Shortly after they left the restaurant, a group of six men walked towards the group. They were all armed and armored the same. It was clearly a formed unit of some sort, though Serenity didn’t know whose.
He could hear Stojan Tasi curse, but he didn’t say anything more as the group came closer. They halted when the man in the lead reached a good conversational distance - Serenity would have to speak up a bit, but it wouldn’t take yelling.
Serenity noticed that unlike the necromancer who tried to extort them, this man halted outside the easy range of even a polearm. The man in the lead looked older than the necromancer, as well; old enough that Tzintkra was probably his home, rather than somewhere he’d come to train. “Who are you?”
“Serenity. Who are you?” He expected the man to recognize that he was Named, which should answer any questions about why he had a group following him.
The man smiled. “Captain Larsen, Necropolis City Watch. Where are you headed?”
“We’re headed to see the City Lord. Bit of a walk, but that’s how it is sometimes.” Serenity smiled back at the Watch Captain. He could make Serenity’s life a lot harder or a lot easier right now. The best outcome would be to be left alone, but as long as it didn’t end in a fight or having their path blocked, Serenity didn’t care.
“Then you won’t mind if we escort you, will you?” the Captain offered. The subtext was clear - they were going to escort Serenity’s group whether he liked it or not; the only question in the Watch Captain’s mind was clearly whether that would be to the Residence or a jail cell.
“The more the merrier.” Serenity could hear Stojan Tasi muttering curses under his breath, but there wasn’t a good way out of it. They might be able to fight their way out of it, or they might not. If they did, he was sure they’d be swarmed by more Watchmen.
Being escorted to meet the City Lord was a far better outcome, even if it did mean they didn’t have the chance to stop at the park Stojan Tasi had mentioned and reverse their cloaks to appear to be following him instead of Serenity.
----------------------------------------
Captain Larsen stayed with them the whole way to the Residence, but the Watchmen with him changed twice as they went across the city. Serenity suspected it was as they reached new districts; each time was at a street corner, and Serenity didn’t see any ruined buildings at all after the last time the guard changed.
The City Lord’s Residence was an imposing building, even though it was clearly only a single story while the relatively nearby buildings were two or three. It was surrounded by an open field that would probably have been grassy on a planet that wasn’t Death-aligned, and it was massive. Serenity couldn’t judge just how wide it was, but his guess was that it was over half a mile.
It was obviously a “Residence” in the sense that the Residence Act was about a residence: it was the government seat for the Necropolis, which meant it was a national capital, possibly a world capital - though the existence of the Shining Caverns made him think that “national” was probably the better term, since it clearly didn’t rule the entire world.
Captain Larsen led the group of them to an imposing entrance; it was large enough that the larger of the two abominations they’d fought earlier in the day would have been able to walk in without bending over, and appropriately wide for the height. Serenity could see some fancy carvings, but he didn’t pay much attention beyond determining that there was no runework hidden in the carvings.
If he ever built an entrance like that, he’d hide runes in the carvings; even if they weren’t normally powered, building them in like that would help if they were to do something like reinforce the structure - and there were warning runes that could be used to detect if the wrong sort of person came through the doorway.
Serenity was still considering which runes would be best for a fancy public entrance when they entered a long room that had clearly been set up as an audience hall. He noticed several inconspicuous entrances and openings near the far end of the hall, along with a single obvious door.
It gave the impression that even though the City Lord was alone, seated on her throne at the end of the hall, she did not feel entirely comfortable meeting people without concealed guards.
Once they entered the room, Captain Larsen went back out into the hallway and closed the door, leaving the five of them to walk down the hall under the gaze of the City Lord. Serenity thought it probably worked pretty well when you were subject to the City Lord’s whim; having to walk a long way without her speaking would be intimidating.
Serenity found it more annoying than intimidating. It was a petty power ploy, and one he didn’t much care for. He’d just have to counter it with one of his own.
The City Lord was dressed in a robe that opened in front to reveal pants. Serenity was certain it was rich fabric, but that didn’t really make much difference to his odd sight. She had short hair, and there was something about her face that was familiar, though the scar that ran from her forehead across the bridge of her nose, then down to the corner of her mouth made it hard to be sure why.
A necklace peeked out from under her robe, and Serenity caught a glimpse of a shard of crystal in a cage of metal that pulled at his attention. Whatever that thing was, he wanted it and didn’t know why.
When he reached a comfortable speaking distance, Serenity stopped. He didn’t say anything and neither did the City Lord. The silence stretched until the City Lord finally asked, “Who are you and why are you here?”
She was looking directly at Serenity.
Serenity turned to City Lord Stojan Tasi. “We were asked to serve as an escort.”
Stojan Tasi stepped forward, but the Necropolis City Lord said, “We’ll get to you,” and turned back to Serenity. “You have no other reason to be in my city?”
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There was no reason not to admit it. Visiting a City Crystal Node was normal. “I have a quest to go home, and it means I need to visit a Node of the Necropolis City Crystal.”
“Does it. Well, we’ll get to that later.” Her attention turned to Stojan Tasi. “And why is my dear little brother visiting his big sister’s city? Didn’t I tell you to stay away unless you had a good reason or I’d take away your precious Caverns?” Her voice was positively venomous.
Serenity had a sinking feeling that he knew why Stojan Tasi wanted the mercenaries off Tzintkra for a while. Did people know that the Lord of the Shining Caverns was the brother of the Lord of its enemy?
He wondered if she was another dhampir. Both her brother and his nephew - her son? - were, so it seemed likely.
“Aith-” Stojan Tasi paused and took a deep breath before trying again. “Aith, did you send Kenna to the Shining Caverns?”
The Necropolis City Lord - Stojan Aith? - looked puzzled. “No. Did you catch him? He’s supposed to be playing with a young thing. He said she’s really devoted to magic and inventive. What’s her name...”
“Pelni Sukaj?” Serenity volunteered. That was the name of the woman they’d caught, after all, and “inventive” certainly sounded like one way of describing the curse.
“Yes, that’s the name. How did you know?” City Lord Stojan Aith looked more like a worried mother than a City Lord for a moment.
Her brother was the one to answer. “She survived. Kenna didn’t. They kidnapped a Guild; the Guild leader got free and ambushed them, killed Kenna with a dagger from the woman’s belt.” Stojan Tasi was surprisingly limited in what he said; Serenity would probably have said more.
“Guildmaster Irene? She should know better, I’ll-”
It was somehow amusing that Guildmaster Irene was well enough known that the leader of the Necropolis would jump to the conclusion that she was to blame.
“Guildmaster Hollis, Guildmaster of the Healer’s Guild.” Stojan Tasi interrupted his sister. “Irene didn’t find out about it until later, when some of her mercenaries fell across the hideout. And if you go after Guildmaster Hollis for it, there will be war. Which is what I’m trying to avoid by coming here. The person responsible isn’t Hollis, it’s whoever sent Kenna to a City he was exiled from to attack it without your permission.”
Stojan Aith stared at her brother and clenched a fist. “Very well.” She turned towards one of the concealed doors; after a moment, it opened and a man who was obviously a guard looked out. “Get Tibral Unalgos and bring him here. Refusal or delay is not an option; he is to be here immediately.”
The man bowed his head. “Your will,” then turned and headed away, closing the door behind him.
The Necropolis City Lord turned back to stare at her brother. “We will wait.”
Serenity had hoped she would offer food or at least chairs, but she didn’t.
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Tibral Unalgos was a big man, both in height and girth. He did not appear happy to be there; he seemed nervous as he walked down the long audience chamber.
“Tell me about your protegee, Tibral Unalgos. Is Pelni Sukaj still with my son?” The City Lord’s voice was cold and distant as she looked down her nose at the man who was literally standing below her.
“Y-yes, Lord,” Tibral Unalgos stammered, “They’re testing something Sukaj created. A new type of c-curse.”
“Where?” When Tibral Unalgos didn’t immediately reply, the City Lord repeated her question. “Where are they?”
“A-Ah, I don’t, I mean, I’m not sure.” Tibral Unalgos wrung his hands, but his eyes were fixed on the City Lord.
“Did they go to the Shining Caverns? It’s a simple question, Tibrall.”
Tibral Unalgos’s voice squeaked as he replied. “Y-yes. They needed test subjects.”
He wasn’t given a chance to answer further. The City Lord pulled a huge amount of Death magic and sent it at the terrified man in a single blast. He fell over without a visible mark, but Serenity knew he was dead - not only dead, but likely to rise as a mindless undead soon. Probably a zombie, but given the amount of power she’d used, a draugr was definitely also possible.
The City Lord was a somewhat unusual DeathLord; she was clearly a Death mage who’d practiced her magic in a pure offensive form. It was less common, because you had to work around the vitality of the person you were attacking if you took it head on. Of course, that was unless you overloaded the spell enough to simply blow through it as she’d done.
Serenity knew that was why some people considered Death magic “weak”; when used like ordinary elemental magic to directly attack, it had an extra barrier, and the undead that were easy to raise and maintain were weak - unless you had an army of them or knew how to improve them. Serenity preferred improving them; after a certain point, making more mosquitos wasn’t really very helpful, but undead armies wasn’t why people had feared him.
Serenity had learned to use the tendency of creatures to die to his advantage; it was a little slower than the flashy attack the City Lord used, but it required far less power.
The City Lord turned back to her brother and spoke flatly. “Your trip here was justified. My son’s death has been avenged on the sneaky scum who failed and got him killed. I will not seek retribution from the Shining Caverns, but know that if the Necropolis is attacked, war will happen.” She stood and turned her gaze on Serenity. “You will follow me. I will permit you to use the Residence’s City Crystal so that you may leave faster.”
Serenity wasn’t certain if that was truly her reason or not, but it didn’t actually matter. What mattered was that he could use the Crystal to return to Earth, and even bring Raz, Katya, and Hale with him.
The group followed the City Lord through the obvious door at the back of the audience hall. It led directly into another, smaller room with two additional doors, but Serenity’s attention wasn’t on the other doors because the middle of the room held a crystal that rose from the floor to nearly Serenity’s height. It wasn’t just a Node, it was clearly the City Crystal itself.
The City Lord stepped to the side, so Serenity walked up to the City Crystal and laid his hand against it, thinking about making that portal home.
[Login Requested]
[Confirming Credentials… Welcome, Serenity!]
[Welcome to the Tzintkra Necropolis, Seated DeathLord]
[Welcome to the Tzintkra Necropolis, Incarnate of Death]
[The Tzintkra Necropolis is yours]
Serenity had a very bad feeling about that message, but the next message was worse - because it wasn’t from the City Crystal; it was from Order’s Voice. Serenity wasn’t certain who it went to, but it wasn’t just him.
[Rejoice!]
[The Lordship of Tzintkra’s Necropolis has been restored!]
[A Seated DeathLord once again holds the Lordship!]