Well, the degree of precise remote control seems extreme. It now appears entirely possible that it actually cast a spell through the construct. The construct clearly has no means remaining to transfer souls, so... Ask Eko to erect a greater ward here, Have Omo remain within it, Secure the construct in place, perhaps in a pit or suspended from a tree, use our remaining mana to experiment on reproducing the soul transfer tentacles that we witnessed, and then rest in shifts to recover our mana.
But perhaps the more immediate concern is what we should continue to do with the control. Honestly, I am inclined to just drop it and focus upon restoring Omo and not could our memory of the spell we witnessed with an investigation of the construct.
Also, I agree that it looked like an invitation, so lets get on that after we have done what we can for Omo, maybe there is something under the tree that can help him.
We should give Eko our potion and ask him to cast sanctuary here.
Remember though that wards can disrupt necromantic energy and necromantic energy is all that's holding Omo's soul together right now. So we either need to ensure that the spell will only affect the borders of the area we are in or not cast it at all.
Assuming the image sent to us was an invitation, then there's not really a reason to cast a powerful ward anyway. The creature was remotely controlled. Assuming there are no more controllers and no more creatures in the area, there shouldn't really be anyone that can attack us. If there are more creatures and more controllers around, then a minor ward should take care of them, since it will prevent them from seeing us, same as it did for the order mage that came here before us.
"Nym." Eko repeats himself insistently.
"Nym, what's going on?" Plans for how to deal with the construct whirl through your head. You want to restore Omo as quickly as possible, but you are low on mana, and the possibility of failure terrifies you. Worse, you know that this construct is not the end of Aloclesno's threats; you know there is a controller somewhere out there, perhaps with additional constructs to send after you. If one attacked Eko, or caught you unawares... well, you're not sure what would happen.
Eko moves directly in front of you, his voice taking on a frantic edge.
"Nym! For the love of Atal, speak!" You let out a defeated sigh.
"I'm sorry, Eko. I've driven off whatever was controlling this construct, but I don't have the mana left to try and restore Omo." "Driven it off?" Eko sounds incredulous.
"Nym, you made it sound as though you were up against Nightroar himself!" "Nightroar? No." You shake your head, trying to dance around the truth.
"I... disrupted the organ used to control this construct. I sensed that the controller is somewhere in the forest. I think it is the true intelligence behind these attacks." "The true intelligence." Eko repeats bitterly.
"You're saying the Curse is alive and well, then? We've lost Omo, and in exchange we've done what? Captured a disposable minion?" "We haven't lost Omo yet." You say sharply.
"Once I rest, I think I can still restore him. If the children are any indication I don't think his condition will worsen while we replenish our mana pools, and I can't take any risks with Omo. I want a full mana pool with my mana potion in reserve before I do anything... invasive." "Right." Eko bites his lip anxiously.
"What do we do now then? Our camp is not too far away, but I don't think we can carry this hulk of metal that far." "We'll make a new camp here." You decide, then hesitate as something occurs to you.
"Eko, if you protect us with a stronger ward, will it disrupt the construct? If it gets dispelled, then Omo's soul could..." Eko raises one hand calmingly.
"The wards will only disrupt Necromancy which attempts to cross the boundary. My temple is protected by a Sanctuary; I had to dispel it to get the zombie into the basement, but I was able to reform it around the creature with no ill effect, as you saw yourself." "Right. I say we make a Sanctuary here, and stay within it all day and all night. If there are any more of these things in the woods, I want to be protected." Eko nods.
"Sensible. I will see to it." Eko sets to casting his spell, a process that proves to be a nervous half hour for you as you continually scan your surroundings for additional threats. Eko seems to be using several different colored chalks this time, muttering to himself as he draws precise shapes on nearby rocks and trees after carefully measuring the distance between them. There is no incident before the Sanctuary is complete; with all that has happened, you can't believe that it isn't even noon yet. Eko suggests that you return to base camp to retrieve some creature comforts, but since you have the bare necessities in your pack you elect to sit back and wait for nightfall, and sleep; just you, Eko, Omo's body, and the construct.
It is a long wait.
"So, Eko, can you tell me a bit more about the Sanctuary?" You break the silence, gesturing at your surrounding area.
"It's a bit hard to trust our safety to something I can't even see." Eko nods, giving you a reassuring smile.
"You cannot see it, but I can, and it looks as strong as a wall to me. The Sanctuary will physically repel any Necromantic creature which tries to pass through it, and it will unravel any Necromantic spells cast at us through it." "Yes, but how does it do that?" You ask inquisitively.
Eko grimaces as he thinks to himself.
"Well... in lay terms, the world is made of layers of magic, from all the Faiths. All magic can be accessed from anywhere if you know how, and at a very fundamental level we are all made out of a blending of the different Magical Elements." "Really?" You ask, surprised.
"Are you saying we all have a little Death in us? Wouldn't that make the Sanctuary stop us too?" Eko shakes his head.
"No, no. Well..." Eko leans forward, clearly framing his thoughts in his own mind.
"Normally, all the different Elements within us balance out, so you wouldn't notice anything. However, for some people this isn't true; they have more of a particular Element within them. These people usually develop magical talent of some kind; those strong with Order have the potential to become Wizards, for example, or those formed of Chaos can become Shaman." "And the people born with lots of Death magic in them become Necromancers, then?" Eko nods.
"Yes, basically. Those people with a strong affinity for an Element will be affected by wards; the stronger they are, the more intense the effects. This Sanctuary is a strong ward indeed; it reorders Elemental magics passing through it in such a way as to negate the energies of Death magic with precisely arranged patterns of Life and to actively disrupt and harm it with certain combinations of other Elements. If a Necromancer came here, they couldn't pass through the Sanctuary without taking significant damage unless they were strong enough to overwhelm the ward." You look around your surroundings, suddenly anxious. This Sanctuary suddenly seems less like a shield and more like a cage.
"It would affect a Necromancer? Not just another construct?" Eko flashes his reassuring smile once again.
"Don't worry, Nym. This Sanctuary could hold back Curo Nightroar himself if need be." You lick your lips.
"Yes, but you said it could be overwhelmed. It must have limits, otherwise the Wizards could just cast a bunch of Sanctuaries and be done with this whole war, right?" Eko nods regretfully.
"That's true enough, I'm afraid. Apart from being prohibitively expensive to cast over vast areas, a Sanctuary can be overwhelmed if too much Death magic is forced through too quickly. A terribly powerful Necromancer could bull his way through if he was willing to endure the pain, or he could direct raw Death magic at the ward as the Chaos Shaman are said to do. More likely, a determined Necromancer would have some powerful creatures of Death to control, and could send them to weaken or break through in advance." "Creatures of Death? You mean zombies?" "Yes, but not just zombies. Many natural creatures can be strongly aligned with an element; you Elves are almost all aligned with Life more strongly than any human, while Goblins are Chaos incarnate. Most creatures associated with Death aren't properly alive, like wraiths and wights and the like, but many carrion eaters have some affinity for Death. One of the primary purposes of my healing ward is to keep wounds from being infected or decaying due to creatures drawn to Death." You nod slowly.
"So is that what your wards are all about then? Altering magical energies?" Eko smiles at your undertanding.
"That is the heart of it, yes. Everything in the world is balanced, but as long as you maintain the equilibrium it can be reordered to achieve favorable effects. That is what most Order magic boils down to." Your conversation wanders on to the different schools of Order magic. You learn that Abjurations achieve their effects passively, when other energies pass through them, while Equations are more active and direct. Eko is less clear on how Divinations work, perhaps because they are not his forte; it has something to do with the tendency of the world to drift toward order and balance, and how that can make places far away be very similar on some levels. Eventually despairing of explaining the rudiments of that school to a non-initiate, he begins asking you some questions about Life magic. You answer with what basics you remember from your long-ago training in the art, as well as your more recent correspondence with Elana, but you are unable to give him satisfying answers to his more probing questions because you are not actually a Life Mage. You mange to turn your vague, evasive answers into a change of topic, and the conversation winds along less dangerous lines.
You eat the last of your trail rations while Eko breaks into his own pack. The dry, salty fare is unsuitable for a comotose patient like Omo, though with Eko's help you manage to have him drink some water. Eko tucks in with a book for the remaining daylight hours, leaving you do what you can to keep Omo comfortable. You make a fire as darkness descends, and wrap Omo in your cloak to keep him warm through the night.
You take the first watch, wanting to get as much sleep as possible to be well rested in the morning. Eko drops off to sleep fairly quickly; you don't know how. Your thoughts keep spinning as you consider your situation, unfettered by the narrow-minded focus you had in the heat of the moment. Omo could be worse than dead, and you don't have a clue how to heal him. That's not true, you have several clues; you just need to move that lump of Vitality back into his head and let it go, and everything will be fine. But what if you need to prepare Omo somehow, or if there was something in that rope that keeps the soul intact while moving it, or what if you damage the soul container while trying to pull it out of the construct? What if you need to manually reintegrate it into Omo's Vitality network; can you even do that with Necromantic Energy without harming him further? What if Omo's soul is already irreparably damaged; what if he's gone crazy from being out of his body for so long. What if he never gets better, like the children...
Before you know it, the fire burns down low; time for Eko's shift. Eko shakes himself awake, groggily taking a place by the fire while you hunker down on the cold ground, laying your head on your pack. All of your anxieties and unanswerable questions swirl in your head, threatening to pull you under. You take one deep, ragged breath, then another. Tears will solve nothing. You roll over, wiping your eyes on your sleeve before burying your face in your pack. You focus on taking deep, regular breaths until you
slowly fall asleep. The trees of Aloclesno stretch high above you, twisted and wretched, clawing for an impossibly black sky. Tiny spiders twinkle with purple flame in that light, weaving their webs to ensnare the forest. They swarm over Omo's lifeless body; you are not concerned. Omo is not there, though he needs you.
Turning around, you see another tree; the tree from the construct's memory, gnarled and fat, dominating the clearing. The ground is fissured and cracked at its base, rent by the warped roots that seem to grow by the moment. There is a hole in the ground beneath the tree; more a burrow than a pit, conspicuously free of the spiders everywhere else. You do not hesitate; Omo is in there.
The roots tear at your Ranger gear, the black earth staining your hands and knees. Warm yellow torchlight beckons you onward, and you crawl into a familiar stone room, with a familiar hearth, a familiar red sofa, and a dangerous ceiling. As you stand up you can see that the chamber is now dominated by a long wooden table bearing a map of Urak covered in bits of colored wood. On the far side of the table is a familiar elven figure. "Nym, my dear! You are refreshingly easy to contact. Only four nights for a reunion." Fale Packunion smiles broadly. "I must say, you look wretched. Have you been blundering through the mud?" Your wits return to you as you try to make sense of the situation. "This is a dream. I was dreaming, and now I'm here." "Yes, very astute of you, applause applause." Fale waves a hand to the table. "Have a seat, take a load off." You disregard the high-backed chair he offers; you're certain it wasn't there a moment ago. "I told you before, Fale, I have no interest in your world-domination scheme." "No? Didn't you flee your home for fear of being discovered?" Fale asks smugly. "I didn't flee, and my friends haven't abandoned me." You reply hotly. You take a breath, drawing Omo's Ranger cloak around you as you regain your composure. "What do you want with me?" Fale seems disconcerted for a moment, but the smile is back soon enough. "Well, I was thinking that we got off on the wrong foot the other night. Let's not allow politics to get between us; us Necromancers have to stick together. We all serve the will of Marko in our own way." M is false "I don't worship your Death god, Fale." You reply, not quite keeping the edge from your voice. "Maybe you should. He is the source of your power, after all." Fale shakes his head angrily. "Ahh, I didn't bring you here to argue. Either you'll see that I'm right in the end, or I will be forced to acknowledge your superior path. Listen, the way I see it, we can help each other out. I'm the best Necromancer in the world, and I've got a direct line to Marko. I'd like to count myself your colleague, at least, and I'd like to more know about you in that case. What you're trying to accomplish, where you are going; burn me, I'll settle for learning more about the Elves than I know now. Come on, you've got to have some questions about your powers by now!"
You are about to refuse him again, but hesitate. Fale might be able to help you out with restoring Omo. Burn you, he might be able to give a complete walkthrough if you tell him the full situation. You don't know if you can trust him, though... maybe just a couple questions will give you the insight you need. Or maybe you have a plan that is safe enough already; you're pretty sure it will work, everything you've puzzled out seems to make sense. But are you willing to gamble Omo's life on it?
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Topic: You are a Necromancer! Chapter 2-36 Decisions, Decisions (Read 684972 times)