— Mesalin Featherstone —

With the fading echo of a vast bell of ice ringing which she could feel from her bones to her pinions, Lin found herself in a featureless gray void. Well, featureless aside from the glowing system prompt floating a few feet in front of her. Rather than immediately focus on the prompt she instead fell back on her training as an elite scout. As her surroundings were apparently as empty of threats as anything else she moved on to what she knew.

She knew she was dead and had been for some time. She also knew she hadn’t spent much if any of that time in the void she now found herself in. Before the bell rang through her, shaking her bones and deafening her ears, she’d been somewhere else. When she tried to focus on that place there was nothing there but an almost imperceptible remnant of the bell and an image of a sky with far too many stars. Soon it became clear the only potential source of information was the screen she’d been resolutely ignoring.

“The Ancient Viper Matriarch of the ruins of Still-Leaf village and her forces have been slain and you have been avenged by one who has passed twice through the veil of death. As a citizen of Still-Leaf village an invitation has been extended to you to likewise pass again beyond death to dwell once more in Still-Leaf Village. Accept Resurrection (Yes/No)”

As she read the message all manner of emotions tried to fight to the forefront of her mind. She knew she would eventually have to deal with the tangle of emotions she was feeling regardless of her choice.

For the moment however, she tapped into her tier two Sky Peak Scout skill “Observe from On High”. Aside from greatly enhancing her eyesight, which was of no real use at the moment, the skill also dulled her emotions and sped her thoughts relative to the passage of time. With her thoughts quicker and clearer her first realization was a simple one. Her memories of the afterlife had been intentionally removed either to keep them from influencing her choice or prevent such knowledge from passing into the land of the living if she accepted, or even both reasons.

Lin used a mental trick she'd developed to work with the skill and imagined allowing the realization to flow through and past her like flying through a wispy cloud. Instead she aimed her thoughts towards the choice at hand. When she swept aside the minor distracting clouds of thought she found two main elements influenced her decision the most. Her first and most central thought was that she’d worked hard to build her life and tavern in the village. She didn’t want to just lose all of that to the whims of a monstrous snake.

The next and more emotional aspect was which option would allow her to see her love and friends first. After a few minutes of thought that passed in a dozen seconds of real time she decided most if not all of those she’d cared about in their small village would choose not to let their chance to return to the village they fought so hard to create pass them by. As the last of her skill wound down, she focused on the prompt and selected “Yes”

It was only sheer force of will that let her keep her feet as the impossibly huge bell of ice rang through her again. With each echoing peal the gray around her flowed into and through her, washing her mind and soul along with it, until a rising keening wail of resonating crystal reached a crescendo and the gray shattered.

The first thing she saw as she returned to her body was the peaceful face of her husband. He was lit by a dark crimson glow that glinted off the now slightly tarnished metal decorations braided into his impressive mahogany beard. She was somehow unsurprised to notice his lightly tanned skin was the granite gray of a long dead dwarf. Or the fact he’d apparently passed while gently holding her body.

Aside from the seemingly sourceless glow around her, the rest of the tavern was pitch black. Harpies had good darkvision but seeing in near total darkness as well as if it were lit by the noonday sun was certainly new.

With a rustle to try and settle her ruffled feathers she said “Wake up Dear. I think we have both lain here far too long”

With a faint sound of scraping stone and a hollow rush of air he stretched and yawned.

“Good morning my love” He said his already deep voice punctuated with the sound of grinding stone as he opened his eyes.

In place of the rust colored organic eyes she expected she saw a pair of crystals filled with a bioluminescent blue green glow. Combined with the crimson glow whose source she’d yet to identify it created a dark purple light.

After a few minutes of holding each other they moved apart enough to check to ensure they no longer bore the wounds that killed them. As they established they had both had a similar experience with the bell, void, and notification they moved on to checking their notifications.

“Your class ‘Sky Peak Scout’ has been changed to ‘Dread Wind Scout’.”

“Your Race ‘Harpy’ has changed to ‘Corpse Bound Banshee (Harpy)’.”

“Due to the Fall of Still-Leaf Village and general disrepair the Root and Bough Tavern has degraded to level one”

“Due to Multiple changes in leadership, to fully reconnect to the Village Interface you must seek out the current Title Holder of Still-Leaf Village.”

As she scanned her notification she found she was less distressed and surprised than she would have expected to find she was an undead spirit possessing her own body rather than being alive again. “Did your class and race change as well?”

Dair looked over from examining his own notifications that floated invisible to her and said “My race changed to Gray Dwarf. My class is still Mess sergeant though.”

She was about to explain her own changes when she noticed strange sounds in the street in front of the tavern. Half expecting a viper to slither in despite the system messages she looked around and saw her crossbow was all but useless with a rotten string and dry cracked stock. Her daggers as well as Dair's ax were in better shape. The ax because of the alloys and other materials used in its creation. The reason her daggers survived was less clear until she drew them from the desiccated corpse of the viper that killed her.

“The Harpy’s Fangs” These paired daggers have stewed in the anger of their wielder and the corpse of her killer and gained a minor enchantment. Their blades produce a thin coat of weak viper venom.

The enchantment, while minor, was useful and more importantly; enchanted items were almost impervious to passive durability degradation. She tossed Dair his cooking ax and gestured at the door before grabbing her daggers. As she crept out from behind the counter she grabbed the dust covered potion and slipped it into her sturdiest pocket.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

She moved almost silently towards the open front door, leaving barely a mark in the thick dust coating the floor. Dair followed with the stealthy grace of a brick tumbling down a staircase. Despite the need for caution she couldn’t help a fond smile slipping onto her face at his abysmal efforts to move quietly.

As she reached the door she almost darted into cover as she saw the massive corpse of the Ancient Viper Matriarch filling most of the street in front of the tavern. A wet ripping sound drew her attention upwards to the figure standing on the reptile’s head. The lightly armored woman was practically coated in gore and shoulder deep in the pulpy puss leaking mess of the viper’s eye. Lin noticed the woman inhale before pulling back with a triumphant exhalation, a large two handed sword gripped firmly in her hand. As the woman turned to face them, she retrieved a second sword crudely crafted from fangs and rusty metal and jumped down to the street in front of them.

The woman was very clearly an elf or had been while she was alive. She stood a few inches over six feet tall. While most of her skin was covered in leather or metal, her face showed her pale gray skin stretched tight over slightly desiccated flesh. Her wavy black hair reached about halfway down her back. What really drew Lin’s attention was the elf’s eyes. Each was a sphere of dark swirling water with a spark of emerald green glowing within that moved like a pupil. Somehow looking at them she got the impression of a vast leviathan watching her from the abyssal depth of the sea.

The woman gave a small smile with a mixture of regret and sardonic humor and said “My name is Keira. I was sent by the guild; I do apologize for my somewhat belated arrival.”

— Keira —

After speaking, Keir stood somewhat awkwardly trying to ignore the viscous fluids dripping off of her as well as the temptation to examine her old sword. She instead focused on the pair of undead villagers in front of her. The man was a dwarf whose flesh appeared partially albeit uniformly petrified as dwarven corpses tended to do rather than decay. His somewhat shaggy short hair contrasted his perfectly braided and heavily ornamented beard and mustache. If her understanding of dwarven customs were anything to go off of, she suspected the harpy feather that matched those of the woman next him, woven above his heart, meant they were married. The light filled crystals that took the place of his eyes made it all but impossible to tell where he was looking.

Like every harpy Keir had ever met, the woman before her had feathers instead of hair on her head. She likewise had a pair of large feathered wings folded against her back. Her black edged silver feathers were impressive enough it took Keir a few moments to notice her eyes. Much like the dwarf, the harpy’s original eyes were no longer present. In their place were fleshless eye sockets each holding a candle sized flame. The small flames transitioned from jet black in their cores to a venous blood red at the edges. As the flames not only shifted position but even contracted like a normal eye’s pupils, Keir could tell the harpy’s gaze flicked from her face to her swords before taking in the rest of her gear.

Apparently neither of the pair’s clothes had been altered by their undeath. They were damaged and heavily soiled with old dried blood. They were also clearly accumulating more damage just from the pair moving normally. She suspected if the pair were forced to move quickly one or both of them would be naked.

Keir was really feeling the awkwardness and about to speak again when the harpy woman said “I assume you are the title holder of Still-Leaf? Oh, and I’m Mesalin Featherstone. This is my husband Alasdair. We own and run the Root and Bough Tavern.”

Keir started to adjust her helmet awkwardly before realizing she wasn’t wearing one and let her hand drop and said “I received the Title of the village as a system reward for avenging it. I hope that doesn’t lead to animosity since I failed my quest to aid you all.”

The dwarf, Alasdair apparently, spoke up for the first time and replied “Nay, Lass. Unless death changed ‘em more’en it did us I expect the rest eh our makeshift council ’ll be as glad ya have taken on that job as they’ll be that ya avenged our deaths.”

He gestured at the filthy greatsword in her hand and said “As for the rest, I saw that blade when it was stick’n out’ah the eye of that beastie. I dinna get much time ta study it but seein’ it now I suspect it was yours in life as well as now. Hard to claim ya failed us when ya stood to the last against a tier four when we only asked for help against a bunch a tier ones an twos.”

As they had been speaking Keir had been hearing other people nearby waking from what should have been eternal rest. As a result she barely jumped when a door behind her opened with a creak of rusting hinges before falling with a crash onto the wooden walkway. She reacted more strongly and spun around as the sound was followed by the rasp of scales sliding across wood. What she found wasn’t the large viper she expected. Instead, she saw a sheepish looking gorgon with her hand still held out towards the fallen door.

Like all gorgons the woman’s upper body could have passed for an elf if not for the smattering of scales adorning her like freckles and the thin serpents protruding from her scalp in place of hair. In place of legs she had a long serpent tail. Both the snakes on the woman’s head and the one in place of legs were all black aside from a rich blood red belly. The only signs the gorgon was also undead were her snowy pale skin and glowing red eyes, the ones in her elf-like face and those of her serpent hair.

Keir realized why she could see so much of the gorgon’s pale skin at almost the same moment the snake woman did. Judging from the swath of faded blue silk draped across the fallen door the now essentially naked woman had been wearing a robe before the door snagged on it and ripped it off. As the woman squeaked cutely and covered the expanse of pale white skin with a coil of her snake tail Keir was glad her blood was stationary. If it weren't she knew she would be blushing to the tips of her elven ears. Keir was aware of the pair behind her barely holding in their mirth but she barely noticed as the Gorgon spoke with a slightly sibilant undertone “To say this is not the entrance I had in mind would be rather an understatement. For what little intentions are worth, I meant to agree with the assessment of my fellow council members.” As she spoke she retrieved the remains of her robe and with the assistance of her hair snakes tore the largest intact section of robe in half and wrapped them around her chest and waist.

With her modesty at least minimally secured the gorgon slithered over and said “It is a distinct pleasure to meet you. In formal settings I am known as Antheia of Stone Lilly Cove. Otherwise you are welcome to call me Antheia.”

Keir returned her recovered sword to its at ease position resting against her shoulder and did her best to keep her gaze above Antheia’s shoulders as she said “My name is technically Keira, but almost everyone calls me Keir.”

Antheia’s gaze flicked from Keir’s ears to her newly recovered sword before she nodded and said “Well between your lack of a last name and the Tide Reaver officer’s sword it appears we are in the company of a princess of the Steel Coast Archipelago, Albeit one removed from the line of succession.”

The gasp of surprise from behind her reminded Keir they had an audience. When she glanced back she wasn’t surprised to see the confusion on the couple’s faces. Due to the long lives of elves the structure of their royal families were often viewed as odd by other nations. Among elves the Steel Coast Archipelago were seen as almost absurdly simplified. She shifted position so she was properly addressing the dwarf and Harpy as well the Gorgon as she thought about how best to explain. “To put it simply, the line of succession only flows forward or theoretically sideways, though it’s never been necessary. When I was born the throne had already passed onto my Father’s grandson. As a result when the current king retires the only people eligible will be one of his daughters.”

The harpy, Mesalin if Keir remembered right, cocked her head curiously and said “His daughter, does he not have a son?”

Before Keir could respond Antheia responded “The reigning monarch alternates between a king and queen each generation.”

“The only reason my heritage matters here is the role it played in my being rewarded with the village Title.” Keir said, cutting off further discussion on the topic. “For the time being we should gather the rest of the council, assuming you aren't the only members. From there we can begin to determine who returned from the dead as well as the current state of the village and its supplies.