It's alive, IT'S ALIVE! MHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Seriously though, do mention that you can prove it, choose something small and relatively harmless ( say, raising a bug or a fish), tell him what you are going to do, and then do it. Don't simply spring the demonstration on him.
"Listen, just-""Omo, I'm a Necromancer. It isn't that hard to prove. C'mon, help me find a bug.""A bug?""Y'know, vermin. Oh hang on, here we go."Resting your pack on the ground, you carefully lean over the anthill you've discovered by the side of the road. Isolating a nice big soldier ant, you pop off its head and carry the twitching corpse over to Omo.
"Here- this ant is dead, right? Watch. I'm going to zombify it.""Nym...""Shush! The first zombie I made was an ant just like this one, right down to the severed head..."It has been a while since you cast
Raise Zombie, but the spell goes off just as you expected; the familiar rush of icy energy surging from you to the ant, the ant writhing and standing up, a small purple flame taking the place of its head.
Omo's eyes bug out as the ant begins picking a path across your outstretched hand, but you are distracted from his reaction by the brief moment of vertigo associated with gaining a level- your Vitality goes up a little! As you gaze upon your creation, you discover that your Necromantic Sight seems to have changed- you now see in more detail. Not only do you sense the Necromantic Energy animating the corpse, but you can see how it twists and turns throughout the body. Most of the Necromantic Energy (as well as the rather insignificant amount of Vitality) is concentrated in the head, but with your new sight you can sense a tiny, intricate network of Necromantic Energy woven through the major parts of the ant's body- the legs and the core of the body, mostly. Further, your newly refined senses inform you that the Vitality of the ant is contained within that network. Encapsulated by it, would perhaps be-
Your curious examination of the tiny ant and its tiny parts is rudely interrupted when Omo regains enough composure to speak.
"Blood and bloody flaming ashes, Nym! You brought that flaming ant back to life!"Seeing that you've made your point, you crush the ant in your hands and let the body fall to the ground.
"Yes, I did. As I've been saying for the past five minutes now, I am a Necromancer."Omo stares at the fallen ant before helplessly looking back to you.
"Yeah, but... oh, burn me Nym, my best friend can't be a Necromancer!""You keep saying that, yes. I'm... very sorry if I can't be your best friend now.""Burn me, Nym, I didn't mean it like-""Then how did you mean it, huh? You're still my best friend, but I can't very well stop being a Necromancer. I'm not evil- I'm going to find a way to use my powers for good. That's why I'm going to the Sacred Grove- to try and do some good. So... are you going to come with me? Please?""Bloody... you can't just spring this on a guy, you know? Just... gimme some time to think about it."Omo slowly continues down the road, and you hastily grab your pack and run up to walk alongside him. Omo keeps his gaze on the road, ignoring your attempts to catch his eye. With a sigh, you resign yourself to silence for the next leg of your journey.
Before long, you begin passing more and more farms as you approach the first village on the highway. It isn't much of a village- a couple brick inns and a stone temple surrounded by houses. A single watch tower to the East serves as the only defense for the villagers- certainly nothing capable of repelling a zombie horde. That said, there are plenty of farmers and villagers going about their business. Although the atmosphere is tense and worried, nobody seems to be on the brink of abandoning their town and fleeing to Larathor.
Omo doesn't stop here, so neither do you, and you quickly pass beyond village limits. Once you have a semblance of privacy on the lonely road, Omo breaks the silence.
"So... have you raised a lot of zombies, then?""Not really, actually. Some bugs. A fish. A tree, by accident.""...you accidentally zombified a tree?""Yeah, well, this is harder than it looks. I don't really know what I'm doing, and every time I learn something I just find there's a dozen other things I don't know about. Like, okay, apparently I can make golems? I stuffed a bunch of Vitality in a rock, anyway.""Weird.""Yeah."The next dozen steps pass in silence.
"Okay, so, do you know anything about the other Necromancers?""No. Well, I know what you know- they're out there and apparently evil. Well, actually, have we heard of any atrocities being performed by the Pirate King?""Nothing specific, I guess. I just kinda did the math that Necromancers equal Evil.""I can tell you that isn't true, so I'm not willing to write off the Pirate King so quickly. He's ambitious, maybe, but that doesn't mean he has to be evil.""It's bloody strange though- there being three Necromancers, I mean. Two of them active at the same time, alright, I can believe that. But three?""I don't know, Omo."A family of farmers approaches from the East, their worldly possessions piled high on a broad, sturdy wagon. You exchange a friendly nod as their wagon clatters past, on their way to refuge in Larathor. You wait until they are well out of earshot before resuming your conversation.
"So... convinced I'm not crazy and evil yet?""Heh. Well, you've always been crazy.""And...""And I don't really believe you have an evil bone in your body, no.""So are you coming with me? I could really use a friend.""Burn me, Nym. Yeah, I'll go along with you. Somebody's got to keep you out of troub- gah!"Your tackle hug catches him a bit off-guard, and he shoves you off with a laugh. You spend the remainder of your travel speaking of inconsequential things, simply enjoying one another's company.
As the sun sets, you arrive at the next village. Unlike the last one, this village is surrounded with a low earthen wall and moat- judging by the soldiers still driving sharpened stakes into the wall, its construction is recent. The road is barricaded with overturned carts and heavy barrels, forming an impromptu gate. The soldiers on guard wave you through with little more than a cursory glance before returning to their nightly preparations.
The whole village is full of soldiers- although there does seem to be some villagers moving about, much of the traffic is off-duty infantry. Entering one of the inns, you find the common room entirely populated by soldiers, with the innkeeper and a few serving wenches struggling to keep up with the demands for food and booze. With a little difficulty, you flag down the innkeeper.
"Excuse me? I'm guessing all your rooms are taken by soldiers, but do you have any lodging available? A spot by the fire, maybe?""Well, if you want a spot by the fire I can oblige you later tonight when the crowd thins out, but as it happens I do have rooms available for rent. Most of the soldiers are quartered in abandoned houses, leaving me free to run my business.""Oh, well that's a relief! Yes, we'd like a room and a hot meal, then. I take it these soldiers are here to fight the Necromancer, then?""They're here to fight zombies, anyway. There are attacks every few nights, either here or out in the countryside.""Why are the soldiers here? Why aren't they at the next village down the road?""Is that where you're bound? I hope you don't have any family out that way- most of the villagers died in the early attacks, and the ones that survived fled. The village is abandoned now, and in truth most farms East of here are abandoned as well. The Imperial Army patrols every night, but if they're ten minutes away when the dead knock on your door they can't do much other than bury you afterwards.""I see. Well, we'll figure something out. Now, our rooms?"For two silver pieces, you get to enjoy a
bowl of stew and all the bawdy soldier songs you can stand. Unsurprisingly, it turns out Omo can stand the singing much better than you can, and you retire early to your room. It's not quite as fine as the room you stayed at in Larathor, but the sheets are clean and the blankets thick. Throwing a quilt on the floor for Omo, you burrow into the narrow bed and
quickly fall asleep.
You are sitting by your favorite fishing hole. It's dark, but that's alright- the fishes glow purple, and they're easy to spot. You idly dip your bare feet in the pond- the water is icy cold, but it doesn't bother you. Pulling your shirt over your head, you cast it aside before slipping into the water.
Your feet slap on cold stone as you arrive. This is a strange room- you don't think you've been here before. A small wooden table with two chairs stand before you- across the stone chamber, a large leather sofa is seated directly before a roaring fireplace. Smoothing your nightgown, you glance up at the ceiling before quickly averting your gaze- the ceiling is Dangerous.
Despite the fire, this room is cold, and you look for a way out. There don't appear to be any windows or doors, however. Looking behind you, you see only the same wall as the rest of the chamber.
"Well it's about time!"
Startled, you quickly turn around. Standing with her back to you on the other side of the sofa is a young, red-haired human woman wearing a blue dress embroidered with little black skulls along the sleeves. She turns slowly, cradling a glass of wine in her fingers.
"You know, I thought it was odd when Mokra told me another Necromancer would arise- it wasn't in the plan, y'know? And then you took so long to-"
Her emerald green eyes widen in shock when she sees you.
"You're an elf maiden?!? An elf. Well that explains a lot, doesn't it..."
Regaining her composure, she sets her glass down on a table (there wasn't a table over there before, was there?) and walks around the sofa. As she does so, she suddenly turns into a tall blond elven man wearing a fine midnight blue silk shirt and loose green pants, smiling as he strolls over you.
"How- how do you know I'm a Necromancer? Where are we? Who are you?"
"Only Necromancers can be in this room- I built it myself, y'know. Very detailed work, dreamscaping. It's much more difficult to build than it is to destroy, and I think I'm quite good at it! Anyway, I brought you here because I myself am a Necromancer. I want you to join me, so I can teach you our art. What's your name? Where are you?"
Vitality- 11/11
Mana- 10/12
XP- 20/35
Inventory-
Silk NightgownAbilities-
Sense Necromancy(Passive),
Improved Necromantic Sight(Passive)Skills-
Competent Fisher,
Dabbling SwimmerStatus- Confused
Nineteen and a half days since Manifestation
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
Brew Mana Potion- A Mana Potion takes twice the potions potency in Mana cost, and requires 1/2 hour per point in brewing time
Waterproof- 1MP/Hour duration - Makes an object non-absorbent. Does not prevent corrosion (such as from acid or rusting) or magical effects related to water/liquid
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. It seems the mana cost is related to the overall quality of the corpse, and maybe the size?
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 - Range: Line of Effect. 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.
-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.
-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.
-See how much damage a dead body can sustain before it is unraisable
-Also, it seemed interesting that the loop was recognized as the center of life. We should test raising different rope Golems, some who are linear, some who are looped or knotted in different ways. How does the golem react to music, and what if we made one out of clay, with more distinguished features?
- Test Command Undead by commanding something you've raised to self-terminate. A further test of this would be if it could work on the undead that other necromancers have summoned.
- Test Command Undead, and see if can you over-ride commands given to a zombie summoned by another necromancer. Does the zombie respond to the most recent order given, or does it have loyalty to whomever summoned it? Or maybe it is under the control of the more powerful of the two necromancers.
- For Animate Object, see if you can make an object levitate, or move to your will. Maybe this could develop into telekinesis..
- we should try pricking our finger, and stealing the vitality of an insect or something, and see if it will heal the cut.
- Another thing we need to play with is fire. Fire golem? HELL YES.
-Play with blood. Maybe that's what the golem needs. Blood. Mix some of your own blood into the clay.
-Like we tried to be the ropeman when we raised our first golem, we can try to be the earth when we make a clay or earthen golem, etc.
- Try to infuse vitality into the crystal to see what it does.
- See what happens if you infuse Mana and Vitality into the same crystal.
- Steal Vitality on self
1. Imbue a small, uncrushed mana crystal with mana. Cast Detect Magic on it, comparing it to a mana potion.
2. If successful, turn the imbued mana crystal into a golem using 2 vitality. It is important to later experiments that we use exactly 2 vitality. Continue observing with Detect Magic.
3. If successful, attempt to Alter Golem in order to imbue the mana cystal with the ability to cast a cheap spell using the mana stored within it when commanded to. I recommend Detect Magic, since that should be easy to test.
4. If successful, continue to have the crystal cast Detect Magic even after it has run out of mana, in order to see if it can cast the spell using vitality like a mage can. Assuming this works, we will be able to discern the conversion ratio between vitality and mana.
5. If successful and the conversion ratio is > 3 mana per 2 vitality, have a mana crystal that is able to hold at least 3 mana wrapped in thick leather with a single small hole. Firmly attach this leather-covered crystal to a stick that is suitable as a handle
6. Imbue 3 mana into the crystal before turning it into a 1 vitality golem that will cast Steal Vitality as quickly and often as it can on anything that comes within 4 feet of it, draining the vitality into itself.
7. Note to ourselves that, because Steal Vitality works on line of sight, only things that come within line of sight of the single hole in the leather will be drained of vitality.
8. Enjoy our new lightsaber.
World Map
Northwest Thrimesdur
Can everybody read mystery dream person's dialogue alright? If the glow effect is making eyeballs bleed, I can change it.
Author
Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions (Read 685038 times)