You are Naleen Muldraun, you are 16 and you seek power. You realised at the age of 8 that the means to better your life as the third child of poor labourers apart from an apprenticeship to a mage, who rarely cared for background, choosing to focus less on aptitude. With this goal in mind and understanding that there were at most a score of mages in the entire city you studied hard and applied yourself, by the age of 10 you were apprenticed to Arbus the Sage, one of the six independent mages in the city. You have been studying under him since.
Arbus is a kind old man, who has sacrificed skill in magic for knowledge. The man lives in a tower which contains several libraries, the simplest of which you have access to for free study. He spends his time researching old and forgotten magics simply for the purposes of knowing and you spend most of your time as the point of communication between and the outside world. He does do his duty in educating you and is quite proud of your aptitude, however his expertise in the theoretical limits the speed at which you can control the true means of power, you have been allowed to learn only the most basic cantrips so far, a pace of education he seems content to carry on with. Still aside from the few hours of teaching time you are given freedom to do what you will and go where you need to outside the tower so long as the tasks Arbus’ has set are complete.
You are completing one of these tasks, fetching a scroll from Arbus’ basement library, when you find the tome. You are leaving with the scroll when a heavy book with black leather bindings falls from the shelf. You hold the lantern up to read its cover, and see only indecipherable symbols. Curiosity sated you pick it up to put it back, a light jolt runs through your arm and you drop the book in surprise. Looking again at the cover you find you can now read the text.
“The Path to Power.”Curiosity piqued you open the book and begin to read, it is unlike the tomes you have read so far, the style seems almost conversational, as if the book has been written with you in mind.
“You will know by now that magery is not a true path to power, even when your teaching is complete your power will be limited. You know that magic is the negotiation with the spirits caused by the existence of all things naturally occurring which ends in a spending of mana in payment for the spirit asserting itself on the world. This book outlines a second path made possible by the unique properties of human beings. Natural spirits are by definition simple creatures that can only be convinced to do what it is within their nature, they are incapable of such action. Human’s thanks to their ability to imagine create spirits within them based on their personalities and the thoughts and feelings others have towards them. These spirits are trapped, gestating until the moment of their hosts death when they are freed as souls, intelligent and capable to affect the world in the way they will, given a suitable source of mana. Thus while magery is akin to the training of dumb beasts, necromancy is the dominion over thinking people with the inherent power that implies.”You are of course fascinated, this book seems to know exactly what you want and how to give it to you, you turn pages forward looking for the spells of power it promises only to find the writing undecipherable again. Turning back to the first page you see that the text has changed, now outlining the directions for a spell which binds the spirit of a corpse or skeleton to that corpse or skeleton, raising it up as undead. At the bottom is a note.
“Prove your dedication to the path of power by finding a corpse and raising it. Given your situation you may want to raise something small, the souls of animals can have intelligence and power so long as a human has given meaning to the creature in life. Fresh corpses hold the strongest souls, though dead fresh is stiff and slow, remove the meat if you want to raise something swifter. Return when you have done this task and I will show you more.”While this prospect is exciting, you need some time to think, you stash the book in your quarters where Arbus rarely ventures, and complete your day’s chores, thinking about your next move.
What do you do next? Mechanics and a layout of the city have been added in the post above.
Health: 10/10
Mana: 10/10
Will: 5
Skills:
Competent Magical Theorist (d8)
Competent Mage (d8)
Novice Necromancer (d6)
Proficient Scholar (d10)
Novice Handyman (d6)
Novice Negotiator (d6)
Items of import (ask about what else you might have that makes sense):
The Path to Power (+1 to summoning corporeal undead)
3 gold coins worth of coinage
Relationships:
Arbus the Sage (your mentor): Trusting, he has worked with you for many years and so trusts your capabilities and has insight into your character.
Bral the Labourer (Your father): Doting, he cares for all her children but has a special place in her heart for the son who will make something of himself even if he sees you rarely.
Ta the Labourer (your elder sister): Cordial, you still have contact with Ta who wants little from life, though she has always been wary of the lust for power she saw in you.
Jia the night watchman (your elder sister): Good, you two share the same drive to better yourselves you both recognise that in each other and respect it.
Ifeus the star mage: Unknown, she is an independent mage with whom Arbus corresponds with most often as such you have run some delivery’s to and from her tower
Valo apprentice to Apras the fire mage: admiration, Valo and Apras are in the employ of the temple. Valo is a couple of years younger than you and holds your magical knowledge in awe.
Cai apprentice to Didor the Druid: Rivalry. Cai and Didor are in the employ of the kingdom. Cai is about your age and she has a drive similar to yours, this has led to a sporting rivalry which has allowed you to pick up some practical magecraft and her to be schooled in more theoretical matters.
Spells:
Bind Corpse: Creates a skeleton or zombie servant of varying power. The power depends on the soul’s strength and the skill with which you cast the spell.
Cost 1 Mana.
Difficulty d4+number of bound undead servants.
Arcane Shield: Creates a shield which deflects the actions of spirits of a certain type.
Cost 1 Mana.
Difficulty d4+number of active shields
Detect Magic: Allows you to see the spirits in an area, determining their numbers and movement
Cost 1 Mana
Difficulty d4
Message: Compels the wind to carry something roughly the size and shape of a parchment a considerable distance
Cost 1 Mana
Difficulty d4
Slow blood: Thickens the blood of a living being, rendering it sluggish and eventually unconscious
Cost 1 Mana
Difficulty d4 or relevant skill
Vicious Growth: Accelerates and controls the growth of a nearby plant
Cost 1 mana
Difficulty d6
Light: Forms a ball of dim light that can be controlled for a while, will momentarily blind someone if summoned in their face.
Cost 1 mana
Difficulty d4