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[Dave1004]

Just popping in to say that this is awesome! I've always favored Necromancy over any other kind of fantasy magic, and this just makes it all the sweeter. I wonder where this tale will lead...Hopefully to a bad end. Er, not for the story, but for our...Hero. I can see it now; - His last stand against a group of "Good Guys", raising undead left and right...Only to be struck down by a level 5 bard.

:/

[lurtze1]

I say we experiment on putting life in anything we can find and look which things can and can't use it to let's say, walk or talk.
and we should find out if there is a way to make things that can't talk or walk like the rock walk or talk.

[monk12]

Just popping in to say no, this isn't dead, I've just been busy lately (well, busy and sleep-deprived, stupid neighbor dog grumble grumble grumble) Hopefully I'll be able to crack the update out tomorrow, Monday at latest. Also, since most actions right now are "catch up on your damn experiments" I'll probably have the next turn span a few days, and then plot will happen and then you can digest your new information.

[Hitty40]

Good to see this isn't dead, I'm fairly enjoying it.

Also, mind if I draw some stick figure pictures to go along with the story? I know it's stick figures, but I'm trying to get better drawing.

[monk12]

Good to see this isn't dead, I'm fairly enjoying it.

Also, mind if I draw some stick figure pictures to go along with the story? I know it's stick figures, but I'm trying to get better drawing.

Feel free! I was considering doing this as a crappy MS Paint suggestion thing to build those skills myself, but decided it'd take too long given the other stuff I'm already doing.

[woose1]

Hm. Experiments experiments. So, let's see what we've learned so far.

• All living things have a energy inside of them called Vitality. It seems to pertain to overall health and the energy of a biological construct. There is an upper limit to how much Vitality a being can hold, but you can apparently transfer Vitality into inanimate objects. We do not know if we can store limitless amounts of Vitality in objects, or what kind of objects are better at storing Vitality. In fact, we don't even know if we can transfer additional Vitality into zombies, or what this might accomplish.
• Some beings have an alternative energy called Mana. Mana is used to cast spells and manipulate matter and energy. Mana can apparently be stored in objects to accomplish different tasks. We do not know if there is again, an upper limit to how much you can store, or if some objects are better at storing Mana than others. Except Crystals. Derp. (Thanks, Lord Allagon)
• Mana and Vitality are interchangeable, but only through the use of spells, and from what we've seen, only from Mana -> Vitality. Necromancy or Death Magic, being the polar opposite of Life Magic, should be able to accomplish the opposite, Vitality -> Mana. However, this doesn't seem to be the case, as raising zombies costs Mana.
• Putting Vitality into corpses creates zombies, which for the most part seem to be largely unintelligent and act on instinct alone. It is currently unknown to us how the Vitality is generated in this case, seeing as larger creatures carry more Vitality but cost the same amount of Mana to raise. It is also unknown to us how to make these zombies more intelligent, or if it is even possible.
• It is possible to raise almost completely destroyed corpses. This seems to be different from Animating Objects, and costs more Mana depending on how destroyed said corpse is. However, the corpse in question also becomes harder to destroy itself, seeing as it is a mostly magical creature.
• We are able to influence the actions of our zombies, but only through direct control and only with the most simple of commands. We don't know how to give a zombie complex tasks or make them autonomous in any way.
• Life Magic is capable of 'enhancing' life in a living creature. In this case, anything with Vitality in it. (Insofar as much as we've learned. We don't know if this applies to 'animated' objects.)
• We should be able to, according to the rules of this universe, be able to 'enhance' the Vitality in one of our zombies. Seeing as we've only been raising corpses that have been dead for a while, it's reasonable to assume that their mental facilities of said zombies are somewhat lacking. That, and we've only been raising very simple critters so far, and nothing actually sentient.

'Healing' a zombie may be possible, but I'm not sure it's particularly practical seeing as we've only had small organisms to deal with so far. And we wouldn't be able to see the effects of raising something with little to no brain damage, as there wouldn't be much of a difference anyways.

That said, I say we move on to the next level of Croakmancy: raising a sentient being. We should attempt to heal the body of a zombie, and study its effects.

It's all a matter of whether or not we're willing to kill somebody for that opportunity. Though, if we could attain the ashes of a dead body, and raise that, then heal it, I'm sure the effects would be at least mildly interesting.

Finally, Attempt to get some Mana potions, or at least the crystals they come in. That way, we can accomplish more and go further with our experimentation.

EDIT: Oh, also, might as well try this out while we're at it. Attempt to turn Vitality into Mana. It'll be almost as good as Mana potions. Just be careful people don't start to notice vast swaths of decimated forest.

[EveryZig]

By 'heal a zombie', do you mean put more vitality into it? We can't actually use life magic ourselves.
I do agree we should try putting more vitality in a zombie (and the same thing with objects).

With the potions, if we start buying those and consuming them people might wonder what exactly we are doing with those.

[woose1]

We can't actually use life magic ourselves.

What. Of course we can. What do you think we've been doing Sensing Vitality this whole time?
EDIT: Apparently you're right. Those spells fall under 'General'. Learn some goddamn life magic, you lazy bum.

By 'heal a zombie', do you mean put more vitality into it?

Pretty much, since that's what the letter seemed to describe by the process of 'healing'. But we need to focus it in one area of the zombie, therein, the brain.

With the potions, if we start buying those and consuming them people might wonder what exactly we are doing with those.

Not really, seeing as alot of the residents of this village/town/thing seem to be Mages as well. They've got to be in huge demand. Just say we're practicing our Life Magic communing with nature or whatever elves do these days.

[EveryZig]

I think he said that he tried learning life magic but it didn't work out (probably because of the then-latent necromancy talent).

[woose1]

I'm stubborn.

Still try to learn Life Magic,  you big fat failure.

[EveryZig]

We can try, but in private, as a teacher or observer might start to wonder why it is we can use general magic but not life magic.

[Gamerlord]

This looks awesome!

We should fashion or buy a doll that can move it's limbs (has joints) and try to animate it.

[Grek]

Some of these experiments are pretty risky to do in the Valve. Starting fires, buying dolls for no explicable reason, trying to pump extra vitality into zombies and all of that run a high risk of us being caught. It's time to prepare to leave for Thrimesdur:

Inform our parents of our plans, ask Pevo if he has any recomendations for where to visit and let Elana know what we're planning in next letter to her. We should have time for one or two more letters before we leave, but it would be rude to put this off.

If we have time between necromancy experiments and our other preparations, start fishing/doing odd jobs for extra money. We'll need the money to get some basic supplies for our trip.

If anyone asks why we want a mana potion, we should say that it is "for emergencies" and leave it at that. If they don't press further (or don't comment on it in the first place), all is good. If they do press further, explain that we were worried that animals in Thrimesdur might be more aggressive and harder to calm. This, of course, is a cover story for our research, but it does have a grain of truth to it. We will want to make use of the mana potion if there's an emergency we don't have enough mana to deal with, and it is possible that animals in Thrimesdur aren't as friendly to the elves as the ones from home.

[Lord Allagon]

• Some beings have an alternative energy called Mana. Mana is used to cast spells and manipulate matter and energy. Mana can apparently be stored in objects to accomplish different tasks. We do not know if there is again, an upper limit to how much you can store, or if some objects are better at storing Mana than others.

We do know Crystals store Mana better. ---->

A Mana Potion? I don't know of any Elf who can make those.
It isn't that difficult- anyone can learn the necessary spell. Mages tend to make them for themselves, though, since demand is low and their greater Mana reserves allow them to make more potent potables. The tricky part is getting the Crystal for the task.
Crystal?
You know, magical crystal. It is the only substance we know of that can reliably store and release Mana, and is an extremely versatile material with applications in almost all alchemical processes as well as many other branches of spellcraft. We don't have a natural supply of it, instead importing it from Thrimesdur and the Jeweled Coast.

Also, great read.

This looks awesome!

We should fashion or buy a doll that can move it's limbs (has joints) and try to animate it.

I support this.

[EveryZig]

With the doll experiment, we can save ourselves some time and effort by using a piece of rope. That should be flexible enough while still being readily available.