After her ordeal she rested a moment and collected her bearings. She looked at the new passage she was in, it looked just the same as the other, covered in cobwebs and silent as the dead. She continued on her way throughout the labyrinth of passageways without further opposition.
Along her trek she noticed that all the coffins were empty of cadavers. She noticed light ahead of her and slowed her pace. She was coming to the end of the underground passage and the source of the reanimated dead. She came to the final room, a large sepulcher, this was the only room with light. There were torches lit upon the walls and allowed her to see further into the room. There were piles of corpses throughout the room and the stench of them was overpowering, she vomited onto the floor. Collecting herself she looked to the center of the room.
In the middle of this horrific scene stood the harbinger of this atrocity. The figure was dark even with the torches and she could not make him out. Learning from her past mistake she inspected the room for any traps or ambushes mentally before she entered, she found none. Without further lingering, she approached cautiously into the room. A hollow laugh emanated from the dark figure, "I have been expecting you, young fool. I know why you are here and I am afraid to say that you will fail in this endeavor."
Kaylee was close enough now to the interloper to see that his skin was withered and fetid. The figure turned towards her and the glow of her orb revealed him. He was a tall man, bare except for weathered pants. His most frightening trait were his eyes, for he had none. He spoke with a rasp, "I see that you are surprised, you were not expecting a walking, talking corpse. Humorous is it not? I, an undead necromancer, summoned by the same powers that I use." Kaylee had had enough of his lecture, and casted a spell. Before she could even raise her hand to begin, the figure called forth a bone prison around her. The cell was so tight she had trouble breathing and couldn't maneuver. "Tsk, tsk," clucked the necromancer, "I had hoped that you would be more cooperative. You see, my master wishes to take you alive for which ever horrific plans he has for you."
Kaylee, with great effort said, "You won't take me alive nor dead!" Using all of her training and experience, she focused her willpower upon the formidable bone cage. A thundering detonation was issued forth from Kaylee, shattering the cage and tossing the bone splinters in every direction. The resulting detonation knocked the necromancer off his feet, and he, despite his cadaverous condition, quickly rose back up.
Not wasting anytime, she threw a fireball in his direction and the necromancer ducked behind a pillar. The spell hit the pillar and exploded in a shower of fire. Behind cover, the necromancer summoned forth skeletal minions from the piles. The skeletons pulled themselves up through the pile of dead. The sight was horrifying. They charged at her, and magic missiles issued forth from her palm, the spell decimated them. Her mind was becoming heavy with fatigue and knew she couldn't keep at this for much longer. The necromancer grinned, his distraction had worked. Finishing his invocation, he pointed at Kaylee and the bone spear sped at her faster than she could blink. The spear, sharper than a needle, pierced her side and continued through until it impaled into the wall behind her. She fell to her knees, and held her side. Precious life blood poured from the wound. She gasped in pain and knew that the end was nigh. Still bent over, she looked straight into the visage of the necromancer. He again grinned deviously and rage took over her mind. With tremendous effort, she stood back up and her energy began weaving through her. The rage had cleared her mind, and she could control the energy as easily as her own arm.
With a great cry she summoned a beam of pure power and directed it towards the necromancer. The ray of energy battered him in the chest, disintegrating him clean in two. The necromancer, still grinning, fell backwards; vanquished. With the last of her energy she pulled the last elixir from her pouch and drank. She felt life return to her limbs and wanting to get out of the suffocating tomb, quickly traversed the passageways to the exit. Time passed by quickly during her trek, and all she could think about was freedom from this tomb. When she reached the entrance of the crypt, it was dawn. The light felt refreshing on her skin. With the remainder of her energy, she climbed the stairs and passed out on the path leading to the village.
When she awoke it was in a bed, the elder was leaning over her. She tried to sit up but felt a stabbing pain in her stomach and laid back down. "The undead attacked us last night and in the middle of battle they all collapsed, we knew you had defeated the conjurer. We dispatched men to search for you and they found you collapsed on the trail. 'Tis lucky we found you when we did, for you were on the verge of joining those you had been fighting."
Kaylee thanked the elder for his healing and decided it was best to stay in bed. She slept until the day's late afternoon, when she was awoken by music and laughter. Her side did not pain her as much and she decided to investigate. She walked outside and was greeted by a welcoming sight. All the villagers were gathered around a great fire and were dancing and merrymaking, They noticed her and motioned for her to join them. She had a great time at the celebration. She told the story of her battle against the undead to the children more times than she could remember. They ate a great feast and toasted to Kaylee's achievements.
After the party she returned to her room. A thought nagged at her throughout the party. Who was this "master" the necromancer spoke of, and if he was powerful enough to summon undead with powers as strong as her, how would she stop him? But that, she decided, was a problem she would remedy at another time, and instead focused on the good times of that night. For this was a night to remember, a Night of the Cadaver. . .
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I tried to separate it as much as possible so that it was not such a large wall of text. Feel free to comment/criticize!
As she was walking the desolate pathway towards the crypt she couldn't help but shiver. On either side of her laid graves filled with the slumbering dead, a few of these recently uncovered. On this night she noticed that the moon was exceptionally bright and seemed close enough to reach. To help pass the time of this cold night she decided to recount what had lead her to her current circumstances.
Kaylee was a wizard of the Vizjerei and had only recently finished her schooling. She had auburn hair, always keeping it in a ponytail. Her eyes were green like the robes she wore. Kaylee was in her younger years and sought adventures. While wandering in Kehjistan, she had heard of the village that was under constant siege from the undead and desired to eliminate their infestation. She had always dreamt of being a legendary wizard who would conquer evil and safeguard the light, and her dream was hopefully about to come to fruition. The village was still aflame from the earlier raids of the undead and she had to step over many bodies, some recently slain and some that looked fresh from the grave. She approached the only home that was illuminated. Before she could reach the door she was halted by two haggard farmers with pitchforks. "Who are you foreigner, you have not the stink of death about you," announced the bigger of the two.
"My name is Kaylee, I am a wizard. I have come to aid you and speak with your elder." The farmer nodded at her with a look of surprise and quickly opened the door to the small retreat. Inside, there was an assembly of farmers and wives who were gathered around an elderly man. The elderly man had a long dusky beard, bald head, and was bent from old age. She suspected him to be the leader of this village. As she entered all the heads turned towards her. The farmers all held farming tools which they seemed to be using as makeshift weapons. Every villager looked distraught and weary. Then the elder said, "Who might you be young lady; I have not seen you here before." Kaylee walked towards the elder and spoke aloud so all could hear, "I am Kaylee a wizard of the Vizjerei, and I have come to aid you." She paused briefly to wait for a response from the elder; he merely stared at her in disbelief. "I had heard of your plight and decided that I would help you, I will vanquish the undead and save your village."
The elder collected himself and said, "Thank you greatly wizard, I had not been expecting any help. We are glad for your aid." He gestured to the crowd of villagers, "But I am afraid to say that we have no way to pay you, for we are a poor folk." Kaylee understood their dilemma, "Fear not, I have no desire for bounty, I simply want to rid the lands of this pestilence." The elder approached her and put a delicate finger on her forehead, and said a prayer. "Go then with our hope and defeat this unholy scourge." He then looked at her with aged eyes and said, "They come from the east." She nodded in acknowledgement and then set out upon her journey to the source of this undead scourge.
After her recall of past events she found herself in front of the crypt, the smell of the dead was overwhelming. The crypt was where the surrounding villages laid their departed to rest as they had for generations, and was sure to be the source of the undead. She reached into her pouch and withdrew her prismatic orb. Quietly she murmured an incantation and the globe flared to life, releasing a radiant glow. As she crossed over the threshold between moonlight and total darkness she could feel the warmth from her body being drained. The crypt was as cold as ice and her orb was the only source of light. "The sooner I get out of here the better," she said to no one in particular, as her voice echoed in the desecrated interior. She slowly descended further down the stairs and into the dark abyss of the tomb.
Once she reached the bottom she was surprised to see no sentries, the tomb was completely devoid of life, alive or dead. Aware that this could be a trap she stayed on guard. Using the orb as a lantern, she held it in front of her as she traveled the worn passage covered in spider webs. The passage was very narrow and she constantly checked behind her for hidden assailants. Abruptly she heard a "twang" of a bow, and instinctivley encompassed herself in a shield of magic. The arrow glanced off the shield and shattered onto the floor. Within the next instant she let loose a fireball in the general direction of the shot and was rewarded with a resounding explosion of fire and bone.
"Well if they didn't know I was here before, they know now," She said to herself. And to her further dismay, she saw at the edge of her orb's glow more skeletal warriors running towards her from an archway. The glow of her orb gleamed off their ancient armor. She conjured up a powerful lightning spell and casted it at the warriors. The electricity hit the center off the first skeleton. The electricity coursed through their bones disintegrating everything it touched. The spell ricocheted onto the surrounding skeletons causing a chain reaction of destruction. All of what was left was ash and armor. She searched for more undead but was repaid with only silence and darkness. She took this small reprieve to drink an elixir from her pack, restoring her vitality. Kaylee had to make certain that she always had enough energy to cast her spells, if she was caught unprepared that would spell the end. She continued along the passage until she came to a large room. In one of the corners a grave robber sat with a rusted sword in hand, he had been here awhile.
Stepping through the gateway she set off a trap. The gate behind her closed and along with it the one exit out of the tomb. Without warning her orb was extinguished and she was left in pitch black. She hurriedly tried to revive her orb but was met with no success. She placed her back against a wall and concentrated on listening. Trepidation began to wash over her as she heard the dragging of feet. Try as she might she could not muster any magic, she could still sense it but it was if someone were holding it above her, out of reach. When she was about to give up all hope, she remembered the sword. Sliding her hand across the wall as a guide, she ran as fast as she could to the corner. Searching the corpse she found the sword and pried it from the robber's cold hand.
The blade was awfully decayed but would do the trick. It was then she noticed that the dragging had stopped. Holding her breath, she listened. She could hear a faint moaning, and shock gripped her, the creature was right behind her. Dashing to the side she chopped with all her strength where she had last heard the creature. The sword met no resistance and clashed into the hard ground, causing her to stumble into the wall. Still focusing on her hearing, she listened for the horror. It started shambling towards her again, its feet dragging across the cold floor. This time she was ready, and dashed out with three quick slashes. She hit the creature with every cut and heard it crumple to the floor. Immediately, her orb flared back to life, revealing the monstrosity. It was a bloated corpse covered in a farmers tattered clothes and were she had cut it with the sword it was oozing a putrid slime. She heard the gates on either side of her open. As fast as her feet could carry she ran out of the room and dropped the rusted sword.
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Along her trek she noticed that all the coffins were empty of cadavers. She noticed light ahead of her and slowed her pace. She was coming to the end of the underground passage and the source of the reanimated dead. She came to the final room, a large sepulcher, this was the only room with light. There were torches lit upon the walls and allowed her to see further into the room. There were piles of corpses throughout the room and the stench of them was overpowering, she vomited onto the floor. Collecting herself she looked to the center of the room.
In the middle of this horrific scene stood the harbinger of this atrocity. The figure was dark even with the torches and she could not make him out. Learning from her past mistake she inspected the room for any traps or ambushes mentally before she entered, she found none. Without further lingering, she approached cautiously into the room. A hollow laugh emanated from the dark figure, "I have been expecting you, young fool. I know why you are here and I am afraid to say that you will fail in this endeavor."
Kaylee was close enough now to the interloper to see that his skin was withered and fetid. The figure turned towards her and the glow of her orb revealed him. He was a tall man, bare except for weathered pants. His most frightening trait were his eyes, for he had none. He spoke with a rasp, "I see that you are surprised, you were not expecting a walking, talking corpse. Humorous is it not? I, an undead necromancer, summoned by the same powers that I use." Kaylee had had enough of his lecture, and casted a spell. Before she could even raise her hand to begin, the figure called forth a bone prison around her. The cell was so tight she had trouble breathing and couldn't maneuver. "Tsk, tsk," clucked the necromancer, "I had hoped that you would be more cooperative. You see, my master wishes to take you alive for which ever horrific plans he has for you."
Kaylee, with great effort said, "You won't take me alive nor dead!" Using all of her training and experience, she focused her willpower upon the formidable bone cage. A thundering detonation was issued forth from Kaylee, shattering the cage and tossing the bone splinters in every direction. The resulting detonation knocked the necromancer off his feet, and he, despite his cadaverous condition, quickly rose back up.
Not wasting anytime, she threw a fireball in his direction and the necromancer ducked behind a pillar. The spell hit the pillar and exploded in a shower of fire. Behind cover, the necromancer summoned forth skeletal minions from the piles. The skeletons pulled themselves up through the pile of dead. The sight was horrifying. They charged at her, and magic missiles issued forth from her palm, the spell decimated them. Her mind was becoming heavy with fatigue and knew she couldn't keep at this for much longer. The necromancer grinned, his distraction had worked. Finishing his invocation, he pointed at Kaylee and the bone spear sped at her faster than she could blink. The spear, sharper than a needle, pierced her side and continued through until it impaled into the wall behind her. She fell to her knees, and held her side. Precious life blood poured from the wound. She gasped in pain and knew that the end was nigh. Still bent over, she looked straight into the visage of the necromancer. He again grinned deviously and rage took over her mind. With tremendous effort, she stood back up and her energy began weaving through her. The rage had cleared her mind, and she could control the energy as easily as her own arm.
With a great cry she summoned a beam of pure power and directed it towards the necromancer. The ray of energy battered him in the chest, disintegrating him clean in two. The necromancer, still grinning, fell backwards; vanquished. With the last of her energy she pulled the last elixir from her pouch and drank. She felt life return to her limbs and wanting to get out of the suffocating tomb, quickly traversed the passageways to the exit. Time passed by quickly during her trek, and all she could think about was freedom from this tomb. When she reached the entrance of the crypt, it was dawn. The light felt refreshing on her skin. With the remainder of her energy, she climbed the stairs and passed out on the path leading to the village.
When she awoke it was in a bed, the elder was leaning over her. She tried to sit up but felt a stabbing pain in her stomach and laid back down. "The undead attacked us last night and in the middle of battle they all collapsed, we knew you had defeated the conjurer. We dispatched men to search for you and they found you collapsed on the trail. 'Tis lucky we found you when we did, for you were on the verge of joining those you had been fighting."
Kaylee thanked the elder for his healing and decided it was best to stay in bed. She slept until the day's late afternoon, when she was awoken by music and laughter. Her side did not pain her as much and she decided to investigate. She walked outside and was greeted by a welcoming sight. All the villagers were gathered around a great fire and were dancing and merrymaking, They noticed her and motioned for her to join them. She had a great time at the celebration. She told the story of her battle against the undead to the children more times than she could remember. They ate a great feast and toasted to Kaylee's achievements.
After the party she returned to her room. A thought nagged at her throughout the party. Who was this "master" the necromancer spoke of, and if he was powerful enough to summon undead with powers as strong as her, how would she stop him? But that, she decided, was a problem she would remedy at another time, and instead focused on the good times of that night. For this was a night to remember, a Night of the Cadaver. . .
I tried to separate it as much as possible so that it was not such a large wall of text. Feel free to comment/criticize!
Kaylee was a wizard of the Vizjerei and had only recently finished her schooling. She had auburn hair, always keeping it in a ponytail. Her eyes were green like the robes she wore. Kaylee was in her younger years and sought adventures. While wandering in Kehjistan, she had heard of the village that was under constant siege from the undead and desired to eliminate their infestation. She had always dreamt of being a legendary wizard who would conquer evil and safeguard the light, and her dream was hopefully about to come to fruition. The village was still aflame from the earlier raids of the undead and she had to step over many bodies, some recently slain and some that looked fresh from the grave. She approached the only home that was illuminated. Before she could reach the door she was halted by two haggard farmers with pitchforks. "Who are you foreigner, you have not the stink of death about you," announced the bigger of the two.
"My name is Kaylee, I am a wizard. I have come to aid you and speak with your elder." The farmer nodded at her with a look of surprise and quickly opened the door to the small retreat. Inside, there was an assembly of farmers and wives who were gathered around an elderly man. The elderly man had a long dusky beard, bald head, and was bent from old age. She suspected him to be the leader of this village. As she entered all the heads turned towards her. The farmers all held farming tools which they seemed to be using as makeshift weapons. Every villager looked distraught and weary. Then the elder said, "Who might you be young lady; I have not seen you here before." Kaylee walked towards the elder and spoke aloud so all could hear, "I am Kaylee a wizard of the Vizjerei, and I have come to aid you." She paused briefly to wait for a response from the elder; he merely stared at her in disbelief. "I had heard of your plight and decided that I would help you, I will vanquish the undead and save your village."
The elder collected himself and said, "Thank you greatly wizard, I had not been expecting any help. We are glad for your aid." He gestured to the crowd of villagers, "But I am afraid to say that we have no way to pay you, for we are a poor folk." Kaylee understood their dilemma, "Fear not, I have no desire for bounty, I simply want to rid the lands of this pestilence." The elder approached her and put a delicate finger on her forehead, and said a prayer. "Go then with our hope and defeat this unholy scourge." He then looked at her with aged eyes and said, "They come from the east." She nodded in acknowledgement and then set out upon her journey to the source of this undead scourge.
After her recall of past events she found herself in front of the crypt, the smell of the dead was overwhelming. The crypt was where the surrounding villages laid their departed to rest as they had for generations, and was sure to be the source of the undead. She reached into her pouch and withdrew her prismatic orb. Quietly she murmured an incantation and the globe flared to life, releasing a radiant glow. As she crossed over the threshold between moonlight and total darkness she could feel the warmth from her body being drained. The crypt was as cold as ice and her orb was the only source of light. "The sooner I get out of here the better," she said to no one in particular, as her voice echoed in the desecrated interior. She slowly descended further down the stairs and into the dark abyss of the tomb.
Once she reached the bottom she was surprised to see no sentries, the tomb was completely devoid of life, alive or dead. Aware that this could be a trap she stayed on guard. Using the orb as a lantern, she held it in front of her as she traveled the worn passage covered in spider webs. The passage was very narrow and she constantly checked behind her for hidden assailants. Abruptly she heard a "twang" of a bow, and instinctivley encompassed herself in a shield of magic. The arrow glanced off the shield and shattered onto the floor. Within the next instant she let loose a fireball in the general direction of the shot and was rewarded with a resounding explosion of fire and bone.
"Well if they didn't know I was here before, they know now," She said to herself. And to her further dismay, she saw at the edge of her orb's glow more skeletal warriors running towards her from an archway. The glow of her orb gleamed off their ancient armor. She conjured up a powerful lightning spell and casted it at the warriors. The electricity hit the center off the first skeleton. The electricity coursed through their bones disintegrating everything it touched. The spell ricocheted onto the surrounding skeletons causing a chain reaction of destruction. All of what was left was ash and armor. She searched for more undead but was repaid with only silence and darkness. She took this small reprieve to drink an elixir from her pack, restoring her vitality. Kaylee had to make certain that she always had enough energy to cast her spells, if she was caught unprepared that would spell the end. She continued along the passage until she came to a large room. In one of the corners a grave robber sat with a rusted sword in hand, he had been here awhile.
Stepping through the gateway she set off a trap. The gate behind her closed and along with it the one exit out of the tomb. Without warning her orb was extinguished and she was left in pitch black. She hurriedly tried to revive her orb but was met with no success. She placed her back against a wall and concentrated on listening. Trepidation began to wash over her as she heard the dragging of feet. Try as she might she could not muster any magic, she could still sense it but it was if someone were holding it above her, out of reach. When she was about to give up all hope, she remembered the sword. Sliding her hand across the wall as a guide, she ran as fast as she could to the corner. Searching the corpse she found the sword and pried it from the robber's cold hand.
The blade was awfully decayed but would do the trick. It was then she noticed that the dragging had stopped. Holding her breath, she listened. She could hear a faint moaning, and shock gripped her, the creature was right behind her. Dashing to the side she chopped with all her strength where she had last heard the creature. The sword met no resistance and clashed into the hard ground, causing her to stumble into the wall. Still focusing on her hearing, she listened for the horror. It started shambling towards her again, its feet dragging across the cold floor. This time she was ready, and dashed out with three quick slashes. She hit the creature with every cut and heard it crumple to the floor. Immediately, her orb flared back to life, revealing the monstrosity. It was a bloated corpse covered in a farmers tattered clothes and were she had cut it with the sword it was oozing a putrid slime. She heard the gates on either side of her open. As fast as her feet could carry she ran out of the room and dropped the rusted sword.