is something wrong?" Alex liked Mrs. Harris. She was slightly overbearing, but made divine bread, and tended to send some for him.
She gave a tight smile before responding, "Gerald knocked a pan of grease into the flour barrel, and didn't see fit to tell me. Would you ..?"
He inwardly groaned a bit. It was almost time to close the store, and this would delay his plans. "Of course." She handed him a few coins, which he shifted under the counter before taking a canvas sack of flour from the wall to his right and putting it over his shoulder. She followed him outside, to the shed behind the store, where he transferred the sack to the wheelbarrow waiting inside.
Half an hour later, she had a full flour barrel, the wheelbarrow was returned to the shed, and he was one muffin richer. He took a deep breath after returning to the empty store. His necromancy book, written to entice the magically untrained, had many exercises for learning the basics of magic. He had spent the past month on these, and preparing the dead stag as the book directed (surprisingly, it was easier to remove everything and magically bind the bones together than it was to use the existing body. Magic was strange). The book warned that the first necromancy spell sometimes had physical effects on the casters appearance, and that clerics could often sense when someone had recently cast a necromantic spell.
He wouldn't be returning. He was tired of the town, but this was his last chance to be safe. Alex had decided early that even a year with magic was worth more than twenty manning a store in a backwater town, but now that it was time to act, he felt like procrastinating. He took another deep breath, and moved to make his final preparations.
It was unthinkable that he would steal from the store. He could - he suppressed a twinge of guilt, the owner could afford it, and was rude anyway - take anything he could get away carrying. It mostly had food, but it had some rope, various tools, and a few useless trinkets. If he only took a few coins and a few meals, it likely wouldn't be noticed. If he got greedy, they might send out search parties.
Having spent 18 years here, he, naturally, has some friends. Unless he decides for secrecy, he will bring Lyssa, who is quite talented at tracking and a natural trapper, and Tammy, who is a dead shot with a crossbow and a skilled negotiator. He trusts both with his life. He has six lesser friends, who have less certain loyalties, to decide on: A brawler, a swordsman, a carpenter, a farmer, a hunter, and a cheese maker. He could pick out one who would at least stick with him past animating the stag, or take as many as he wants. The more he takes, the more likely someone will be to back out and set the Justicars chasing them, and the more desperately the townspeople will search for their missing youth.
((You are not limited to the listed skills. If you wish to try gaining a new one, dedicate time to it.
You rolled an 8 on a 2d5 for overal stats, which are out of 10. Most are obvious. Wisdom doubles as perception. Karma is like luck, but more malleable.
You'll need to practice architecture and military logistics to get much out of them, but they'll get to level 1 fairly quickly, even without a teacher or book. I'm assuming modern metallurgy uses electronic sensors and computers and doesn't really have much of any carry-over with medieval smelting tech.
You may summon a spirit, but actually binding one is a shadow spell.
You may increase the rate mana recovers through dedicated action.))
Health: 6/6
Mana: 8/8 [+1/night] [0 upkeep/day]
Minions: 0/2
Temporary Modifiers: None
Traits:Feminine
Rainbow eyes and long rainbow hair Soon.
Magic Skills:Necromancy Bone 1: Initiate
- Command-- May reliably control 3 undead
Projection Awareness of minions is limited to mundane senses- Speed---
Blood 0: Unknown
Shadow 0: Unknown
General
- Speed 0
- Capacity 8
- Recharge 1
- Mage Sight 0
Mundane Skills:Architecture 0[1]
Military Logistics 0[1]
Farming 2
Clerk 2
StatsStrength 6
Dexterity 4
Constitution 6
Intelligence 8
Wisdom 7
Charisma 8
Karma 5
Bone
Animate Skeleton 1 - Animate an already prepared skeleton, under your command. They will obey commands literally, to the best of their ability. They are roughly as powerful as a typical farmer.Loosely limited to human-sized skeletons.
Costs 1 mana.
Casting time of 30 minutes.
Upkeep of 1 mana/skeleton/day.
Call Spirit 1 - Summon a deceased person's soul. Targeting requires a person, place, or object of great sentimental value. This will fail if the soul has been claimed by a deity, and alert said deity. The spirit can only interact with the mundane world through dreams. Summoned spirit is not bound.Casting time of 30 minutes.
Costs 1 mana.
((I was going to mention this when choosing a patron god: They're akin to roguelike gods, in that you may pray to help out of a tight spot. The more elaborate the prayer, the easier it will be for your god to help [Simple prayer < Lengthy ritual < Lengthy ritual on ground sacred to the god, like a church]. It's a good idea to go longer between prayers, and better still to advance your god's agenda between prayers. Trying to have multiple patron gods, or switching, are considered to be fairly bad ideas.))
Choose how much to take from the shop, and how many friends to bring. Or take the path of a true Bay 12er and procrastinate.
Author
Topic: Necromancers, Shadows, and Octopi (Suggestion Game) (Read 11421 times)