I think that a foray into the edge of the forest has almost no risk, we can sense the thing coming after all. And there is no guarantee that the children are a loss. I support going into the edge of the forest, past the barrier, and waiting for a few hours or until something arrives, practising our escape route several times, and using control undead if they thing turns up...
Hmm. I'm fine with this, as long as we stay very close to the border. As in, just a few steps and we're out. And have see vitality active at all times.
As to the sense/see tonight, There's no point to casting see. We'll only get EP from examining Omo, and we can do that tomorrow when we cast it anyways.
Agreed. Also, Omo should wait just outside the edge, if we take him at all.
You think for a long moment, weighing the risks and rewards of your plan for tomorrow. After much inner debate, you nod decisively.
"In the morning, we'll go back to the forest. I think there's a creature there, and I think we are uniquely suited to destroy it." Omo nods sleepily, standing up from the table. Eko's eyes positively bulge out.
"You're going to do what?" Omo shrugs.
"We'll destroy that whatever-it-is for you. Shouldn't be a big deal." "Shouldn't... shouldn't be a big deal?" Eko splutters.
"It's an ancient soul-destroying monstrosity! Nobody is sure it's even a physical creature, and you think you can kill it?" "Has anyone ever tried before?" You ask, curious.
Eko puts a hand to his face, drawing a deep breath.
"Several times, yes. Mostly villagers who couldn't accept the fate of their loved ones, and one priest who didn't find anything. That priest did well for himself, too, since most of the other fools who tried wound up dead!" "A priest tried? What happened?" You ask, perking up.
"Why didn't you mention this earlier? An eyewitness account would be very useful." "He never saw any monster, though he did make it further into the forest than anyone since the Golgothan War." Eko says slowly, looking from you to Omo and back again.
"You're serious, aren't you. You're going to try and kill the Curse of Aloclesno. Why? There's nothing to be done for the children; they're as good as dead. There's nothing for you to gain by doing this. The curse only afflicts those who step within Aloclesno. Why risk your lives?" Omo frowns.
"So we should do what, ignore it? Let some other fool kid walk in and die in a hundred years or so? Maybe that's a long time for you, but I intend to still be alive when that happens, and for the century after that, and the century after that. That's a lot of dead children in my lifetime that I could have saved." "We'll be careful." You say simply.
"We'll do things methodically, and if all goes well we'll have it taken care of before anything untoward happens. Of course, things are more likely to go well if we prepare carefully. Can you tell us what that adventurous priest did that kept him alive in the heart of Aloclesno?" Eko gazes at you silently for a long moment, running a hand through his thin hair.
"I... have a book on the subject. A Study of Aloclesno. Most of what I know comes from that book; I'll mark the relevant passage for you in the morning." "You mean I can take it with me?" You ask, surprised.
Eko nods, standing up.
"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow." You sleep quite soundly, and wake shortly after dawn feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. Surprisingly, you find that Omo woke up before you; he's taken the bandage off of his arm, and smiles in satisfaction at how well the wound healed. It seems you are both fully recovered from your scuffle outside Aloclesno.
You step into Eko's living room for some breakfast, and stop, surprised. Eko is also awake, and dressed for traveling with a simple brown wool cloak and a backpack. In his left hand he holds a book, and in his right hand he holds a short spear with red and green tassels; you recognize it as the one you saw hanging in the basement.
Eko smiles happily.
"Good morning! I've prepared some trail rations; I thought we should eat breakfast on the road in order to maximize daylight. I don't fancy fighting a soul-sucking monstrosity in the dark." "We?" You ask cautiously.
"We didn't ask you to come yourself. You have an important job to do for Bedscaled, maintaining the wards." Eko scratches his head, suddenly seeming uncertain.
"Well... the wards should be fine for days without my supervision. Weeks, even. Bale is in charge of hunting the zombies that attacked the other night, and he was quite clear he neither needed nor wanted my help finding them. He's also taken on organizing the defense of the village, so they don't need me for that. So, I could spend my time on administrative work preparing for a festival we may never have... or I could go to the forest with you." "You seemed to think we were suicidal to even try." Omo says bluntly.
"Now you want to join us?" Eko sighs.
"Nym... you asked whether I was tempted to knighthood last night. Well, maybe the life of a knight is beyond me, but I do think I made a mistake somewhere along the line, or my life wouldn't have lead me here. Maybe it's not too late to make the right choice." You brush your hair back, thinking furiously. True, a trained Order Wizard might be able to help you in the forest, but your plan for dealing with the creature in the forest is largely based on your ability to control or destroy it with Necromancy. Should you refuse Eko? If so, what excuse can you give that will keep him from just following you?
Vitality- 11/11
Mana- 12/12
XP- 26/35
Inventory- Belt Pouch (
80 Silver Pieces),
Elven Traveler Garb,
Elven Cloak, Headband, Belt Knife,
Hatchet, Leather Backpack(Bedroll, Flint&Steel,
Weak Mana Potion, Scroll Case(4 blank Parchment,
Charcoal),
Trail Rations Fishing Equipment,
Spare Traveling Clothes x2,
Prestidigitation for the Beginning Practitioner by Joddo Meadtrust, Crystal(5oz))
Abilities-
Sense Necromancy(Passive),
Improved Necromantic Sight(Passive)Skills-
Competent Fisher,
Dabbling SwimmerStatus- Cautious
7th Felsite,
Twenty two 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- X MP - Range: Line of Sight. You can suck the Vitality out of living things. This spell removes up to 2X 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.
Impair Undead- 2MP- Range: 30ft (close enough to see in detail.) You blinded a zombie with this spell.
See Vitality- 1MP- Allows you to see the machinations of Vitality in living things as well as you see the workings of zombies with your Necromantic Sight.
Vitality- 13/13
Mana- 3/3
XP- 29/35
Inventory-
Elven Tunic,
Elven Cloak, Headband, Belt Knife, Leather Backpack(50' Rope,
Camping Supplies, Waterskin(mostly full), Torch),
Masterwork Elven StaffAbilities-
Track,
SurvivalistSkills-
Novice Observer,
Competent Ambusher,
Competent Staff User,
Poor Liar,
Dabbling SwimmerStatus- Hungry
Omo Thunderjaw- Your best friend, brave and true. He is currently an aspiring Ranger, and is eager to leave the Vale.
Eko Cleanvise- The priest of the village of Bedscaled, his wards against the undead have failed him
Bale Matchedstones- The Knight tasked with investigating the crises in Bedscaled.
Curo Nightroar- The Necromancer of Thrimesdur, said to be insane, he controls a massive army of the Undead and threatens the Cremated Empire.
Pirate King- The Necromancer operating along the Jeweled Coast, he commands a mixed force of human and lizardfolk pirates along with his undead minions.
Fale Packunion- A mysterious figure who appeared to you in a dream, attempting to recruit you to the cause of his Death God. May or may not be the Pirate King or some other known figure.
Morka- The aforementioned Death God. You know basically nothing about him/her/it, except his link to the other Necromancers.
-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?
- 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.
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.
- Trying to develop a destroy vitality spell, using the same principles of the steal vitality, except without keeping it usable. It might be possible to do it for cheaper or causing more damage for the same mana.
- Trying to use the principles of the destroy vitality or the steal vitality spell for a disinfectant spell. It will require a lot of fine control, but it should theoretically be possible.
- We could also try to overbuff a zombie. Is there a max to the amount of vitality a zombie can have? And what happens if a zombie gets a lot of vitality?
* Remove someone's soul. Try to store it for a time in a living thing like a tree, or confine it in a mana crystal, then put it back later. See if they're functional.
* Attempt to swap souls between two different bodies.
* Carefully attempt to displace our own soul from our own body. See if we can move around apart from our bodies, like astral projection. See if we can cast while in this state, enter other occupied bodies like a possession, then return to our body later.
World Map
Northwest Thrimesdur
Damn! Almost beat the bump!
Author
Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions (Read 684191 times)