The rogue slashed at her, her dexterity the only thing saving her face from being cut. Withdrawing a couple of paces, she moved into her martial arts stance, her claws ready in front of her. Using bladed weapons against a skeletal body was possibly not the best, but if she punched and kicked, it would hopefully still have the desired effect.
The skeleton stepped in and jabbed forward with its blade, attempting to stab at her chest. She instinctively brought her hand upwards, blocking the attack, and drove her foot forward towards the skeleton. She was slightly wide where she would normally have met the fleshy feeling of a thigh, and her strike only brushed its femur. Cursing, she drew back as it again slashed its blade towards her body.
She could not read the skeleton’s emotions, and it was strange hearing it groan and grunt as it tried to attack her. Stepping back again as it continued towards her. She wanted to incapacitate it rather than try to break it, so she kicked, aiming for its side. The attack caught the skeleton on its ribs, and it made a sound as though the air had just been forced from its lungs, which was obviously impossible.
Stepping back, it composed itself before attacking again. Moving in and slashing repeatedly towards her. Its blade was either being parried by her arms or claws. Her training with Lorna and the new martial arts style with the adapted stance left her more open than she was used to, and she needed to adjust. Switching it up, she went on the offensive. As the blade swept towards her face, she moved into the strike, catching the forearm of the skeleton on her raised arm and punching forward with her free hand. Her fist clattering into its sternum.
Her claws were useless in this fight, on more than one occasion missing completely trying to judge their strike, hitting such a narrow target of a bone rather than where flesh normally existed. The claws had already caused a punch to glance off its ribcage, reducing any impact, so she recalled them to her inventory as she continued her attack. Completing a series of swift punches and kicks, powering the skeleton backwards and away from her. Her fists had been hurting even wearing the gloves of the claws with the strikes against solid bone, her knuckles feeling every strike and making her wince, and she knew that she would be required to increase her Constitution to punch more freely without the pain she was inducing. She was still not trying to destroy it and at no point aimed for its skull, only focusing on trying to take out one of its legs.
It staggered backwards from her onslaught until she stepped back again, giving herself more room. The skeleton shook its head and made the motion of cracking its neck before it moved forward again. With only fist and foot strikes, she wasn’t doing much damage at all, although its health had begun to fall slightly from her onslaught. As it stepped in again, holding its blade, SJ swept low and brought her shin into contact with its own. The sweep connected with power and precision this time.
She heard a crack as the rogue’s anklebone snapped from the impact. The skeleton stumbled forward, crashing into her, its dagger held out in front of it, catching SJ in her arm as it fell on top of her, causing her a further five damage. The skeleton had groaned in pain from its dislodged ankle, and she scrambled frantically from underneath it, trying to push it off her while watching for the blade it still held. Rolling away, she went to stand again and backed away from it. The skeleton was trying to stand, but with its broken ankle, it was not able to support its weight, falling back down to one knee. Resting its hand on the ground, still holding the dagger, it stared at SJ.
The archer she had taken out was lying on the floor, its shoulder having been dislodged, meaning it could not have used the bow even if it didn’t have a cut string. SJ was breathing heavily from the fight with the skeleton and glanced at the Lythonian and Zej to see how they were faring. The skeleton threw itself towards SJ, pushing up with its one good leg as it tried to lunge at her. She noticed the movement, stepping back again, allowing it to miss and flounder onto the ground again. It cursed at her.
SJ ignored it again, turning to glance at the others. The necromancer’s health was down to a quarter, but so was Zej’s. Lythonian was doing better, but he had still taken damage. In shock at seeing Zej’s health, she could not help but go and support him. Her own health was down to two-thirds.
“Be careful,” Dave said, “if a curse hits you, it is likely to kill you.”
“I won’t get hit then,” SJ snarled as she ran at the back of the necromancer, equipping her blades.
The skeleton yelled to the necromancer as she neared, and he glanced back but not in enough time to prevent SJ from leaping forward and kicking him square in his lower back. The necromancer groaned from the impact, not taking any damage but being knocked off balance by her attack. She lunged forward, her claws striking at them as they staggered to regain their balance. In the same instance, Zej swung Betty. Hammering into the side of the necromancer, their staggering form increased the momentum of the impact between Betty and his side.
Screaming in pain, the necromancer’s health plummeted from the attack. SJ swiped her clawed hands across its unprotected back as it recoiled from the force and carried Betty back towards her. Her blades sliced through its robes easily, and she noticed the greying, withered skin beneath as they cut deeply. It was now down to its last few health. It turned and reached out to try and touch SJ, and she recoiled backwards.
The scream that erupted from Lythonian was deafening as he ran straight at the necromancer with his shield held high and charged into it. The necromancer, with three foes surrounding it, could not react to them all at once, and the shield slammed into it, lifting it from its feet and, with the draconian’s height advantage, carrying it backwards. Lythonian kept powering his legs with the necromancer across his shield straight into the side of the building. With a sickening thud, its head bounced off the wall as its body was crushed against it, its health falling to zero.
Stepping backwards from the necromancer, the crumpled remains slithered to the ground at the base of the wall. Its hood fell backwards, revealing its horrific face and head for the first time. It looked as though it had been scalded and burned with acid. Its withered and wrinkled grey skin stretched taught at various locations where scarring had been left from previous damage received. As its body struck the ground, SJ’s display triggered.
Quest – Necromantic Prevention - complete
You have managed to defeat the evil necromancer and disable his minions.
Rewards: 550xp (shared between party members) 185xp earned
Combined experience gained for the death of the evil necromancer and phantom 630xp (shared between party members) 210xp earned
SJ checked her experience gains.
Experience: 626 of 800
If the adjudicator ever replied, she might still earn enough to reach level 7.
The five skeletons that had been disabled during the fight were now sitting on the ground, looking around at each other as though unsure of what to do. Lythonian turned to Zej, removed a blue bottle from his inventory, and drank it. As soon as he finished it, he began to chant, and a band of white light similar to what SJ had received in the church hall struck Zej. The green tint on his face from the necromancer’s curse began to fade, and his health increased.
“He was much higher than I expected,” Zej said, standing with Betty resting on the ground beside him. His face was covered in beads of sweat. Removing his helm, he placed it on Betty’s handle and turned to look at the skeletons.
“Now then, what are we going to do with you five?” he asked them.
The female archer, now sitting holding its displaced shoulder, spoke before the others. “You have made my dream come true. Now, I am no longer under his entrapment. I feel as though my soul has been returned,” Charlotte said.
“Lythonian. What do you think?” Zej asked.
Finishing streaming his healing into Zej, his health nearly half, he looked at the skeletons before replying, “I will check their alignments. Depending upon what I read, I will decide whether they live or are sent to their permanent afterlife.”
Two of the skeletons, hearing this comment from the fighters that Zej had disabled them by removing a leg or both, in one case, began to try and crawl away from where they lay.
“I think we have an answer for two of you already,” Zej said. Lifting his helm from Betty, he handed it to SJ, who took it as he hefted Betty again and walked towards them. They screamed as the warhammer was brought down on their skulls, crushing them into fragments, the light in their eyes dimming and fading for the final time.
The three remaining skeletons watched the show, and if they could have displayed terror on their faces, SJ believed they would have been showing signs. The large orc fighter was still lying on the ground with his displaced leg some fifteen feet away.
“I, for one, am glad to be free also,” he said, groaning as it began to pull itself across the ground towards its leg.
The rogue had not replied and just sat silently on the ground. Lythonian removed a small device from his inventory and, saying a few words held it in front of the rogue. It looked like a magnifying glass in design, but as he spoke an incantation, the glass began to change colour. It turned a dark blue, and as it did, Lythonian raised a draconian eyebrow.
“I have not met many rogues of your alignment before. Chaotic Good.” Lythonian said, before walking to the archer and the fighter and doing the same, this time the glass had turned an orange colour which Lythonian announced meant they were True Neutral.
After finishing his inspections, Lythonian stated, “I see no reason why they can’t be trusted to return to society.”
“That settles it then,” Zej replied, smiling. “Now, would one of you like to tell me what you have been doing here?”
The archer replied first. “We got here two months or so ago. I have been in the charge of the necromancer for several years. He has been attempting to create an abomination. We had been collecting blood from a gnoll hunting tribe based on the other side of the valley and bringing it back here.”
“What about you two?” Zej asked.
The fighter replied, saying he had been in his service for a year, and the rogue was the most recent addition, having only been part of the necromancer’s group for three months. The two fighters Zej had destroyed were long-term members of the necromancers, and also, the phantom Lythonian had banished.
“If we do free you and let you go. Where will you go?” Lythonian asked.
“I don’t know, being honest,” the orc replied. “I am not even sure where we are near.”
“You are close to Killic,” Zej answered.
“Killic! We have travelled that far south,” the rogue replied, a little startled.
SJ had been watching this all unfold when she suddenly remembered about the prisoners.
“Where are the prisoners?” she said.
“In the building over there,” the rogue pointed toward the building SJ had seen them taken into previously. Leaving Lythonian and Zej with the skeletons, she walked over to the building and entered.
The stench that hit her nostrils of unclean and unkempt bodies made her gag slightly. The inside was dimly lit, with a single candle burning on the top of a bottle on a small table. There were windows, but they were all boarded up, and six cages were inside the building. Two of the cages were occupied, and SJ removed a torch from her inventory and lit it with the candle’s flickering flame. With improved light, she could see the form of the two elves she had seen previously huddled at the rear of their cages.
Walking towards them, she spoke softly. “Are you ok?”
The closest elf turned to look at her with terror-filled eyes and a blank gaze. It looked half crazy with the look in its eyes. The elf in the second cage also turned and spoke with a gravely parched throat, “Who are you?”
“I am here to free you both,” SJ replied gently and hopefully calmly.
“Free us,” the crazed-looking elf said as it started to chuckle. It seemed to have lost its mind during its time at the compound.
“Yes, free you,” SJ replied, walking to the cage door. The crazed elf immediately moved as far away as possible and curled up in the corner. The cage floors were covered in straw, and the elves had been kept as though they were livestock. In each cage was a wooden bowl containing water and a bucket. They both appeared to be emaciated and gaunt. On each of the cage doors, a padlock hung down.
“I will go and find the keys,” SJ said.
Walking outside, she noticed Zej replacing the orc’s leg by his side.
“Where are the cage keys?” SJ called.
Zej looked around where he stood and saw a set on the belt of one of the skeletons he had crushed the skull of. He picked them up and threw them to SJ, who caught them easily before returning to the cages. The smell again hit her as she entered. Walking straight to the doors, she unlocked them both. The second elf immediately stood and left the cage, still looking at SJ suspiciously but not as fearful as the one still curled in the corner, jabbering to itself.
“Come on, you are free. You can leave here,” SJ said in a kindly voice.
“Leave. No, I must stay. I am food. I am food for the phantom.”
“No. The phantom is dead. You are free to live your life again,” SJ replied. “Do you know them?” she directed to the other elf.
“Only since being here. We are not from the same village.” He replied.
“Lythonian,” SJ called out of the door.
Moments later, the large draconian walked into the building. If the smell had affected him, he did not show it.
“He will not leave the cage. He says he is phantom food and must stay.”
“I will speak to him. You take the other outside.”
SJ led the freed elf back into the sunlight. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. The elf scanned the outside, seeing the dead necromancer, the empty robes of the phantom, and broken skeletons on the ground.
“Why are they still alive?” he asked, staring at the three sitting on the ground.
Zej stepped towards the elf, “They have been freed of their master. Our cleric friend has checked their alignment, and there is no reason why they should not be able to return to their professions or trades and live a life as a reborn.”
The elf was dressed in tattered clothes, his dishevelled state even more apparent in the light of day.
Going into her inventory, SJ removed some of her dry rations and waterskin and handed them to the elf.
“Thank you,” he replied, smiling at her.
“Where did you come from?” SJ asked.
“A small village a day travel from here, the other side of the valley towards Asterfal. We have both been here a couple of months. I was just walking home when I was feared by the phantom and grabbed by the skeletons.”
The rogue, seeing and hearing what the elf said, looked over speaking. “I am sorry that I captured you. I had no option but to do as instructed.”
The elf looked at the rogue warily. SJ doubted he would ever trust an undead again.
“I am guessing you will head back home?” SJ asked.
“I will. My family will have wondered what has happened to me.”
Hearing the elf mention his family and how they had missed him hit SJ like a freight train. She had not really considered their point of view overall. She supposed that they must have been upset by her death, however far she had grown away from them over the years. Feeling anger and frustration brewing, she kicked out at a pebble, sending it spinning across the ground and clonking the orc’s leg, which was still sitting by his side.
“Sorry,” SJ said, looking over. The orc was just looking at her. “What’s inside?” she asked the archer, pointing towards the main building.
“The necromancer’s labs and quarters. We rarely went in there unless he needed things moved.”
Making her way to the entrance, she peered into the gloom of the arched door. Thankfully, there were torches lining the walls inside. Walking inside she entered an open room with three doors leading from it. The building on the outside had a large rectangular shape, and the entrance was offset to the left. Walking to the first room and trying the door, SJ noticed it opened into what must have been a kitchen at some point. Empty plates and bowls littered the area, and there was a stove that didn’t look like it had been lit for a very long time. The stone walls had a layer of grime, and thick cobwebs hung from the room’s corners and across the ceiling rafters.
She went to the second door opposite, opening it into a bed chamber. The room’s centrepiece was a large dishevelled double bed with dirty and stained sheets, with a desk and chair standing to one side. It must have been where the necromancer slept. The room smelt stale, as though something had been decomposing in it with the scent mouldy fruit gives off. She walked to the desk, which was covered in pieces of parchment. The parchment was covered in tiny scribbles and drawings, making it difficult for SJ to read in the torchlight, and it was then she noticed the boarded window. Moving to it, she pulled the boards away, pried the shutter open, and forced the window that was stuck in its frame wide, flooding the inside with light and fresh air.
Searching the room, SJ found nothing of real interest, but she still gathered and placed all the parchment notes in her inventory. The one thing she did make sure she picked up was the inkwell and feather the necromancer had used for writing. The inkwell was a small silver pot with clawed feet, and she was sure it would be worth a few coins at least. Leaving the room, she went to the final door at the end of the entrance room. On entering, it immediately turned right and opened into a much larger room, which, from guessing the building dimensions, took up most of the interior. The room was again lit by torchlight. There were tables around the room, and several body parts of animals and what she believed to be humanoid forms lay on their surfaces.
One table was covered in jars and vials of various liquids and several unrecognisable body parts. A heart and a liver were the only recognisable organs, and I did not know where they had come from. The main thing that drew her attention was the malformed body that was lying in a huge bath of blood. Its head seemed to have been created from at least two different beasts, and its body was also made of differing parts. This had to be the abomination the necromancer had been trying to create. She shuddered, looking at its deformed and grotesque shape, shuddering involuntarily. It was approximately ten feet long from its head to its clawed feet.
Looking around the room, she identified the three windows that would allow natural light and opened them all before she looked closely at what else the room contained. The abomination looked as though it had everything it needed anatomically, and she noticed scribbling on the floor surrounding the bath consisting of runes and symbols. She could only guess that he had been preparing to perform a ritual. Thankfully, by all accounts, they had gotten it before it had risen.
A few items looked valuable, so she dropped them into her inventory again, although she would also check with Lythonian and Zej. Walking back out into the fresh air from the macabre quarters of the necromancer was more refreshing than she expected, and she stood in the entranceway, taking a couple of deep lungfuls of air.
“Are you ok?” Zej asked concern etched on his face.
“I am fine. I think we got here just in time. Looking at what is lying inside there.”
Zej raised his eyebrows and started to walk over. “I will go see.”
SJ stepped aside and let him in. Several minutes later, he walked back outside carrying a small chest.
“Where was that? I didn’t see one.”
“Under the bed.”
“Oh, I never looked. Glad you did.”
“That abomination is horrendous. If it had arisen, god forbid what damage it may have done.”
Lythonian appeared in the other building’s doorway, supporting the crazed elf by his arm and speaking softly. He then walked him towards the other elf, who handed him some of SJ’s rations.
The skeletons had all managed to move to each other now, with the archer being the most mobile.
“Have you looted the corpse yet?” Lythonian asked, walking over to them.
“No. Go ahead,” SJ replied.
Lythonian moved to loot the corpse of the necromancer. Upon doing so, SJ’s display was triggered, it must have been due to them being in a party.
Poisoned dagger +4, Body Bag – 10 slots, Robes of the Damned +3, Ring of Mana Regeneration +2, 3 x lesser mana potions, 2 x lesser healing potions, 83 copper, 23 silver
“I hate necromancers so much,” Lythonian growled.
“Take what you want from the loot, and we can split the coin,” SJ said.
“I would take the ring and the mana potions if that is ok?”
“Sure. What about you, Zej?”
“You take the loot. I am fine with the coin split.” As he spoke, he was busy digging the tip of Betty’s spike into the chest lid and prised it open.
“What are these?” Zej said. Looking at the three knobbly-covered large eggs, bluey-green in colour, sitting on top of a silken cushion in the small chest.
“Holy, goblin spawns.” Dave suddenly erupted in her head.
Having been as silent for as long as he had, SJ jumped slightly at the sudden intrusion.
“Those are Miniature Wyvern Eggs,” Dave shouted excitedly. “They can be hatched and trained from birth. There are specialist druids who are skilled in their training. Having a Miniature Wyvern in support as a pet is an awesome thing. They are highly sought after and valuable. I would not sell them. You need to locate a trainer. There may be one in Asterfal, the closest city.”
Lythonian bent over, looking at the eggs. “If they belonged to the necromancer, we should destroy them.” He said emphatically.
“NO,” SJ shouted a little louder than she meant to. “I know what they are. They are Miniature Wyvern Eggs. They can be hatched and trained as pets.”
“Wyvern Eggs. Why would a necromancer have those, and how do you know?” Zej asked.
“They were mentioned in the quest, but I had forgotten about them and had no idea why a necromancer had them,” SJ replied, “but we can’t destroy them. They are valuable.”
“If you say so. I have never heard of them before. I know of Wyverns but not miniatures.”
“Well, there are three, so we have one each,” SJ said, smiling at them both. Lythonian just shrugged in response, not very taken aback by the eggs.
SJ collected the loot items and split the coin between them.
Zej was heading to the third building they had not entered yet. It had a large set of double doors. “Wait,” SJ called as he went to open them.
“What?” he turned, looking at her.
“I think the lizorse are in there. They had a wagon and lizorse when I came the first time.”
Zej paused his hand on the handle and looked at the skeletons on the ground. “Are they?”
“Yes,” the archer responded.
“Are they tethered?”
“Yes, why?”
“Is the wagon any good?”
“It’s just a basic model.”
“Ah. I won’t bother then,” Zej replied, letting go of the handle.
“We need to burn this place and leave,” Lythonian said, looking skywards. “The rain is coming.”
SJ looked up at the still-clear sky, confused by the comment, but again was not going to question the locals.
“What do we do about them?” SJ asked, looking at the elves and skeletons.
“We head back to the cottage. Then from there, we can use the cart to transport them back to town. They can make their way from there.” Lythonian responded.
“Can you heal the skeletons so they can walk?” SJ asked.
“I can. I have been waiting for my mana to regenerate,” he replied, smiling.
A while later, all three skeletons were back on their feet, the orc bowing at Lythonian and singing his praises for healing his leg. It took a little longer to get the crazed elf to accompany them. Still, eventually, the group began to return to the cottage, leaving the now burning remains of the necromancer’s building behind them.
