Of course I forget the god damn Archive. I'm still a god damn idiot.

http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=Hidden%20Necromancy%20Quest

>>37416103
>Studying the Family Book, trying to learn more about your Art

>>37416130
Hey man, don't beat yourself up. We're just happy you're here.

>>37416103
>Preparing a garden to grow some of your own food

>>37416130
It's allright dude don't worry about it.

Gentleman necromancer. Classy. I'll lurk this and maybe join in later.

>>37416218
Read the archive, it's pretty good.

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>>37416103
>Studying the Family Book, trying to learn more about your Art
I'm pretty sure there's a demand in the market for low-maintenance maids/servants or undead punching bags.

>>37416275
Well, among the shadier side of society. After all, necromancy is kinda "Frowned upon"

Most of your time has been spent in your room, pouring over the contents of the book before you and trying to learn a bit more about your magical heritage. You can’t yet decipher the high end spells, but you are hoping to master it enough to possibly caste spells without so much fanfare. It doesn’t do well to be a ‘hidden’ necromancer if you have to put on a light show every time you do anything. And if an Inquisitor does stop you one day, and they see the parchment as sigils of Necromancy that will give you away in a second.

A thought crossed your mind, that maybe you could disguise your dealings as something else. There are bardic wizards that are trained in the capital to perform all sorts of illusions and charms through the same means that you use your own magic, so perhaps you could experiment with finding a cover for it. But you have no idea how it would work, and it might end up that you’d have to summon up one of your ancestors to help you work out some of the details.

Do you want to pursue this kind of magic?
>Yes
>No

>>37416396
>Yes

>>37416396
I'm down for it or some other way to reduce our light show.

>>37416396
>>Yes

You decide to put together a ritual to summon an ancestor. It’s a pretty odd thing, since it requires more preparation than even raising the dead, You are going to call a soul from across the afterlife and have it brought before you. Most would find this a rather chilling and even traumatic experience, but the Barsley family is quite used to it. Hell, your brother Marcus even practices soul-siezing on you once and it wasn’t so bad. Mother and Father still sent him to his room and kept him in there a week as punishment.

You pull out some charcoal and the rulers and compasses that let you draw out a circle on your bedroom floor. After you draw the blinds and make sure the doors are locked, you begin the ritual. The runes glow green, and you see the shimmering outline of a portal opening within the circle. The door to the afterlife is open, and it will be until you close it.

Now, who do you talk to? Marcus is probably the best choice, but he’s quite hot-headed and you don’t know if death would have cooled his temperament. The other option is your great uncle, Samael, but he was as daft and a bit touched in the head as anyone else. You can’t think of anyone else who is dead that would consent to ‘abandoning the proud tradition of pure necromancy’ as easy as those two.

Do you
>Summon Samael
>Summon Marcus

>>37416566
>>Summon Marcus

>>37416566
>Summon Marcus

>>37416566
>Summon some old asshole
By old I mean "I was there when this empire had it's first emperor" old

>>37416566
>>Summon Marcus

It'd be nice to see our brother again.

You hold out your hands and shit your eyes, letting the feeling of Magic wash over you.

“Marcus Barsley, I beseech you, come to me and offer me guidance!” You open your eyes, expecting to hear Marcus giving you some snarky remark about the style of your circle or how cheesy the line is and what you see isn’t exactly what you expected. It is Marcus, or most of him. It’s only his body standing there with his arms crossed, but his head is missing. “Oh god…” You say, confused and wondering if you did something wrong before Marcus’ body points to the pen and paper on your desk. After you hand him the stuff, his spirit puts it on the floor and begins scrawling something.

‘I was wondering when you called. I need help.’ That’s when you realize that this isn’t your fault. Marcus was always a very experimental necromancer, and this might just be the result of his own idiocy.

“Marcus,” you say in a patronizing tone “What did you do?” The body is scrawling furiously and hands you the paper when he’s done.

“So, Alex. I was trying to improve the lich concept, and was wondering what would happen if I bound my soul to my own body. I needed a focal point and I chose my head. It worked, for a while. But when some bastard came in swinging an ax, my body died and my head…didn’t. I can see where I am, but I can’t do a damn thing. It’s been a year and a half and I can’t even roll back to where they buried my body. So, if you would be so kind, can you go fetch me? I swear I’ll help you do whatever thing you called me for originally and I can make it definitely worth your while!”

[1/2]

You roll your eyes as you look over the paper at Marcus’ spirit. The spirit of Marcus’ head is still stuck in this world, and you’ll have to go, reattach the damn thing and then bring the spirit of the body back onto the mortal plane. It's not like this is a weird, unforeseeable consequence. Father warned us this thing might happen if we tried to experiment on ourselves.

You’re half tempted to tell him that you’re otherwise busy and let him go through a few more months of this for his idiocy. But he is your brother, and other than the troll debacle that is still the same as it ever was, you aren't doing a lot at the moment.

Do you
>Agree to go fetch his head
>Tell him you’ll need to wait a while

>>37416566
Question:
>Most would find this a rather chilling and even traumatic experience,

Is there a way to summon the recently deceased that's less traumatic to them? Extra padding we can add to the ritual to make the process smoother?

Unexpected death and no will? No problem, we can call them up and have them dictate one.

Heartbroken because you never got to say goodbye? We can help you get closure.

A murder victim? We can ask the best witness.

Of course, this is nothing we could do right now, with the whole 'hunted by the Inquisition' thing, but this might be good to know for later.

>>37416917
Not really. It's not as bad for recently dead victims to travel since they aren't as 'far' but regardless of how you died, being newly dead is a hard thing to get used to.

>>37416903
>>Agree to go fetch his head

>>37416903
>Agree to go fetch his head
Poor guys already had more than a year of horrible sensory deprivation. I'm shocked he's so sane and lucid.

Of course we'll help him.

>>37416903
Well of course we're gonna help him. He's family and its just not proper to not help him hang tophats upon his head again! Or have one for that matter..

>>37416881
Also that typo
>You hold out your hands and shit your eyes
Wow thats some magic if we shit out our eyeballs!

>>37416903
>Agree to fetch his head.

Damn dude this is why we don't experiment on ourselves...

“All right, all right. I’ll go get your head. Just remember that this was a moronic thing to do” Marcus stands up and claps excitedly before writing out something else.

“Thank you! You were always my favorite brother!” (You were his only brother) “I got killed in Trestel City, and my body is buried in the cemetery there, I think. Probably an unmarked grave, but oh well. Like Grandma used to say, it’s the body not the burial that counts. I’m pretty sure I’m in the old battlements in the northern part of town. Oh, and be warned, I’m pretty sure some of my zombies and stuff are still wandering about. They might be a bit bitey…sorry!”

And with that, you send Marcus’ spirit away and close the portal. You groan a little at the inconvenience and prepare for the trip. Sweeping, cleaning and packing aside, it’s a three day walk to get to Trestel. You could try to hire a carriage or get a horse, but you aren’t sure how many questions you want since Trestel has a bit of a grimy reputation. People might think you’re there to solicit a lady or lord of the night or hire some thug.

Do you
>Walk to Trestel
>Go to town to hire a carriage
>Go talk to the farmers to rent a horse

>>37417110
Considering we're going grave robbing and so on it will be worth just hoofing it. Nothing to even do with being a gentleman just a way to avoid leaving a trail for nosy inquisitors who want our head on a pike.

Sadly practically over class in this case. Plus those gaudy rumors oh my! I'd prefer muddy shoes over that!

>walking! It builds character uncle always said! Even if he did toss hot coals at you sometimes...

>>37417110
>Go talk to the farmers to rent a horse
If we're that worried about its dodgy reputation, just say we're going somewhere else.

>some of my zombies and stuff are still wandering about.
Is there any way to control them? Spell of Dominate Undead?

If so, prep a number of spells in advance.

>>37417201
Nope. They're bound to your brother, and normally if he died they'd just go back to being properly dead. If you were stronger, you could try to wrest control, but your brother had more training and you can't really compete quite yet.

Maybe someday though...

How's our home? Are we in the town? Are on the outskirts? Do we rent it or is it ours? Do we have a garden, a fence?

>>37417280
I'll direct not plot-relevant questions to the ask.fm to keep this a bit less cluttered. But to answer this he has a small house and some land on the outside of the town. It's a bit of a walk, but the house belongs to Alex and he likes his space. We haven't done much outside renovating yet though.

>>37417110
Walk to Trestel

>>37417235
Well, shit. We're a bit fucking useless, aren't we.

In that case, how do we stop a zombie? From last thread, it's clear the most common method in fiction, decapitation, doesn't work. The head is completely optional to animated dead.

So, how do we do it then?

Do we, at least, know a spell to re-dead them? If we can't gain control, can we just break the animation?

>>37417110
>Go talk to the farmers to rent a horse
Three days walk is pretty much. We could get attacked by wild animals, get and get mugged. Plus we'll have to (if I understand things right) bring back a human head.

>>37417344
Your curses also work on Zombies, I'll remind you. If it's alive and it isn't specifically enchanted to avoid curses, it can be cursed.

And in a pinch you could try to animate your own zombies, though that would be very rude if it's just some random person.

>>37417371
>Your curses also work on Zombies

Right, good to know. Then prep a number of curses to deal with the zombies before we leave.

>>37417344
Maybe we can go sneaky-beaky like? Tough if digging is involved, I''m not sure if we can make it happen

If we reanimate that could leave more trails after us than we'd want to. Let's not forget we have an Inquisition to avoid

>>37417371
Yeah, we're definitely goin to prepare a couple of curses.

>>37417403
Considering we're probably going to have to spend a load of time searching the cemetery and digging up unmarked plots looking for our brother, going unnoticed by wandering zombies in the area seems like wishful thinking. We'll need to prep some magic to deal with them.

Ok, how many curses do you want to prepare to deal with these? Each curse requires about 5 hp worth of blood, and you regenerate 2-7 hp each day depending on what you’ve done during the day?

Also, renting a horse is now locked in.

>How many curses do you prepare?

>>37417461
Only one
Then deer worth of them
This guy can wait few days more

>>37417461
How many targets can you hit at once with a curse?

Based on what we know about our brother, do we have any clue how many zombies he's left lying around?

>>37417461
Just one. It'd be best to get this show on the road, soon!

>>37417461
Do we need to use our own blood, or can we use an animal or other person?

>>37417506
Up to 5 that are close together.

>>37417513
Chill, he's been there for over a year. Taking an extra few days to prep won't make any difference.

>>37417520
It has to be your own. Curses are serious business.

>>37417550
Can we make a load of them, then use Healing Boon to regain HP, or will that not work?

>>37417461
I think 2 will probably be good. One to get a group of enemies and another if we are surprised.

>>37417584
We need corpses for Healing Boon

Ok, how many curses do you want to prepare to deal with these? Each curse requires about 5 hp worth of blood, and you regenerate 2-7 hp each day depending on what you’ve done during the day?

Before you go, you prepare a curse to deal with some zombie. It takes about half an hour to find the right combination of spells to make a curse that works on the undead, and cutting a vein is always unpleasant. But soon enough you have the spell prepared and packed. You leave the Family Tome in a locked box, pack up a few coins and your dagger and you head down to the farm.

Michael is there waiting for you, along with his father (Who you have since learned is also named Michael, but everyone calls him Senior). The two are still clearing away the burnt underbrush and turning over the soil. It’s too late in the summer to start planting anything of substance, but they still get it prepared for next year. You ask for the horse, and though you don’t give them too many details they still lend you the horse out of gratitude. Michael gives you an odd glance, but stays quiet as you ride off.

- - -

It takes you the whole day and only as the sun finally falls do you reach Trestel. Your horse is dead tired, and you walk alongside it as you enter the town. The rumors didn’t nearly cover what you see here. There are more bars and whorehouses than shops and homes it seems, and you can’t go too far without someone trying to accost you. You are exhausted, and your horse is about to drop dead without a place to sleep. But do you trust an inn in this town enough to sleep here?

Do you
>Try to find an inn
>Head to the cemetery
>Head to the northern battlements.

- - -
I have to go pick some stuff up from the store, so I'll be back in a bit.

>>37417627
So, we can go hunting. Or buy a live/freshly slaughtered pig from one of the local farmers.

>>37417646
>>Try to find an inn
We need somewhere to stable the poor horse.

>>37417646
>Try to find an inn
Who knows, we might need that horse fresh for escape, after all we are about to do grave robbing
It's also better if we do it at night, we don't want to get too much attention.

>>37417646
>>Try to find an inn
Just stay being a gentlemen about this and I'm sure the ladies will help us.

>>37417646
Try to find an inn

>>37417646
I vote that we prepared 3 curses the night before we set off.

Averaging our recovery over the day of travel, we should have about 90 Health when we reach Trestel. That should be fine.

Also, can we get an answer about using Healing Boon to fix ourselves after making Curses?

>>37417792
You Can do that, but the quality of the kill does effect how much health you get back. Larger/Fresher corpses = more health

>>37417959
Good. Since we didn't get a chance to vote before the trip, can we say we made 5 Curses then bought a large pig or something?

Big, freshly slaughtered by us, should give us most of our HP back, right?

>>37418004
Several people just voted to prepare one curse. And you'll regain some HP as you sleep tonight. If tomorrow you decide to prepare some more curses, that's perfectly ok.

- - -

You pull your horse along and try to find one of the nicer inns in town. Eventually you settle on a large building with stables adjacent and less dirt than the other places. The man at the front introduces himself as Brobat, and demands 3 Gold pieces to shelter both you and your horse for the night. It’s a bit pricey, but you accept it and quickly head up to your room, leaving the horse in the care of the Inn’s stableboy.

You are lying in bed, debating what you should to tomorrow and how you are going to do it. If there are still zombies around the battlements, there won’t be anyone who’ll want to interfere and it’ll be a bit easier to find Marcus’ head. But then you’ll be carrying around a sentient head as you try to locate and dig up his body. You toss and turn and you can’t go to sleep until you reach a decision.

Which do you plan on recovering first?
>The body
>The head

>>37418032
>>The head
Time to say hi

>>37418032
>>The head

Far easier to cart around than a body. We can just stick him in a bag and no one would know.

Also, vote we prep one more curse after a good nights sleep. Not sure about making more yet.

Healing ourself after making a load of them sounds useful, but buying a whole/live pig and taking it back to our room at the inn would raise questions.

>>37418032
>The head
Maybe Marcus can help us with the Zombies

>>37418132
Good point.

>>37418032
Question for OP. Can Marcus still order his zombies about in his current state?

>>37418161
He should be able to.

The head is the smarter choice. Despite his large mouth, it’d be easier to hide something like that than the hide a whole body in your room. With that decided, you curl up on the odd smelling bed and manage to get a bit of sleep.

(+3 HP)

You wake up the next morning feeling a bit better. There’s still the slightest ache in your arm but you won’t be hindered by it. You check out of the room, not liking the sleazy grin on his face that implies you’re up to something. You get your horse back from the stableboy and head out of Trestel to the north. You pass the town and go into the hills, arriving at the ruins of the battlements. Back when the Kingdom was a mess of small kingdoms, places like this were used to defend from other minor nobles seeking to usurp the land. But now that there is a single King, places like this in the heart of the kingdom have become rather useless and fell into disrepair.

As you are about to dismount, you notice the glimmer of white and red. There are two Knights, one of them an inquisitor and the other a cleric of some king, about to enter the battlements. Poor timing it seems has lead a small ‘Cleansing’ party to arrive at the same time as you have. You swear to yourself and wonder what to do next. You could try to sneak in a different way and recover Marcus before they find him, or you could stay out here and try to hastily prepare a curse to deal with them since yours is designed for just the undead, but they might find Marcus.

Do you
>Try to sneak in
>Prepare another Curse

>>37418032
Marcus can deal with being a head in a sack for a little while, and if he can't, it's easier to gag and bag him than it is to conceal a rotting corpse while we cart it around in search of the head.

Might be worth hitting up the local clergy or rumormongers and asking about rumors of a necromancer who is buried nearby. It might give us some leads on the body and a chance to make friends once we have the head.

>>37418291
It takes time to prepare a curse and we don't know how long Marcus has. If they "kill" him in his lich form, will his spirit reconnect itself? And does the head know we're on our way to pick it up?

If there's reasonable time to prepare an appropriate curse of blindness or something, or something to specifically hide the head from their sight, then that's worth a shot, but if Marcus is in a vulnerable position and time is of the essence then it's time to put our sneaking skills to use once more.

>>37418291
>Prepare another Curse
They aren't going to find a random unmarked grave any time soon.

Not before dealing with the hungry dead wandering the place. We probably have a couple days before they could find him.

Take our time and prepare ourselves. Are we any good at hunting or trapping? Getting a fresh animal corpse could come in handy if we get wounded.

>>37418370
I think they'll attempt far worse then just killing him permanently. Like trying to burn his "filthy heretical soul" in the nice hot fires "Of the one great god of goodness" or whatever the hell it is they worship.

I doubt it'll feel nice for our dear brother and I don't think he wants to become a literal hot head.

>>37418388
We like gardening, singing and sketching, I'm pretty sure Michael is the hunter/trapper character in this story so far (aside from Argos, who's dead now). But maybe we can buy something in town. A seedy place like this is bound to have something useful for healing ourselves.

>>37418291
Cursing is a bad idea, they got an Inquisitor. I'm pretty sure he's prepared against curses
>Sneak in
Maybe we can grab the head while they are busy with the zombies. We certainly can't dig out the body like that

>>37418291
>>Prepare another Curse

>>37418291
>>Try to sneak in
These guys are pretty much going to be the anti necromancers and probably have countermeasures for curses.

>>37418400
True enough. Then we need to act swiftly. I think >>37418423 and>>37418446 are right, they might be prepared to deal with curses. We don't know what this Inquisition is capable of just yet. Let's grab Marcus quickly. Maybe we can create a distraction once we get in there.

These two might be prepared to deal with undeath, and the wizards who deal in it. It’d probably just be better to work around that and sneak inside. You tie up your horse in some cluster of trees, hidden from the battlement, and sneak around to the back. Luckily there is a caved in wall and you end up in the barracks.

Most of the fortresses like this were built in a pretty similar style, at least in this part of the country. You just have to figure out where Marcus’ head could possibly be. He probably is in the room that he died in, and his head fell into some corner where the murderer couldn’t find it easily. The major areas are the Dungeons underground, the Barracks where the common soldiers were kept, and the Command Rooms where leaders and visiting nobles would probably have stayed.

Where do you want to search first?
>Barracks
>Dungeon
>Command Rooms

>>37418545
>>Dungeon

>>37418545
>Command Rooms
We're a family of (former) nobles. Seems like the best place to start.

>>37418545
The command room seems like a good place to start for Marcus' head, but it depends on the sort of person he was. It has my vote unless something comes up to point in another direction.

>>37418545
>Dungeon
Sounds like the safest place to conduct lich experiments.
Didn't Marcus said he could see where his head is?
Now that I think about it we are idiots, he said someone cut his head off with an axe, of course there would be others

Got roped into another errand. Back in ten.

>>37418545
>>Command Rooms
>>37418591
seems to have the right idea to me

>>37418545
Before we decide what do we remember about Marcus and did he ever bother mentioning WHERE he died exactly?

Knowing how he thinks and acts is would probably help narrow the search. He might go for the classics like the dungeon or be more classy and kept out of there.

>>37418682
>“I got killed in Trestel City, and my body is buried in the cemetery there, I think. Probably an unmarked grave, but oh well.... ....I’m pretty sure I’m in the old battlements in the northern part of town.

This is all he told us. He might not even be here at all.

>>37418545
>>Command Rooms

>>37418729
So what are the Inquisition doing here to begin with? I think after we help Marcus out we're going to have a little talk about what he was up to while he helps us sort out our current research.

>>37418778
I'm guessing the fact he was raising zombies had something to do with it. Pretty dumb move on his part honestly, its like he was BEGGING to get...killed...to test... his experimental lichdom....

Oh you dumb fucker.

>>37418821
It's official. The reason his head rolled so far away from his body is because he's got no brains.

>>37418821
Well it worked... Partially..

>>37418821
It was all in the name of science. Or in this case Necromancy. And he maybe be a dumb fucker but he's our dumb fucker.

>>37418778
Well, he said his zombies might still be roaming. Someone must have called it in and the church sent out the holy murderhobos to get rid of them.

>>37418821
Apparently, our family was well respected and in good standing. The necromancy seems to have been fine with people.

It's just recently, since the smaller kingdoms got rolled over and united into one and the church id Smite & Burn gained power that it became taboo.

Guy was probably chillin, having his zombie butler serve tea to his esteemed guests, not knowing anything was wrong, when the fucking inquisition burst in Monty Python style.

>>37418932
Sounds about right to me.

Back, writing it up.

You decide to check out the command rooms. Your brother always had a bit of a flair for the dramatic, and combined with an elevated self image he wouldn’t settle for anything less than that. You do see a few zombies, and hear the distant sounds of someone chanting and metal clanging, but you dodge past those hallways and make your way straight to the Command rooms.

Your brother was definitely here. They’ve been ransacked a bit. Most of the gold and fineries are gone, but there are still some sentimental objects and ‘useless’ family heirlooms that you recognize. The main command room is empty, and the first few bedrooms are too. But when you do find him, you have to stop yourself from bursting out laughing.

The reason why your brother, the fearful necromancer of the ruins and member of the Barsley dynasty, couldn’t call up his zombies to help was because his head has been stuck in a bucket for the last year. It’s wedged between a few planks of food and torn banners, and if it weren’t for a particularly gaudy earring peaking out you might have missed it. You move the planks and after some careful pulling, you get his head free.

“Oh god…” He coughs a bit, despite the lack of lungs, and glares at you. “Don’t you dare share this with anyone.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” you say in a rather noncommittal way, and you turn back towards the door. You tell him about the inquisitors that are roaming the castle, and his cadence shifts to a worrying grin. “Well…this place does have some ‘defenses’ if you want to make sure that those two meet their end here. Just take me down to the dungeons”

Do you
>Agree to go to the dungeons
>Try to sneak out of here

>>37419133
Ask him if they're good enough to stand up to an inquistorial hit squad and make sure he remembers if they AREN'T he's going to suffer a long time before the holy rollers decide to finish him off for good..

Personally I'm all for running but if he's confident these will kill the blighters... He was better then us in necromancy.

>>37419133
>>Agree to go to the dungeons
We're going to have to spend ages searching for his body that he thinks -thinks- might be in an unmarked grave. Not gunna do that with them here.

>>37419133
>Try to sneak out of here
Any good fort has a secret escape route for the commander. Ask if there's one.

>>37419133
>>Agree to go to the dungeons

>>37419133
>>Agree to go to the dungeons
would be best, to get rid of the threats. Before they become an issue.

>>37419185
He seems pretty damn sure.

>>37419133
>Agree to go to the dungeons

>>37419133
>Agree to go to the dungeons

>>37419254
Well in that case we'll go for it.

If he's wrong we swear brotherly vengance by punting his head at the inquistor duo as an opening move to either kill them or escape.

We can get away with it he's family.

>>37419133
>>Agree to go to the dungeons
Let's be playful Necros for a bit

>>37419133
Let's head to the dungeons, so long as Marcus promises to explain what his defenses are and how they work in case we want to make use of them later for ourselves. It's only fair, after all.

>>37419307
Well, once we get him up. Our brother should stick around for a little bit.
we should learn from him while we can. And if he can help, with the reason we contacted him for.

You hold Marcus close and sneak through whatever side hallways you can find. The metallic clanging and chanting is getting louder, the two of them have to be in the center of the hold and are plowing through the zombies. You’re glad for a moment that you didn’t try to go through either group, considering how many their must be.

You make your way down to the dungeons and that’s when you see it. In the center of the floor is a giant Necromantic Circle. It’s carved right into the stone floor, it had to be used to summon and contain a vast amount of magical energy.

“Impressive, eh?” Marcus says as you put him down on the floor. “So, there are two options for dealing with these jokers. One is the Corpsefire spell. It’ll cause every dead or undead body on the premises to blow up. Pretty good, but not a guarantee. The other is a bit more…complicated.” You look at him, but he is refusing to meet your eyes.

“Marcus…what did you do?”

“Look. Let’s just say I won’t be sharing this with Ma and Pa at the dinner table. But I promise you, he will DEFINITELY take care of them. They won't stand a chance. And the place won’t get burnt to the ground. It’s really nice here! I put in a lot of work!”

“He?” You try to press Marcus further, you seriously try, but his lips are sealed.

After you give up figuring out who 'he' is, Marcus gives you the instructions. Just a tiny drop of blood and an activation word and then the defenses do their thing. You pull out your knife and make the tiniest cut, letting the single drop fall onto the circle and then you decide which of the pass phrases to use. “Now, the defenses are under your control. Either say ’Corpsefire” or “Grimshaw” and we'll see what happens."

Do you say
>”Corpsefire”
>”Grimshaw”

>>37419450
>”Grimshaw”

>>37419381
Fuck, it's this attention whore.

>>37419450
>>”Grimshaw”

>>37419450
>>”Grimshaw”

>>37419450
>Grimshaw!
I want to see what this thing is.

>>37419450
>>”Grimshaw”

>>37419450
Wait, wouldn't corpsefire include him as well? If not then
>Corpsefire
Also If we release a horrific murder-machine what's the guarantee it won't get loose, and confirm the Kingdom's hatred for us? We are talking about the pet-project of a guy who got his head chopped off and spent a year in a bucket

>>37419509
FleshGolem

>>37419450
>'Grimshaw"

Fuck it I wanna see what exactly this is

>>37419450
If we're in command of the defenses now, then Grimshaw it is. Once the Inquisition is dealt with, we can pacify whatever he raised and put it away.

>>37419450
>>”Grimshaw”
I hope things don't get too Grim

>>37419450
Going for Grimshaw.

And berating our brother for violatling gentlemanly code with whatever abomination he's concocted afterwards. Living comes first. Then we can figure out what the hell he's done proper.

>>37419588
I see what you did there.

>>37419450
>”Grimshaw”

I totally want to see what this thing is, despite thinking it will go wrong somehow.

>>37419608
Indeed. If he violated the family code, he at least needs a stern talking to.

>>37419618
Are you, Shaw?

File: grimshaw.jpg (127 KB, 831x962)

127 KB JPG

“Grimshaw!” You command, and for a second there is silence. Then there is a thump. the earth shakes beneath you, and you have to catch Marcus’ head before it gets rolled under some rocks. “What the hell is it?”

“It was here when I found the place. I just….spruced him up.” From out of the shadows, deeper into the dungeons, you think you see an arm. then a mess of arms. Then you see that it’s really just limb of a greater abomination. It looks like a flesh golem, but unlike anything you’ve ever seem. Most flesh golems are molded like clay from bodies, but this one was stitched together with a crudeness and refinery that is impossible to place.

The thing doesn’t even look at you, just shambles past like a drunken dragon and contorts it’s body out of the dungeon doors.

“That….that was….”

“That was Grimshaw.” Marcus replies. “I’m pretty sure most of him is a giant. But I don’t know who built him. But he’s made out of something else entirely, something even the Inquisitors won’t know about. Their spells’ll be useless against him.” Marcus grins. “We can leave if you want. By the time we find my body, Grimmy will already have disposed of the bodies and gone back to sleep. I know a way out through the dungeons and I’m itching to get my body back”

Do you
>Go upstairs to see what happens
>Escape the fortress

>>37419704
>>Go upstairs to see what happens

>>37419704
>Escape the fortress

God forbid we are seen and some chucklefuck starts hunting us

>>37419704
>>Go upstairs to see what happens

>>37419704
I...Okay...I was not expecting a corpse giant.

Brother dear I do think we need to talk about this and who you got this place from.

I'm half tempted to run. if that brawl goes down in earnest it might bring the place falling on our heads otherwise.

But what if it DOESN'T go back to sleep? If something that huge goes for the town...yeep.

>>37419704
>Go upstairs to see what happens

My curiosity is getting the better of me again...

>>37419704
>>Escape the fortress
I do not want to get in the middle of that. Or see it even.

>>37419704
>>Escape the fortress

>>37419704
We need to stick around and make sure that Grimshaw works as intended, honestly.

>>37419835
The only reason I'm okay with staying. If that behemoth goes out of control its first target is either us or the town and something that strong will slaughter the place.

We REALLY need to have us a talk with brother dear. preferably with his head over an outhouse hole.

>>37419857
Maybe not so extreme, but our brother is certainly not concerned with the image of necromancy in general, and that's simply not alright. If he continues down this path, we can't associate with him too heavily.

>>37419704
I feel like we need to keep an eye on the giant zombie, but cautiously so we have a chance to turn tail and run if things go badly.

>>37419704
>Go upstairs to see what happens
But don't get seen, I don't want to be hunted for the rest of my days as the Master Necromancer who unleashed a giant monstrosity on a city

You insist on staying, much to Marcus’ surprise, and follow Grimshaw up the stairs. You stay in the hallways, hidden in a corner as you see Grimshaw crawl on his hands and knees through the large hallways and make it to the central hall. The Cleric and Inquisitor are staring up at him, the Cleric looks absolutely terrified by the Inquisitor has a brave smile.

“Come now, my friend. The bigger they are, the harder they fall!” Weilding two swords, the holy warrior rushes towards the giant as the cleric begins casting a spell. He doesn’t even get close before Grimshaw, moving at impossible speeds, swipes his hand and captures the Inquisitor in his grasp. Each of Grimshaws digits are arms and heads themselves, and each one is gripping a limb of the warrior. He is squirming and yelling something, but they turn to screams as you see what Grimshaw is doing. He’s slowly, oh so slowly, tearing him apart. You think you can hear the sound of bones straining and cracking over his shrieks.

The cleric barely has time to throw up a shield before Grimshaw starts hammering his other fist down, unrelenting as the Cleric focuses. He can’t break concentration, lest his shield go down and he falls victim to the giant too, and is forced to watch as his comrade is tortured.

You want to stop him, but Marcus stops you.

“If it were revered, they wouldn’t stop! I’ve had friends, allies, torn apart and tortured by those people and then their souls were locked away to burn for eternity! At least we give them peace in death, we never harm their souls and they pass on to an eternal serenity in the afterlife. They wouldn’t even give you that! We fight for family, for balance and maintaining magic and our blood. They fight for pure zealotry!”

There’s blood now. The Cleric is crying now and you feel sick to your stomach as one of the Inquisitors arms is torn from his body.

Do you
>Stop Grimshaw
>Let them die

>>37420033
>>Let them die

>>37420033
>>Let them die
The church of Smite & Burn is not our friend.

>>37420033
>Let them die

>>37420033
This isn't a noble death. This isn't the sort of necromancer we are. We are above this. We are beyond it. We will not deal in death the way our enemies would. If we end their lives, we do it on our terms, not the mindless, violent terms of some brute. There's got to be some way to finish them off without it being so needlessly vicious. Can we think of one?

>>37420033
>Stop Grimshaw

>>37420033
Stop Grimshaw

>>37420106
The Church might not, but is there not a way we might salvage the situation by stopping Grimshaw?

I mean, shit, we're following the advice of an asshole who got himself killed and his head thrown in a fucking bucket. I know he's our brother, but he's not the smartest goy.

It'll be hard with the whole "Yeah, sorry you're being torn limb from limb and all..." but still. Our brother's proven not to have the best judgement.

>>37420127
Well, we're not good enough to try and control it, even with Marcus' help I think. Just let them die for now, and when we're stronger, control Grimshaw

>>37420033
>Let them die

>>37420033
>Stop Grimshaw

>>37420033
>Let them die.

I don't really wanna just let them die but there's no way we can control that thing.

>>37420173
Then we're going to have to live with this act, somehow. We let loose death in its most brutal of forms, and by our own choice. We're going to have to make up for this one later. A proper burial, I think, would be a good start. Whatever these people did, even to our kin, didn't earn them this fate.

>>37420237
What did you think about killing the Adventurers?

>Let them die

I don't have any love for the chucklefucks who decided to try and burn me at the stake.

This is one time I agree with brother dear. Though we definately need to do something about grimshaw this things one hell of an abomination. If effective...wow.

>>37420167
>the advice of an asshole who got himself killed .... Our brother's proven not to have the best judgement.

Having arseholes burst into his home (or residence if this place isn't his actual home) and murder him in cold blood before he even knows what's happening isn't really a comment on his intelligence.

The only point against him was his untested Lichdom experiments, and that's not completely on him, since they clearly weren't finished and he wasn't expecting to die then.

The church on the other hand murdered our family and friends and, y'know, Burned Their Souls!

Fuck those guys.

>>37420304
That was different. That wasn't them being torn to shreds by an abomination. The Inquisition deserves death for the horrors they unleash, but it should at the very least be something that leaves them with a suitable amount of dignity.

>>37420033
>Let them die
Eh, I bet they torture people all the time.

>>37420357
We aren't here for vengeance. We're here to save our brother. We don't need to be what they are.

You won’t stop the beast, but you turn your head away. You hear a sickening crack, and a shattering sound, and then quiet. It’s over.

Grimshaw shuffles away, back towards the dungeon and you see him twist himself again through the door and fall down into the dungeons again.

“I told you. He doesn’t go very much outside what he’s designed to do. And all he was designed to do was to kill whoever wasn’t supposed to be here.” You don’t say anything, and just pack up and head out. You avoid the main hallway and make your way over to your horse. It’s still there, eating a nearby patch of clovers. You feel a bit sick about what’s happened, you’ve never seen death in such a brutal form.

“Hey. We should probably do something about their horses.” Marcus comments. “I mean, at least let them go. Maybe find out why those two were here?”

You agree and unshackle the horses, sending them on their way. The area around here is more dangerous for humans than animals, so they should be fine and enjoy a long life in the rolling hills around Trestel.

You have the saddlebags of the adventurers, but you wonder if it’s disrespectful to go through their things.

Do you
>Dispose of the bags without checking
>Look for any clues why they were here and nothing else
>Look through the bag for any useful thing.

>>37420455
>Look through the bag for any useful thing.

>>37420455
Look through the bag for anything useful, and gather a few of their personal items to bury them. Our brother won't want to waste the corpses, but we can at least show proper respect for the dead like our family should do. It's the least we can do.

>>37420361
What's the difference between being ripped apart by a troll or by Grimshaw? Hell the Adventures probably got it worse as the monsters are cruel and would probable eat them alive slowly while the corpse would just kill them.

>>37420413
Doesn't mean we need to spare then either. They should receive worse, but we aren't going torture their souls forever as we aren't them.

>>37420455
>>Look for any clues why they were here and nothing else
>>Look through the bag for any useful thing.

They're dead, getting angsty about saddle bags won't do anyone any good.

>>37420455
>>Look through the bag for any useful thing.

>>37420532
We don't know what these people did or didn't do. Are we really going to assume the worst of everyone?

>>37420596
Yes.

>>37420627
Why?

>>37420455
>Look for any clues why they were here and nothing else

Due the dead some respect

>>37420455
>>Look through the bag for any useful thing.

>>37420672
I second the idea to show them some respect, but I still say we should bury some of their personal possessions since their bodies definitely won't be getting a proper
burial with Marcus around.

>>37420596
No but, assuming Inquisitors that hunt necromancers won't try and kill us in a heartbeat would be a really dumb Idea. So, Killing them without allowing them the chance to kill us is okay with me.

>>37420501
This.
We should loot them, but also be respectful

>>37420596
>assume the worst of everyone?
No.

>assume people that hunt and kill necromancers will kill us for being a necromancer?
Yes.

You go through the bags, hoping to find a notice or a letter of some kind. But you don’t find much. Some food, camping equipment, holy texts and the like. As you go through the bag you believe to be the clerics, you find a small gold box, which as you open it does have a note inside. It’s nothing official. It’s written in rather sloppy handwriting, and you quickly identify that it was written by a child.

‘Daddy. I can’t wait to see you again. Mommy thinks I’m silly, but I miss hearing stories of you killing the big monsters. I want to be just like you when I grow up, Can you buy more of that sweet candy from Constalta? It was really good! I love you. -Karol’

You put the letter in your own bag, hoping for a proper burial of some nature, the most you find are some coins that you refuse to take. Marcus doesn’t say anything, and you store the saddlebag below some of the wreckage to return to later.

Now you have to focus on dealing with Marcus’ body. You have no idea where it is and you have no leads. Marcus says he can ‘feel’ it, and that it’s somewhere in the town, but he can’t pinpoint anything more specific.

Do you
>Head to the town hall, maybe there’s a record
>Head to the cemetery, best place to start

>>37420864
>Head to the cemetery, best place to start.
get a long poking stick.

>>37420501
Why? They can't take it with them and you could just take their actually bodies and place them in the ground. Family code doesn't allow us to use their corpses anyway. Unless, it make exceptions for Zealots that try to murder us.

>>37420721
>>37420501
>Our brother won't want to waste the corpses
>definitely won't be getting a proper
burial with Marcus around.
Why are you assuming this? It makes no sense.

He has expressed no interest is zombifying them. Also, it's not completely up to him, we could just tell him to let them rest, a brutal death was quite enough.

>>37420033
thisiswhytheknigdomhatesus.jpg

>>37420924
>>37420947
Marcus has already shown a willingness to skirt family code where it suits him, and he's also the superior necromancer. I think it's a pretty safe assumption to make, especially since we're apparently assuming the worst of everyone.

>>37420864
>>Head to the cemetery, best place to start
See if he can 'feel' if we're getting closer.

Also, make sure we stuff him in a bag. Don't want to be wandering around town with a talking head.

>>37420967
Pretty much, yeah.

>>37420967
Nah we were actually highly respected until the regime change and the new big fat king let his church start slaughtering us all.

Everything changed when the fire church attacked.

>>37420864
>Head to the cemetery, best place to start
If we go to the town hall asking questions it eill be suspicious, and we'll be traceable

File: anigif_enhanced-buzz-1914(...).gif (868 KB, 500x264)

868 KB GIF

>>37420967

>>37420864
>>Head to the town hall, maybe there’s a record

>>37420996
>especially since we're apparently assuming the worst of everyone.
Stop talking shit. Multiple anons have pointed out that's not the case. You're just butthurt because people didn't agree with you.

>Marcus has already shown a willingness to skirt family code where it suits him,
Yet he had never even mentioned raising them as zombies. Nor has he any need to. There has been nothing to suggest this, you're just assuming it for no reason.

>>37421059
In time you will, but then it will be too late.

>>37420996
Then MC should put them in the ground like a proper ethical necromancer. We aren't responsible for how Marcus acts after we leave and if he does we can be disappointed in him for disrespecting the dead.

>>37421151
Yeah, damnit we got standards. We are once respected dynasty,not baby-eating sob-s!

>>37420864
>Head to the cemetery, best place to start

>>37420967
Well then why don't they hate the inquisitors? You know, the ones who kill entire bloodlines for the "crime" of necromancy.

Shit happens in war.

>>37421151
They are in a monster's stomach(s).

The sun is still high in the sky as you approach the cemetery. It’s on the grounds of a church, though the church looks to be in nearly as poor a state as the battlements were. You see two men busy at work, already digging another whole and a body haphazardly covered up in the cart. Marcus is safely in your bag, nestled between your undead centered curse and the few other belongings you brought.

You could go speak to the gravediggers, see if they know anything about where a ‘necromancer’ would be buried, or you could wait until nightfall and try to snoop around on your own without anyone seeing you.

Do you
>Wait until nightfall
>Speak with the gravediggers

>>37421239
>Wait until nightfall

>>37421196
Because they just go in and gut/burn people. The usual stuff. Not summoning giant abominations.
People tend to get more upset when people murder with non-conventional means. Same with shooting people vs bio-weapons

>>37421239
Might be better to wait until nightfall.

>>37421239
>>Wait until nightfall
I'm pretty sure they have a "watch out for necromancers" course in gravedigger school

>>37421239
>>Wait until nightfall

>>37421239
>Wait until nightfall

>>37421239
>Wait until nightfall
same reason we didn't go to the townhall
If we go to the town hall asking questions it eill be suspicious, and we'll be traceable

>>37421201
How do you know that? We haven't seen the bodies.

>>37421196
Some people do. That was half the plot of the previous thread.

>>37421239
>>Wait until nightfall

>>37421273
I've always thought that's weird.
Mans I really REALLY want to start a discussion on ethics in war, but, don't wanna derail the thread.

>>37421392
Thank you for your self control.

>>37421392
Mabe another time. It's an interesting topic tough

You find a nice bar and hole up there, not making any waves and keeping to yourself as the day goes by. Marcus is a bit restless, but knows to stay quiet since he’s a bit shocking right now. The two of you can’t get ahead of yourself if you want to find your brother’s body.

After it’s sufficiently dark, you return to the graveyard. You see there are a lot of unmarked graves, probably drunkards and thieves that were killed in various ways and couldn’t afford a tombstone for themselves. You pull Marcus out and set him on the top of your bag so he can see out and talk to you, but you are still given the use of your hands. You walk around, asking if he feels anything different, for about an hour. Nothing seems to work, and you begin to get frustrated, when something odd happens.

“Wait….wait. Do you feel that?” Marcus askes, and you have to focus to figure out what he means. There’s a crypt, a nice one that is locked up tight and well polished, and it feels…empty. You’ve been around death your whole life and have become attuned to the feeling of magic that lingers on a corpse. But you don’t have that same feeling when you look at the mausoleum.

“Yeah. That isn’t right.” You whisper, and start to walk over to the white building. That’s when you notice that the chains and locks aren’t actually attached to anything. The door is capable of being opened from the outside…or the inside.

Do you
>Try to look inside
>Try to Sneak inside
>Call out to whatever is inside

>>37421555
>Try to look inside

>>37421555
Let's take a peek. Try to look inside.

>>37421555
>Try to look inside
Look before leaping. Seems like we have a few levels in rogue as well as necromancer. I mean gentleman rogue

>>37421555
>>Try to look inside

>>37421555
>>Try to look inside

>>37421555
>Try to look inside

>>37421555
>>Try to Sneak inside

>>37421555
>>Try to look inside

Stuff Marcus back in the bag for a bit. If we need to make excuses and/or run, we'll want him secured and out of sight.

>>37421618
Like a sir.

You open the door a little, and look inside. In the center of the room, on the top of the central, marble casket, is Marcus’ body. It has several chains on it, and it seems like someone has been conducting experiments on it. A thick, black fluid is seeping from wounds on the arms and legs and there are glass jars and bottles hanging from every free ledge. Some of the marks on the wall you recognize as being essentially symbols to necromancy, but there are other marks that you can not identify.

“Dear god, what the hell is going on?!” Marcus says, a bit too loudly. You turn and see that there is some movement coming from the church, and a light flickers on. You need to do something fast. You stuff Marcus inside your bag and you have to decide what to do.

Do you
>Go inside the crypt and hide in there
>Try to hide in the graveyard
>Run away

>>37421900
Go inside the crypt and hide in there.

>>37421900
>>Run away

>>37421900
>>Go inside the crypt and hide in there

>>37421951
Second.

>>37421900
>Go inside the crypt and hide in there

>>37421900
>Go inside the crypt and hide in there
We still have all our curses

>>37421900
>Go inside the crypt and hide in there

>>37422049
>We still have all our curses
We have one. Only useful against undead.

>>37421900
So either the church is making their own bastardized version of necromancy for gods know what. Or we have a mad scientist.

>>37421555
vamps calling it now

>>37422121
Or both.

>>37421900
>Go inside the crypt and hide in there
>>37422121
backing, marcus said they were screwing with souls

You slip inside the crypt and shut the door behind you. After a moment of searching, you see there is a lot of space in one of the tombs where only a clothed skeleton remains. You stuff your bag in the furthest corner and shift the bones enough to allow you to press against the furthest walls. The shadows seem to be on your side, as when the mysterious man enter the crypt, he doesn’t notice the disturbance. He walks around with a torch, examining the corners and behind bottles.

The man is older, with thin bony hands and papery skin. He looks like he’s on the cusp of death, and the occasional wheezy cough confirms that the man isn’t long for this world. Based on his white robes and the small necklace with a single silvery flame on it denotes that he is a religious official. After he is sure that there isn’t an intruder, he goes over to one of the black bottles and starts drinking the liquid.

You need to do something. This is a bastardized version of your families art and it is a disgrace. You can’t raise the dead that quickly….but Marcus can. If you can reach down to your bag, you might be able to have Marcus resurrect the bodies still in the tombs and you could disarm the man. It would be quick, and then afterward you'd return the bodies to their proper resting place.

Or you could stay quiet and hope he goes away.

Do you
>Try to reach your bag
>Stay quiet

>>37422281
>Stay quiet

>>37422281
>>Stay quiet

>>37422281
We can't just raise innocents to do our bidding, even temporarily, and it's too risky to make any noise right now. Plus, we don't know what that liquid will do to the old man. He might be using it as an elixir of youth or something, like how our healing boon can restore wounds. There's no guarantee that the undead would be a match for him.

>>37422281
>Try to reach your bag

>>37422281
I choose the third option. Use the curse we prepared on him then resurrect Marcus.

>>37422281
>>Stay quiet

>>37422281
This sick fuck is.....he's god damn taking the graveyard corpses and distilling some kind of life extending potion with it!

Not only is he shaming his own faith with this balant abuse of necromancy he's insulting everything the family stood for!

Not to mention he's destroying your brothers remains!

He's got to be stopped somehow!

FOR GENTLEMANLY CODE AND REASONS!

>>37422281
>Stay Quiet
Does our course work on living? If not can we prepare another while we wait? Then we could speak with the man.
i doubt the Inquisiton would allow something like this, maybe we can come to an greement

>>37422281
>>Try to reach your bag

>>37422377
You mean the curse against undead? Pretty sure this guy is living.

>>37422414
We will put an end to this madness, but first we need to make sure of a few things. We need to make sure we can take him, quietly if possible, and we need to find out what his magic has done to Marcus' body. If the magic has been taken out of it somehow, raising him properly like we planned might not work anymore. If we need to extract it from this guy, or use the black liquid, it would be better to keep him alive to make use of him than to snuff the life from him right now.

>>37422433
Oops never mind. I thought it worked on both dead and living.

>>37422281
>>Try to reach your bag

You stay quiet, and watch as the man drinks the black liquid. His skin seems to get a bit less papery, his body just a bit more pink. It’s not a huge improvement, but it’s at least noticeable. He giggles a bit and gingerly puts the bottle back down, sighing with contentment before leaving the crypt. After you are sure that he is gone, you crawl out (apologizing to the skeleton) and pull your bag out as well. You uncover Marcus’ head and have to cover his mouth as he starts swearing.

It takes a while for him to calm down, but the gist of his tirade was about the promiscuity of the mans mother, and what Marcus would do once he had fists again.

“Can we please just figure this out?” You ask, moving over and unstrapping Marcus’ body from the table and placing his head on the body as close as possible. “You’ll need to sew this to make sure it stays on correctly, but otherwise this will probably work.”

“Hehe, oh well. I’ve gotten enough practice. Hey, remember when we knocked off Uncle Vincent’s legs during the holidays and Ma made us sew them back on and apologize to him in front of the whole family?” You chuckle a little as Marcus goes back down memory lane. You examine his body, and it seems like the black stuff is just his blood. Marcus tells you it was a side effect of the binding process, and he never got to investigate the alternative purposes. Now is as good a time as any to do the summoning and binding of the rest of Marcus’ spirit, but you’re a bit worried that man might come back. With Marcus here he could help you shorten the process and whittle it down to just word instead of using the parchment, but it’s a bit of a risk.

Though if you do finish, then even if he does come back, you and Marcus together could easily take him on.

Do you
>Go take care of the man
>Start the summoning
>Other (write-in)

>>37422281
>>Try to reach your bag

>>37422714
Barricade the door and get it done.

>>37422714
Start the summoning and ask for Marcus' help keeping the spell from being too flashy. With a little luck we can do it fast. That old man needs to be taken down a peg one way or the other, and we'll need Marcus to deal with things properly.

>>37422714
>Start the summoning

>>37422714
>Start the summoning

>>37422714
>>Start the summoning

>>37422714
>Start the summoning

>>37422714
>>Start the summoning

>>37422714
>>Start the summoning

Barricade and summon

>>37422714
This guy got it >>37422766
>Barricade the door
then
>Start summoning

>>37422714
>Barricade the door
then
>Start summoning

You ask for Marcus’ help as you begin the summoning. With his focus and skill, he begins to recite the spoken words that are represented by the symbols you would normally put on paper. Each word has a depth and power to it, and at your skill all you can do is echo the words back as they ripple out through the aether. You feel the veil between worlds begin to thin, and eventually break as a portal to the other side begins to open. For an instant, a single flash of an image, you see the other side. Misty and unknown, almost impossible for living eyes to see, but still there.

But you see something else. Something bright and unnatural and something that just rings false lurking in the afterlife. You feel your soul become slightly unmoored from your body, you feel like every ounce of your being is burning for a fraction of a second. But it was only a brief flash, and then the portal closes. Many of the bottles around you burst and break, and Marcus lets out a cry of relief as his body jerks and he jolts to his feet.

“GOD DAMN IT THIS FEELS FANTASTIC!” He screams, and before you can stop him, you hear running feet coming from outside. The man throws open the door and his eyes fill with dread at the sight of you two. He’s on his knees now, clasping the holy symbol in his hands and muttering some kind of prayer. “Oh god, Alex, look at this idiot. What should we do with him?” Marcus asks, still stretching his arms and legs and cracking his joints as he moves.

Do you
>Go over and punch him
>Remove the symbol from his hands and berate him
>Other (write-in)

>>37423012
Cheese it

>>37423012
Take the symbol, we don't know if he needs that for his prayers or whatever spell he might be casting, but he certainly no longer deserves the light of his god's flame.

>>37423012
>>Remove the symbol from his hands and berate him

LECTURE TIME

>>37423012
>Go over and punch him
And give him a piece of your mind!

>>37423012
>Remove the symbol from his hands and berate him.
And then possibly punch him if he doesn't seem particularly apologetic.

>>37423012
>>Remove the symbol from his hands and berate him

>>37423012
>Take his symbol and scold him like the immature old fart he is!

FOR SHAME USING THE DEAD LIKE THIS BECAUSE YOU FEAR DEATH

>>37423012
>Remove the symbol from his hands and berate him

>>37423012
>"Excuse me but what are you doing desecrating the dead?"

He’s so caught up in his prayers he doesn’t notice you until you are right over him. You grab the thread of the necklace and rip it off his neck. The silver symbol is dangling at the end, and you throw it behind you and stand over the man.

“You are despicable.” You begin. “You are supposed to be a holy man, you are supposed to worship this god that I am INTIMATELY aware despises our craft. And yet you are willing to abuse it to return your body to life. You coast off of the labors and desecration of the dead. You are disgusting, and this is inexcusable. Where I an inquisitor, I would take pleasure in ending your pitiful life. But.” You lean down, and the man yells, falling on his back and trying to squirm away. “I’m not. Why did you do it.”

“I don’t want to die!” he says, clasping his hands together and begging. “I’ve hardly gotten to live. My whole life was dedicated to this blasted god, and so if I could finally get to enjoy the pleasures of life, why should I! I didn’t think I was hurting anyone. Please don’t kill me. Please. I’m scared.” he goes on blubbering, and you stand up, pondering what to do. Marcus doesn’t say or do anything, letting you take the lead on this one.

What do you do?
>Write in

>>37423372
This is quite a dilemma. It there anything in our repertoire that could help him?
I think we need to know more.
>If you served your god trough your whole life, why did you suddenly decided to stop? Doesn't your reward comes after death?

>>37423372
"What you've done is twisted. It goes against your god, and all that true necromancy stands for. But I won't end your life. Show me how you happened upon this black art, swear never to practice it again, and either embrace the god you turned your back on once more, or follow the proper path of the necromantic arts."

>>37423372
Hardly gotten to live? You fool, you chose to live your life for your god. You lived for him rather than for yourself or for a family. Hardly gotten to live indeed it is your own fault and now you want a second chance by desecrating the dead? You deserve a far worse fate than anything the inquisitors could give you.

>>37423372
Tell him the afterlife isn't so bad. If your relatives aren't lying.

>>37423372
Lecture him, guide him back to his faith, and give him forgiveness. He is pitifull, and we should take pity on the weak and dying.

>>37423372
Combination of:
>>37423600
>>37423484

>>37423643
Why would MC turn him back to his faith? It's due to that religion that MC is in hiding.

“You chose your life. Dedicated it to your god, and now that you have decided to go down this path you risk retribution from both your allies and your enemies. You were selfish…but you aren’t evil. Just a sad old man who is afraid of death.” You stand up, and look at the bottles and jars. Unceremoniously, you grab a shovel that was laying outside and begin smashing the bottles. Every single on breaks open, and the black liquid seeps into the stones and dissipates.

“I will let you live, but you have to abandon this. If you want to devote yourself to your god, do so. If you want to dedicate yourself to necromancy, learn the true way. But the afterlife is not something to be feared, and our magic is not for selfish gain and immortality.” The man is staring at the remains of the glasses, looking a little broken himself. “I’ve heard it’s actually quite nice, if you haven’t done anything to condemn yourself.” That is the last thing you say, and you leave him behind.

A sad, tired old man who must come to terms with the fact that in the end, everything must end.

[1/2]

[2/2]

You and Marcus are sitting on the steps of the ruins. You have just finished burying what remains of the Inquisitor and the Cleric next to a wild rose bush. There is only some stones to mark it as anything but another patch of dirt. You still have the letter in your hands, for some reason you just couldn’t bury it. Marcus is finishing up sewing his neck and head back together with silk thread. Only the best for someone like him.

“I can’t leave.” Marcus said as he tied off the knot. “I can’t leave Grimshaw unattended. Whoever used to live here left nothing but him, and that’s the only way I can control him.” He puts a hand on your shoulder and smiles. “Maybe you could come live with me? The town isn’t great, but at least we’d have each other? And I could help with…whatever you originally called me for.”

Do you
>Agree to move in to be close to your brother
>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better

>>37424091
>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better

Just keep in touch ok?

>>37424091
Marcus owes us some help, but we like our current home. Leave him some questions and ask him to send a letter with whatever he can come up with, then head home.

>>37424091
>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better

Keep in touch dude.

>>37424091
>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better
Say that we will come back after we improve our skills. Right now the inquisitors are scouring the lands for necromancers. It would be better for us to be apart while we are weak.

>>37424091
>>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better

Keep in touch with him and work on the magic though.

>>37424091
>>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better

>>37424091
>>Decline, you enjoy your new home and want to make it better

You decline, telling him how much you’re enjoying your new town. You’ve helped the people, and you’re starting to get a bit invested in the lives of people there. You think to Michael and his father, the farmers, the apothecary. You might be able to make a real difference there.

“Haha, all right. Just makes sure you don’t disappear or anything you know me and the parents love you.” He rummages around your bag and pulls out a piece of paper and starts scribbling something on it. “Ok, here. Something for you to practice. It’s a medium level spell, but I figure you’ll learn it quick enough. It’s not that hard once you get the hang of it. Distance and Space in the afterlife is very different, and you never know when you’ll need to talk to me or our Ma and Pa.”

Obtained: Spell - Spirit Window - Contact Anyone Who is Allied With You. Requires Blood (5 HP)

After that, you spend the night with your brother and then head out, taking your time to return home. It’s a lovely day, all things considering, and you enjoy the rhythmic beating of the horse as the countryside slowly moves past you. It’s dark outside when you finally return home, and you see a figure waiting for you at the door. Michael is asleep, with the ranger’s bow and set of arrows across his lap and a book on the ground next to him. You nudge him awake, and he nearly falls on his face before catching himself and standing up.

“You weren’t around, and I wanted to make sure no one tried to break in at night…you really can’t be too careful…” he looks a little unsure of himself. He probably realizes just how weird that sounded.

Do you
>Thank him, but you’re tired and want to sleep
>Ask him inside for something to eat

>>37424485
>Thanks him
>Ask him inside for something to eat

>>37424485
>Ask him inside for something to eat

>>37424485
Well thats just kind of him.
>Ask him inside to eat something, besides he already knows about your...hobby.

He keeps being this bro-tier and I'd consider him for apprenticeship!

>>37424485
This >>37424541
He went out of his way for us, the least we can do is offer him a hot meal. And maybe he has questions for us, or fears we can dispel. It'd be nice to have someone we can talk to about our magic in the town.

>>37424485
>>Thank him, but you’re tired and want to sleep

>>37424485
>Thank him, ask him inside for something to eat.

You insist on him coming inside and grabbing a bit, though you don’t have very much that’s still good you could still whip something up. He thanks you quietly and waiting patiently as you start a fire and manage to find some vegetables and a bit of dried meat that you could heat up and throw together quickly. He doesn’t say anything, but you notice a rather complicated look on his face. You try to ask him what’s wrong, and he goes down on his knees.

“My mother, she…she died a few years ago. She had these pains in her chest, right where her heart is. One day she just…just fell down dead. We couldn’t do anything. It nearly broke my father.” You get down beside him and try to comfort him, hearing tears in his voice and knowing he’s holding them back. “My chest was hurting too. But I couldn’t tell my dad. We can’t afford to go to a cleric or anything. We can’t leave. And then the fields burnt and I was afraid and I didn’t know what to do. But thanks to you…it’s gone.” He looks at you and you see they are tears of joy. He’s smiling and crying and you don’t know what to say.

“I haven’t felt a pang of anything in my chest since you did whatever that was. I think I’m going to be ok. I think…I owe you my life.” He puts his head down, as close to a bow as you think he knows how to do. “Please. I’ll do whatever you ask. I am forever in your debt for what you’ve done. I don’t care about me but my father would have died if he’d lost me too. Whatever you ask.”

How do you respond
>”I’ll keep that in mind. I’m just glad to have helped.”
>”You don’t owe me anything. I did it because you are a friend.”
>Other (write-in)

>>37424917
>”You don’t owe me anything. I did it because you are a friend.”
Any real magician would have done what i did if he could. Regardless of school.

>>37424917
Well damn. we accidentally healed him of some kind of heart disease when we saved his life. He was is one lucky shit.

It just doesn't feel right holding that over his head though, he helped kill those rat bastards calling themselves "heroes". we probably wouldn't of done it without him. Or at least been the one getting skewered like a pig from throwing knives.

>>37424917
>”You don’t owe me anything. I did it because you are a friend.”

>>37424917
>”You don’t owe me anything. I did it because you are a friend.”

>>37424981
I totally agree with you Anon. It doesn't feel right holding that over his head.

>>37424917
>”You don’t owe me anything. I did it because you are a friend.”

>>37424917
"You don't owe me anything. I saved your life from that arrow because it was right. Saving you from the ache in your chest was a happy coincidence, but I'm glad that it happened. Sit, eat with me a little while. If you still feel you owe me something, some company would be appreciated in this lonely house."

>>37424917
>>”I’ll keep that in mind. I’m just glad to have helped.”

You know... it might be worth trying to apprentice this kid. He's pretty decent and he can properly appreciate the good necromancy can unfurl.

It does NOT however help with...mother. I can only imagine how introducing any girl we get to her is going to go. But if we don't find some woman I can only imagine what kind of perils dear mother could unleash.

Mummy is a lich after all... and our MC is the only living member of the family.

Oh god that would be a hilarious scene later on if we don't get this guy killed.

>>37425054
Love this! Seconded.

>>37425157
Meet a nice girl, keep going with Alex and have a hot three-way Civil union

>>37425157
I really want him to be the love interest. But man, the whole last living family member thing throws such a wrench in my gay little fantasy.

>>37425230
It's fine. There's always slash fanfiction, or magical mishaps. Heck, we could always hire someone to be a surrogate if it comes to that. But let's not put the cart before the horse.

“You don’t owe me anything. I’m just glad to have helped.” You explain, helping him to his feet. “It would have been a shame if you had died, too. You seem like such a nice person and the world is often in short supply of those.” He smiles a little and tries to clean up his face. You turn back to the food and grant him the dignity of cleaning up his tears without being watched.

“Although…” you add, finishing up the food and putting it on two plates. “There is one thing you can do for me. Do it, and we can consider all debts between us square, if you have to do something for the sake of your conscious.” You put the food down in front of him and take your own seat. He seems on the edge, desperate to repay the perceived debt of his life.

“If you would join me at dinner tonight, grant me the gift of conversation, and the privilege to call you a friend. Then we’re even. Deal?” Michael smiles and picks up the fork.

“Deal.”

- - -

That’s it for tonight. Tune in tomorrow when we (might) deal with the trolls. Or not. who know.

From the ask.fm:
What does Alex think of Michael currently?
That's he a quiet guy, but a good shot and a good person......(and that he is kind of attractive in that rustic way)

Shipping intensifies.

>>37425293
This is becoming a fine story op, thank you.

>>37425230
I'll settle for bromance.

Seriously our mother in this is a necromancer of the highest power and a lich on top of that. she has nothing better to do but pine on us for grandkids and make SURE it happens.

God showing whatever girl we get to the parents is gonna be a hoot if we get that far!

>>37425293
Thanks for running.

>>37425293
Thank you again for the story, OP.

>>37425293
Thank's for running NecroMan.

>>37425293
Hey did you drop life after death quest?

/tg is totally gay

>>37425417
Would we really want it any other way?

>>37425230
I'd rather have the MC more interested in magic than romance.

Although, we haven't really met any interesting female characters yet. So there's that.

>>37425441
Yeah, I'd rather have him be his apprentice rather than a romantic interest. But like you said we haven't seen any female characters that are interesting yet..

>>37425293
Thank you NecroMan! I'm lovin' this quest.

>>37425441
I'm all for bromance apprenticeship.

Mostly because mother would be FURIOUS with us otherwise

>>37425464
Well, we'll see where things go from here in terms of characters. Who knows, maybe we'll wind up with a veritable harem of love interests to choose from. But for now, we have Michael, and he's a nice guy.

Maybe we can help his father find peace? We can summon his wife's soul, right? They can finally say goodbye properly if they couldn't before. Further proof of the good necromancy can do, and it means we've got stronger ties to that family if we need favors.

>>37425441
That might change if we actually talk to one of them. I'd like to learn more about that apothecary from the first thread.

>>37425441
Oh I totally agree. Romance should be a subplot at most. I would just like some gay romance is all. But its up to our dear QM to decide Alex's sexual preferences. Ill stick around either way.

>>37425562
Agreed, she might be nice, and likely has a good head on her shoulders.

>>37425554
Yeah, it is only the second thread. I definitely want to help the kids father find peace. But we tell the kid what kind of magic we do first however ease him into it and tell him our rules

>>37425602
Certainly worth exploring. Maybe we can hit her up next time? We could do with stocking up on food and supplies, so we can visit her too and see what's up with her.

>>37425610
Seconded. Michael knows that we're a decent, or at least reasonable, individual, so if we're gonna use our magic even more blatantly, it would be wise for us to be up front with him about what we do and why. It'll help if we also tell him our code of conduct when we reveal that information, so he knows we have ethics.

Alexander is NO WHERE CLOSE to having an apprentice. He has to be at least adept at pure verbal spells before thinking about it.

Hell, Marcus isn't even really ready for an apprentice. But that's more because he's also too irresponsible to be in control of zombies and another person's life.

-

But honestly. Who knows what could happen?

>>37425659
We might want to learn who all lives in this town like who Carl is and maybe who his daughter is. My bet is he's the owner of the inn.

>>37425810
Can I ask what will happen if we hypothetically find a woman we like and introduce her to the parents for approval? I'm not gonna avoid that. they'd tunnel through the earth straight into the floor of the house once they got wind of her and we didn't visit. They're liches they can do whatever the fuck they want.

>>37425810
Same time tomorrow?

>>37425840
True. I think next time we should head into town, fill our pantry with food, make our house a home, and see who the neighbors are.

We also need a consistent job of some sort, and the trolls need taking care of... Maybe we can look into a way to help Michael become the town hero by helping him fend off the trolls on his own?

>>37425980
Probably. Though no guarantees.

>>37425054
>"Ahem, erh... any implications of homosexuality are unintended, old boy."

So, a gay necro-bard? This is shaping up for an interesting story.

>>37427448
ALL OF THE HOMO!

>>37428635
Go back to reddit