Pondering what exactly to do to the human, I sent Herald to attempt to communicate with it. It squawked, "Human, follow me." Not understanding the message, the human drew out a hidden knife from his belt and whispered, "geh jurtem polosmia" and rushed at Herald, frantically trying to stab him. Herald dodged and weaved through the human's desperate attack. Herald ordered not to harm the human; he simply screeched and cawed at an ear-piercing sound, causing the human's eardrums to burst and blood to flow from them.
He fainted. With the human threat neutralized, Heralds brought the unconscious human into the dungeon for further questioning. I store the human in one of my animal containment units. Once the human woke up, it began to scream and plead, I think? I think I might have to lobotomize this human to have a better grasp of their language. Though I must say humans, at least this particular human, are very odd. The core it possessed seemed to have a unique mix of mana I would say three-quarters water and one-quarter earth.
But instead of two separate elements that simply coexist with one another like my monsters, this human seemed to have merged them into a unique form of mana. It had the color of muddy water, and the core was perpetually hazy, even dirty. Perhaps it is a form of a combined element, something akin to a compound in which two elements merged to form something that would have different effects than the elements would have individually. I knocked the human unconscious and began messing with his brain.
I peered into his childhood, teenage years, and current adult memories. I knew the names of his mother, his father, his wife, and his country. His tongue, his culture all of it became known to me. His language slightly resembles that of Russian Cyrillic, but their alphabet seemed more extensive. The phrase he said before attacking Herald was a prayer to the goddess of the land and life, Polosmia; it didn't seem to have any effects, however. It would be troublesome if the existence of gods and the like were real in this world. Anyway, this poor man, whose name was Retill, fled the city of Atarinsk once he heard that the lich of Muoninsk was marching his armies south.
I assume the ruined city I stumbled upon was this 'Muoninsk' and the skeletal mage I came across was the lich. After touching up on some enchantments, the bats I sent to shadow the army have come back, it seems. I lobotomize them to understand the current situation. It seemed the lich was currently besieging the city, and the undead army seemed to be winning, though not by a lot, as what I assume to be some kind of paladin was using some form of light magic to deter the undead's advance.
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Light magic seems to deter death magic quite well. The scene of the battle was truly gruesome, as hordes of rotting flesh lined the city walls as the other undead used their fallen comrades as a stepping stool to reach the towers. Soldiers constantly shot the army to no avail; only paladins and people wearing priestly robes could properly take care of the undead. As the guardsmen of the city of Atarinsk fell one by one to the ever-growing army, they joined their ranks as newly-born undead zombies.
As all hope seemed to be lost and the walls cracking under the pressure of thousands of dead bodies clawing away at it. A light shone, and the people smiled with glee and hope, moral morale rising as high as the towers they were defending. The light seemed to be one lone paladin who wore silver full-plate armor with golden accents and wore something akin to a centurion's helmet. He alone was powerful enough to keep the entire army at bay. Perhaps he is this city's trump card, their most powerful warrior, or their people's hero?
Anyway, it seemed the battle would rage for far longer than a day. But by the time these bats came back, the siege was probably over. While analyzing the memories of this bat, another surveillance bat had returned to the dungeon. It was alarmed, flying frantically and screaming. It was the one I had sent to patrol the borders of my territory. I quickly peered into his memories, seeing that something vile had entered my home.
It was the Lich of Muoninsk. He looked a bit battered; his robes were disheveled, and one of his skeletal arms was shattered and broken. His deathly aura didn't show as much power as it once had. He traveled north with a retinue of his most elite guard. He was headed for the dungeon? Did he know about my existence? Was he the one who besieged the original fortress? So many questions, so few answers. It seemed something bright was on the lich's tail something bright and full of luster. A band of paladins, including the city's Hero, were quickly approaching the lich.
They moved with rigor and brutal efficiency. The lich sent his elite guard to fend them off to buy time for his hasty retreat. The Lich alone ascended the unassailable mountain and entered the vast cave system therein. He moved with purpose as though trying to find something, and after a few minutes or so, he had found the fortress. He looked confused; perhaps he had noticed the alterations I had made to the desolate fortress. Yet needing shelter from the forces of light, he entered my dungeon.