by Marty Myers
“ I should also warn you that you can’t go much further than the confines of the dungeon unless summoned or sent by our master, whose name is Lord Provoas by the by, since you haven’t asked. They set it up to be that way. They also added in certain directions and urges straight into your inner being during the ritual. Some I might not have heard so you might find yourself acting strange or wanting to do certain things you normally wouldn’t ever consider. I know you will soon feel the urge to start working on the dungeon, either creating plans or maybe even digging tunnels.”
At Hanks gesture at his spectral self and questioning look, Alastor said. “ Yes I know you don’t have a body. So you are going to need to learn how to command the master’s boney digging crew who are just outside. Eventually, you will need to learn much more as well. This is going to be hard Hank, but if you and I try together it will be easier than if we go it alone and will likely result in less punishment for us all around.”
As Hank was thinking about all Alastor had said he had a slew of images and ideas flood his mind in an information overload that he felt sure would have split his head open if his thoughts had still been encased inside of it. All sorts of engineering and stoneworking memories and skills assaulted him as well as necromantic chants and magics whispering their dark secrets throughout his mind. The two felt very different and jarring as they echoed and bounced around inside of him. Even Alastor winced as several pulses of light crossed between their tangled bonds.
Alastor hopped out of his cage and flew over to Hank as he flopped about clutching his head. “ Okay Hank, look just think about one thing at a time. Why don’t we focus on the dwarfs memories and knowledge first. Think about the stone working and mining he did. Let that settle in. About the tools used and the methods of measurements.” After some time of Alastor’s coaching Hank was able to focus better as years and years of another person’s memories were sorted out internally and he felt less like his head was cracking open and bursting.
The Magical knowledge that was also trying to get his attention though wasn’t memories as such but more like sets of recorded directions. Sometimes words and chants would echo in his mind, while at other times they were sigils and diagrams with dark disturbing meanings filtering in and out of his conscious mind when he thought about them. There was a lot of it here but it also felt incomplete. Like a primer for necromancy. “ That would be the book your bodies head is resting upon over there,” Alastor said when Hank thought to ask about it.
“ It’s an old teaching technique some necromancers and sorcerers used in the past to start their acolyte’s mystical training off with. It requires another type of link or bond to be established from the student to the book which has a knowledgeable spirit or sometimes even a dead necromancer soul bound into its creation. It does not make you totally proficient in the spells it just gives you enough information to get started and you build up your own knowledge and abilities from there. Even then you often have to have someone run you through it step by step the first time you try to cast them.
Normally you would be starting even further below where you are now, performing months of totally menial labor, drudgery and a bunch of other distasteful duties for your necromantic teacher before you earned the privilege of using the grimoire. But you’re on your own special fast track here. Sarcasm” warred with concern as Alastor continued to speak.
The pain in Hank’s head subsided down from its going to blow up at any second, to migraine levels of pain, then finally down to just a headache. At that point, he righted his drifting form from the curled up in the fetal position he had been in to standing upright and drifting closer to the floor. ” Okay, well hopefully that was the worst of it for right now. Let’s see what’s behind door number one,” mumbled Hank and reached for the door only to have his hand pass right through it. A sigh escaped Alastor as he landed beside Hank and reached up to open it for him.
Alastor grew taller as he did so while Hank gave him an odd look. “ You looked like a man when I first met you, can you change like that at will.” he asked? Alastor nodded but then said. “ I can, but it takes energy and concentration to remain in such a large form for me. There is a lot of work ahead of us and I would prefer not to begin it by burning through my reserves before seeing how this is going to go.”
This time Hank nodded and looking at Alastor he said, “ look I am obviously not happy about your part in all of this, but I can see what you were saying earlier about us working together to avoid even worse things happening to us so I am willing to try to be partners here. Try not to screw me over again from here on out and I will try to do my best also.”
Outside the doorway was what looked like a small natural cave maybe twelve feet longer and wider than the altar room behind them with a small circular pool of water with a stone retaining wall about three feet high and a couple intact skeletons standing next to a large pile of bones off in one corner. Alastor and Hank looked around. “ This must be what I heard Provoas talking about as he left. Apparently, while the ritual was being prepared the Dark sunk this room of the keep down through the cellar and deep under the mountain in preparation for it being the heart of the dungeon.” At seeing Hanks enquiring look, he explained. “ This cave looks natural enough to me. One of the Darkness’ powers is to know about any place or thing that’s long hidden away from the Light so it knows where most of the cave systems are unless they are blessed, claimed by another power or flooded with light from time to time.”
“ The skeletons here are the master’s minions. They are the first ones that you will need to learn to command to dig and there are some tools over here as well next to these bones which are probably for you to practice your skills on as well. This pool is actually a scrying pool, I can feel the basic spells already set into it. That will help us when the dungeon becomes big enough that we need to look in various of its corridors and rooms. I get the feeling it serves some other purpose too.” Alastor walked over and stared down deep into the pool as his voice trailed off.
Light began shining up from the bottom and a view appeared of the keep as if seen through a window in the sky. The view swung down and in through the keeps doorway past two skeleton guards and into the great hall where Provoas the Lich could be seen sitting. The view swam as Provoas stared up at them apparently being able to perceive their scrying and manipulate it from there. He was much changed from before. His aura was much larger and more intense, his fiery green orbs much brighter and piercing. His body even appeared to be taller and broader now. He wore new robes which were a solid black with gold trim at the cuffs and hem and of a much nicer cut than they had been before. “ Alastor my imp, testing out the scrying pool I left you two I see,” he said. “ How is Hank progressing?” His voice too was even more unearthly than it had been, stronger and more menacing. Truly the Dark had rewarded him richly for giving him Hank and himself to play with, Alastor thought bitterly.
Hank looked on in fear at one of the two beings he truly hated and feared. He also felt a repugnant attraction to him somehow. It made him feel sick inside feeling these conflicting emotions clashing inside his mind. Provoas seemingly looked through the pool at him and said. “ You have been subjected to some rather drastic changes in a very short time Hank, so feeling conflicted about it is natural. But there is much to do, so I must insist that you get started. I am most pleased you are in my service, do not disappoint me, my new minion.”
“ Study the grimoire diligently and practice your necromancy when you can. Your first priority right now is to learn enough to get those bags of bones down there working upon expanding the dungeon. Get them raised up and started in digging a couple tunnels and rooms while you plot out the grander layout of my dungeon tomb. Be sure that the central altar room is always the best protected as it is the precious heart of the dungeon. If it should be destroyed you will most certainly be destroyed along with it. Watch closely now,” Provoas ordered and he chanted a spell and gestured at a pile of bones in the great hall
that rose up into an animated skeleton. he motioned towards it and it shambled up to him.
“ Now Alastor do all that you can to help and teach Hank. But you too have some learning and work to do of your own. See this skeleton I have raised to demonstrate the way to Hank. Focus upon it and bring it down there to you.” Alastor stood there looking lost for a minute as he tried to teleport up to the great hall to do his masters bidding but something felt wrong. His power was warped somehow. There was a barrier stopping him from doing so, which had not been there before. He struggled against it but could not break it. He felt through the bond his master urging him on, willing him to do it. Suddenly as beads of sweat poured from his brow, he felt a strange twisting of his magic and instead of him teleporting to the skeleton. The skeleton disappeared and popped back into existence next to him. He felt a gush of energy rush out of him and started panting as the painful tearing sensation ceased.
“ Hah, very good Alastor, Provoas exclaimed. Master Darkness said that it may take a while before you and your teleporting recovers its range and may be more strenuous for you henceforth. I am glad to see that the changes have taken hold. Now our dungeon need not be emptied of adversaries to fight off the Heroes after one or two bands have attempted to penetrate beyond the traps and other clever tricks I am confident Hank will provide us. You need to recover and then practice this again and again between helping Hank until you perfect your control of it. The scrying pool will allow you to look for possible targets but for now, unless I agree to it do not bring anything intelligent in other than my minions or supplies into the dungeon.”
“ I will leave you several unraised skeletons here and there laying around the keep for you to practice on, and any animated skeletons already here in the hall you have my permission to bring down too. I will check in on you both in a days time to measure your progress. One last thing, neither of you are to re-enter the altar room unless commanded to do so by myself or the Darkness or if an adversary reaches it and is harming the altar or Hanks body upon it. Neither of you is to cast any magic inside the room or to do anything to disturb anything there including Hanks body unless protecting it from an attack. The Darkness will be returning to continue his work and is not to be disturbed.”
With that pronouncement, the scrying pool went dark and the cave became quiet. As Alastor recovered Hank went back over what he had seen and heard from Provoas’ demonstration and what images and sounds had flowed through his mind while watching him. “ Are you going to be Okay Alastor?” Hank asked. The Imp nodded and sat down on the lip of the pool. So Hank decided to try his first spell. He flew close to one of the piles of bones and tried to recall the chant Provoas had spoken. Surprisingly it came right to mind but when he attempted to speak the words it felt like a truly alien tongue which he stumbled over almost immediately. It wasn’t until the fifth attempt that he made it all the way through every word of the chant and the bones at his feet stirred. He saw a glow of light connect him to the bones and Hank felt as if he would faint as his essence drained out of him and into the skeleton that arose to stand in front of him.
Hank was shocked, even though this was what he had been trying to do, it was still startling to actually be casting magic. All his life he had read fantasy books and played games about amazing adventures off in fantastical lands. Imagining himself as the hero, or sometimes when running a game as the villain of countless adventures and now here he was. He remembered now something else his old man had often said to him, Be careful what you wish for.
Looking at the skeleton he could feel something different about it compared to the others, he saw a faint glow about it that was the same light blue as he was. Looking closer he saw the other skeletons had a faint greenish glow about them similar to how Lord Provoas’ eyes glowed. “ Alastor why does this skeleton glow blue while those over there are glowing green,” Hank asked. “ That is because they were animated with Provoas necromancy while yours is animated by your own spell,” Alastor said.
“ The foundation of doing magic is the ability to manipulate your own essence as well as that of the world’s about you. As to your seeing it, normally a mage or necromancer would need to open their spiritual awareness, their soul sight or their arcane vision as many call it to even see it, but being your an astral manifestation, a free floating soul your never using your physical eyes to see the world around you. Instead your constantly seeing and sensing everything through your soul sight so you will probably improve rapidly on the path of mind, spirit, and soul.”
As Alastor said this it came to Hank that there were three beginning main paths to necromancy. The first, the path of blood, flesh, and bones dealt with the physical realities and manifestations of death. Raising dead bodies, skeletons, zombies, ghouls, vampires, bone hounds, bone golems, bone dragons even. It was all about finding, preserving, summoning, raising and commanding the bodies of the dead. That was the province of this path.
The second path Alastor had just mentioned was that of the mind, spirit, and soul, It dealt with spiritual energies, seeing, sensing and manipulating them. Astral projection, the existence of the ritual last night that apparently separated my body and soul and bound me here fell into this category. So were the many forms of scrying or far sight, and what you would think of as your 6th sense. It also deals with finding, raising, calling, summoning, communicating with and commanding ghosts and spirits. Even Possession and exorcism all fell into this category. Some wards and charms to protect against these things were also part of this path.
Then there was the third main path of Necromancy which was that of Darkness, Sickness, and Death. This path dealt with curses, plagues, medicines, and death. With Darkness you could hide from others sight or obscure certain things, even bring the shadows to a semblance of life, and give them substance. The dark could see into the darkness in other’s souls and encourage it to bloom. It caused fear and uncertainty in people and strangely it also had the power to reveal hidden things and let you see through shadow and darkness so that those on the path would not be hampered by it.
It was the casting, understanding and or removing of curses both great and small. Those on the path could see and smell illness and sickness and even diagnose its cause, they could often predict the time of death in the living and always in the dead and tell you what had or would have killed them. The Path allowed one to harness and store greater amounts of dark and necromantic energies that allowed for the casting of death bolts and entropy. Mortal practitioners of this path could become resistant and even occasionally immune to sicknesses and plagues themselves.
All this information flooded through Hanks mind as he heard Alastor speaking. Hank got the feeling that there were other paths and or higher levels of necromancy as well that added to or went beyond these three, but that information didn’t come to him. This information overload was smaller than the first one had been that had almost split his head in to and Hank was able to continue with what he was doing instead of being incapacitated by it.
He focused on the skeleton in front of him and loudly commanded it to obey him. Alastor chuckled at hearing this. “ Hank a skeleton has almost no driving force or intelligence of its own. You have to not just command them to do something but also to will them to act as you wish and if your commands are not really simple and clear they will still end up messing up whatever they’re doing anyway. You almost have to be constantly paying attention to them to get anything more complex out of them. That is one of the reasons Lord Provoas needed you to begin with. The advantage of using them over zombies, which have a bit of higher functioning left in them is that they don’t rot or crave brains all the time.”
Hank stopped what he was doing and willed the skeleton to get a pick and walk over to one of the cave walls. He went over too and really took a look at the cave for the first time. He immediately realized he needed to survey the whole thing and to figure out where he wanted to have tunnels coming in and out of the natural cave structure. When he thought about not knowing e
xactly where the cave was in relation to the castle he began to realize that he could feel exactly which direction and how far away Provoas was to him. So the castle, specifically the great hall was there almost right above him.
He didn’t want a tunnel or stairway leading right from here to there. So he would probably start digging a tunnel away from it just to be safe. Also, he needed another longer look through the scrying pool at the mountain passes stone wall where the castle was. He definitely didn’t want to get a tunnel too close to the surface and create a weak spot in their defenses.
That’s when it hit him. He really did want to build and protect this place. It was a feeling, a compulsion that had already taken root inside him. Those bastards had rewired him last night like some kind of robot to do their dirty work and it looked as if they had succeeded! He was angry, man was he pissed. He thought he would find a way to get back at them. It was obvious who had the upper hand right now so he would bide his time. The only real question was how he was going to do it and if Alastor would end up on team Hank or if he was going to go back to sharing team Dark’s bench when the game ended.