[Necromancy] is one of the most understood yet feared magical specializations. While most would tremble at the idea of [Reanimation], that’s only a small sliver of what a skilled [Necromancer], a [Cleric] or a [Healer] can do. [Necromancy] is magic that directly manipulates the energies of life and death.
Those who are taught healing magic would naturally know how to harm, even kill, another through the same process as curing them.
To wound is to heal, as one might say.
~ Opening discussion revolving around officially incorporating Necromancy into commonly accepted basic education for Spellwork and Magical Theories.
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The sound of a horn coming from the village’s center square hurried Serena’s footsteps. Behind her, Helgi tried to keep up while pointing out the sleeping bandits as they neared them. The almost rhythmic slicing sound, followed by a pained exhale or groan, before each bandit fell silent, continued. Thankfully, Mafuyu was swift when he ended their lives.
The village was simple in its construction, and in no time at all, Serena arrived at the center of the village.
Emerging from the fading mist was a lone figure who turned to face her. He was clothed in black and dark gray leather, along with that hue in clothing beneath it. Black riding boots glistened with silver buckles as the sunlight finally pierced the mist, dismissing it entirely to reveal the man.
A thick cloak covered his body, hiding the more intricate details of his clothing. The hood was down, so Serena could properly see this interloper.
His skin was a pale gray, almost like ash. With a skin color as outstanding as that, he likely wasn’t human. The pointed ears further credited that impression. Strange as it sounded, his eyes were a pale purple, reminding her of lilacs, and were beautiful even as they were filled with malicious curiosity. His shoulder length wavy hair was alabaster, though tufts and segments of it were the same hue as his eyes.
Cradled to his chest was a smashed horn made from a goat and a decapitated head.
Serena blinked a few times as she tried to figure out what to say. Finally, her mind shook off its stupor. “You were the one who killed the remaining bandits.”
The unknown man hummed cheerfully as he raised the head until it was level with his eyes. “That’s correct.”
His voice was light, almost carefree, like this entire massacre wasn’t connected to him.
“Thank you for the aid,” Serena said, lowering her head slightly as a further show of her gratitude. “I was uncertain how long it would take to clear this Area Quest with just the three of us.”
“Area Quest?! Do you have access to the Divine Will?” The unknown man asked quickly, wonder and faint suspicion tinged his words. His ever present faint smile was rather unsettling.
Surprised by his genuine curiosity, and some of his malice vanishing as if it had never been there in the first place, Serena hesitated. Seeking support, she glanced toward Mafuyu, who nodded his head.
With that, Serena told the stranger what had happened since she arrived in this world only a few moments ago. She didn’t know him, so there was little reason to divulge the reason why she came here. However, she shared the details about the Slumbering Mist since he had likely been affected by her illusions since he didn’t succumb to the call to sleep.
“I am Amalafein Auvrahel, [Huntsman]. We have time to talk before Raivo’s big brother and his reinforcements arrive here.” Amalafein tossed the decapitated head at her, and half on instinct, Serena summoned the tome. It appeared midair in the head's trajectory, and as it neared, a ray of shadows coming from the open pages swallowed it up.
The head vanished, devoured by the book, and the tome floated to her. Under the Inventory was a new section labeled crudely as corpses.
Head of Raivo, Berserker Leader of the Blinded Bear Gang
There was something horrifying at the implication that the Inventory had enough forefront into needing a section just devoted to corpses and body parts. Serena was unsure if it was about the users or of the creators, though.
“That’s an interesting way to use an Inventory.”
Serena frowned slightly before she forced herself to be more optimistic about the situation. “Since you have introduced yourself, it is only fair that I do so as well.”
She introduced herself and Helgi, who was currently busy waking up the villagers. After a moment of consideration, she gestured to the bloodied sword floating in the air and introduced her last companion.
Amalafein stared at Mafuyu but he didn’t seem able to see him, as much as vaguely sense his presence. “You have an interesting view of companions as well. Few would willingly travel with an undead.”
“Will that be a problem?” Serena questioned. She was uncertain how difficult it would be
The huntsman shook his head, a sly smile resting on his pale gray lips. “Not with me. There’s been a bit of a panic among the humans given the potential for necromancers to take advantage of the plentiful, untended corpses. Not enough hale people to burn or bury the dead, even care for the living.” The likely faespawn shrugged. “Besides, the Dokkalfar have no proper right to criticize that, given the traditional ancestor worship and binding of condemned [Great House] members' souls into unending servitude.”
Serena tilted her head, unused to that term. “You are a Dokkalfar?”
For the first time, the elf, or what she assumed was an elf species, seemed to be on an unstable footing in the conversation. “I am. Even a human babe knows of the Dokkalfar, but it would seem that your words are true. That complicates matters.”
She wanted to ask what he meant by that, but first they needed to prepare for the second raid. Turning to Helgi, who seemed to avoid the gaze of the ashen skinned man, Serena advised the bewildered girl.
“Helgi, gather the surviving villagers to the safest place in the village. Likely the manor of the chief or ruler here. Once that is done, search the bodies of the bandits for weapons, armor and valuables and bring them to the manor. Equip yourselves for the moment, and once this is completed, we can divvy out the equipment and resources.” Serena paused for a moment as she searched through her accessories for some smelling salts. Once finding a container of them, she handed it to the girl. “Before you leave, take this. Place the opened bottle beneath the nose of one of the sleeping villagers, and they will wake up. It will preoccupy me for some time.”
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The blond-haired teenager ran off once she grabbed the bottle, and seemed to be more eager to escape the alert gaze of the dokkalfar man than wanting to help her fellow villagers.
Her ghastly ghostly companion was entertaining himself by dragging the bodies of the bandits around and positioning them in unusual ways. The sight of him tossing around body parts like one might play with a toy was oddly amusing to witness. No doubt seeing the floating limbs and bodies being tossed around would be unsettling for most.
“Amalafein, do you know where the most likely place for the raiders to approach the village is?”
“The Webwood surrounds and protects Aranea so they would come from the fields and road. It is the most direct and least dangerous approach.”
“Good. Take me to a spot just beyond the current fields. I do not want to harm them.”
A glimmer of interest seemed to shine in his eyes as he scrutinized her. Something seemed to satisfy him, as he turned around and walked away from the village square.
Before taking off after him, Serena turned to Mafuyu, who seemed to position a handful of bodies into letters from one common language she knew. It seemed to be a phrase, or more likely some kind of slang. Regardless, there was a meaning to this act. One she did not know. “What is the meaning of lol?”
Mafuyu’s haunting laughter was his only response, and she left him alone to do whatever he was doing in peace.
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The location that Amalafein brought her to was just beyond the fields and farmlands that allowed the village of Aranea to be mostly self-sufficient. The fields needed to be tended to and prepared for planting crops, and Serena had yet to see that many farm animals. What she had seen were more oxen or the rare cow and horse, all beasts of burden.
On either side of the road was tall grass. The height ranged from taller than a person to about ankle the closer it was to the dirt road. Finally, there seemed to be a patch of dirt or ground at the edge of the farmland that would be the best place to set the trap.
Interrupting her thoughts, Amalafein approached her with a carefree smile. “Accept me into your party for this quest. If you do so, I will be upfront with questions you might have for the foreseeable future.”
Serena glanced away from the ground and turned her focus to the Dokkalfar. While she doubted his reasons for joining her, it was true she needed answers. “Very well. I desire Amalafein Auvrahel to be a member of my party.”
No sooner than the words were spoken did the book appear before her eyes. Across the pages was a beautiful illustration of Amalafein, though there was no data. That made her wonder if her other ‘companions’ had similar pages.
[Amalafein Auvrahel has been registered as a party member of Serena Araceli’s group. Sharing known quest and misc information with all currently registered members.]
Amalafein seemed to be distracted and his eyes lost a bit of focus as he stared into thin air. “I never thought I would see this again. I suppose you really are a Godkin.”
There were so many things she could say to that, but her mind felt unusually blank. It was probably just the stress of everything that had happened in such a short time crushing her now that her life wasn’t in immediate danger.
Shaking her head to clear it, Serena mentally rummaging through one of her rings for a magical tool that she had created through alchemy. This tool would connect to her aether and could be remotely controlled with some thoughts and will through channeling her aether into it. From there, it can be used to rapidly complete tasks. If someone didn’t have aether, they could power the device through other means like magically charged stones.
The ash shaft felt pleasant in her grip as the alchemically enhanced steel handle and bladed edge glittered in the afternoon's light. Faint energy emitted from the tool and Serena was just relieved that whatever worked as energy in this world still worked for her.
She didn’t have the physical strength to create the trap, and it was uncertain how using magic in any way she knew how would be taken by others or even if it would work in this world.
Serena let go of the shovel and commanded it to dig a hole that would suffice as the first part of the trap. The shovel hovered for a moment before floating away to begin its task.
Satisfied once it dug where she desired, Serena once again turned her full focus on Amalafein. There were many things to consider, and more to ask, and it was hard to pinpoint what her first question would be.
What little she had seen of the peasant village of Aranea did not give her much hope of progress when it came to infrastructure and city management. It was a primitive location, one that would need to heavily revamped to make it liveable for her.
Though that is likely her upbringing coloring her thoughts about this place. While she grew to loathe the capital, the celestial court, and even her own sect and station, there were far too many benefits to living where everything across the Thousand Realms interconnected. The trading of ideas, of cultures and inventions, was just one of the many things she missed.
Adapting to this world might be harder than she thought.
Still, she was grateful that Amalafein was willing to give her information. Even if what he said was mostly lies, it was still a better starting point than going blindly into this world.
Aranea village was small but was clearly important or even vital for some. Hence why Amalafein was here, or so Serena pieced together. It was fine for a few villagers to not second guess someone asking for common information or even regional knowledge, but once the local rulers found out, they would make their way to her. She would be used if they discovered she was lacking in knowledge. That included basic information like this Divine Will tomfoolery.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Amalafein said, as his gaze returned to her. The slightly distracted look on his face was gone, so whatever the divine will conveyed was finished for the moment. However, he seemed to be in deep thought over something. “This Quest stated that you had the opportunity to claim the Aranea region for yourself. I suggest you do so, as it would prevent me from cleansing the Aranea region.”
“Cleansing as in purifying or killing?”
Twisted joy lit up his expression as he realized someone was quick on the danger his presence represented. “I am bound to protect the secrets of the Dokkalfar Great Houses. Should their appointed leader of this and other territories die from anything other than natural causes, I am to massacre the dokkalfar, humans, and other beings who let it happen. This is to prevent secrets and knowledge from escaping. From there, they can exile someone else here to manage things.”
“Oh.” Expletives exploded in her mind and nearly flew off her tongue as she realized what she was caught in the middle of. “Appoint Helgi or someone else to manage things here. That way, you don’t need to cleanse anyone.”
Amalafein tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement. “Helgi is that terrified human who could barely look at me, correct? She wouldn’t last a day handling her own kind. Also, she’s not a Dokkalfar.”
Helgi was more a follower than a leader, and would have been broken quickly under the strain. It was just delaying the inevitable and would be unduly cruel to give false hope.
Serena gestured to Amalafein, who seemed to be pleasantly surprised.
“It’s nice that you think I could rule, but that would go against traditions and cultural values of my people.” For a moment, there was a strange intensity or malice lingering in his pleased expression. “My clan would not approve of me being in a position of power. I have shamed them enough in their eyes.”
There was a story there, but it was one he held close to his chest.
“I think you should claim this region. The various Great Houses, both within and outside the Dokkalfar species, wouldn’t be able to claim it since the Divine Will blessed you with the opportunity.” A cheeky grin spread across his face as he added, “I could tell you all kinds of secret knowledge without you worrying about being murdered in your sleep for discovering that.”
It was a tempting idea, and one she would need to think about.