“Did you know that early cultivator’s are divided into nine classifications?” I said as I looked up from one of the books I’d taken from the cultivator’s that I still had yet to study the core’s of. I’d ripped one’s ability to read and write from his soul first thing in the morning and had been on the patio with snacks and drinks for most of the morning.
“No, I didn’t.” Camille said next to me, her nose buried in a book of my own writing on the usage of mana. I’d managed around sixty or so pages in the small down time I’d had while waiting to meet her.
“Well it is rather interesting actually. The first stage is the body construction stage where they purify and prepare their bodies for the next stages. Then the next stages correspond to how many of the seven core’s they’ve opened from first core to seventh core as the stages ending in the ascending stage where at the end they move on to something called the heavenly realm.” I said fascinated with how it all worked, I was paraphrasing as it didn’t matter in which order you opened your cores which would further classify the cultivators. The one’s I’d faced had been first core cultivators and I was rather interested in knowing what I could do with that power added to my own.
“Wow I hadn’t thought they’d classified it down to such an easy to understand manner.” Camille answered in a sarcastic deadpan. I looked from the book in my hands over to her and saw her face show her struggle to get through the book I’d written.
“Is my handwriting so horrific?” I asked curiously as I didn’t really have the best handwriting to begin with and I had yet to finish the book both in terms of information contained within but presentation as well.
She shook her head. “I’ve seen worse it’s how you describe the procedures. It’s easy to understand but hard to grasp it fully. It’s as if its’...” She said trailing off and looked up at me noticing my knowing smile. “Purposely designed to be that way.” She finished with a grumble upon her voice and a similar face directed at me.
“Of course, You think I want to have humans running around with my mastery of mana manipulation? You do know that I’m stopping at the bare bones mana manipulation so it isn’t as easy to take control of their spells and that’s it right?” I answered with an almost surly tone.
“But you used to be human.” She retorted.
“And look where that got me.” I replied sourly. That shut her up for a long few moments. I went back to my reading. No, only half my mind was on that, the other was focused on what I was hearing. Selma, Freyja, Akasha and Bau were in one of the rooms just near enough the patio that I could hear what was going on inside. The tailor’s were measuring them there and most of them were gushing over Akasha as the tailors tried different styles on her.
Akasha was flustered at the attention and I couldn’t help but grow a fond smile on my lips at that. Things certainly were more relaxing when such a comfortable liveliness was in the air.
It didn’t take long for Freyja and Selma to finish their measurement taking along some of their requests for a new clothes for their wardrobe and come out to the patio. Shooing Camille over to get her own measurement’s taken.
“She’s taking the whole.” She stopped and made her hand into a claw as if to claw at the air. I mouthed ‘necromancer’ with a curious expression and she nodded. “She’s taking that bit awfully well considering.” She said shrugging as she sat in the seat that Camille had been in.
“Well I did tell her I was one of a sort when she arrived to explain Aurabella coming up to me riding Garm.” I said a bit sourly but then chuckled at myself. “Then again hiding that I’m a reincarnator would have been exhausting in the long run so I count it as sort of win that she didn’t run screaming for the hills after the first night.” I said with a smirk.
“So what was with those robes you were having fitted for us?” Selma asked.
“Those are the underclothes for your uniforms.” I said as I flipped the page absent-mindedly.
“Our uniforms?” Freyja asked and I noted the wary look in her eyes.
“Yes under your armour. I’m not going to have you guys go out without any equipment when we train in the field.” I said with a pointed stare. “Get your head out of the gutter.”
Freyja blushed at the reprimand but Selma only chuckled a little. “So we can expect another fitting then?” She said with a smile.
At that I snapped my fingers. “That reminds me, refine twelve mana crystals the both of you.” I said as I showed them how large they had to be by creating one on the table. The two looked at me before they began to focus and struggle in the creation of the mana crystals.
The patio was silent and the others did the same as the two girls once I’d told them to once the fitting was over. Bau excluded as her fitting had been for a pair servant’s clothing for her station and two more articles of clothing as a gift. Same for her boy Gandas and Akasha.
I required a full wardrobe as everything I used to have was now much too short so I was already spending almost twenty five gold on my wardrobe alone. At the end the total of sixty gold I’d spent on this was worth it as I saw the rather satisfied faces of the women around the table. Then the armourer arrived and everyone was split up once again while I added to my order from the blacksmith.
I handed him a design for a Nathramirian warscythe, the same that had a mechanism to turn the scythe into a glaive or swordstaff by allowing the blade to move from a sideways facing position to an upwards one, and I watched his eyes sparkle in delight at the challenge. “I need eight of these as sturdy as possible along with let’s say thirty practice swords, ten practice great swords, thirty practice short swords and a dozen training weapons of each other weapon that is common.”
“Are you going to field a knight core or something?” The blacksmith asked in curiosity.
“Who knows?” I answered cryptically with a smile. In the end it had taken almost two thousand and eight hundred gold for my order from the blacksmith. The armours I intended to animate costing me a full nine hundred with weapons. The rest was the practice equipment and the personalized armours for myself and the others. I’d managed to get a discount of almost three hundred fifty gold for supplying the mana crystals instead of having him have to get them himself.
“I can count on your discretion correct?” I finally asked once everyone was fitted and the full payment made.
The blacksmith looked at me with a wide smile. “With a challenge like this I might brag about completing the order but rest assured. Neither your name nor address with come up.” He said with a smile.
“Excellent, send a messenger once it’s all finished and I’ll have one of my familiars come pick up the armours unless a final fit is required. If it’s as good as I suspect you’ll do it expect future business from me.” With a nod from the smiling smith we finished our pleasantries and I looked over at the group all gathered at the patio.
I smiled and brought my hands together. “So, I propose a free day for today, what do you guys think?” I asked and watched their faces light up.
However, unlike what I thought would happen I ended up with just myself and Abhorash as the others decided to go look at the shops with Bau and Gandas and I’d done enough shopping for the day. I frowned a little as the two of us stood there alone on the Patio.
“It seems we aren’t that popular today.” Abhorash said with a mirthful laugh.
I just looked at him, I hadn’t thought him the type. I simply chuckled self-deprecatingly and sighed as I tried to manage my rather long hair in a top knot, ending it simply like that. “I need a hair cut.”I grumbled to myself as I took out a sword and smirked at Abhorash. “Care to spar for a bit?” I asked.
“No, I feel I need to journey out of the capital for a bit.” He said and I raised an eyebrow at him.
“You want to enter a storage ring and have Ashes or Dust bring you somewhere?” I asked and at his nod I thought for a bit and then handed him a storage ring of middling size. “Put all corpses you make into this.” I said as I then gestured to the two ravens perched on the table on the patio.
“I think I’ll go and check on the secondary base to deliver the materials Morice managed to scrounge together yesterday. Hopefully I’ll get some answers after leaving that man alone down there with undead for two nights.The other is still unconsious so he'll have to wait.” I said with a slightly sly smirk on my lips.
I’d found out the red masked man was named Numiar el-Saidi. He was a rather good alchemist and artificer and quite frankly the man wouldn’t get much of a choice to work for me. I already had a few ideas for skeletons with their ribcages converted to hold acid for suicide attackers aimed at dissolving heavily armoured targets or explosives for sapping purposes.
“I’ll return once the ring is full.” Abhorash said as he nodded to me and then held the ring up allowing Dust to take the ring into his beak and then collect Abhorash into one the storage rings now incorporated into his and Ashes’s legs. I had decided on both having middling sized rings as it would allow for just about ten or dozen minions to be held within each. That would allow for some rather scary strike teams to be used until I found much larger storage rings to use for Ashes and Dust.
As Dust flapped in place once Abhorash was collected he spoke to me. “I’ll allow him to fill in my rings as well to allow him to strengthen himself further if time allows.” I smiled and nodded to Dust as he then flapped away, heading north towards Bedelev and further to the Deepwoods and Hardrows ridge. The place was so chock full of life that allowing Abhorash to go there to train himself was an easy choice to make.
Ashes landed on my shoulder as I headed inside the manor. Stepping down the stairs leading to the cellar I first went into the vault there. Taking as many resources as I could along with what Morice had managed to gather yesterday on such short notice. I gathered some of the leather armours that didn’t fit me or Morice along with the tattered remains of what I’d used in the catacombs under Bedelev.
With everything stored away in different storage rings on my fingers I headed towards the connection of the cellar to a small catacomb underneath the cellar that connected to the sewers and from there to the secondary location. A fact I hoped to change so that to get to the secondary base all I’d have to do was go to the catacombs instead of through the sewers. I’m sure my nose would be rather thankful for that change.
By the time I entered through the only access point to the secondary base I noted the changes. In front of the run off point for the sewers was a large wall that made it look as if the whole cavern had collapsed. Vashanesh had managed to make the entrance into the cavern look as if it was simply a closed off wall. Clever use of perspective and a small maze that would allow for quite an easy time to defend the location was the product of his work.
I entered the full cavern with a wide smile as Vashanesh along with most of the Ushabti we’d made stood guard at the way in. “How are things going Vashanesh?” I asked my smile wide and happy as myself and him made our way towards the underground town we’d taken over.
“Hmm, well, my lord.” Vashanesh began his voice calm. “I’ve made the disguise for the cavern being collapsed collapsible to close it off once the tunnel we intend for is constructed. I’ve had time to go over and think of what to do to the town itself however, I’ll require some of the materials I asked for.” He reported to me and I could swear there was a note of pride in his emotionless voice.
“I have some of the materials on me, should be able to close the entrance once I leave later. I’m patient enough to wait for you to finish the tunnel. What of the vampires I left here?” I asked as we made our way to the town that was now dark as none of those that mattered here needed the light to see.
“They are all hibernating right now as per your orders. The servant class was eyeing the prisoners before they went to sleep so I believe we’ll require a secondary entrance instead of the one under your manor to bring in some food for them.” Vashanesh replied and I grimaced a little.
I’d known I’d need to feed the vampires but I was used to undead that didn’t need such maintenance so it had slipped my mind. “I think that’s a good idea, a false wall in one of the connecting sewers perhaps?” I supplied an idea and Vashanesh thought on it for a few moments before nodding his head. “And the awake prisoner? How is he fairing in our gentle care?” I then asked with a smirk that revealed my fangs.
Vashenesh was quiet for a while before he spoke. “He’s rather fond of his own life so I think you will be able to make use of him. However, have a good leash on him, I don’t trust him. His work on the other hand is rather interesting and I’m sure we’ll be able to get some use out of it.” He said as he pulled out one of the crystals that had been embedded in Trolgar’s back.
I thought for a moment and then got impatient over the distance we had to travel. With a wave of my hand I took Vashanesh and the others into my storage ring and decided to test a skill I’d gained for the vampire baron class. I breathed in deep and activated Basic Swarm Form.
I felt my body rip itself to pieces as I exploded in a swarm of ravens and began to fly around the cavern. Getting used to flying and having my consciousness both a singular entity and divided between the ravens at the same time. Disorienting is putting it mildly for certain.
More than a few hit one of the column's of stone that allowed for such a large cavern to stay unburied under the capital. With Ashes’s help in ten minutes the swarm came together in front of the arena and coalesced once more forming my elven form as I stumbled from the change.
I had a feeling that this swarm form made me easier to kill but it would provide me with a little knowledge on how to fly if my travel form had wings. I still didn’t know how to change into that form. It wasn’t like with skills that gave you this instinctual understanding of a skill once you gained it, it was similar to how the other abilities worked in that I had to figure it out myself.
With another wave of my hand I pulled out Vashanesh and the two of us entered the arena’s lower level which housed the cells. The largest of which now held all of my vampire thralls in hibernation with the servants using another, all huddled up together as if for warmth. I took out some clothing and with a mana mannequin I assembled the clothing before infusing them with soul energy to animate them. Once that was done I had them fold themselves down and picked them up before heading into Numiar’s cell.
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The old man looked haggard after spending so long in the dark with two royal guard Ushabti standing guard over him. With a snap of my fingers I activated another new skill. Basic Bale Fire was a necromancy skill that created a pale blue fire mostly aimed at directed damage to the soul and spirit rather than the body yet it also burned like fire if thrown at someone.
The light produced made Numiar flinch and it took a bit of time for him to get used to the light but once he was, he stared at me. I smiled at him with a smile that showed I knew I owned him now.
“Hello mister el-Saidi.” I greeted him cordially as I handed him the animated clothing. “Get dressed in this and I’ll take you out of here once we are finished with our business.” I said handing the man only in his underclothes the clothing. I inwardly smiled from ear to ear as he put them on without protest.
“Good let’s not stand on ceremony and tell me what you did to the troll I faced.” I then asked, my voice a little harder.
“Are you going to kill me?” Numair asked and I didn’t answer. Instead my silence grew and he soon sighed and began to speak. “We wiped the troll’s mind first and then grafted two Zugarite crystals to his back and then put the plating over him. We also put a control crystal at the back of his skull that we hid with a plate to allow for commanding the troll. That along with a few spells to mutate and change the troll to our wishes were used.” He explained the process in further detail after that and I pulled out the crystal that Vashanesh had handed me. I felt a tingling of energy were my bare skin touched the crystal and handed it over to Vashanesh once more.
“Is this Zugarite?” I asked and at the old man’s nod I continued. “What are it’s properties and how is it made?” I asked.
“Zugarite is something recently created by the shamans and witch doctors of the green skin tribes that live in Hardows ridge. We discovered that if grafted onto a living being it’ll amplify the strength and toughness of the being at the cost of extreme pain. They usually use crystals about the size of my thumb’s fingernail to grant their warriors that boon at the cost of pain akin to an ache that they can ignore. It has allowed them to hold the ridge much better from the dwarves of Dhum Darihm that seek to reclaim the two ancestral holds they have there.” He explained and I grew intrigued.
“Any other uses for it?” I asked and I noted the wary look in Numair’s eyes.
“We… haven’t really tested it overly much.” He admitted. “We managed sixty of the size you have and the troll was really our first test. We have other projects on going with the material but myself, Vitani el-Gad as her name is and young Najeem el-Zafar whom you killed were the only one’s among the society that were working on that project.”
“Society?” I asked curiously.
“Yes, we are members of the Changeling society.” He admitted to me and I grew curious and with a prodding nod he continued. “We are a collection of disgraced mages and the like that have come together for protection, to pool our resources and to help one another with our research.”
I smiled widely and stepped forwards gripping his chin to force his eyes to meet mine. Slowly I began to channel beguiling gaze and noted how he slowly relaxed in my grip. “I am very interested in your society, perhaps I can gain their allegiance?” He nodded dumbly to show I might be able to.
“Excellent, now Numiar will you serve me?” I then asked and he hesitated to nod, I guessed the skill wasn’t developed enough to be near mind control.
“What will I gain?” Numair asked and I smiled showing my fangs.
“I can reward you with becoming a vampire in the future. Free from the shackles of mortality and allowed to work your projects in peace with a rather high backing from myself.” I answered before I narrowed my eye a little. “However, betray me and I’ll have your soul.
He was deep in thought when I let go of him and finally he took the knee before me. “I ask to be allowed into your service Baron Aesir.” He said and I smiled as I flicked my finger and he stood up suddenly.
He was clearly surprised he’d just stood up before he looked down at his slightly glowing clothes and then back up at me. “Think of it as my insurance, you won’t take those clothes off if you wish to be left in one piece while you stay here.” I said and he nodded though I noted he fidgeted a little and I looked around the cell, noting he hadn’t relieved himself.
I sighed and created a mana stone with bale fire inside it for light. “Here, continue to feed this your mana for light and follow the guards to relieve yourself. Once that is done they will show you to the office of the arena where you will be fed.” I said with a gentle smile and he looked at me with hope shining in his eyes.
“Mister el-Saidi welcome to team death.” I said with a fang filled smile as my eye went red for a moment. I thought it got the point across as he clutched at not only his new clothing but the mana crystal light in his hand as if it was his life line.
Once he was out of the cell I turned to look at Vashanesh. “Did you manage to construct any Ushabti for me to raise?” I asked and I got the distinct impression he was smiling from ear to ear.
“In fact I did manage a few.” He said as he waved his hand and before me appeared four more royal guards, two sorcerers, an inquisitor and two more stalkers. I smiled wide at him and patted his shoulder approvingly.
Concentrating I raised the Ushabti and with a thought I sent the stalkers out to gather a few more homeless people that might have wondered into the sewers or were close enough to them to allow for a stealthy kidnapping.
Soon enough I was sitting in the comfortable chair in the arena’s office with Numair in one chair eating the meal I’d prepared for him. Smoked meat, fresh bread and a few cheeses with some weak wine to wash it all down with. Next to Numair on the second chair sat Vashanesh, he was using bone crafting to show me what his plans were for the cavern on top of the map of the cavern I’d made.
Creating a model of how he wanted to construct this base, accepting a few ideas thrown in by myself and Numair. His knowledge of artifice helped Vashanesh quite a bit in putting in defences and the like along with a few touches to the labs we intended to have down here.
I on the other hand made a mother spider as it were. I took one of my little spy spiders and grew it from being just large enough to fit in my palm to laying on my entire lower hand with it’s eight legs hanging bellow, it’s abdomen even reached over half my forearm. This spider ended up taking an entire minor skeleton slot for itself as I’d infused a rather large mana crystal with bale fire into it’s abdomen. This had the effect that this spider could produce a web of bale fire. That along with its smouldering flames in each of it’s eye sockets made me think to name the spider Smoulder.
I was yo-yoing a spy spider with normal mana threads as I looked at the finished model of our plans for the cavern. I’d dismissed Numair allowing him to pick a place to stay at as he was exhausted, sending two royal guards with him as guards and to keep an eye on him. If I didn’t count the six spy spiders I’d also dispatched after him.
“Vashanesh.” I began as I put the six storage rings filled with the materials he’d asked for into his open palm. “Keep an eye on Numair. He gets one chance but if he proves to be a liability then I think using his soul on an undead will be for the best.” I commanded of him.
“Why not do it right now?” He asked curiously.
“What is above us?” I retorted with a smile.
“The city of Veta?” He answered.
“Yes and it is filled with the living, we need living servants to move in society as our normal forces would only cause a panic and shed a light on our operations that I’d rather avoid.” I explained and Vashanesh got a glint of understanding in his blue ethereal smokey eyes.
“We need to think on our resources and try to use them to the best of our ability. There is enough food for Numair in one of those to last him a month. Try to finish at least the tunnel to my manor in that time and try to raise a few minions of your own too.” I said in a chipper tone.
Nodding his head in a respectful bow Vashanesh spoke. “Your will shall be done my lord.” He said before leaving the office and me, heading off to do some of his own projects and the like.
I looked over the miniature stronghold that had taken shape on the desk of the office and thought on it some more. It would cover half the cavern once fully finished with the arena turned into a keep that was supposed to hold a gate in it’s depths with a sprawling and well defined sections all dedicated towards one aspect or another. One for manufacturing, smithing and forging another for material storage for all the others and as such larger than all the others and closest to the arena. One for alchemy, another for enchanting and artifice, a fifth was a large mustering field for both training and storing unused minions when the time came. The sixth district was aimed at magic in it’s entirety as a way to get the gate in the keep to function. The seventh and last district was aimed at miscellaneous research and projects doubling as a housing district for any living minions I might gain.
The seventh had been made with the idea of gathering the entirety of the Changeling society under my banner. However, I was certain it would take time to get the society under my sway but I wouldn’t allow them to exist unless they were under my command. I wanted to enjoy the fruits of their labour as they clearly were more intent on their research than worrying about petty things like ethics or morality. I required such people to work under me.
I looked over at Ashes as she was perched on the top of the back of my seat. Imperiously looking over the office as if she was a god in her domain. It made me chuckle a little as I reached up and scratched at the underside of her beak which caused her to coo in delight. The change from imperious raven to happy pet was a sudden one. She’d entered through the window of the office as she had decided to fly a bit more after I’d reconstituted myself from the swarm form.
It did make me wonder though, why ravens? I’d thought it would be a swarm of bats given that the ability belonged to the Vampire Baron class.
I pulled Ashes down into my lap as Smoulder made her way to the desk and walked over the model as if she was a giant spider and it did give me ideas for mobile fortresses made of bone. However the massive material cost such a fortress would require made me hesitant to make one unless I had many titanic skeletons to work with.
With a slight flick of the arm not busy petting Ashes I called forth the last two skeletons I had in my storage ring. I’d given Vashanesh all of the other materials we had access to. Using materialized mana in the form of hands I performed a version of telekinesis to mould the bones in front of me.
It was something Németh had taught me on how to channel a skill through a mana construct if it applied to the skill. I couldn’t use anything like the new Death strike from the Death knight class but I could with Death bolt, simply forming the energy into the form I wished it to take. Since Bone Crafting was a form of energy skill aimed at making bones more pliable than clay I could do this much.
I crafted a skeletal creature, looking a little like the Eternals from magic the gathering. However it was without any armour with the plates of bone acting as it in it’s stead and it only stood at about a meter tall. In the centre of it’s chest I placed a crystal capable of holding chi with one arm holding a rod of mana crystal and the other for soul energy. I had to touch and fiddle with the experiment that was like a large doll or child in my hands as I made sure to smooth out any mistakes that had occurred from using mana hands to craft the skeleton.
I filled each of the crystals with just a drop of their respective powers and then I used the plentiful soul energy in the cavern after massacring everyone inside it to create a small soul. I tethered it to the figure’s body and slowly began to raise it as my minion.
The newly arisen minion looked around and walked around the office as I observed it. Then I ordered it into the arena and sitting in the stands I ordered it to use the energies stored in it’s crystals.
There was no problem with the mana and soul energies but when it used chi it promptly exploded. I stared at the pieces of the minion falling to the ground in the arena with a frown. “So chi doesn’t work for the dead?...” I muttered as I stared down at the small crater that had been my latest minion. It wasn’t a total loss as I’d gained the Raise Lesser Spectral skeleton skill out of it but it still was annoying that it hadn’t worked. Was it a problem with the vessel or the materials of the vessel?
I Wraith stepped into the arena and taking out a simple leather armour I made a mana mannequin while I embedded the grieves with mana crystals and the gauntlets with soul crystals. The chest was again embedded with a chi crystal and this time I poured ten drops of power into the other crystals with a single one of chi. Then I created and gained the Lesser Possession skill which made me think there was a correlation between materials and the rank of the possessed undead.
Another step and I stood back in the stands and had the animated leather armour move around the arena for a few moments. Then I commanded it to fill the crystals besides the chi one and to empower itself with that energy before I had it access the drop of chi. The armour didn’t explode but I saw how the leather armour began to crack at first before it began to outright smoulder.
Then as suddenly as it began it stopped before the undead burst into white blue flames and was turned to ash.
I hissed in anger as Smoulder perched on my left shoulder like a spidery pauldron and Ashes on the right shoulder moved away from me. My annoyed anger had caused my mana to leak from my body in small rippling waves. Two hours of precision work wasted, the most time spent was on creating the crystals to embed into the two minions but it wasn’t a complete loss. I had gained two new skills from the effort with that in mind I breathed in and out to calm myself. The smell in the cavern wasn’t really conducive to this task but I managed with twenty minutes of calming breathing and meditation.
I sighed and pulled out the Zugarite and stared at it, this time not touching it and instead having it float before me. I studied it with all of my senses and I felt the unbridled rage locked within the crystal. How in all the hells were these made? Then I felt it, a taint buried deep within the energy suffusing the crystal. It felt malicious, insidious and patient and that worried me.
Soon enough I stood at the front of the first house once you left the arena. Numair had taken it as his temporary quarters and was resting within. I was debating with myself weather to wake him up or not. I conjured a pipe and began to smoke as usual while I made up my mind.
With a sidelong look at Ashes on my shoulder I raised my hand and opened a shadow gate leading to above ground. “Go on, get some information or levels. I’m sure it’s boring down here for you.” I said with a smile and Ashes looked at me and nodded before flying into the gate.
I waited a few moments before I closed the gate and took a drag off my pipe. I decided to lower my eyes ability to see in the dark to see what Numiar would see without his light and chuckled. I could only see a few pairs of blue ethereal fires burning in the sockets of the undead moving around. Perhaps this had served as extra intimidation towards Numiar as he’d been alone in a cell with both Royal guard Ushabti watching over him in the dark for two days.
With that in mind I’d let the man’s nightmares do the work of instilling a little fear in the man as I moved back towards the arena. I’d been looking throughout the cavern on the way and had looked over the entirety of the cavern but only in the arena had I found the fractures in reality I needed for my next experiment.
I sat in the stands and fingered at the tear in reality that had formed when one of the few void touched thralls had died. I began to think that perhaps there was a correlation between such a wound to be created when a voidborn creature died. Then again that wouldn’t make much sense either, why were so many then in the magic quarter and some even in the cathedral and royal palace?
I continued to finger the tear until I felt the difference and I smiled. Perhaps these were created when something was summoned from another reality? That would explain the one in the Cathedral as Aona had manifested but the one in the royal palace however raised a question. I’d have to ask Selma if she’d been summoned in the attendance hall to prove my theory. It would explain the number in the magic quarter as some familiars were imps, lowest level angels and other such extra-planar creatures were easier while familiars created through pure magic did require a level of control most didn’t have or had the patience for it.
With that in mind I decided to postpone the experiment I’d decided to do towards the Voidmancer class and went onto deciding on using the Summon Familiar skill instead. I was pulled into a mental construct were I could create the familiar as I wanted to create mine instead of just summoning one.
Slowly I began to form the creature I wanted as my familiar. A human sized raven’s skull connected to a feathered humanoid body with talons for both legs and arms and wings on his back. The talons were arranged into a human’s forearm while the overly large tail feathers were large and created a sort of open robe type of look to it.
Not done I channelled my will into the construct before me and painted it, the skull white with the front half of the skull as black as the rest of its body. Additionally I willed the familiar to be capable of turning into a dog sized raven. I also tried to channel my swarm form skill into the familiar as well.
I looked over the creature and smiled knowing that my familiar would be able to cast any spells I knew only it would require to speak the spells instead of casting like I did. I could also channel magically inclined skills through the familiar which would allow me to remotely raise some of my minions such as the skeletons made by Vashanesh. As long as it didn’t require more than just activating the skill.
Instinctually I realized I didn’t have the mana pool to actually create the being before me. The higher the Summon Familiar skill advanced the more familiars I could have at a total of five at the master rank. Each level and rank would lessen the mana cost for both summoning and creating a familiar.
I decided to save the work I’d done using the design management feature of my status. I named the familiar Elderclaw and then left the mental space. I breathed out as I focused my mind to begin the testing on the tears in reality but right before my finger made contact with it I felt an intrusion into my mind.
It was one of the stalkers at the hidden entrance to the cavern. I focused my mind once again and touched upon the thread connecting the stalker to me I could then see through its eyes. Wondering around the seemingly collapsed cavern were two men. Both dressed in horridly tattered rags masquerading as robes, one had large bundles of bones tied on his back while the other had four rats hanging on his shoulders while he stroked the fifth like a pet.
I grew curious and looked towards the hidden entrance when I returned to my body and with swarm form quickly made my way towards it.