The first thought of Thomas Gaines was that it was cold. His body seemed to have no heat. He thinks for a moment recalling his last memory. It was extreme pain in his heart and then nothing. Now he can feel his body but he has no heartbeat. Still with his eyes closed he mumbles to himself,
"Am I dead?"
A voice replies, "To be precise you're undead."
Tom's eyes shoot open to see a beautiful starry sky. He sits up and finds himself in a magic circle of white chalk, strange runes are written along the edges and candles dimly light up his surroundings. Just in view of the candlelight he spots a smiling older black man.
He's sitting on tree stump wearing shiny leather boots, a black trench coat, and a ratty top hat with a few fangs of a beast tied just above the rim. In his stubbled mouth a cigarette is gently lit, he inhales and blows out as he randomly plays a few strings on a creepy banjo carved to look like a colorful face.
Tom stands up trying to leave the circle but finds a shimmering white light blocking him from leaving. "Who are you? Why can't I leave?" He asks.
The man smiles and stands up before walking to the circle. As he walks he grabs a yellowed parchment from inside his trench coat and unfurls it. "Call me Huld. Obviously you can't leave because you haven't signed the contract yet. A low level witch doctor like myself can't have my zombie killing me after waking him up."
"What does this contract entail?" Tom asks cautiously.
"Read it yourself, just remember you'll go back to being dead for good if you don't sign." Huld smiles wickedly while throwing the parchment.
Tom mumbles under his breath as he grabs the contract from midair, "Not like I have a choice anyway then."
Yet he still reads it. As he reads his face gets uglier. It's basically a slave contract however luckily it states he'll be free from service after five years. Fearing the nothing that was death before being awakened he signs reluctantly. After signing his name with the feather quill provided, the contract burns up in flames before separating into two lines of fire heading for Tom and Huld.
It scorches itself into a black charcoal like symbol over Tom's heart. A similar symbol is now on the back of the witch doctor's hand. Huld snaps his fingers and the faint white light from the circle disappears. He extends his hand, "Welcome to my service Mr?"
Tom glances at the hand before shaking it and says, "I'm Thomas Gaines. Call me Tom."
"Very well let's head out I don't want to be caught by this towns residents, I can't imagine they'll take kindly to me raising someone who was buried earlier today from the dead." Huld leads Tom off into the night.
Tom looks around noticing the graves and his dug up grave with a simple wooden cross over it. Furthermore he sees souls of various humans floating around but that was something he was used to. "Where are we?" He asks.
"Oh? You don't remember? That's odd." Huld raises his eyebrows as he walks through a spooky forest next to the cemetery. An owl hoots nearby.
"No, all I remember is my name." Tom lies.
What he does remember is his past life. A schizophrenic at 18. Mother dead at 20. Father growing distant because of a jealous new wife. His heart attack at 30. Besides that nothing remarkable happened. He lived a pretty average life. The only thing you could say was interesting is that his disease made him see what he would call spirits.
It seems like he reincarnated in a new world with magic. A world with witch doctors who can raise the dead. At least it's much more interesting than his previous world. Although his life in the last world was interesting due to his disease it was all in his head and he knew it. Where's the fun in that?
However Huld's next sentence surprises him, "We're in southern Louisiana close to New Orleans."
"America? What year?" Tom asks surprised.
"You remember America huh? Well it's 1832." Huld replies.
"Damn so I have to worry about guns too, I was hoping it was just magic and swords." Tom mumbles under his breath.
"Worry about guns? Did the resurrection make you stupid?" Huld laughs loudly scaring a few bats on a gnarled tree. "Even a low level witch doctor like myself can stop most regular bullets with a simple magical item, let alone a zombie like you who only has to fear losing your head and limbs."
As the two walk through the dark forest guided only by the gentle full moon Tom asks questions about this world under the pretense of having lost his memory. To his surprise it's very different yet quite similar.
It's as if he was sent back in time to a similar earth where all myths and legends are real. Magic exists in many different forms and there's a variety of new species ranging from beasts to humanoids. Even gods exist constantly warring on earth through believers and in the divine realm with their own bodies.
America where he is, is considered the land of opportunities right now with gods and species all over the world focusing their attention on this undeveloped land. There's a variety of what you could call 'classes' ranging from magicians to paladins to monks
"Why are you in Louisiana right now? Why resurrect me?" Tom reaches his final questions
"We're in Louisiana because I'm heading to New Orleans the holy land of voodoo. I resurrected you because I need protection right now. It can be quite dangerous in the wilderness..."
Tom presses him for more information on the danger they could come across yet the older man clams up trudging forward a while before coming across a small camp site. Embers are slowly dying out in a campfire and a donkey is sleeping next to an old wooden wagon painted with a fading green color. A small metal chimney sticks out of the top of the wagon.
"You stand watch outside while I sleep, zombies don't need rest or get tired so stay alert." Huld says and the contract rune on his hand flashes with a dim green light.
After this happens Tom feels that if he didn't listen, the rune on Tom's chest would cause him unimaginable pain and even death. This is just something he can feel in his soul reminding him that he's basically Huld's slave for five years despite the witch doctor being so kind.
Clenching his fist he stands watch the night occasionally moving positions to spot anything. He realizes his vision is surprisingly good at night. Probably a perk of being undead. With nothing to do he starts partly focusing on the spirits he can still see to pass the time. While his disease may be annoying it can be pretty interesting at times.
There's much less spirits than there were in the cemetery. Mostly they're beasts however he notices a white soul of what looks like a tree person. As he focuses on it for over a minute curious about what it is he feels a pulling force coming from his eyes. The treant is slowly being forced towards Tom. It seems to be struggling and in fear. However no matter how it struggles it can't escape from the pulling force.
Eventually as it gets within five meters of Tom it turns into a thick white line of soul force that drills into Tom's eyes. He's stunned for a moment as a vast amount of memories drill into his mind. First as a simple tree growing slowly from a sprout to a towering oak. Then a passing Druid performing a complex ceremony granting it sentience. Then countless years as a guardian of this small forest protecting nature.
As he comes out of it Tom feels as if he's gotten sharper, his mind slightly quicker and smarter. And deep inside he can feel a talent has formed called 'friend of nature.' Simple information on its use passes to his head. To put it quickly it allows him to move more easily in the wilds avoiding roots and thorny plants by instinct. Simple beasts will also be more reluctant to attack him.
'I wonder what the hell that was... It never happened back in my past life but this world is completely different.'
After a while of sorting through memories he realizes they are almost completely useless. However he's more focused on if he can do this endlessly? What are the limits? Are there dangers? Is his disease a blessing in this new world? After trying to replicate it by staring at the animal spirits around nothing happens and he's quite disappointed.
Reminded by the rune on his chest that he needs to keep lookout he decides to ask Huld tomorrow about talents, however he will not reveal this soul vision and devouring unless he's forced to.