Lieze was relieved to finally be free of Tonberg, though she felt like it wouldn't be her last time in the city. The royalists at the gate didn't seem to recognise her with her hood up. A crowd of people were congregated at the southern gate--traders and travellers, mostly. They loudly demanded the right to leave, and were just as loudly refused exit by the tremendous amount of guards stationed on the walls.
"It's been like this since last week." Noma had told her, "I hear the priesthood is putting pressure on His Majesty to allow witch-hunts for any necromancers that might have tried to hide in the city following the siege. The most we got was martial law, thankfully."
"Do the priests have a lot of power in Tonberg?" Lieze asked.
"Absolutely. You aren't from around here, are you? I've never seen a girl with white hair before…"
"I'm from… the Deadlands." She admitted, "My family… were able to find refuge in Bascoroch when the Order of Necromancers began their crusade. But…"
"Oh… I'm sorry for prying." Noma apologised, "But, it's true that the Church of the Golden Dragon has a lot of power here. And they've only been receiving more support from the public since what happened during the battle."
"Do they have power over the king?"
"That sort of question could get you in a lot of trouble… especially with the Acolytes of Reunification."
"The Acol- I'm sorry?"
"Ah, don't get the idea that they're part of the city's army or the priesthood or anything like that." She warned, "They're… I suppose they prefer the term 'traditionalists'. People who still support the Church's beliefs prior to the reformation two years ago."
Lieze didn't know one end of Tonberg from another, never mind its history. It sounded to her as if the golden faith's impeccable image wasn't so untarnished from the grave tone in Noma's voice.
"My, um…" She paused, "My brother is a member. You might know his name--Helmach Lawain?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Well, he's something like a leader to them. They 'enforce' the church's beliefs when priests aren't allowed to intervene in certain matters."
"I take it you don't support them?"
"Just… be mindful of what you say about the Church. The walls have ears, and all that."
The Kobold infestation the two of them had agreed to clear out wasn't far from the city. Farmsteads in the vicinity of the cave had been finding their livestock reduced to bones in the morning. Kobolds were intelligent enough to use tools, but the rate at which they multiplied often drove the creatures to steal from nearby settlements. The reward for exterminating them was 100 gold coins--not a paltry sum by any means, but payouts tended to be quite large when one was sticking their neck out for a chance at glory.
Lieze couldn't get the golden scale out of her mind. The renewed vigour in her step only confirmed that the gift had somehow made her stronger. She felt giddy, yet apprehensive. At the very least, she wanted to see just how far the scale could take her. The hope that she could finally be of use to the Order in some way spurred her mind to create terrible possibilities.
The cave was a deathtrap--half-buried in the marshy hillsides from where the endless fields of grain beyond Tonberg's walls could be seen sprawling towards the horizon. Water from a nearby stream mixed with the muddy entrance and flowed into the cave to create a passageway that could have easily spelled the doom of an unwary human.
"The Kobolds are in here?" Noma wondered, "Couldn't they have picked somewhere more… pleasant?"
"Kobolds are crafty. They can't hope to take on humans individually, so they rely on traps to do the heavy lifting for them." Lieze explained, "A place like this, where flat-footed creatures like us are one bad step away from breaking our necks, is perfect for them."
"How do you suppose we'll be getting in?"
"With great difficulty."
She wandered into the mud to inspect the mouth of the cave, noticing a sheer incline disappearing into the abyss. Even attempting to slide down would quickly send one careening into the darkness.
"Do you see any way down?" Noma asked.
"You wouldn't happen to have some rope, would you?"
"Naturally!" The girl smiled, unbridling her rucksack, "Rope, pitons, rations… a guild member should never be caught unprepared, don't you think?"
The length of rope she pulled from the bag seemed long enough to serve their purposes. With her feet almost stuck in the mud, Lieze heaved the spool of hemp over to the cave and tied a strong knot around the piton Noma was so kind as to stab into a reasonably dry patch of soil. Neither of them could be certain that the rope was long enough to descend fully into the cave.
"Well, how deep could it possibly be?" Noma reassured.
"I hope that was an offer to go first…"
"Don't worry. I've done this plenty of times."
Wading over to the slick entrance, Noma peered down into the abyss, "Even if we do fall… it wouldn't be that dangerous, would it?"
"I certainly hope so."
"...Eh?"
Before the sorceress could turn her head, she felt her body being flung forward. As a gasp escaped from her mouth, she quickly found herself tumbling over on the slippery rocks, losing control completely as she promptly fell head-over-heels into the darkness. The last thing Lieze heard from the girl was a blood-curdling scream followed by an impact just seconds later. She idled in the sudden silence, keeping her ears open for any signs of life.
"...That worked out nicely." She muttered, "I wasn't expecting it to be so easy."
Seconds later, a notice appeared from her scale.
[Noma Lawain Defeated]
30xp Rewarded
Whatever that meant, the scale had clearly approved of her efforts.
She gave the rope a few harsh tugs to make certain that the piton was firmly embedded in the ground, before turning her back to the entrance and carefully lowering herself into the cavern. Noma's rope was about fifty feet in length--so large it had practically been bulging out of her pack. Lieze wasn't worried about running out. If the cave was much deeper, Kobolds would have never claimed it.
She landed in an ankle-deep puddle cloudy with blood. Her eyes took a number of expectant minutes to adjust to the darkness. Noma's corpse was in remarkably good condition considering the distance she'd fallen. The girl's face was contorted into an expression of horror. Perhaps she felt betrayed in her final moments. Or simply afraid.
Lieze had never been able to raise a freshly-dead thrall before. The most she could ever work with were week-old corpses and ancient skeletons. Normally, she wouldn't have wasted the effort trying anything more complicated, but the golden scale made her think differently.
Her conscience hadn't suffered at all from her shameless murder. Death was just another cornerstone of the Order's beliefs. All necromancers were completely desensitised from their atrocities, but Sokalar had ensured that Lieze was made to know the beauty which resided in death. It was one of the few lessons he'd been successful in teaching her. She had ended Noma's life with the same nonchalance one would exercise when crushing an insect.
Holding out a hand, she closed her eyes in preparation for communing with the Blackbriar. Most necromancers could describe their visions while casting spells with exquisite precision, but the most Lieze had ever experienced were unpleasant sensations running across her skin. Or, at least--that used to be the case.
Her mind was suddenly flooded with terrifying imagery. Maggot-infested corpses, battlefields and creeping black tendrils leaped in and out of memory like experiences from a past life. For the first time, she witnessed the Blackbriar in all of its glory, pushing up from its subterranean domain and infesting the soil with corrupting, undulant branches. The stench of death clogged her nose. By the time she had finished with her communion, it felt as if hours had passed. She didn't resist the urge to double over and heave her innards out.
Panting, Lieze almost didn't notice the text which had appeared from her hand.
!Mana Burnout!
Your [Spellcasting] feature has been disabled for 24 hours.
Quest 'Rise From Your Grave' Complete!
Reward - 50xp
Level Up!
You are now level [3]
HP+5 MP+30
A loathsome groaning broke the girl from her stupor. Craning her head towards Noma's corpse, her eyes widened as the former conjurator struggled to her feet, head wound still bleeding profusely. Where there was once a certain innocence in her eyes, no such light remained--replaced instead with an uncanny, stark-white emptiness. The bold text above her head, roaring against the darkness of the cave walls, had also changed.
Gravewalker
Level 3 Undead Thrall
HP - 21/21 MP - 0/0
Lieze blinked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The meagre group of undead she'd managed to raise in time for the siege of Tonberg had taken her months to create, but she had animated Noma's corpse in just under a minute. The necromantic power she'd been granted by the Blackbriar was almost enough to knock her out. Slowly, her gaze descended once more to the golden scale.
She felt tears welling in her eyes. Since the day of her birth, no amount of effort could overcome her terrible aptitude for the magical arts. For decades, she had been nothing but a drain on both the Order's resources and her father's time. But something about the scale had changed her. No longer was she devoid of any meaningful talent. The joy of that realisation was almost too much for her to bear, as was the idea of such a gift ever being taken away from her.
Noma--no, the Gravewalker, stared blankly into space. Its former stave was splintered upon the rocks during the fall, but its rucksack was still half-looped around one of the thrall's shoulders. It barely made a sound as Lieze quickly took the pack for herself and examined the contents.
Besides some spare pitons, Noma had packed salted pork and wooden bread for the trip, alongside a hooded lantern which had been dangling noisily from the pack's side.
Raising a hand, Lieze also helped herself to the Gravewalker's dagger as a replacement for the one she'd forgotten to retrieve from the Dwarf's clinic. The pack wasn't utterly ruined by the puddles of the cave, but she at least transferred the rations to her own to be safe.
Just as she readied herself to move on, a strange sound caught her attention from further into the cave. Deep within the ever-expanding darkness, a pair of yellowed eyes appeared to be following her, only to retreat upon having its gaze met. Lieze had to remind herself that the cave wasn't uninhabited. She'd need to clear out the Kobolds if she didn't want to attract any suspicion from the guild. Having a safe place to keep her new Gravewalker while searching for a more inconspicuous residence was also an attractive prospect.
Better yet, she could put the deceased Kobolds to good use. The scale had warned her about something called a 'mana burnout'. Did that mean she had to wait a day before raising any more thralls? Acquiring experience from the trials she'd been completing seemed to be expanding her paltry reserve of magical energy, and improving her natural resilience to boot.
The scale opened by itself again.
New quest received!
"Clearing the Monster Den" - Exterminate every Kobold in the [Farmside Cavern]
Reward - 80xp
Was the scale sentient? Or was the Gildwyrm observing her every move? In any case, it seemed like the quests were determined by what she was up to at the moment. Turning her attention back to the Gravewalker, Lieze closed her eyes and tried to issue a command to the thrall. She was pleased to see the walking corpse responding to her whims, turning to shamble further into the cave. She couldn't be certain if the lantern had any oil in it, and lacked the means to light the wick besides. Skulking through the pitch-black wouldn't make it any more difficult for the dark-sighted Kobolds to spot her, and she'd be more at risk of stumbling into any traps they might have devised, but she didn't have much of a choice.
At least she'd raised a fine meat-shield.