Gah, why would we go for the tree? Are there no leaves on the ground? No dead branches we could have dislodged!?
What fools we are!
But the question remains - can anyone other than ourselves even SEE the purple fire? When the skeleton was mentioned, nothing was mentioned about a purple flame - in fact, can you recall any mention of a purple flame, or is this simple the swirls of necromantic magic?
First, determine if we need to hide it at all - Walk a distance away, and see if the light grows dimmer - if it grows dimmer more quickly than the visibility of the tree, it is likely a byproduct of our magic vision rather than our true vision. We should be okay, in that case.
Face it: we're panicking. Stop. Breathe. Doesn't that feel better? There's still six hours till dusk. Eight until it's properly dark. GlyphGryph has the right idea here. Do the test that GlyphGryph suggested. Rocky (who had 2 vitality) was invisible to Sense Vitality at a distance of 20 feet. If the range is linear with vitality, then the tree should become invisible at a range of 50 feet. If it's exponential (5 feet per point of vitality squared), then the necromantic aura will become invisible past 125 feet.
Ok, ok, this isn't that bad- it isn't good, but it's not bad. After all, wasn't the whole point of doing this off in the deep woods so that random elves won't see you? First things first- let's see exactly how visible this mess is.
You first consider the possibility that the visible evidence is merely a product of your Necromantic Sight, an ability only you possess. This tree may well be invisible to the casual observer! With some chagrin, however, you remember that the trout had purple flames sprout from its eyes, and the ant had purple flame instead of a head- this was when you first discovered your power, and before you developed your Necromantic Sight. You also recall how your undead crayfish mishap was able to feebly illuminate your room- not a good sign.
Of course, theory is all well and good, but some solid experimental data is in order. Staying within the confines of your little grove, you stand at various distances to the tree- there is no real change in its appearance, and only slight variation in your Necromantic Sight. You begin backing through the trees, attempting to keep the tree in sight- although the tree's fire appears no dimmer, you do gradually lose your sense of the tree, finally petering out around 125ft from the tree. Doing some quick mental arithmetic (a skill you've had little reason to exercise before now,) you deduce that your Necromantic Sight must have a range relating exponentially to the Vitality of the Necromantic Energy being sensed.
Unfortunately, the tree is still quite visible at this range, although the trees make direct line of sight difficult. Circling around, you find that about 150-200 feet from the tree you cannot directly see it- however, you can still see the purple light reflected off the surrounding trees, even in the middle of the day. You suspect it will be much more visible at night, although it will also be less likely that an Elf will be in the area.
I agree with Sense Vitality. Regrettably costing us valuable mana, but probably be worth to check.
I like those odds a lot less than I like the odds of walking back to town (calmly!), getting a mana potion using the excuse we came up with before (it's for our upcoming trip to ) and then returning in two hours to deal with this on a full pool of mana.
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.
Although you briefly entertain the notion of getting an axe or starting forest fires to deal with your problem, you decide that the most expedient way to take care of the tree would be to use your magic. Although you are out of Mana, you were planning to weasel a Potion out of somebody anyway- may as well push that task to the top of your priority list! It's about an hour's walk back to the village- you can be back in two, three hours tops.
You waste no time, and hustle back to the village. Although you initially plan to jog, or at least hurry, you find yourself short of breath- that casting took more out of you than you thought. Still, you manage to maintain a steady, ground-eating pace back to the village.
When you return, slowing to a nonchalant stroll, you ponder which way to go. You had initially planned to buy a Mana Potion from a merchant, but that would involve a trip to a larger village across the river, and would add travel time to your task. In addition, you aren't sure how much a Mana Potion costs- you don't exactly have the time to spend an afternoon doing chores in payment. You remember that Pevo had mentioned how most Mages make their own Mana Potions- perhaps you could find Ari Wetdawn and persuade him to part with one. It's a place to start, anyway.
You get to the Temple in no time at all, and spy Pevo ambling inside. Lengthening your stride, you quickly catch up.
Hey, Pevo! Pevo, have you seen Ari about? I need to speak with him.He's off on some task or another, Nym. He should be back sometime tonight.Oh, burn me. It figures.Oh? What did you need to discuss with him, that haste is such a concern?Oh... it's nothing that can't wait, I suppose. I'd just thought that a Mana Potion might be useful for my journey to Thrimesdur.What do you need a Mana Potion for?You know, emergencies.Oh, because your awesome arcane powers will get you out of any pickle, is that it?Oh stop- I just thought that it'd be useful in case I encounter a great many vicious animals, or something.I can assure you that most of the animals you'll encounter can be pacified as easily in Thrimesdur as here in the Vale. However, even without exhaustive magic use you'll be able to find a use for Mana Potions.I will?Oh, aye- for barter! Magic use is much less prevalent among the humans, and many of them are untutored by our standards. While almost all elves have some small Mana pool to draw upon, most humans don't have any at all, and many of those born to magic learn only the bare necessities before returning to service their home village. Why, more than a few times I paid for my lodging by making some weak Mana Potions for those weak wizards.Really? You know how to make Mana Potions?I do. In fact, my errand here today is to drop off a potion I whipped up for Ari- he's been too busy to tend to it lately, and it isn't like he needs a particularly powerful potion to supplement his abilities. Tell you what- how about, instead of just giving you this here potion, I show you how to make your own?That'd be great! Um... how long does this normally take?Once you've gotten the hang of it, it'll only take a couple hours, and most of that is just mundane brewery. The tricky part is learning the magecraft involved, since any mistake means you have to start over. I know I spent the better part of a day trying before I got the knack, my first time. What, do you have someplace else to be?I...On the one hand, learning this skill would be an invaluable asset. On the other hand, it sounds like the learning itself could easily suck up the rest of the afternoon and perhaps your evening, all while your Tree blazes merrily away. You could just wheedle that potion out of Pevo now and come back to learn another day... right? What do you do?
Vitality- 8/10
Mana- 0/12
XP= 14/20
Inventory- Six Copper Pieces,
Elven Tunic,
Elven Cloak, Belt Knife
Abilities-
Sense Necromancy(Passive)Status- Conflicted
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 the formerly living body 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.
Steal Vitality- 3 MP - You can suck the Vitality out of living things. This spell removes up to 6 Vitality from the target and gives 1/3 of it to you.
Animate Object- 4 MP - You can force Vitality into inanimate objects, things that were never alive to begin with. It seems to be more complicated than Zombification though- your Rock doesn't do anything, which is hardly useful. you'll need to experiment with this more.
Alter Golem- 2 MP- You can make basic alterations to an existing construct or animated object.
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.
Rope Doll
2 VP
Can see, can't move
Undead Oak
5 VP
Hardness 8- When physical damage is dealt, subtract 8 from the total.
Can't see or move
-This one's a bit morbid, but bear with me. Take two crayfish. Shell one, leaving the meat inside as intact as possible. Remove the flesh from the second while leaving the shell as intact as possible. Attempt to revive both and compare the results. Is vitality in flesh or in bone? In both? Neither? Regardless of what we find, it should prove instructive.
-If you ever have enough spare mana, see if you can control multiple dead crayfish at once, and if there's an upper limit on how many perspectives you can hold at once. Stop if you get a headache, feel dizzy or anything else seems strange.
-See what the maximum range is for controling one of your zombies, and if it expands with practice. May take more than a day of effort, but it'll be good exercise.
-Try to find out if zombies have a memory, if they can be made to recognize specific objects. I recomend starting with a ball or something, and instructing a zombie to follow that specific ball wherever it goes. After testing it to make sure it works how we expect, substitute in another ball that has a different colour or a different size, and see if the zombie knows it isn't the right ball to follow. We can move to more abstract things from there, like having if understand things like "any ball" "any non-red ball" "the biggest ball" and stuff like that, or even to sort a pile of pebbles into stacks by colour.
-Attempt to raise a pile of ashes from a cremated corpse.
-Raise an earthworm and then, once it is raised, cut it in half at the border between two segments. Which ends, if any, are still animate? Continue cutting into halves at segment lines until all parts are dead or it has been divided into a prostomium, peristomium, pygidium and a pile of ordinary segments.
-Make a zombie insect that will stand still, then see if we can take its vitality when it is behind a rock (out of our line of sight).
-See how much damage a dead body can sustain before it is unraisable
Author
Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions (Read 685245 times)