Day one of my trek to the Agros de mortis, good progress has been made without any particular incident. Communication check with my elites on watch duty has proven successful so far so likely well not have issues there. An estimated 4-6 day trip to reach the outskirts of the fields upon which I will likely encounter roaming packs of undead to requisition. The local cabal claimed innocence when it came to this manner so likely natural undead, perhaps some decent quality goods for me to gain. I would like to resurrect my famed shock companies but haven’t found any particularly dangerous monsters in the area. So far only some random assorted monster wolves and such other forest and plain creatures. Decided to spend a few hours crafting a little hunting pack, these poor mutts were decently strong as I recall but not even close enough.
AWOOOOOOOOO
AIIEE AIEE
‘Hmm looks like these are unexpectedly bold as I watch a pack of a dozen wolves surround me, the alpha is waiting near the front larger by a considerable degree then the other black wolves. They are however keeping farther back rather than jump me now, looks like they perhaps expect me to run and let myself be run down. That or perhaps they are a bit unnerved by me, considering that I am no longer in my doctor disguise but my elder necromancer garb. The swirling miasma looping around me probably does not help, moving my gaze over them I see unease in their eyes and nervous yelping. Well might as well get a little personal action in, raising my skull staff I seize the natural miasma around them and tighten it into an iron grip. This is not a grip physically but mentally as I will their bodies to simply die off, they succumb in short order as even the alpha does not last much longer.
No need for fancy fighting as I can simply kill them instantly, grabbing a few strands of necromantic energy along with scraping energy from their departing souls I pour it into the corpses and watch flesh disintegrate. First the fur then the skin followed by muscle and fat, all turn into black smog before being infused into the bones. Said bones enlarge and grow stronger, a more glistening bone white then normal shows itself as the pack rises once more with the alpha now the packmaster. Dispatching orders to patrol in a radius around me I continue on my way, it is good to have some quick minions for my work.
Day three of my trek, encountered the first of the reported undead packs. These were simple undead, not very strong but numerous. The latent miasma is not enough to sustain any stronger undead here, likely any potential middle tier and higher will be deep into the agros de mortis. For simplicity sake I will section the general zone in a circular fashion, deepest is zone 1 and outward to zone 6. Zone 6 is currently where I am right now, after 2 more days I should reach zone 5 and the initial ruins of the old human kingdoms there. In particular of note is an old castle that would be of use for a base, the general structure is not in good condition but the walls can still be of use.
I have accumulated a small supply of food from the hunting done so far along with more low tier trinkets and talismans for the group. In particular I created numerous bone charms to provide some resistance against the miasma present in zone 5. Any deeper in and we will likely run into raw necromantic energy as well as heavy miasma. This energy could potentially sustain middle tier undead indefinitely so caution must be taken for the acolytes though a bit of trapping would not go astray for me.
Day five of my journey and I have arrived at the castle, the inner castle itself is in poor condition and quite unsafe for use however the outer walls are intact in many places. The few breaches can be used as choke points and entrances since the gates do not appear to work anymore. There is a marshalling field and a barrack complex around the castle itself so space will not be found wanting. My newest additions are at work clearing the place out and a small spot of luck, one of the roving packs was made up of a fallen adventurer group. The adventurers themselves were only fit for better skeletal warriors and skeletal veterans but a hedge maji was part of the group. Now that I have created an overseer for the work I can concentrate on exploration on my own.
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Day seven of my journey and I have managed to scout out the vicinity for about 40km around, no notable feature other than the remains of a road leading deeper in and some broken watch towers too collapsed for use. I have established several caches of supplies in the form of equipment and spare boneclaws and dire packs. Any forces that attempt a siege will find themselves assailed from many fronts and I found another hedge maji to convert to handle patrols with the former companions as guards. I now have enough troops total to be about a platoons worth. The local forces are at most 1 hundred militia grade troops and maybe 30 adventurers of at most gold but usually bronze or iron. I can flesh out my ranks with some middle tier commanders if they attack along with skeletal veterans.
In the rare case that a steel grade adventurer comes then I will have to step in personally, a black skeletal elite or wight would be a welcome addition to my ranks after handling affairs as they are right now. I would like command grade skeletal officers but I doubt any noble’s army or even the kingdom’s army will be coming soon and I have reservations about the quality of the guard captain, then again I do not believe that the officers in the kingdom in general are very good. This is a kingdom and not an empire, it is quite decentralized and the forces are split. Easy pickings for me but not enough quality to truly satisfy, I should worry more about other chosen or champions then the chaff.
Day Nine of my work and I have taken a light rest to recover and soak in the miasma here to convert into energy. The work to restore the castle is slow but progressing, most of the stones are no longer in the proper condition to be reused but I can help repair the walls with them. The breaches are being filled with the debris and packed earth for now till we can create the worked stones needed for the outer layer. The building of a few large temporary tents for the acolytes is complete and only a few utility buildings need to be finished, surprisingly small copses of trees still grow though they are small things that grow quickly and shrivel quickly. The wood itself is safe so it has been used in construction. The group will be arriving soon with supplies and from my connection nothing major has occurred to them. I plan on setting up a laboratory in the castle once it has been rebuilt to a degree, I will be needing large quantities of glass so finding a few bodies of water are needed.
My scouting parties have found a few marshes and ponds around so I can get some sand for use, even a partial laboratory can enable me to start making the arms I need to prepare my elites. Without the proper metal working facilities or personnel I cannot forge arms for the troops, and making bone equipment will need laboratories for large scale production. The annoying part is that making swords will be an issue, other weapons can be made but swords will be rather hard to make. Bone equipment does not have much of a cutting edge without the use of magic which only high tier undead can sustain, to make swords for the rank and file will require better quality sustenance for the vats in my lab I will make. I could make use of teeth or fangs but that is more like a spiked club then a sword. Mana crystals would be useful but again laboratories, everything comes down to proper industry and infrastructure.
Day Thirteen and the acolytes have arrived at last, the good news is that they have come with quite a cache of supplies and the dire pack I sent with the protective charms met safely. Plenty of basic tools, long term food supplies, and most importantly is the fact that they brought bones. Plenty of horse and oxen bones were brought which will be important for me along with the assorted raw hides. The horns can be put to use with making bows and some other weapons while I can get leather and glue from the hides. Still to use up everything now would not be good for the long term, even more reason for a lab. With an advanced enough lab I can clone animal parts, skeletal structures and larger equipment.
We have cleared enough of the lower structures for now, I have enough space for a small scale lab and can get to work on building the needed instruments now. The acolytes will continue their studies and help with construction work and supervision, good practice for the future while they acclimate themselves to the miasma. Normal humans would feel a drain on themselves in this fifth zone, entry in the fourth zone I estimate can kill a weakened individual and the third zone is instant death for many. If I go in prepared I can probably penetrate into the second zone but I doubt I can sustain my tempo(yep on purpose). Enough bad puns for now, things have progressed in the right direction and the only thing I can do is keep working.