Tolaga, Inner District
"It's been quite some time since you last visited me, Somar. How have you been?" A man garbed in a golden tunic and black breeches said, sitting on a chair in the middle of a hall. He was a mountain of a man, occupying the chair fully which could be used by two people at the same time. His face was clean-shaven and his black hair was short and clean. He was a handsome man albeit bigger than an average man from the Cerese kingdom.
The hall was painted golden with intricate patterns carved into the walls signifying the work and effort put into its creation. A huge table sat in the middle of the hall, the head of the table occupied by the golden-garbed man. He was Andres Tolaga, Baron of the Ceres kingdom and the ruler of the Tolaga town.
He swirled a glass in his hand while his other hand supported his head, his gaze on a man standing in front of him. It was the knight or rather paladin from the church who had reported Roan's abnormalities to The priest who Somar called Father. He was wearing a heavy armour painted white and carried the helmet of his armour in his hand revealing his white hair, a sign of baptism, a ritual every church personnel had to go through to be recruited. The ritual's purpose wasn't just to turn people's hair white, it also provided physical benefits like increased strength and stamina. Some even believed that it also increased lifespan.
"I have been well, my lord." The Paladin named Somar said bowing to show respect. A fitting greeting from a Paladin to a Noble. He stood straight after some time and smiled as he continued," I have come bearing some interesting news, My lord."
Andres raised an eyebrow at Somar's words, clearly intrigued by what was such interesting news to prompt a Paladin himself to come to deliver the news."Continue." He curtly said and put the glass in his hand on the table.
Somar cleared his throat and said," There seems to be a necromancer on the loose in town, my lord and Father suspects him to be a part of death dealers."
Andres stared at Somar with a smile on his face after hearing the news."Well, that is certainly a piece of interesting news you have delivered, Somar" He paused as he smiled at Somar. He turned his head towards the table and picked up the glass on the table." And why do you think Father lumped that Necromancer with the death dealers? You should know that they don't operate here?"
"Yes, I am aware of that but I don't know Father's reasoning on this decision. So you would have to talk to him for an answer." Somar replied and gave a thin smile to the Baron as he stood there.
"You certainly gave me some valuable news, Somar.....Then I shall return the favour. Do you know why Casandra is visiting my town?"
"No, my lord," Somar replied in a heartbeat and waited for the answer. Something about Cassandra of all people. Somar inwardly rejoiced but kept a small smile on his face as he waited for the answer.
"She is here in search of a Rogue magus. I do not know his name but he is of great power from what I have heard. And he is here in Tolaga." Andres sighed at the end of his talking troubled at the situation. Magus were never good news especially if they started doing something that they weren't supposed to.
Somar digested the news as he put his hand on his chin. A rogue magus of great power in a backwater town like Tolaga was a very strange situation. Father would like the news. Somar inwardly smiled as he thought about how Church wasn't fond of a rouge magus. This was a piece of great news, whatever reason Baron had to cause him to share the news with him.
In need of a helping hand to eliminate the rogue from his town, perhaps. Somar thought.
Andre interrupted Somar's pondering as he waved his hand and said, "Come sit here with me for dinner."
Somar shook his head and said, "No, my lord. I do not deserve the honour."
Andres shook his head and stared at Somar for a couple of seconds. He smiled said with a regretful expression and said, "Then you can leave, my friend."
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Roan sat on the straw bed inside his rundown shack as he stared at a corpse in Infront of him. It was a dead mouse, nothing new in the slums and something he had been used to. He poked the corpse with a stick making sure it was dead. The corpse wasn't just a corpse but a test subject for Roan. A test subject with which he hoped to understand his newly acquired powers and hopefully save his head from being lopped off by the church with the same powers.
Roan grinned as he extended his shivering hand. He was nervous and excited at the same time. The dream had shown him using these powers without much effort but he seemed to have been out of control at the time.
Or maybe controlled by someone else. Roan shivered at the thought and pulled back his hand. Who knows what would happen if he tried to resurrect a dead like he had done that day? He had been debating with himself whether to try out his powers or not but he had thought that he reached a decision. And now it seemed that he hadn't. But as he was about to stand up, he was suddenly reminded of the other events that had happened the same day. His friend's death is torn to shreds by the monsters.
Roan clenched his hand, guilt gnawing at his heart. What if he had the powers that he had right now? Would he have been able to save his friends? That question rang inside his head like a church bell continuously. He couldn't get the thought out of his head as he sat there debating.
Risk and reward were the two sides of the same coin, Seth used to say. Roan either had to embrace the power however dangerous it may be or be powerless as the Pits swallowed the world just like the time when he had been unable to save his friends.
His mind made up, Roan again extended his shivering hand towards the dead mouse. He had no idea how this worked. Even the attacks that he had done while fighting the gorges and the thugs had been almost a fluke. But turning something into an undead was probably harder than that.
Shouldn't be too hard. Roan concentrated on the heat in his chest that he had felt before. It was there lingering on his heart, unable to be felt without full concentration. But ever-present. He tried to nudge it towards his hand. It took some effort but it slowly but steadily moved according to his command and a black gas slowly seeped out of his fingers and swiftly entered the dead mouse. Roan waited with bated breath for any sign of movement. But nothing happened as the last wisp of the black smoke which according to the book that he had read at the library was death ether, entered the mouse.
Roan was disappointed but waited for a couple of seconds more until he was sure nothing was going to happen. So, he again did everything the same as before and crouched down to watch as the death ether slowly seeped into the dead mouse. Nothing happened again for a couple of seconds. Roan was again disappointed but when he was about to turn away from the mouse, he saw movement. First, it started as subtle twitches in its stomach which slowly turned into wriggling of its full body as if worms were moving under its skin. It was disturbing but Roan didn't move his eyes away.
The twitching continued for some time and suddenly stopped as if every last bit of energy had been spent from its body. It lay there on the ground for a couple of seconds without a single hint of movement.
When Roan was again feeling disappointed the twitching returned but was accompanied by subtle movement of its limbs. It jerkily moved.
The mouse slowly stood on its legs shakily and shook its body which caused its fur to fall leaving it hairless.
The pinkish skin of the freshly dead mouse turned black right in front of Roan who was staring at all the happenings with his mouth agape. The mouse again twitched for a couple of seconds and returned Roan's stare with its lifeless eyes.
Roan swallowed and kept eye contact with his creation, a zombie mouse which meant that he was now officially a Necromancer, just a few wrong steps away from the Church's guillotine.