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[escaped lurker]

The Plains of Grating, Fifth Age
The Age of Death, Year 625
Day 1, Afternoon

Betting almost all of your mana on it, you prepare to cast the spell... and do so!

-150 MP

It all works out in the beginning, but you make a slight mess at the end. While not a complete failure, it will have some dire repercussions, as mana leaks from it at a slow, but rather steady pace. It seems the horse will need a hefty upkeep to function, but for the moment you are glad to have it. You are even tempted to name it, and while the small mess-up is annoying, having not blown the ritual is a reassuring feeling.


Skeletal Horse gained.

You have strengthend your necromantic knowledge.

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

Ghoulish Vessel
Strength: 11
Endurance: 11
Agility: 7
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 5

Currently
200/200 HP
3/157 MP

Status:
Completely Starved - Will not regenerate wounds

Spoiler:  Spells (click to show/hide)

School of Necromancy - Adept
Branches: Mysticism, Occultism

Animate Skeleton – 50 MP
Raise a temporary Skeleton to do your bidding. Lasts 1 Day, extendible by 3 MP per day.
Can be made permanent by spending additional 30 MP on it.

Turn Lesser Undead – 30 MP
Allows you to destroy, render harmless or straightly take over an undead creature.

Soulspeaker – 20 MP
Allows you to contact the souls of the dead, and to communicate with them. Duration 1 Hour.


School of Transmutation - Adept
Branches: Enchanting, Alteration

Drain Energy – 20MP +50% of the drained Energy must be paid in MP
Allows you to drain a prone or enslaved creature of its mana or vitality.

Change Object – 80 MP, Duration 1 Hour
Allows you to temporary change the properties or shape of an object.

Store Mana – 40MP + Desired Amount
Allows you to store mana into gemstones.

" A Skull-Helmet would be exceedingly necro. I like it. Sadly I would have needed to rewrite the spell, because even the undead need some kind of sensory organ, as magically powered as it may be."

[Parsely]

PTW. Reminds me of that sorcerer thing that I never finished.

[Harbingerjm]

P.S. Apparently, "salinization" is not a word but "lionization" is.

(That's because it's salinisation.)

Have we considered trying the dry grass for edibility?

[Cheesecake]

Name the horse "Horse". When we have an army of thousands, trying to remember whether Andy is a skeleton or a demon will be hard to remember.

[Yourmaster]

Name the horse "Horse". When we have an army of thousands, trying to remember whether Andy is a skeleton or a demon will be hard to remember.

+1

[Tomcost]

Wear the skull only if the spell fails. No point further complicating the attempt.

+1

As much as I want to be a Headless-Horse Man ("kinda, but not enough to risk spell failure)...+1

Ahh, old sanity. +1

[GreatWyrmGold]

Wear the skull only if the spell fails. No point further complicating the attempt.

+1

As much as I want to be a Headless-Horse Man ("kinda, but not enough to risk spell failure)...+1

Ahh, old sanity. +1

We already made the skele-horse. Scroll up.

[Tomcost]

Dammit

[GreatWyrmGold]

It happens to the best of us. And me, too.

[The Froggy Ninja]

I wonder how the upkeep and permanency coasts have changed.

[escaped lurker]

The Plains of Grating, Fifth Age
The Age of Death, Year 625
Day 1, Late Nightfall

While lacking a saddle or rains of some kind forces you to go a fair deal slower than what would be possible, the horse is a great improvement for your travelling. The arid landscape passes by with a very refreshing speed, and you wonder just how long it would have taken you to travel by foot.

After two hours on horseback, the mountains are still only looming on the horizon, but you stop the horse either way. There are some traces of mana in the air, and a quick search shows it to be from an Idol of some kind. Not thinking much of it, you grab it for closer inspection...

-20 HP

Yeah.. that could have gone better. Like, way better. Who leaves indiscriminately attacking magic items just laying by the roadside? What gives?

 A closer study – this time without further disabling your hand – shows it to be some deity, and you presume that the magic actually only may work on the undead. A great deal of worshipped gods nowadays have something to do against them, with only the agrarian gods boasting a greater following.

The enchantment is still active, and would burn you again if touched. While you doubt the wisdom of keeping some kind of personal anathema around, you suppose packing it in mud from the nearby river would allow you to keep it. You ponder the decision, before fretfully moving on.


With your bones still throbbing, you are again reminded of your rather starved state of being. You are even tempted to try some dry grass, but the moment you swallow some it just feels... wrong. Somehow.

Pressing further, the day slowly but surely turns to night. A good time to be undead, as your senses sharpen a bit, while those of many mortal races are dulled by a fair if not substantial amount. It is also by this time that you happen upon a deer, most probably having gone to the river for quenching its thirst. It bolts away as you approach, and while you are unsure if the horse will be able to give chase, you can't deny that you are quite hungry...

Spoiler: Character (click to show/hide)

Ghoulish Vessel
Strength: 11 (9)
Endurance: 11
Agility: 7
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 14
Charisma: 5

Currently
180/200 HP
3/157 MP

Status:
Completely Starved - Will not regenerate wounds
Burned Hand - Temporarily lowers your overal Strength by 2

Spoiler:  Spells (click to show/hide)

School of Necromancy - Adept
Branches: Mysticism, Occultism

Animate Skeleton – 50 MP
Raise a temporary Skeleton to do your bidding. Lasts 1 Day, extendible by 3 MP per day.
Can be made permanent by spending additional 30 MP on it.

Turn Lesser Undead – 30 MP
Allows you to destroy, render harmless or straightly take over an undead creature.

Soulspeaker – 20 MP
Allows you to contact the souls of the dead, and to communicate with them. Duration 1 Hour.


School of Transmutation - Adept
Branches: Enchanting, Alteration

Drain Energy – 20MP +50% of the drained Energy must be paid in MP
Allows you to drain a prone or enslaved creature of its mana or vitality.

Change Object – 80 MP, Duration 1 Hour
Allows you to temporary change the properties or shape of an object.

Store Mana – 40MP + Desired Amount
Allows you to store mana into gemstones.

Spoiler: Followers (click to show/hide)

Skeletal Horse Upkeep ?? Mana Per Day

" .... "

" ... I hate gods..."

[The Froggy Ninja]

((How do we regain mana?))

[GreatWyrmGold]

Bury the idol so none may use it against us.

I'd say smash it, but that's asking for trouble.

[Kitten Snot]

To be honest, we're not sure if we can keep up with it, nor that we can even take it down. On the other hand, seeing how we don't get tired, we might as well try.
If it ends up going bad, just abort. We can probably get some type of meat around seeing that a deer lives here.
If we see a sentient mortal, stop the horse and get to work attacking him. If possible from above or behind.

[escaped lurker]

((How do we regain mana?))

I opted for "daily regeneration" with this one - counting hours and giving out fractional mana would just be tedious. Should a situation arise that demands it, it will be done. Else we will get mana back at specific hour-marks.

While I don't particulary like retro-active choices, they will be in if it means the story can advance. No sense in waiting for half a day or so for a simple "Yes" / "No" decision.

I actually won't reveal the finer machinations behind everything, mainly because it just takes away from the flair.

Else, questions, thoughts or comments are quite welcome.