I was unsure how far away the tower is, so I decided to ask along two companions on my way out of the city. They were soldiers, and unsure of my mission. The trip south was unsuccessful, and I learned, once I made it to a neighboring human civilization, that I would just have to follow the nearby river southeast for a day or two and the tower would be easy to spot. I did.
The tower stuck up out of the desert, a strange purple-colored obelisk seemingly thrust out of the sand. My companions were very game to go inside, even though they had no idea what they might find. I motioned for them to follow me and began to sneak up to the front door. I regret what happened to my companions after that.
Inside the door were four necromancers and ten times as many animated dead! The necromancers noticed my companions and the dead began to flood out the door toward them, but ignoring me. I left the building and the sounds of desperate combat behind me while I snuck around the building. I didn't find another entrance but by the time I made a full circle around the walls, my companions were dead and a lot of the undead were outside. I snuck inside.
There was almost nobody on the ground floor this time, and they weren't paying any attention to the front door. I wondered if all of my sneaking practice had made me invisible. I found a nearby set of stairs and ascended.
The next floor was completely full of the undead and even more necromancers. I was extremely nervous, because if I got caught I knew there was no escape. It was then that I realized that I had no idea what I was even looking for in this tower! Rakust Buriedphantom told me to go here, but not what to do when I made it. Exasperated, I took a look around the room.
In places that the undead weren't standing there were tables stacked high with books. Some of them had amusing titles, and some of them had very grim ones. I decided that I would take one of the latter. It might have something of value inside, or maybe I could sell it when I got back into town. Either way the whole trip was a loss. I didn't even know how I would get back into civilization without followers. I grabbed a book that had something involving "Immortality" on the cover. One of the necromancers spotted me.
He cried out and suddenly every undead face in the room was looking at me! I dove for the stairs and clambered down them as fast as I could, while undead arms swiped and grabbed at my from every direction. Thankfully the bottom floor was still fairly empty. I wasn't molested as I made a beeline for the door. I gracefully sprinted through the front door of the tower, pressing the book to my chest and dodging the attacks from behind. The animated dead outside were too far away to catch me as I ran, but one necromancer was. Still, I ran.
The necromancer had chased me a good half mile, leaving behind all of his fellows and his minions. I finally found an opportunity to escape. There was a large ditch ahead and I jumped into it. In the brief few seconds where the necromancer couldn't see me, I began sneaking. The man chasing me barely put any effort into looking for me before wandering back in the direction of the tower. I caught my breath, and my eyes strayed down to look at the book in my hands. I thought hey, if I've gone through this much trouble to retrieve it, I might as well give it a read, so I did. I immediately passed out.
"Greetings, mortal, or shall I say, immortal. You have been granted eternal life, as well as freedom from hunger, thirst and exhaustion. You can now raise the dead to be your soldiers. I ask only one favor in return. Seek Cerol Boarhates the Ice of Planets in the town of Insightlulled, and destroy him. Once that is done you will hear from me no longer."
When I came to I spotted a grasshopper woman nearby. I thought I might as well test my powers. Picking up a nearby rock, I threw it into her head, killing her instantly. Now I wasn't sure how to go about raising the dead, but while I was thinking about it my hand made an involuntary gesture and up she came, eyes unseeing, following me wherever I walked. She was to become my first soldier. Since I was free from needing to sleep, eat, or drink, I began walking straight north toward Insightlulled. Near the town, I came upon a hamlet.
I killed a couple of the townspeople and raised them! I repeated the process until I had an army of 10 undead. They went door to door, destroying everyone inside while I animated anything that fell dead to the ground. Soon, I had destroyed almost all of the lives in the town and raised an army of 250 undead soldiers comprised of corpses, heads, and arms. I felt the taste of ultimate power, and wanted to attack Insightlulled full on with my entire army. But I knew that would be too conspicuous and this 'Cerol' would have a chance to get away. I needed to get to town, discern his location, and then act from there.
When I got into Insightlulled I began making discreet inquiries about the dwarf, learning that he was a Hammer Lord, had killed twenty-five people, and was missing a foot. When I asked about his location, I learned that he had mysteriously left Insightlulled a few days previously and went to the nearby fortress...
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Next post will be the final battle, and hopefully the retiring of my successful character.