Nym Moriquendi won by one vote over Remain Nameless- Given the narrow margin of victory (and my belated realization that this buggers Elven naming conventions to hell and back) I'll roll with Nym being your given name, but just about everyone either refers to you as just Nym or can't remember your name. Whether you adopt other names (or have other names bestowed upon you) is largely up to your actions.
We should destroy the crayfish immediately. Experimenting is good, but we are in the middle of town. Somebody might hear something or sense the aura of death magic. We can experiment later, as we have plenty of mana we need to expend.
When we unconciously revived the crayfish, it seemed for a moment that we were the crayfish, or that we had taken over its body. It is clear that out spirit had entered the body of the crayfish, banished the chill of death through our power, and then took control of the revived body briefly. It follows, then, that if we were to remove the crayfish from the pouch, set it upon the floor and attempt to enter the crayfish's body, we would be able to directly control the former corpse. If successful, we should walk about briefly and see how well we can adapt ourselves to a temporary stay in the body of another.
Once that's done, destroy the body, of course. There cannot be any evidence of our power, at least not yet.
Your first impulse is to destroy the crayfish, but you hesitate- the rain is loud, and by your reckoning it is still early morning. Few elves will be out and about at this hour, and this is an important opportunity to learn a thing or two about your powers. You decide to experiment, and see if you can control your unintentional creation.
Lighting a candle, you reach over to your nightstand and pick up your pouch, spilling the contents onto the floor. The contents are starting to get rather rank- if you don't use them today you'll need to throw them away or find some other place to store them. Your idle thoughts are banished as the undead crayfish immediately makes a beeline for the door- reaching down, you scoop it up and set it back in the center of the room, only for it to scurry to the door again. Snatching a tunic off the floor, you line the bottom of the door, sealing off the crack to the outside. The crayfish, after, briefly exploring this new barrier, scuttles along the edge of the wall, feeling for a crack to slip through. Grabbing your belt pouch, you recapture the crayfish and sit back to think on this new complication.
In your dream, you very much wanted to escape your prison. Could that impulse have persisted after you awoke? The pouch is flopping back and forth as the crayfish tries to find a way out. Clearing your mind, you try to mentally order the crayfish to be still. The flopping does not cease.
"Stop that," you hiss, with no apparent effect. It's the same as at the pond.
Perhaps you're going about this wrong. You aren't trying to bend another thinking being to your will- in your dream, you
were the crayfish. Once again, you clear your mind and focus your will- you remember how strange your extra limbs felt, the pulse of ichor within you, the rigidity of your carapace...
Command Undead.
You experience a moment of vertigo, before gaining a sort of double-vision. You can still quite clearly see the room about you, the pouch before you, but you are also conscious of another view- the inside of the pouch, illuminated by a purple glow.
Be still, and the crayfish responds, ceasing its fruitless endeavor. Calmly, you empty the crayfish onto the ground, and it remains docile. From the crayfish's eyes, you seem enormous, the underside of your bed a dark cavern, the ceiling impossibly high. You do not feel as though you have as much a sense of the crayfish's body as in your dream, but you do have a general idea about the body's state of being.
With a bit of experimentation, you get the crayfish to tour your room, responding exactly to your mental commands. You discover the zombie isn't very good at climbing (as might be expected) and that it can take simple directions. You make a list of ten movements for it to execute, relay it to the zombie with the injunction to wait on a command from you, and then watch gleefully as it flawlessly dances your little routine. However, another experiment where you attempt to make the creature alter its path based on external stimuli (hitting it with a rolled-up sock, in this instance) seems to have no effect- perhaps your experiment is flawed, or perhaps zombies simply do not do well with conditional instructions.
With one final thought, you order the zombie to walk in circles, then break off the mental contact. The zombie obediently continues to circle on your floor- placing a shoe in its path causes it to move the center of its circle a bit to the left before continuing with its task.
Thoughtfully, you crush the zombie beneath your heel, observing as the phosphorescent fire dies in the creatures eyes. At least you've managed some control over your creations- privately, you'd begun to fear your creations would control
you.
On a somewhat related note, it would do us good to quell the dark thoughts we've been having. We're not so different from other elfs and we're certainly not evil. Admittedly, what we're doing is illegal, but it's not evil. The things we've revived haven't harmed anyone, nor have they shown any hint of aggression. Indeed, what we do now seems closer to the Life magics of old, regenerating missing parts of the body, reversing decay and ressurecting the dead. We may be a Necromancer, but before that, we're an Elf. Not a freak, not an abomination, just an elf with an unusual power.
As you settle down to a
wholesome breakfast, you feel decidedly upbeat about your success, shaking off the melancholy of the day before. So what, if you're a little different? Most elves are impulsive to a fault, but the Rangers are quite disciplined. Most elves care only for the present, but the Sages gain wisdom and perspective from study of the past. Most elves have mercurial moods, but the Mages need self-control and calm to work their spells. Their differences are their strength, and perhaps it is so with you as well!
Buoyed by that happy thought, you are startled by a knock on the door. Apprehensively, you rise to answer it, thinking perhaps someone had come to ask about a strange purple glow in your window this morning. When you open the door, however, you see before you a soggy fisherelf, holding an empty net that will be doubtlessly bulging when he returns home. With a sardonic flourish, he produces a letter- a reply from Elana Foundwasps!
Thanking him profusely, you offer him a warm meal and a fireside seat, but he begs your leave and heads upstream. Closing the door, you retreat to your room, opening the letter. Hello-how-are-you-I-am-fine, cordial phrases with little added emotion. Her quill positively glows with enthusiasm for her training, however- she is nearing the end of her novitiate, and is preparing to choose a discipline within the Life Magics for further study. You detect a wistful note as she mentions how little opportunity she has had to socialize- in part due to time constraints on her part, in part due to lack of a close peer group among the Mages. She makes no mention of your history- perhaps a desire to start fresh? If nothing else, she certainly sounds happy enough to have someone to chat with, as evidenced by her prompt reply. Maybe starting fresh is a good thing- this is the start of a new You, after all, and maybe new You won't make the mistakes old You did.
By your reckoning, it is midmorning- should you reply immediately to Elana? What should you say? And what will you do with the remainder of your day- the rain doesn't look like it is letting up any time soon, so perhaps indoor activities are in order. Then again, few elves will be out and about the forest today- this could be an excellent opportunity to scout out a new place to practice your arts. What to do, what to do...
Vitality- 10/10
Mana- 7/10
XP= 4/10
Inventory- Eight Copper Pieces,
Elven Tunic, Belt Knife, Pouch(5 dead crayfish)
Status- Nauseous
General
Detect Magic- 1 MP - detects spells and magical items near you
Calm Animal- 1 MP - causes wild animals to become peaceful
Sense Vitality- 1 MP - you can detect the Vitality of living things, with a bit of effort
Necromancy
Raise Zombie- ? MP - You can take a dead thing and turn it into a zombie, but you lack understanding or even much knowledge of the particulars. You need practice.
Command Undead- 2 MP - You can merge your awareness with an undead creature, gauging its general condition and issuing explicit orders it will obey to the best of its ability. You can also give orders that will persist beyond the end of the spell.
Your Parents- Your mother is a prominent Mage serving in Yicelafo itself, and your father is a Ranger Lieutenant, currently patrolling the borders.
Omo Thunderjaw- Your best friend, brave and true. He is currently an aspiring Ranger, and is currently home on leave.
Elana Foundwasps- An old flame of yours, she is currently studying with the Mage the next town over.
Pevo Zephyrtempest- The village Sage- you can ask him for knowledge of what history the elves possess. He is somewhat absent minded and easily distracted.
Ari Wetdawn- The village Mage, here to cure ills and bless crops. He knows much of Life magic as well as magic in general, but is also most likely to discern your true nature.
Author
Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions (Read 685060 times)