Birth of the Necromancer

### **Birth of a Necromancer**

Corruption. A philosophical topic that is debated time and time again all across The Continent. Many would agree that there are varying degrees of it, such as the lowly thief that steals your satchel in Rika, the greedy gamblers in Gohithica, the assassins of Duindor, and even the officials of Hithdor. Are corrupt desires a curse that you are born with, something you are raised into, or a combination of both? And surely those souls who kill, just to kill, would be abundant with such sinful desires.

### The Birth

It wasn’t a dark day in Coreisos Minor, it wasn’t raining or foggy, in fact if you questioned most residents they would likely have agreed it was warmer than usual. It was Spring 3922, and business around the city was flourishing as usual. Coreisos Minor was located just south of the greatest economies of Men, Hithdor and Duindor.

For one couple, however, this day wasn’t as usual as the others. A pregnant woman named Delana was suffering the pains of child birth. She laid, sweating and panting, on a healer’s cot – her husband Adum held her hand tightly and hoped her pain would pass quickly. Soon, a baby’s head started to appear.

Adum and Delana had been together for several years, and they were a very happy couple. Both were lucky to have chosen wise careers in life, and their early decisions now secured them financially. It was just over two years ago when the couple discussed creating life, now that they could properly raise and love a child with no worry of the expenses. Their first attempt to bring life to the world, however, ended with a misbirth. They vowed to love their next child with the love that two children would deserve.

Anir came into the world on the warm day, with warm and loving parents embracing him. Delana and Adum cried to themselves as they rocked their newborn through the air. This was the happiest day of their life, and marked what they hoped would be happiness to come.

### The Upbringing

Anir had an upbringing that other children could have only hoped for. He loved his mother Delana and his father Adum. If you had asked young Anir why he loved them he likely would have answered with the love they offered him. But it wasn’t just love that his parents offered, for they would also provide Anir with any item that he desired.

To Delana and Adum, to provide all that Anir desired was their way of showing the size of their love to him. Anir was never denied any item that he wanted, whether it had been another toy to add to his collection, or sweet candy to spoil his teeth. At such a young age, Anir perceived this to be love, for he loved getting all he desired, and he wanted more.

Delana and Adum never struck Anir when he wronged, in fact most times they didn’t believe that he did anything wrong at all. It could certainly be true that as a child Anir never cried for anything other than accidental injury.

Anir was a good learner in school, and he found himself naturally adept in the subjects of History and Biology. In History his favorite topic had been the reviewing of past King’s rules over their kingdoms. He pondered the differences between a good King and a poor one – he was intrigued by Kings that chose to strive for more power, even though this sometimes meant they were labeled poor. Biology interested him too, because with this knowledge one could possibly perfect their own body, should they wish to do so.

The years passed and the boy finished his primary schooling. Anir never desired to look for a means of earning his own pay, for Delana and Adum now paid their son a sizeable allowance whenever he asked, and he asked frequently. All were happy with the lives they were living.

### The Fascination

Just before the end of his primary schooling, Anir found a hidden fascination deep in his mind. It was his fascination with death. All death interested him, the death of small animals, Men, even his own death. How much trauma can one body handle? How much blood loss would dictate death? Is it factual that you can blink even after your head has been severed? Curiosity filled Anir instantly.

One might ask how Anir came across this taboo fascination, and that brings up the philosophical topic once again. Corruption. Are corrupt desires a curse that you are born with, something you are raised into, or a combination of both? Anir probably couldn’t have answered the question if you had asked him. Delana and Adum would have likely agreed that the son they loved so dearly could never do wrong.

With his new desires, Anir continued his schooling and was pleasured with every new dissection that sessions of Biology offered. Even the smell of the dead creatures began to arouse and fuel his fascination.

To others this fascination certainly would have been perceived as a very, very dark one. Anir recognized this and chose to keep his new desires a deep secret from all. This would mark a new chapter for him, for he had never hid anything from Delana and Adum. It was his belief, however, that his desires would be satisfied more quickly by fulfilling them in secrecy. So what happened in Coreisos Minor for several years to come was only an inevitable event.

### The First Man

It was Summer 3940 and the days were just as warm as when Anir came into the world 18 years ago. For awhile Anir had allowed his fascination of death to grow into something that he constantly craved over – it never subsided, but instead became a force that grew more powerful with each passing day.

He started small. He would sneak out late at night and trek across the city, where on the other side he would cut the heads off stray animals. Some died fast, others cried out in pain. It became a game to him, to see how many of the mutts he could kill in a single night.

Soon, the actions of killing the strays seemed childlike to him, and they did not fulfill what he craved. Anir needed to kill a Man. He needed to watch death seep over a Man right before his very eyes.

The first Man came in the form of a homeless drunkard that slept in the darkest alley in town. Anir had taken weeks to pick the right target. He searched those dark alleys which provided the only home for the homeless. The drunkard sat near the same puddle every day, clumsily tipping his mugs at his face.

The taverns had just closed when Anir made his approach. When he grabbed the drunkard, he quickly tied his hands together with rope, and tied a thick piece of leather over his mouth. If you had asked the drunkard, he would have likely believed he was fabricating the blurry sight. He believed this, at least, until the knife sank deep into his leg, cutting out a chunk of flesh. The leather absorbed the horrific and desperate yells.

Anir truly loved it. He stared at the blood as it became a river in the cracks of the alley. He stared at the trembling eyes of the homeless Man. He desired this feeling for as long as he could make it last.

The next morning the local militia would find a gruesome sight. They soon realized that this was not just a murder, but a torture session, and a slaughter. This would mark the beginning of the phantom of Coreisos Minor.

### The Phantom of Coreisos Manor

Four years had passed since his first pleasure of killing a Man, and since then Anir had fulfilled plenty of other pleasures. The homeless of the city were a usual target, due to the easy nature of the task. A new favorite, however, was breaking into houses and silently murdering the residents as they slept. The residents called this mysterious terror The Phantom of Coreisos Minor.

Delana and Adum were horrified, just as many others of the city. Being one of the higher class families, they considered that it would be best to move to another more peaceful location. Anir desired to stay for his own obvious reasons and his parents, as always, chose to fulfill his desire.

While one might believe the economy of Coreisos Minor would of fell into a depression, they would be wrong. Certain systems did fail, such as the appeal to possible new residents, but other businesses flourished. Blacksmiths sold more weapons, Architects were hired to engineer “Phantom Proof” houses, and the town militia grew quite large. Anir, however, was always a step ahead of them.

In the Winter of 3944 Coreisos Minor officials decided that it was time to investigate other alternatives to capturing The Phantom, for city growth was at a dead standstill. Soon, many scouts, trackers, and mercenaries from various cities filled the inns of Coreisos Minor. Heavy rewards were posted and work began immediately to find and stop The Phantom.

Coreisos Minor officials could have never guessed that with their efforts they would only help create one of the most dreaded beings in all of existence.

### The Labyrinth and the Tomes

Anir knew that if anyone was possible of stopping his desires it would be the scouts and trackers that came. This would be the only time in his life that he decided to stop the killings, at least temporarily. For many months the city of Coreisos Minor was without terror, but there would be no closure until The Phantom was caught, and publicly tortured and executed.

The need for pleasure in Anir grew greater than it ever had, for to forcefully take something away from him was not something that he desired. He needed to kill. So he did, but this time the city was ready. A tracker witnessed a cloaked figure breaking into a house, and he quickly rounded up some town militia to surround the location. When Anir left the house he quickly was aware of the ambush. He sprinted with might and determination to the dark alleyways that he had come to know quite well.

Anir knew that there was one last hope if he wished to continue fulfilling his pleasures. The labyrinth. With Men surrounding him quickly, he ran to an alley that he knew had a dark hole leading into the depths. For a moment he stared at the hole, but he decisively crawled into it. The militia hesitated and didn’t enter, likely due to the rumors that surrounded the labyrinth. Did Coreisos Major really exist?

For what seemed like days, Anir scurried in the darkness to other holes that he knew about. His hope diminished every time, for town militia guarded every location he visited. Anir was dying from lack of nourishment, he felt it in himself. When he wasn’t unconscious from exhaustion, Anir would smile, due to the arousal his imminent death brought him. Death was quite a feeling. He truly loved it. He loved it so much that he told himself to push on, deeper into the maze.

Anir awoke in a dim chamber, but he had no recollection of how he arrived there. Blurred and spotty vision, he crawled along the cold, wet floor. Anir realized it was wet, in fact he laid in a puddle of murky water. As he gulped, it was almost humorous to him how pleasurable the murky water actually was, nearly as pleasurable as killing another Man.

He forced himself up, at this point he had a body structure similar to that of a rotting corpse. His vision improved, he glanced around the chamber he was in, and concluded that it was very ancient in nature. A small crack in the ground above allowed less than a sliver of light, but in this darkness it was quite enough. The dark light showcased a shelf with many dusty tomes.

To Anir’s delight there was plenty of arousing tomes, all dated well before the creation of Coreisos Minor. If you would have showed the tomes to city officials, they likely would have submitted every single one of them to the Hithdorian Historian Conclave. They would have done this not only due to the ancient topics discussed within, but due to the potential threat these tomes would be should they have fell into the wrong hands. These tomes were tomes of Necromancy.

Anir truly loved it.

### The Harbourer of Corpses

It was Summer 3950, just another typical season Coreisos Minor. Six years ago they were successful in chasing The Phantom into the tunnels beneath the city, and since then the crimes had changed. Instead of discovering brutal murders scenes, the officials had only seen a slight increase in the number of kidnappings and disappearances. Rumors arose that The Phantom now took his prey into the labyrinth to be killed. Most officials, however, began to believe that their killer was no longer alive, and that the number of disappearances has only gone up in correlation with other crime. Even city growth had improved, with newcomers either believing that The Phantom didn’t threaten them or that he didn’t exist.

One sad couple, Delana and Adum had long ago left Coreisos Minor, for the city only brought them much pain. This once happy couple had lost their only child, Anir, to The Phantom, and it sickened them to believe that his body laid in the dark recesses of the labyrinth. Perhaps they chose to move into the security of the walls of Hithdor, or the simplicity of the fields of Dindar. Perhaps they chose to create life again, or perhaps not.

Regardless of what the city above him speculated, The Phantom sat alive and well in his chamber. He now went by a new name, Lundae, a title given to the Harbourer of Corpses. It was a name given by the people of Coreisos Minor, but officials denied it and chose not to spread the title.

For six years Lundae had been quite comfortable in his new home of the labyrinth, and he had accomplished more than he ever could have imagined. The tomes that he now worshiped had taught him a great deal about a specific energy of the world, and how it could be manipulated. The force behind death and evil, or Dark Energy, truly did exist and it had always been the answer to Lundae’s desires. The tomes rarely closed in the time since Lundae first opened them, for they had many chapters and taught him many skills with the Dark Energy.

### The Dark Energy and the Body

With the ability to tap into this force, Lundae was able to suppress his need for death simply by allowing the Energy to move through his body, but this has its side effects. With the Dark Energy flowing through his body his skin turned sickly and pale, almost transparent enough to clearly see the blood vessels beneath. Blood itself became a dark, thick, black. Bone structure had also changed, with his eye sockets becoming deep cavities, as he took on a long and slender stance. All of the hairs atop his head had grayed from the stress of the Energy.

One of the earliest changes he experienced was his sight. With the Energy flooding his body, his sight improved in the darkness and in fact he preferred the shadows much more than the light. When this change was apparent, Lundae decided to map out the maze of tunnels that stretched beneath Coreisos Minor, for it would be his means of transportation throughout the city. In little time he had committed the tunnels to memory.

Through all of his changes, Lundae had never felt more powerful in his life, and he knew that because he was new to the Dark Energy, with more practice he truly had great potential for even more power. With his need for death somewhat suppressed, Lundae had no need for meaningless slaughters, instead he had moved on to bigger and better things.

### The Dark Energy and the Infusing

Besides teaching the ability to tap into the force, the tomes spoke of the methods used to infuse objects with the Dark Energy, which could then be hurled towards the enemy. The act usually required that the user have physical contact with the object that they were trying to infuse, at least it did for a young practitioner such as Lundae. With the physical contact the user acted as a direct conductor of the Energy into the object.

In the tunnels around Lundae’s chamber, there were plenty of small rocks for the Necromancer to experiment with. The first rock that Lundae attempted to infuse would be used to rot a wooden plank he had found in the labyrinth. Besides the failed throws, it took him nearly three days to channel the Energy into the rock. However, on one throw Lundae was very pleased to witness the wood crack and decay rapidly from the point of contact. He grew fond of this ability and soon he grew much, much faster in his ability to infuse the rocks.

### The Dark Energy and the Undead

The tomes also spoke of amazing feats that Lundae had never even fathomed – the ability to reanimate the dead. This practice, however, is extraordinarily difficult to master due to the large and potent amounts of Dark Energy that a Necromancer must channel into the dead body. It would take Lundae nearly twenty corpses before he even witnessed the first twitch within a dead body. Soon he came to another realization, it was something he sensed within the corpses – Men that seemed to live good and pure lives were much harder to manipulate than the sinful Men of the taverns and bordellos. Lundae began to target and prey on the weak and sinful residents of the city.

Eventually he was able to surge into full reanimation. When he first experienced this Lundae was in a state of ecstasy, for he was in complete control of the Undead, with certain stipulations of course. Lundae learned that he could only control them if he could sense where they were, which due to limited practice wasn’t beyond his eyesight.

In the six years since his constant study with specimens from above, Lundae had only tapped into the Energy sufficient enough to bring forth two Undead at a time. Lundae was most fascinated with the raw power behind the Undead, and in one experiment he made the two fight each other.

The dead bodies could take damage beyond belief, and they could deliver blows equivalent to the force of multiple men. Even when one had lost all of it’s limbs it still attempted to bash into the other one – it finally took the complete crushing of it’s bones to render the Dark Energy within it useless. Lundae truly loved it. He loved it dearly.

After this experience Lundae was literally sapped of all the Dark Energy that flowed through his body. Paralyzed, he collapsed to the floor of his chamber feeling the pleasure of death nearly overtake him. It would be hours before Lundae could even muster the strength to push himself up from the cold floor. In those hours Lundae grew quite angry. He realized that to control the Undead with any skill proved to be the most difficult and draining task, and it was such even for master users of the Dark Energy. But this also proved to be his favorite of the abilities that he learned, and he grew determined.

Lundae vowed to himself that he would find the power needed to control as many Undead as humanly possible. He vowed that he would always strive for more power, so that he may become an artist with the Dark Energy – so artistic that he could actually perfect the ability of manipulating the dead. He needed to continue his practices, so he searched deeper into the tomes, deep enough to begin formulating his own plans.

### The Dark Energy and the Warlords

One of the most helpful subjects within the tomes were the ones pertaining to the past users of the Energy, and what ultimately led to their demise. Several Dark Lords were mentioned in the tomes, the most widely known across The Continent would be the Druidic Deathmage Raak. To this day there is no Man that had ever obtained as much power as Raak, and if you question how much power he had, consider that it was enough to destroy the ancient Kingdom of Manadh, single-handedly, within one day.

Raak, like most other users of the Dark Energy, met their ends because they were not conservative with their powers – they desired too much, and pushed themselves too far to fulfill those desires. After the destruction of Manadh, a depleted and dying Raak was forced to retreat to his lair, where he was tracked and killed by King Riadarin of Eredhel.

Lundae grew envious of the documented Dark Lords, and desired to one day see his name inked in the tomes of modern times, but this would have most likely meant death. He took all things into consideration and respected the previous Energy users, but hoped to succeed where they had failed. Lundae hoped to never have to meet his end as the previous Energy users did, and he decided that as much as he would want to expose himself, that he never would until the time was right.

### The Black Sludge

It was Spring 3953 in Coreisos Minor when Lundae had begun to formulate some sinister plans of his own. With further research in the tomes, he calculated that in order for him to make accelerated progress with the control of Undead, he would first need to fully understand the intricacies of the effects that Dark Energy had on the living body. With this knowledge he would simply be able to adapt and convert that process into the physiology of a dead body.

Similar to the methods Lundae used to infuse the Energy into the rocks, he now planned to actually convert the Dark Energy into a physical form, and he guessed it would materialize as some sort of muck or sludge. After nearly a year of experimenting, Lundae was pleased to see that his assumptions were correct, and a thick black sludge could certainly be created – it oozed from the very pores of the Necromancer. The sludge proved moderately draining for Lundae to spawn, but the immunity to this would most likely come over continued time and practice.

When pleased with his supply of the dark sludge, Lundae surfaced in Coreisos Minor to capture a few live specimens to instill with the sample. A few different varieties would be required to fully judge the results. Lundae returned and caged a homeless Man and Woman of poor health, and a wealthy Man and Woman of excellent health. For days Lundae would weaken the specimens by simply touching them, and while in their reduced state the thick sludge was forced into their mouths. Soon the results of consuming the Dark Energy had become apparent, and they were very pleasing.

Physically, the specimens did not undergo any noticeable changes, at least not on the outer epidermis. Internally, however, Lundae could sense many more elaborate changes. No matter how much sludge was consumed, the specimens never passed it digestively, and this told Lundae that the Dark Energy was infesting itself within the living body. The Necromancer sensed that their internal systems actually began to need the sludge to operate.

The mental and emotional changes of the specimens were amazingly successful. The desire of corruption had consumed them, and they no longer needed to be forcefully fed the sludge, in fact they now begged the Necromancer for more whenever they hungered for it. Lundae even let them out of their cages, and once again his suspicions were correct, for none of them ran from his chamber.

Intriguingly they all sat with Lundae, and communicated with him – It was the first time in seven long years that Lundae had shared words with another living being. What they spoke of was fascinating, for they admitted their personal desires to the Necromancer, and they all agreed that their primary desire was more of the pleasures that Lundae provided them.

Beyond that, however, the homeless specimens both agreed that they wanted to return to the alleys. They desired potent ale, and they wanted to indulge themselves with as much possible. They desired to run rampant on the streets of Coreisos Minor, robbing and burning the houses of those who were more fortunate than them. They desired to murder the officials responsible for their homelessness. Lundae noted their wishes and was pleased with the path of destruction that they choose.

The wealthy specimens both agreed that they wanted to return to their homes. They desired to become more wealthy, and to spend all their wealth on the material possessions that would appease them. They desired to walk through the streets of Coreisos Minor, bragging about their wealthy lives. They desired to visit the bordellos for lustful pleasures that they no longer cared to hide. Lundae noted their wishes as well, and was not surprised to see that their wishes were of a less destructive nature.

Lundae told the wealthy specimens that he was not letting them return to the city, and instead ordered them to return to their cages – they did as they were told. In the cages they found the thick sludge waiting, and they eagerly let it run into their mouths. This had been all the evidence that Lundae needed to make up his mind about an idea he had been pondering.

The homeless specimens were granted permission to go back into Coreisos Minor. The Necromancer strictly warned that should they tell others about their new pleasures, or speak of his existence, that he would be forced to never give in to their desires. Both of them willingly accepted the terms and Lundae showed them the way to the nearest exit of the labyrinth. He handed them a small container of the dark sludge and told them to return whenever they hungered for more.

It was merely one day later when the homeless Man returned to Lundae’s chamber begging him for more of the sludge. Lundae told him to settle himself and speak of his short time in the city before he would be granted the sludge.

The Man claimed that they had first returned to the alleys to indulge themselves like they spoke of. It was there that they had gotten in a tussle with two other drunkards, apparently for stealing ale and pipeweed from them while they slept. The Man claimed that he killed one of them with his bare hands, choking the life from him. Apparently a knife was pulled on the homeless Woman and, while she took a few stab wounds, she eventually died in the alley.

The homeless Man admitted that he didn’t care at all, but instead it was actually quite entertaining to watch her die. He claimed that he killed the last drunkard with a brick and stole his knife.

From the alleys the homeless Man claimed that he ran straight for the Political District of town. Apparently he hurled the street torches in through the windows of the buildings, all in an effort to kill any city officials who may have been responsible for the loss of his home. He claimed that he laid in a nearby gutter all night and laughed at the blazes as they wrecked havoc on the district.

The Necromancer took consideration to the interesting parts of the story, and it was time for his final test with his specimens. He had withheld the black sludge from the two wealthy specimens throughout the night, and they were in a state of complete torture the longer they went without it, in fact they may have craved it even more than the homeless Man.

Lundae explained to the three specimens that he was only going to be keeping one of them alive. He told them that he wanted to see them fight each other to the death, and whichever one of them remained at the end would get all of their lifelong desires fulfilled. This, of course, was a lie, as he ultimately intended on killing them all, but he needed them to individually feel the determination within themselves. Lundae also had his mind chosen as to who the victor would be.

Through the experiment so far, Lundae had concluded that the Dark Energy filled sludge obviously brought out the most corrupt desires that individuals already felt within themselves – it may very well exaggerate and build onto those desires, but the desire is definitely there from the beginning, regardless of how small it may have been.

So, coinciding with that, it was noted that those that lived a more peaceful-minded life would most likely only have small corruptions, such as greed for money, or lust for those of the opposite sex. Those that had plenty of hardships in life and blamed others for those hardships would most likely always have more destructive types of desires within them, and provided with the thick dark sludge they would steal, burn, rape, and kill to fulfill their desires, all without own fear for the end of their own life.

So that is why Lundae had placed his belief in the idea that the homeless Man would be the victor of the fight, most likely ravaging the other peaceful-minded specimens. What happened over the next few minutes came both as a major disappointment and an absolutely amazing surprise at the same time.

With the order to begin, the three crazed specimens launched themselves at each other, and ended up in a massive grapple. For living beings, Lundae was very impressed with just how much damage they could give and accept. The sound of broken bones snapped through the air, mixing neatly with the sound of smashing bloody fists into blood oozed faces.

The homeless Man pulled the knife that he had retrieved the night before and stabbed it deep into the Woman. Instantly, the wealthy Man snapped the other Man’s arm and grabbed onto the knife in the Woman’s stomach. The wealthy Man quickly twisted the knife as he sawed it out of her body – gutted, she fell to the floor in a gross heap. Less than a second later the wealthy Man embedded the knife hilt deep into the other’s heart, and he also dropped to the floor in a cracking heap.

Lundae didn’t have very much time to feel the disappointment, for just mere seconds after the two specimens dropped he was filled with an overwhelming feeling of ecstasy – a feeling he knew all to well. The Necromancer had assumed complete control over the specimens that had died just moments ago – they converted into Undead in an unbelievably fast amount of time – but he hadn’t even intended to reanimate them, control over them just seemed to immediately shift to him.

Realizing that his Dark Energy was quickly depleting, Lundae tried to release the flow within the Undead, hoping they would banish and severe the direct channel. To his shock his manipulation did not work, for there was something different about this force. Lundae didn’t have time to ponder it, he needed to do something before death claimed him. The Necromancer quickly grabbed one of the many rocks around his chamber – he desperately sprinted and crushed the skulls of the Undead.

Minutes later, when Lundae composed himself and his vision cleared he scanned the room. The wealthy Man was sprawled on the floor over the two crushed Undead, and he was slurping the black sludge-like blood that was pouring from their bodies. Lundae needed to think, and he needed to do it alone. With the rock still in his grasp, Lundae crushed it several times into the skull of the Man, and he made sure it was done quick and forceful.

Several hours later, and feeling much better, Lundae concluded his theory on the entire event that transpired. In creation of the black sludge, the Dark Energy spawned into physical form, coming from the pores of the Necromancer. In essence the black sludge was the very Energy that flowed through Lundae, and it must have been a unique spawn to him, and only him. Lundae theorized that other Dark Energy users of the world could also create their own unique spawns of sludge.

When the sludge had infested into the specimens, Lundae was able to sense the changes internally, but he didn’t have a direct channel of control over them, because they were ultimately still alive.

Upon death, a living being infested with Lundae’s spawn of the sludge would quickly channel control to him, even if he didn’t intend on reanimating the body. Usually, a dead being must undergo preparations to be reanimated, dependant on the skill of the Necromancer, but the consumption of the dark sludge had already accomplished these internal preparations. This was most definitely the reason behind the speed of their conversion into Undead. Lundae theorized that with practice, he may be able to choose whether or not he accepted the Undead channel of control to him. If this was mastered, than he would be able to stop the dead body’s conversion into Undead by simply not allowing the connection to his Energies.

One element was key to the process however – Lundae had to sense the death for the channeling to occur, otherwise the dead would never reanimate. This is why the wealthy Woman’s death in the alley went unnoticed, but the two specimens that died right in front of Lundae directly channeled control to him.

It was truly an amazing theory, and Lundae felt the power that overwhelmed him, for this was a very powerful ability indeed. It was very lucky that the Necromancer only had two of the specimens die in front of him; otherwise the event could have killed him instantly. He decided that he needed to continue this research, for there was much to learn, but he would have to progress slowly, and limit himself to one specimen at a time.

But why was it that the wealthy Man, the simple-minded specimen that Lundae guessed would get ravaged, actually won the fight? Upon further investigation, it appeared to simply be that the mental instincts and overall body health of the wealthy Man were much more suited for the sludge. More suited then the mental and physical characteristics of the unhealthy homeless specimens.

So it appeared that the ideal specimens for experimenting required a few special features. They would have to be naturally destructive-minded people, but also have a good physical and mental condition. Lundae contemplated where he would find such ideal specimens, but first he needed to become more familiar with the entire process of using the black sludge, and there were plenty of simple-minded people in Coreisos Minor to practice with.

### The Dark Lord and the Beckoning

It was 3955 and the autumn air outside kept most residents of Coreisos Minor inside their warm shelters. In his recent visits to the surface, Lundae had learned a few interesting things indeed.

Informant scrolls spoke of the mysteries that now shrouded the grand Kingdom of Belegar. They spoke of the rumored decisions of King Leechian to expand the borders of his Kingdom, and the destruction of many small villages in Westend. Lundae hoped the actions were true, for the choice to reach out for more power always intrigued him.

There was also much news spreading about the great Paladin Avius – the same great Hero that fought gallantly throughout the Orc Wars. On one cold winter day, nearly a year earlier, Avius had suddenly left his home in Belegar, and trekked far north to the Calad Mountains. Travelers recalled seeing him atop the highest peaks in the Calad range, and it’s rumored that he fell to his death. The informant scrolls spoke of the speculation behind his rumored death, such as whether it was suicidal or accidental in nature.

One night, deep in his chamber, and also deep in his tomes, Lundae suddenly sensed something of the likes he had never sensed before. The Dark Energy that surrounded him, the same Energy that he felt everywhere, the same Energy he had become so accustomed to, had suddenly changed with an eruption within. With this eruption came a variety of contradicting feelings. Lundae felt enormously more powerful and abundant with the Energy, but he sensed that he now had a lack of control over it. It would take him much longer to accomplish the things he desired on his own. On his own? Just as suddenly as the first eruption came, the second eruption came, and it was a great beckoning.

The new force beckoned from a distant land, but Lundae knew exactly where he was being called to – it was the new source of Dark Energy in Belegar. The Energy had redirected to something, it filtered through something, and his name was Maegamarth. The Dark Lord beckoned forth, using the Energy as his means of communication. With every breath, those who practiced the Dark Arts were called to him, for a desire of greater power. It was their only way, and the sensation of the beckon never would subside within Lundae’s thoughts.

Shortly after the sudden changes, Lundae decided to test out his new boundaries using the Energy – it now felt like it was being forcefully surged into his body. The Necromancer gathered twelve bodies from the streets above, and he was amazed to resurrect them all, with a quick and simple touch from his hand. The Undead stood in his chamber, not draining him at all, but in fact they seemed to empower him with more Energy. Lundae’s pleasure quickly left when the complete control he had over the Undead was wrestled into something that wasn’t so complete.

Lundae still controlled the basic principals of the Undead, such as their movement, but what he didn’t fully control was their will, for it was now shadowed by the Will of Maegamarth. Lundae even found that his will, while controlling the Undead, swayed towards that of Maegamarth.

The Will was vague to comprehend, but the Necromancer sensed that the Dark Lord wanted three relics of great importance to him. He desired his Eyes, so that he may precisely envision The Continent and the secrets it held. He desired his Crown, so that he may stretch his complete Will out to all of his minions that followed. He desired his Hand, so that he may conquer the land with his dark, raw, and merciless power. The Dark Lord could not return to a physical state of his former glory until the relics were with him.

Suddenly, Lundae snapped himself from the trance of Maegamarth’s Will, and he realized that he had been leading his Undead out of the labyrinth. He had been leading them to the epicenter – to the wasteland of Belegar. Lundae quickly dismissed control of his minions, and they slapped down to the wet stone floor of the tunnels. He was disappointed to find that while he had been granted much more power, his desires were swayed with that power. The Necromancer felt used, for it wasn’t truly his power, it was Maegamarth’s, and it was simply being channeled through him.

Lundae pondered more about the relics. The Hand was of little meaning to him, but the Crown and Eyes, however, greatly concerned him. Lundae knew that if Maegamarth was to acquire his Crown he would have complete control over any Dark Energy he sensed, across all of The Continent. Couple that with his Eyes, and Maegamarth would be able to sense everything, for he would see everything across The Continent. With his Crown and Eyes the Dark Lord would have little need for Necromancers – especially the ones that desired power for their own personal satisfaction.

Lundae also feared that his experiments with the black sludge would be subjected to the changes brought with the Dark Lord. From the surface, he captured a suitable specimen to test the validity of his fears, and as usual the sludge surprised him. After the process he had done numerous times before, he killed the specimen with a knife puncture to the heart. Immediately, and as predicted, the specimen channeled control directly to Lundae and it became Undead. Lundae waited for the disappointment of Maegamarth’s Will to overtake the minion, but minutes passed, until an hour passed with no wrestle of the control from his grasp. Another truly surprising feature of the black sludge.

Lundae built off of the knowledge that he already knew about the sludge, and its ability to infest a living body, essentially infesting the body with Lundae himself. The Necromancer theorized that the black sludge acted as a barrier to the Will of Maegamarth, and it prevented the Will from overtaking the bodies that Lundae’s sludge had worked so hard to infest upon. An infested dead body would still shift unwavering control to the Necromancer whose essence they consumed. But for how long would this ability last? Until Maegamarth could sense the minion? Until Maegamarth acquired his Eyes, his Crown, or both? Lundae hoped that it would last for as long as possible.

The Necromancer knew that if he wanted to continue growing powerful on his own he would have to continue his studies and practices with the black sludge. In the two years since the discovery Lundae had made, he still had not gained the ability to control the initial Energy force that attempted to channel into him. This would be his next focus of mastery. So, as strong as the beckoning was within Lundae, it didn’t overpower the strength of his everyday desires that called upon him. He would wait until the time was right to march to the dark Kingdom of Belegar.

### The Radical and the Potential

Many years had passed since the beckoning from Maegamarth started, and with each passing day, as the Dark Lord grew stronger and stronger, so did the power of the call. To this point, Lundae had been able to resist it, but even he acknowledged that it was far more powerful than before, perhaps a sign to him that giving in to the Dark Lord truly would increase his power, day by day. Belegar intrigued him, but so did his current studies.

It was 3959, and the Coreisos Minor officials noticed something very peculiar. They had always guessed that the rise in disappearances since 3944 correlated directly with the growth of crime within the city, and it was something they accepted, but one day the disappearances just stopped. It was as if all those rumors of The Phantom of Coreisos Minor, the one that lived in the labyrinth below, were actually true.

Lundae had grown very fond of his chamber within the maze of tunnels, and the decision to venture out was a hard one indeed, but it was a necessary one. Pathlock was a perfect place for the Necromancer to continue his tests, and that is where he chose to go, for Pathlock was the largest community of organized criminals across the entirety of The Continent, save perhaps the unreported events that transpire in the desert port of Galadia.

It would be here that Lundae would have a slew of criminal specimens that would indulge themselves with his black sludge. They would hopefully prove to be ideal specimens for the sludge, having corrupt desires, and healthy battle-hardened bodies. Most of the thieves and thugs of the land minded their own business, too busy to bother a cloaked Lundae – with this concealment Lundae had quickly sought out a suitable residence, with a deep and dark cellar below.

Another contributing factor to Lundae’s decision to leave Coreisos Minor was his newly acquired mastery of the black sludge. Weeks ago, Lundae suddenly tapped into a new power, one that had aggravated him since his first encounter with the sludge. It was the power of choice over whether or not to accept the Dark Energy that would channel to him from the recently deceased specimens. He could provide the sludge to as many specimens as he desired, and killed them all if he desired, for he now had the ability to either accept them as Undead, or let them fall into a lifeless heap. With this, his studies could continue under the public eye, and he could directly observe the actions that his specimens took. The same actions that his specimens were forced to only convey to him verbally in previous years.

It didn’t take long to see that the thugs of Pathlock were more suited for the corruptions of the sludge, and in fact it only took Lundae one specimen to unleash quite an episode of events throughout the town. For days he had observed a powerful faction of thieves known as the Killians, and even their reputation was frowned upon by the other factions within Pathlock. The Killian’s leader proved easier to capture than Lundae originally anticipated. The leader spent only two nights in the cellar before he willingly accepted the infestation, and desired more.

One night, Lundae let him loose upon the town, reminding the specimen to keep his ordeals a secret. In his cloak, Lundae trailed his new minion throughout Pathlock. First, the leader reunited with the Killians, and in honor of his return they decided to start a street brawl with a few high ranking members of other Pathlock factions. Within the hours, the new specimen fought and killed one, two, and even three thugs at a time. He attacked ferociously, and without thought, and the possibility of pain or death certainly did not fear him at all. When he moved and attacked, with whatever action he chose, he was completely in tune with his corrupt desires, and they were the only things that drove him. Lundae could only describe the specimen’s actions as being completely radical in nature.

A few of his fellow Killians questioned his new radical abilities, but he quickly dismissed the fact that anything had changed. It pleased Lundae to see that the specimen was able to contain the secret of the black sludge to himself.

After several hours of street fighting, the Radical leader and the Killians decided that they wanted to indulge in thick ale, and whatever grub the local taverns could muster. Just as the midnight rain began to fall, the Radical entered the loud tavern, and the cloaked Necromancer discreetly followed and took a seat close to the doorway. For hours the Killians demanded their ale and grub, and they practically ripped it straight from the hands of the barmaid. The Radical messily ate his food, and he too washed it down with mug after mug of potent ale.

Lundae continued to observe from his seat near the doorway, and his slight boredom quickly passed when the Radical made an entertaining decision. As the barmaid brought forth another round of mugs, the Radical gripped his hand firmly upon her bottom, and barked out his perverted desires at her. Insulted by his lustful pass, she took a mug of ale and splashed its contents into his face. With this, the Radical backhanded her, and he and his Killians pinned her against the tavern wall.

All of the thugs within the tavern were now focused on the situation that was unfolding, as it was most likely entertaining to them as well. The Killians groped the barmaid’s body, and they pinned her firmly while the Radical forced himself onto her. Their minds were certainly set, they would have their fun tonight, especially their leader.

The man that approached was daring indeed, but his reputation preceded him, and he had always been a daring individual. The man that approached was none other than the owner of the tavern, a man born into the bloodline of a very successful and respected family of thieves within Pathlock. Most of the Men that watched figured that even the rowdy Killians would wisely walk away from such a person, but the entertaining decisions continued to surprise them. Lundae was not surprised, but instead thrilled by what he was witnessing.

The Radical was fast in his decision to sucker punch the owner of the tavern, who also happened to be the husband of the barmaid they were harassing. The Killians formed a circle around their leader, and the crowd within the tavern exploded into an uproar of cheers and hollers. After a few minutes of brutal kicking from the Killians, the Radical pulled a blade and shed the first blood of the night, driving the blade through the owner’s torso. The barmaid wept as the Killians began to laugh, and they quickly focused themselves back to harassing her. Her clothes were ripped and the Radical loved every minute of it – he wanted the entire tavern to witness the power of the Killians.

Apparently, the owner of the tavern also had two twin sons that helped with the kitchen duties every night, but nobody would have ever suspected what came next. Having just witnessed the brutal murder of his father, and the raping of his mother, Darem quickly gripped a common cutting knife, and driven by instinct and determination, he sprinted directly into the fray of the Killians.

Darem took a punch to the gut from the Radical, but he swiftly jammed the dull knife deep into his opponent’s neck. Thick, black blood shot from the wound as Darem twisted the knife out – Lundae quickly dismissed the channel of Dark Energy, and watched the commotion in fascination. Darem took another punch, this time to his face, and again his opponent was punctured in the neck. It truly was amazing, and had you asked the thugs that watched, many of them would have most likely agreed they thought the kid could have killed them all.

Just as quickly as Darem had made his entrance, he encountered his departure from life. As Darem spun, one of the many Killians drove a dagger hilt-deep into his eye, and he instantly slumped to the floor. Again the tavern exploded into an uproar as lightning and thunder snapped from the storm outside. Lundae was in a state of awe from what he had witnessed – the boy, not much more than ten years of age, moved fast and fluidly, and he truly had an enormous potential.

Lundae quickly sensed something else in Darem’s slumped body, and it was something that couldn’t have been apparent to anyone else at the time. The boy was still alive, but his life energy was quickly draining from him. A sinister plan consumed Lundae, and he quickly snatched up Darem’s body, and he discreetly exited the tavern into the heavy rain. As the rain hit against him, Lundae heard an even louder uproar come from the tavern, but at this point whatever had happened wasn’t of much importance to him, for he needed to retreat to his cellar, and unlock the full potential that was hidden deep within Darem’s soul.

### The Refinement and the Reanimation

By now, the residence above had most likely been breached and robbed of all valuables, but Lundae wouldn’t have known, for he had spent the last year alone in his cellar. Alone in the sense that he was the only living entity, save for a few rats that found their way in, and the brief period of time in which Darem remained alive.

As the young boy had lain unconscious one year ago, Lundae had drained his thick sludge by the jarful into Darem’s wide open mouth. It quickly reacted to his dying body, and it prepared his internal systems for undeath in just under one day’s time. Eventually, the blood that poured from the boy’s eye, and his comatose state, led to his passing. Lundae had chosen to not immediately reanimate his newest study, for he wanted to examine his potential, and refine it to it’s most superior form.

With each new jar of the dark sludge, Lundae experimented by infusing certain properties into it. For the first several months, he had targeted Darem’s body structure, for as much potential as it held, it was still that of a simple child. Lundae stripped the boy of his skin, revealing they layer of tender muscles below. Sludge was applied directly into the muscles, and with time it could be molded and manipulated, which in turn made the muscles swell much larger than their prior size. His bones hardened to inhuman standards, and it was evident that they would take significant force before splintering.

For a few months, Lundae targeted enhancing the senses of Darem, but primarily his vision. His eyes were fully removed, and were replaced by a new pair of eyes, ones that Lundae had let soak in black sludge for nearly half a year. When the eyes were plucked from the container they no longer had even a sliver of whiteness left in them, for they were pitch black and filled with Dark Energy.

To date, the refinement of Darem had been one of the greatest pleasures that Lundae had ever experienced. The Necromancer realized that certain bodies, regardless of their age, were simply born with the chemistry to become great, but this certainly seemed to be a rarity indeed. If only he could search out, and find these rare specimens, or be able to identify them with a simple glance into their life energy.

It was time. Lundae placed the palm of his pale and bony hand across the rotten flesh of Darem’s forehead. The Necromancer surged a flow of Dark Energy into the conduits of Darem’s body, and the young boy jolted to life – the artificial life of being Undead. The deep, thundering bellow of a laugh that came from the cellar could be heard by many of the passing thugs above.

This was a great find indeed, for Lundae felt that within Darem was the power and determination to annihilate anything. It was at this point in time when it was set in motion; It was a coupling similar to when a lover found his fiancé, similar to when a key found it’s lock, similar to when a desire found it’s fulfillment. Darem would guard his Necromancer, and slaughter many, many beings that threatened him, and even the ones that did not, and Lundae truly loved it.

### The Desires and the Answer

In the Fall of 3960, just a few days after the reanimation of the dreaded Darem, Lundae sat in his dark cellar and compiled his desires. Darem was so powerful a being, and it was amazing to ponder that he was just a young Undead entity, and that he had years and years of development and manipulation in front of him. Just how powerful could an entity become – an entity that was once a young boy, with no military training, no wartime experience, no massive desires for greater glory, how powerful could it become?

If one were to refine an already proven individual, there would be no question behind the potential of that body. Lundae obsessed over this idea – the idea that someone of proven status, a war-torn veteran, a King, or perhaps an assassin, would have the potential to become near godly entities when filled with Dark Energy, and they would employ powers that could crush the Kingdoms all across the land.

After the success and the immense pleasure that Lundae had felt with just the simple boy from Pathlock, he desired more than anything to reanimate the most pure beings that he could come across – these desires would define him, and become him, for they would saturate and permeate across his twisted soul. He desired the numerous Kings across The Continent. He desired Priests and Clergymen that spread faith of The Creator. He desired the Elvish King, Riadarin. He desired perhaps the purest of them all at one point – He desired the fallen Paladin Avius.

Maegamarth’s Will suddenly broke into Lundae’s desires, and once again beckoned for the Necromancer to come and obtain the power that only he offered. The Dark Lord conveyed that he wanted these things as well, and that his dark legion would soon be large enough to rain destruction upon The Continent. Belegar was the answer. Maegamarth was most definitely the answer to a greater power. The fulfillment of Lundae’s pleasures and desires was waiting.

With that, the Necromancer and his Undead guard left to find their place within the dark legion, and their place within Maegamarth’s Will.

### The Envious Radical

Belegar itself was a fascination, for the entire kingdom was shrouded in a very thick and dark fog. The once white brick of the castles was also caked with darkness, and many buildings were crumbling from their foundations. The ground was almost alive, and a deep black sludge spread across the ground – the Black Orcs that populated the city were particularly fond of this sludge, for they would gorge upon it almost endlessly, but it would quickly spawn itself again. Lundae noted the similarities of this sludge to the substance that materialized from his body, but there was much, much more Dark Energy residing within this particular creation.

Lundae noted that there were many other Dark Energy users much like himself in allegiance with Maegamarth. Mainly the energy users practiced Necromancy, but they all had their own specialties it seemed. Some preferred the path of infusion, creating horrid stenches and disease within their projectiles. Others seemed to favor the same path Lundae had become fond of – the reanimation of the dead, and the perfection of them.

To conceal his true identity to the beings in Belegar, primarily Maegamarth, Lundae cloaked Darem in a long, flowing, black duster that covered his entire body. It proved to work perfectly, as he was simply perceived as a Dark Man of Maegamarth, and his intentions were unquestioned by all, but once again Lundae worried for how long this would last, the concealment of his prized possession.

Maegmarth himself resided in the throne room of King Leechian’s old battlements chambers, but access was strictly regulated into this area. Gigantic Black Orc soldiers guarded every entrance, and they methodically stared at every entity within sight, quickly analyzing whether they were friend or foe. Only the most powerful were granted access into the battlements chambers, and probably none of them were actually permitted to lay eyes upon the Dark Lord. Lundae found that if he wished to speak with Maegamarth he simply had to think of him, and Maegamarth’s voice would quickly fill his mind. The Necromancer quickly made it a personal goal to be one of the first to lay eyes upon his new master, but first he had to prove himself worthy.

The first task given to Lundae by Maegamarth was a simple one – He would be one of many to travel to Hithdor, the great city of Men, and scout the perimeter of its towering walls. Only with this task done properly could Maegamarth begin his underground assassination of all military and political officials within the towering kingdom.

Many weeks later it was evident to Maegamarth’s scouts that the walls of Hithdor were as strong as ever, but there was hope to them. To keep such a titanic kingdom properly guarded was almost an impossiblility, and the security, while rare, proved to be spread too thin at certain locations. If these windows of opportunity could be exploited, than the assassinations could commence as soon as the Dark Lord desired, and they did in fact start shortly thereafter.

Around this time Lundae also had his own personal reasons to celebrate, for he’d come to find what would be the strongest Radical he would experience to date.

One day, while scouting the trails around Hithdor for military patrol routes, he came across two Men that looked strikingly similar. The Dark Men with Lundae ambushed the two apparent twin brothers, and both of them were strong warriors, though one in particular chased the Dark Men through the forest slaying all he could. There was most definitely a fire in this Man’s soul, a small fire of corruption and evil at this time, but Lundae sensed it all the same, and had the perfect stimulant to bring out the worst of this Man. Soon this Man was overpowered, and Lundae subdued him and saved him for his pleasures later.

Closer to Belegar, in Lundae’s new lair, the Man was latched to a table and aroused from his slumber. Through the tortures, it was quickly learned that this Man’s name was Banion, and he was formerly a low-ranking soldier of the Hithdorian Military. Lundae sensed many things that were pleasing about Banion’s soul – The Necromancer felt that he secretly despised the Hithdor Military and Government. Banion also showed many signs of envy, mainly suggesting that he was envious and jealous of his brother Farion. Envy was always a corruption that intrigued Lundae, for it seemed to be a great gateway into the other corruptions. It was also sensed that whenever Banion encountered a threat, he wished to end it; he became vengeful towards that threat and would unleash whatever wrath he could to stop it.

For days, Darem continued to performed sick methods of torture to Banion, mainly to test his endurance and tolerance of pain. After this was over Lundae began to instill within Banion with the thing he would naturally come to love, the thing that would unleash all of the evil corruptions and sinful desires that were hidden within him – Lundae instilled Banion with his black sludge.

### The Plagued Crops

The warm weather of the Spring of 3965 was hot and humid, and it almost felt like a summer to the residents of Dindar. Back at this time they had no clue that their worlds would be turned over, and the evil that looked to plague the crops would show its face.

Back in Belegar, Lundae had been called upon to help with the infusion of disease within many objects that would be used at the raid of Dindar in the coming weeks. Maegamarth became displeased by the effort that Lundae put forth in this task, as it seemed the Necromancer didn’t particularly take pleasure in this practice of the Dark Energy. Maegamarth showed his dissatisfaction by dismissing Lundae from the task, and the Necromancer was no longer permitted to take place in the coming raid of Dindar.

This show of disrespect angered Lundae, for he had perhaps taken a step backwards among the ranks of Maegamarth’s Dark Energy users, and it would only delay his goal of desiring to lay eyes upon the Dark Lord.

Deep down, it actually somewhat pleased Lundae to hear of the defeat at Dindar, though it was surprising all the same. Hithdorian Aides apparently rushed the village and routed the small army of Black Orcs that Maegamarth had sent. The most surprising rumor was one of a small band of warriors that called themselves a crusade – this band of warriors was apparently the reason Dindar was prepared for the raid, and prepared to destroy the Necromancer that was chosen for the plaguing.

Most likely just a small band of warriors is all they would stay, for Maegamarth would surely crush any foe that would truly threaten him. If only the Dark Lord would have entrusted Lundae to continue the task, than perhaps the Men of The Continent would have been shriveling in their death beds from the consumption of plagued food.

### The Great Acquisitions

In the Fall of 3965, there were many things that fell indeed, and the dark legion of Maegmarth acquired two things of great importance. Upon sensing his Hand within the walls of Eredhel, the Dark Lord threw an army of his greatest Black Orcs on a dead sprint into the Elvish Kingdom. Through the treelines came hundreds of arrows, until the relentless Orcs charged the defensive positions and incinerated them with their suicidal explosions of blazing infernos.

The tide of the battle quickly turned at that point, and the two great acquisitions were made. Maegamarth’s army returned to Belegar with his old statued Hand, his true essence of power, and this would prove to make his vicious Orcs and Undead even more vicious, as unimaginable as that may be.

The other acquisition was one that ranked in similar ways to the return of the Hand, for it was the capture of the corpse of King Riadarin. During life, the Elvish King was a perfect one in so many ways – he was old and wise, a powerful leader and an even more powerful combatant, and his heart beat with a purity that was second to none upon The Continent. Preparations for reanimation were ordered to start immediately upon the arrival of the corpse in Belegar, for it was clearly evident that with such a pure heart this would be no easy task. It would most definitely take endless hours of refinement from an endless count of Necromancers to convert his heart into the darkness, and into the acceptance of the Dark Energy.

This news came as pure ecstasy to the ears of Lundae, for his desires were unfolding before his very eyes, and he yearned for nothing more but to be a part of King Riadarin’s reanimation. It was around this time that Lundae began to routinely drop to his knees and beg the Dark Lord for the fulfillment of his desires – Lundae would do whatever his master asked to obtain the pleasures he desired.

### The Undead Caravan

At the end of the Fall of 3965, Maegamarth finally gave Lundae a sizeable task, of sizeable importance. Lt. Baren, a calm and collected Lieutenant of the Hithdorian Military had left his former home many weeks ago, for fear of his own life, and for personal reasons as well. The shadowy assassinations that spread like wildfire through Hithdor had claimed the lives of many military commanders of similar rank to Lt. Baren, and they seemed to be endless. Lundae was charged with the task to lead an assault upon Baren’s caravan while they passed through the snowy cliffs of the Pale Mountains, and he gladly accepted.

The ambush was swift to start and Undead stormed every flank that the caravan exposed. Shocked Men were quickly killed, and with the element of surprise Lundae assumed that the caravan would certainly be obliterated within minutes, but to his astonishment this was not the case.

Under the lead of Lt. Baren the Men rallied, and formed up fronts along all sides of the caravan. Through the power Maegamarth offered, Lundae commanded dozens of Undead, throwing them one by one into the lines of the enemy – the Undead were quickly shattered and made useless by the enemies’ heavy weapons and shields. A sickening feeling overcame Lundae, and he began to hurl countless infused rocks into the enemy army, and his rocks rotted countless shields and weaponry, but this was still not enough.

When the enemy acknowledged that Lundae was a Necromancer, they sent out units of Men to intercept and destroy him. One unit in particular, lead by a fire-haired warrior, shattered Lundae’s shield, and forced him to retreat into the trees of the mountains. Regardless of the Necromancers, the Undead, or the infused rocks, the Men of the caravan held strong and made safe passage through the Pale Mountains.

Upon Lundae’s return to Belegar, Maegamarth grew greatly displeased and angered by the news of defeat once again. Perhaps the greatest anger of all was the news that Lundae reported about the small band of warriors that had in fact grown into a sizeable crusade, which called themselves the Crusade of Eryndor. If was this Crusade that rallied under Lt. Baren and crushed the Undead forces, and it was almost as if they exactly knew the most effective method to destroy them. The Will of Maegamarth suddenly changed, or you could say there was an addition – the Dark Lord willed to find the nature of this so called Crusade.

…and that’s the last The Continent has seen of the Necromancer Lundae.