Necropolis

Chapter 40

While Christopher, who I was already mentally calling Chris, was busy running amok, I turned to the last skeleton.

“Hi, should we start with a name?” I asked.

“I want something dignified,” he said, haughtily crossing his arms.

“Uhm…Dignified? Aaron Eustice Ulna?” I offered, trying to come up with something without properly knowing what constituted a dignified name. That was the kind of thing that was highly circumstantial. Aaron nodded in agreement with me, then gave Henry a contemptuous look.

“Also, I’d like a different color from the…fighter,” He said, and I would have raised an eyebrow if I had any. I was not enjoying his attitude, but made myself take a second and calm down. I was giving Chris a chance to adjust. Aaron deserved one too.

“Right, let's change your base class first. You can pick something to go with it after,” I replied.

“Sorcerer,” Aaron said flatly. My feeling that he was going to be a nuisance rose rapidly.

“That's fine, but there might be some issues as it uses blood magic,” I explained.

“Can’t I just use other people’s blood?” Eustice asked, clearly annoyed by the restriction.

“I genuinely have no idea,” I said simply. Despite the potential issue and my lack of desire to invest in a class that likely wouldn’t work out, I still chose it. I’d let the others pick, it wouldn’t be fair not to let him.

“Did you want to pick a specialization or stay as a pure Sorcerer?” I asked. They all functioned off the base class, so it wouldn’t remove the weakness, but that wasn’t the point.

“I’ll stay a sorcerer,” Aaron said gravely.

I took a moment to get some blood together. Two minutes really, one of which was spent trying not to gag. I made a pillar with a bowl of blood at the top next to Aaron.

“Give it a try,” I offered. Obligingly, Aaron set about testing his class abilities. He was more restrained than Henry or Chris, but I could tell he was excited, at least at first. By the end, I could see the frustration in his posture alone.

“It works, but there’s a penalty,” Aaron said unhappily. He swatted the bowl aside, breaking a finger and dashing the blood on the floor. I fought my sudden bout of nausea, not wanting to find out how something without a mouth threw up. Trying not to damage his dignity or my own, I scooped the mess up into my inventory.

I checked his stats, but didn’t find anything specific about why the blood wasn’t working properly. I didn’t give up, and started to look more about it in my encyclopedia. I hit paydirt after a few minutes. Knowledge really was power.

“Maybe it’s because it’s pure human? Your class has a lineage requirement, so you’re considered a ‘tainted being’ according to the description,” I offered, and Aaron looked at me like I’d spoken in tongues.

“Then I’d need the blood of another tainted,” Aaron grumbled. I nodded, copying his class information and texting it to him for further study.

“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t know that. Were you not a Sorcerer when you were alive?” I asked. Aaron glared at me then his shoulders slumped.

“I was initiated, but I hadn’t begun learning yet. I had to go into a different field… due to circumstances,” Aaron said, sounding unwilling but speaking all the same.

Ooof, that had tragic backstory written all over it. I wanted to ask him more, but reigned in the impulse. He was a real being and my misery tourism, at best, wouldn’t be appreciated.

“I can’t solve it right now, but I’ll figure out the blood thing. In the meantime, lets move on to aesthetics after that.,” I promised.

“You intend to let me keep the class?” Aaron asked, mirroring Chris’s earlier disbelief.

“Yeah, you can choose to change it, but I won’t do it without your consent,” I said flatly. Henry and Chris had been ecstatic about their classes. I felt sure Aaron was deeply bothered by the prospect of losing his, even if he didn’t show it.

“Shall we pick out your color?” I asked as I cued up the aesthetic changes. Once the jewels were in place I slowly cycled through colors.

“This one,” Aaron said, as his flames turned magenta. I wanted to laugh, but managed to hold it in properly. Magenta, the color that should not be.

“Alright, would you like anything else aesthetically? I can carve symbols and the like,” I offered.

“... Not at the moment,” Aaron said.

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“Hey!” Chris called from the other side of the room. He’d left to go exploring at one point, only to return singed and chuckling, the hound baying in the distance.

I didn’t comment but nodded, noticing he was pointedly avoiding Henry. Henry in turn didn’t move toward him, but his eyes were tracking the young man nonetheless. It was odd, like they were sizing each other up.

They really seemed to have gotten off on the wrong foot, but I couldn’t do anything. At least I felt like I couldn’t without potentially making things worse. My social skills were a bit dubious.

“Okay, all that’s left is to show you guys your break room and chat a bit,” I said cheerfully. I waved for the group to follow me and they did after a little hesitation. Going through the mirror with a skeleton hoard looked pretty sweet. I captured an image of the moment, thinking it would make a fun addition to the decor in the break room.

It wasn’t much to look at for the moment. A large room with a series of alcoves along one wall, it was simply put: plain. The only thing that might have qualified as furniture were the storage chests in the alcoves, but they weren’t much to look at. Just simple hinged boxes I’d crafted out of stone.

“So, I figured you’d all want to customize your spaces so pick one and tell me what you’d like,” I said cheerfully to cover up my embarrassment. I had a reason for not decorating, but I still felt caught out.

“Bookshelves and books on magic,” Aaron said immediately.

“Good, work-related things are a must. Don’t hold back about hobbies or wants though, this is your personal space. The hounds have a swimming pool,” I said, wanting to convince them to ask me. If they got too greedy or outlandish, I’d just say no. Short of that, I’d try to do anything within reason.

“Here, everyone take some chalk and draw in anything you might want. I’ll give you a little while, then come around and make the changes,” I said and handed out the chunks. I’d have to refine them into sticks later.

“I’m only interested in academics, even for “fun” so I don’t need any diversions,” Aaron said flatly. How utterly charming. I wanted to roll my eyes at that, all work and no play would definitely make Aaron a dull boy. Despite that I wasn’t going to force a hobby on him.

“Alright… I think you might like this though,” I said as I entered his alcove. I created an indented lip and placed a panel of slate into the wall above that.

“You can write math on it or whatever strikes your fancy,” I added, handing over some chalk and a rag. I demonstrated what I meant, scribbling then cleaning it off. Aaron snatched the chalk out of my hand like an asshole, but started writing so furiously that I forgave him.

Aaron apparently had some very important mathy thoughts that needed immediate expression. I expanded the size of the chalk board and gave him a pile of chalk pieces to work with. I changed the dimensions a bit to accommodate thicker walls and cut in shelves after. Aaron ignored me completely.

Curious what Chris might be up to I went to check on him. He’d drawn exactly nothing in his alcove.

“Could you make my crypt bigger? I don’t care for tight spaces” Chris asked when I arrived. It took a second for me to realize he considered the storage boxes crypts. That made a kind of sense and I relabled the breakroom to necropolis in my head.

Obligingly, Chris laid in the crypt so I could see where it needed improvement. Length-wise it was fine, but its depth and width were an issue. I expanded it until he didn’t touch anything lying comfortably and doubled the depth.

Though he didn’t ask, I removed the lid and replaced it with an iron grate set like a sliding pocket door. Chris hadn’t expressly said he was claustrophobic, but I figured being able to see out would help if he was. It had the added benefit of preventing anyone from sitting on the lid to trap him. Not without getting stabbed in the ass anyway.

“Want anything else?” I asked. Chris was laying like a lazy little brat in his crypt and only shook his head. Like even speaking was too much bother. I left him to his own devices and went to see what Henry had gotten up to.

“Hey Henry-” I started, only to fall silent. The other two hadn’t drawn anything, Henry had exhausted the lump of chalk I’d given him.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” I said when my brain failed to produce anything more useful. A work table, lines indicating a wall and where he wanted a door were the start. He apparently knew something about drawing because he’d also drawn cabinets in. Both the footing on the floors as well as an outline of the face on the wall. There was a simple rectangle on the floor what I assumed was a work table but he couldn’t really do more in that case.

“You s-said we could r-request items to keep us oc-occupied,” Henry began, then faltered.

“I’d like to do l-leatherworking and t-t-tailoring… Its why I drew a w-workroom,” he added after a moment.

“I did and I meant it. Text me what all you’ll need and I’ll see about getting it,” I said firmly.

“You d-don’t mind that it’s not us-useful?” Henry asked.

“I don’t think everything has to have a specific use just to warrant its existence Henry,” I said flatly. Plenty of the things I had made and planned were for aesthetic pleasure which didn’t do anything useful like make my dungeon more efficient. That I enjoyed them was enough.

Henry might not need clothes as a skeleton, but I didn’t see a reason to begrudge him them. If anything, it might help to have some things made to enhance encounters. Not that I was going to force him to make things for me, but if he was up to the task and interested it could be fun.

“Th-thank you,” Henry said, giving me a bow.

“Any requests for reading materials and such?” I asked. I expected he’d need some time to compile a tools list, but I wanted to send Elim the first shopping list soon.

“Uhm… I can read, but I h-haven't r-read much for pl-pleasure. Some phi-philosophy texts and mysteries I s-suppose?” Henry replied, after some thought.

“I’ll add them to the list, then we can get going on setting all this up,” I said cheerfully. Henry inclined his head in agreement. I rubbed my hands together in glee. Henry had already given me a lot to work with, so I first blocked in rough shapes. Once I cut in things like drawers and other moving parts I had a new flash of inspiration.

“Oooh, you can draw on them with the chalk and I’ll make changes,” I added once that initial design pass was done. Henry tilted his head, seeming amused, but accepted a new lump of chalk. Instead of starting to draw immediately he first ground it down into a more usable shape on a bit of stone. Better armed, he got to work.

“Hey! No fair!” Chris chimed in irritably an hour later. I looked up from where I was carving a bevel in a cabinet, annoyed at the interruption. He hadn’t even asked for shelves and that wasn’t my fault.

“It’s entirely fair. You can add things still, you’ll just have to wait your turn,” I said flatly. Chris surveyed me with a severe set to his posture then turned and scampered off.

“Fine, I will!” Chris called. I had a feeling he was going to make some horrifically elaborate drawings.

“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I said archly. Beside me Henry put a hand to his mouth, but it did nothing to muffle his laughter.