Chapter 10
As sun set that night the villagers were forced into new groups. Each one consisting of nearly 100 captives. They were arranged like a triangle, in the center of which was three black tents.
As the moon rose the tents opened and a figure emerged from each. Other black robed Necromancers swarmed the now empty tents breaking down the campsite rapidly. When it was cleared away one of the three gestured and a horde of the dead rushed forward.
They fell on hands and knees on the ground or on one another creating a three tiered platform of death. The three master Necromancers stepped upon the platform. One on each tier.
Andrea watched as the one on the top tier pulled back its hood. A gaunt face with dried skin clinging to a nearly skeletal face emerged. Pinpricks of red light lowed where eyes should have been and what little hair still remained upon the crumbling scalp was dry and thin. A lipless mouth opened twice before the Lich spoke. Andrea listened to the speech but she quickly realized the creature was not speaking to the villagers but to the other Necromancers gathered around.
“Welcome my fellow masters of death. Many of you have asked why after so long we are coming out of hiding. Why we are working together and most of all why we need an army.”
Murmurs went through the black robed figures, but the Lich did not paused.
“The answer is such, the three Master Necromancers you see before you have been given a quest by the gods of destruction our patrons. The three most powerful practitioners of death Magic on the content along with the three strongest users of Dark Magic were told to discover who is the most powerful. The one to come out as the winner will be granted godhood and immortality, thus ascending into the halls of the god’s themselves!”
The Lich paused to let the importance of the statement sink in before continuing, “We can achieve this victory in three ways. First we can kill our competition. Next we can steal their power. Or last we can steal their core. The first is simple enough. The second and third methods the god’s have given us each a spell and a ritual. The spell will allow us to take the power from a defeated foe, drawing power into our self and becoming stronger by feeding on their very soul. The Ritual is to create a Dungeon Core. This core will be trapped in a binding circle, or set loose. We can use the dungeon slave as we place. But, if our core is captured, destroyed, or stolen, then the gods will eliminate the weakling who is unable to protect their belongings. Think of it as a kind of capture the flag.”
The murmuring of the black robed figures increased some in excitement, others in confusion. The Lich went on ignoring them. “Now you ask what this has to do with you. It is simple. You can join us. Those who side with the victor early on will be closely tied to a newborn god or goddess.” The Lich paused then added as if an afterthought, “Oh and the blundering fools of the creation pantheon have also chosen insignificant buffoons to champion their cause. Since champions are mostly unaware of the others chosen that means every practitioner of any note is a possible contender and thus must be destroyed.”
The crowd of black robed figures began to talk wildly, but the three masters ignored them stepping off the stage of death.
No sooner than the stage of death was dismantled than fights began to break out. The strongest Necromancers attacked the three masters who were granted the quest. Andrea did not understand why they were fighting, but she looked around wildly both in fear and hope. Fear that somehow the fighting dark robed figures would hurt or kill her. In hope that she may find a way to escape. Alas neither concern was warranted. The Death mages used spells and hexes upon one another avoiding damage to the Undead and living all of whom was considered a valuable prize.
In her fruitless search for a method of escape though Andrea did see Thomas in another gathering. She had not seen any of her family since the attack on the village, so seeing even him so far away helped to stem the breaking of her mind. Giving her a little hope that others of her family may yet live.
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Some short minutes later the fighting drew to a close. One of the masters had been attacked by three Necromancers at once and was killed. The victors instantly turned on one another until only one remained. The new Master Necromancer claimed the group of undead guarding the mass of villagers Thomas was in and beat a hasty retreat before anyone else could focus on him.
The Lich and the woman who attacked Andrea’s village fared better. The Lich laughed at all but the most powerful of spells. Simply ignoring them or even turning them back on their caster. With an outstretched finger it would point and simply say “Die” the target’s lifeless body would crumple to the ground seconds later.
The woman wielded a black sword to deadly effect. Her sword and spellwork created a gruesome kind of dance that left those foolish enough to challenger her dead or dying. Without preamble she approached Andrea’s collection and issued a silent command to the Undead. They turned forcing the panicking common folk to the south. Some 10 out of the original 100 or so Necromancers followed her lead.
They traveled during the sleeping phases for three weeks. Always heading southward. Sometimes it was More southeast, sometimes southwest, but always in the general southern direction. Andrea was used to the normal schedule of a period of business at sunrise followed by the daytime rest, then the nighttime personal time followed by the long sleep. This type of schedule worked out well since each day consisted of 41 hours. She was not used to reversing it though. To conceal their movement as best as they could the Master Necromancer had them moving when the rest of the world would be sleeping or at least resting.
Days would pass without the peasants getting food or water. When they did come across a river many would gorge themselves on so much water as to make themselves sick. And as time passed the fights for food grew fiercer. When one of the villagers died though the Necromancers stepped in punishing them all.
Andrea tried to pay attention to where they were but her knowledge of geography was limited to a small village’s education. She knew they had left the plains she called home a week before. Now they were in the middle of the Razorfen mountains. She did not know though if they were closer to the Durkal swamps to the east or the Azure Ocean of the west. They had been crossing a wide valley created by two groups of peaks nearly a 100km apart when a massive flat topped hill suddenly appeared out of the trees.
The heavily wooded hill was oddly shaped closely resembling a ziggurat or stepped pyramid. It had four distinct layers. Each one looking like some Titan had created large roughly carved stone disks and placed them upon one another. Each tier seemed to be closely 2/3 the size of the layer below it. The sides were all sheer stone faces except for the west facing bluff. That side had a steep slope that lead up to the flat top of the second disk like bluffs. They were marched up the steep slope and onto the top of the second tier of the mountain.
Andrea was amazed to see a small lake fed by a rivers they were marched passed one bank. As they crossed the massive nearly flat section towards the center the sounds of a water fall grew louder. Set into the vertical Ascent of the next stone face was a natural looking cave mouth.
The villagers were forced to wait outside the cave for a full day guarded only by their ever present Undead guards. At dusk of the second day the Master Necromancer and 8 other black robed Necromancers exited the cave. With short terse commands each Necromancer would order a Skeleton or Zombie to grab one of the tired, hungry and half dead villagers. They would push or often drag the hapless soul over to them where they would perform a simple test to detect the ability to use magic.
Those who passed, even with the slightest ability had a copper slave collar slapped upon their necks. Then they were hauled into the cave. If the test proved negative which occurred more often than not, then a collar was not placed upon the villager before they were also drug into the cave.
When Andrea was grabbed by rough bone fingers she stumbled over to the Apprentice for her test. The blue gemstone the dark skinned man placed upon Andrea’s forehead flashed brightly briefly ruining both Andrea’s and the apprentice’s night vision. The collar slammed into her throat was forced upon her with more force than necessary as a way to show the apprentices displeasure. She was then drug into the cave and thrown into a large bare room with the others who wore slave collars.
Andrea never saw alive the ones who failed the test, but over the next three days the sounds of screams would drowned out the almost constant drone of chanting echoing through the caves. On the fourth day the new apprentice necromancers were led into a large cave deep in the cave complex where a small glowing diamond was floating. They were all told that they would begin their training by giving mana to the stone and if they could not do that they would feed the stone with their blood instead.