Death Song
While the offer of playing for what could possibly be eternity is tempting, part of you has been affected by world events and the war going on. You have come to realize that the Necromancer (and the demons) need to be stopped. If you can take an active role in that, then you'll know for sure that your family will be safe in the near future. You did do all this for your family after all, and while your path has definitely undergone a change, you're still going to put them first.
Besides, you're a vampire now, you're sure that you'll have tons of time to play later if all goes well. You're definitely nervous about this decision, but you're going to make it.
"Lord Rostov, I wish to begin your advanced combat training." You say.
"Very well, though I almost hoped that you wouldn't. Your playing was just divine and you won't be able to play again for a long time during your extensive training time. Possibly never if you fail but let us hope that you do not fail! It would be a loss for all of us. Warnov escourt him to the lower dungeons."
"Yes, Lord Rostov."
Warnov takes you into the lower dungeons of the castle just as Lord Rostov commanded. Warnov tells you that this isn't going to be easy and that you better condition your mind to almost a pure instinctive level because you could very well die in training!
Finally you reach a large barren room with a pair of large doors on the far end.
"This is it. Just keep an eye on the large door over there and well, brace yourself!"
You half expect to get bitten again after hearing those words, but instead Warnov quickly steps out of the room and locks the door leaving you alone. The large doors on the other side of the room start to open.
And you just realized that you don't have a weapon
A year passes
You survive your rigorous training. You have fought all manner of dangerous beasts with and without weapons. (And feasting on their blood for survival) You have undergone pain you didn't think possible even in your new undead state. You're definitely a better killing machine than you were.
You were allowed to write letters to your family which were overlooked first by Lord Rostov of course to make sure you weren't saying something you shouldn't. You barely know what to tell them except keeping your lies to a minimum about your supposed new job with Zalan intelligence. You have dedicated and conditioned yourself to combat so much that you don't even think about music. You briefly wonder if you've "lost" something, but you then dismiss such things as you must focus on battle.
During this time you have been informed that the Necromancer Lord as well as Velzix have grown in power. Lord Rostov says though that he believes the demons will pose no serious threat if a concentrated effort can be made on them by the mortals. However, for that to happen, the Necromancer Lord must die and that's where you come in and what you've been training for.
However, you won't be going in by yourself. A band of "heroes" will be necessary for a job like this. You are told you will meet the others in a small abandoned village bordering on the Necromancer's Domain.
Another vampire takes you there with the aid of a black teleportation cube. This is a one way trip. You're not coming back unless you win. That and the fact that the black cubes can't possibly be allowed to fall into enemy hands.
There you meet the others. They look unimpressed with you, but you're a little surprised to see one of them. She's very well known a "hero".
"You're Deliah the Deathdealer! You fought at the battle of Azark and you also retrieved the Celestial Sword! You're a hero! I didn't know you were "
"Didn't they tell you all this shit when you started training? Sheesh, we gotta get paired up with some broodling " a brutish vampire interrupts.
"Quiet Gorax! I'm sure he was, but meeting a legend is a lot different from basking in their glory in person." Deliah replies.
"Gorax!? Gorax the Mighty? You were a barbarian king that held back the orc hordes over a hundred years ago!" you say in amazement.
"Huh, fat lot good that did me. I can't take any credit for of my deeds today and barely anyone remembers my past deeds except some useless tribal shamen that now cower from the undead hordes in the Drozz Plains. Feh! Back in my day such men would not allow mere ghouls run them off their lands! I don't know why Rostov won't allow me to go in, seek out, and just chop off that retched Ghoul King's head! He's partially to blame for this mess!"
"Oh you know Rostov, he has his reasons. Besides, if we take out the Necromancer lord, the Ghoul King will probably be our next assignment." Another vampire says in a bored tone. This one looks like he was once a Halfling. It almost makes you laugh to think of a vampire Halfling, but there he is. You don't know who he is or was, but given the other two, he was probably important at one time.
"So are you ready to go broodling? Or are you going to stand there with a dumb look on your face?" Delilah asks.
"Uh sure, let's go!"
The trip into the Necromancer's Domain is surprisingly quick and uneventful. You attempt to make conversation as you can't help now but be curious about your companions, but all of them are less than talkative and forthcoming. Deliah eventually takes you aside harshly.
"Look broodling, we've got a job to do. A fucking dangerous one at that! We all need to be in focus and not concentrating on anything else! So keep your damn questions to yourself and if you happen to survive this encounter THEN perhaps you may get a little more information from us and our fascinating history. Until then, stay in the fucking dark!"
The rest of the trip is silent.
At last you reach the city of Nuro and easily scale its walls and onto the battlements while remaining undetected the whole time. This is a lot different from what it was when you arrived here as a mortal. That memory still gives you a bit of pause. You remember how scared you were back then.
"Hurry up broodling! These walking corpses might not be able to detect us, but the Necromancer will soon! We need to get the advantage as soon as possible! Gorax, Wally you go through the front of the main tower. I'm sure you two can handle that. While whatever guards rush to defend their master, me and the broodling will scale the tower and go in through one of the top windows.
"You sure about that Delilah? Would you rather I go with you than some broodling?" Wally asks.
"Yeah, but if I leave him with Gorax he'll probably get killed in the fighting and be useless. At least if he's with me, he can serve as an extra body for the Necromancer Lord to draw his attention to."
"HEY! I'm right here y'know!" you exclaim indignantly which causes Deliah to smack you in the face hard. You didn't even see it coming.
"Shut the fuck up! You'll draw attention! Look if we pull this off just maybe you'll come out of this alive. I need you to take care of the Necromancer's bitch anyway. She's probably up there with him. Now let's do this!"
The plan is set into action. Gorax and Wally make their presence known immediately jumping off the battlements and into the courtyard while yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Intruder! Protect the master!" you hear a scratchy voice yell in the distance, while you and Delilah sneak around, jumping onto the rooftops and attempting to avoid the main fighting force. A few flying shadows try to stop you, but they're easily dispatched with your bow and silver arrows. Delilah looks glad that you aren't entirely useless and you and her proceed to scale the walls.
"I can't believe this place isn't more protected." You say while climbing.
"Heh, he's got his troops all spread out and mostly on his borders, plus he's grown more arrogant and confident. That will be his undoing." She replies quickly.
"Funny I was about to say the same for you bloodsuckers." A voice says causing the both of you to look up.
A raven haired female leans over the nearby window above Delilah and blast her directly in the face burning it off with a beam of light. You certainly weren't expecting a necromancer to cast any sort of spell like that! You then see Delilah fall and get impaled through the chest by a weathervane. A fucking weathervane. Unbelievable.
You attempt to scale the wall to the nearest window under you and just barely get out of the way of the lady necromancer's next spell.
You have no idea where you are in the tower, but you can hear fighting going on outside and a couple of hearty roars which you can only guess is Gorax.
A quick scan would indicate that you're in some sort of library. You cautiously proceed and decide that finding stairs that lead up would be the way to go. You just hope you're ready to take him on and his mistress.
As you make your way through, you fight all manner of undead sentries: Wraiths, ghosts, skeletal warriors, etc. During one of your moments of hiding a couple of wight guards run by talking in a hoarse tone.
"The big one and little one are dead! We must find the last one! Quick Quick!"
"Yes Yes! The master must be protected!"
You come to the very real feeling of having been in the position before all alone, surrounded by hostile undead, and in Nuro
Your resolve breaks a little and you wish that you weren't here. You want to go home.
Eventually you push yourself forward, but somehow fear has crept back into your own dead heart. To your credit you do reach the top of the tower, but the Necromancer's mistress once again surprises you. A ray of light sears your face off and destroys your vision. You fall to the cold stone floor in extreme pain and can only make out blurry images.
You see a blurred black hooded figure approach. You can't see his face, but this could only be who you think it is. You attempt to reach for your sword.
"More assassins? I swear something is going to have to be done about these bloodsuckers. The Ghoul King's kin are really starting to get on my nerves. These ones weren't even a challenge. What are you doing bloodsucker? Don't you know that's futile?"
The Necromancer Lord unleashes a ball of flame that engulfs your body, putting an end to your undead existence.
Besides, you're a vampire now, you're sure that you'll have tons of time to play later if all goes well. You're definitely nervous about this decision, but you're going to make it.
"Lord Rostov, I wish to begin your advanced combat training." You say.
"Very well, though I almost hoped that you wouldn't. Your playing was just divine and you won't be able to play again for a long time during your extensive training time. Possibly never if you fail but let us hope that you do not fail! It would be a loss for all of us. Warnov escourt him to the lower dungeons."
"Yes, Lord Rostov."
Warnov takes you into the lower dungeons of the castle just as Lord Rostov commanded. Warnov tells you that this isn't going to be easy and that you better condition your mind to almost a pure instinctive level because you could very well die in training!
Finally you reach a large barren room with a pair of large doors on the far end.
"This is it. Just keep an eye on the large door over there and well, brace yourself!"
You half expect to get bitten again after hearing those words, but instead Warnov quickly steps out of the room and locks the door leaving you alone. The large doors on the other side of the room start to open.
And you just realized that you don't have a weapon
A year passes
You survive your rigorous training. You have fought all manner of dangerous beasts with and without weapons. (And feasting on their blood for survival) You have undergone pain you didn't think possible even in your new undead state. You're definitely a better killing machine than you were.
You were allowed to write letters to your family which were overlooked first by Lord Rostov of course to make sure you weren't saying something you shouldn't. You barely know what to tell them except keeping your lies to a minimum about your supposed new job with Zalan intelligence. You have dedicated and conditioned yourself to combat so much that you don't even think about music. You briefly wonder if you've "lost" something, but you then dismiss such things as you must focus on battle.
During this time you have been informed that the Necromancer Lord as well as Velzix have grown in power. Lord Rostov says though that he believes the demons will pose no serious threat if a concentrated effort can be made on them by the mortals. However, for that to happen, the Necromancer Lord must die and that's where you come in and what you've been training for.
However, you won't be going in by yourself. A band of "heroes" will be necessary for a job like this. You are told you will meet the others in a small abandoned village bordering on the Necromancer's Domain.
Another vampire takes you there with the aid of a black teleportation cube. This is a one way trip. You're not coming back unless you win. That and the fact that the black cubes can't possibly be allowed to fall into enemy hands.
There you meet the others. They look unimpressed with you, but you're a little surprised to see one of them. She's very well known a "hero".
"You're Deliah the Deathdealer! You fought at the battle of Azark and you also retrieved the Celestial Sword! You're a hero! I didn't know you were "
"Didn't they tell you all this shit when you started training? Sheesh, we gotta get paired up with some broodling " a brutish vampire interrupts.
"Quiet Gorax! I'm sure he was, but meeting a legend is a lot different from basking in their glory in person." Deliah replies.
"Gorax!? Gorax the Mighty? You were a barbarian king that held back the orc hordes over a hundred years ago!" you say in amazement.
"Huh, fat lot good that did me. I can't take any credit for of my deeds today and barely anyone remembers my past deeds except some useless tribal shamen that now cower from the undead hordes in the Drozz Plains. Feh! Back in my day such men would not allow mere ghouls run them off their lands! I don't know why Rostov won't allow me to go in, seek out, and just chop off that retched Ghoul King's head! He's partially to blame for this mess!"
"Oh you know Rostov, he has his reasons. Besides, if we take out the Necromancer lord, the Ghoul King will probably be our next assignment." Another vampire says in a bored tone. This one looks like he was once a Halfling. It almost makes you laugh to think of a vampire Halfling, but there he is. You don't know who he is or was, but given the other two, he was probably important at one time.
"So are you ready to go broodling? Or are you going to stand there with a dumb look on your face?" Delilah asks.
"Uh sure, let's go!"
The trip into the Necromancer's Domain is surprisingly quick and uneventful. You attempt to make conversation as you can't help now but be curious about your companions, but all of them are less than talkative and forthcoming. Deliah eventually takes you aside harshly.
"Look broodling, we've got a job to do. A fucking dangerous one at that! We all need to be in focus and not concentrating on anything else! So keep your damn questions to yourself and if you happen to survive this encounter THEN perhaps you may get a little more information from us and our fascinating history. Until then, stay in the fucking dark!"
The rest of the trip is silent.
At last you reach the city of Nuro and easily scale its walls and onto the battlements while remaining undetected the whole time. This is a lot different from what it was when you arrived here as a mortal. That memory still gives you a bit of pause. You remember how scared you were back then.
"Hurry up broodling! These walking corpses might not be able to detect us, but the Necromancer will soon! We need to get the advantage as soon as possible! Gorax, Wally you go through the front of the main tower. I'm sure you two can handle that. While whatever guards rush to defend their master, me and the broodling will scale the tower and go in through one of the top windows.
"You sure about that Delilah? Would you rather I go with you than some broodling?" Wally asks.
"Yeah, but if I leave him with Gorax he'll probably get killed in the fighting and be useless. At least if he's with me, he can serve as an extra body for the Necromancer Lord to draw his attention to."
"HEY! I'm right here y'know!" you exclaim indignantly which causes Deliah to smack you in the face hard. You didn't even see it coming.
"Shut the fuck up! You'll draw attention! Look if we pull this off just maybe you'll come out of this alive. I need you to take care of the Necromancer's bitch anyway. She's probably up there with him. Now let's do this!"
The plan is set into action. Gorax and Wally make their presence known immediately jumping off the battlements and into the courtyard while yelling at the top of their lungs.
"Intruder! Protect the master!" you hear a scratchy voice yell in the distance, while you and Delilah sneak around, jumping onto the rooftops and attempting to avoid the main fighting force. A few flying shadows try to stop you, but they're easily dispatched with your bow and silver arrows. Delilah looks glad that you aren't entirely useless and you and her proceed to scale the walls.
"I can't believe this place isn't more protected." You say while climbing.
"Heh, he's got his troops all spread out and mostly on his borders, plus he's grown more arrogant and confident. That will be his undoing." She replies quickly.
"Funny I was about to say the same for you bloodsuckers." A voice says causing the both of you to look up.
A raven haired female leans over the nearby window above Delilah and blast her directly in the face burning it off with a beam of light. You certainly weren't expecting a necromancer to cast any sort of spell like that! You then see Delilah fall and get impaled through the chest by a weathervane. A fucking weathervane. Unbelievable.
You attempt to scale the wall to the nearest window under you and just barely get out of the way of the lady necromancer's next spell.
You have no idea where you are in the tower, but you can hear fighting going on outside and a couple of hearty roars which you can only guess is Gorax.
A quick scan would indicate that you're in some sort of library. You cautiously proceed and decide that finding stairs that lead up would be the way to go. You just hope you're ready to take him on and his mistress.
As you make your way through, you fight all manner of undead sentries: Wraiths, ghosts, skeletal warriors, etc. During one of your moments of hiding a couple of wight guards run by talking in a hoarse tone.
"The big one and little one are dead! We must find the last one! Quick Quick!"
"Yes Yes! The master must be protected!"
You come to the very real feeling of having been in the position before all alone, surrounded by hostile undead, and in Nuro
Your resolve breaks a little and you wish that you weren't here. You want to go home.
Eventually you push yourself forward, but somehow fear has crept back into your own dead heart. To your credit you do reach the top of the tower, but the Necromancer's mistress once again surprises you. A ray of light sears your face off and destroys your vision. You fall to the cold stone floor in extreme pain and can only make out blurry images.
You see a blurred black hooded figure approach. You can't see his face, but this could only be who you think it is. You attempt to reach for your sword.
"More assassins? I swear something is going to have to be done about these bloodsuckers. The Ghoul King's kin are really starting to get on my nerves. These ones weren't even a challenge. What are you doing bloodsucker? Don't you know that's futile?"
The Necromancer Lord unleashes a ball of flame that engulfs your body, putting an end to your undead existence.
