Steeling herself she found a stride with the fast walking Typhus. Nearly having to jog to keep up with the pace he set towards the barreling undead. What was left of the Mentor Sasha was a skeletal frame with nothing but stained purple bones. Showing their anatomy was exactly what Sophia had figured it would be based on her anatomy expertise. Until you reached its jaw that had teeth filling in chaotically resulting in both an over and under bite, some even pointed towards its tone to hold prey in place making Sophia feel a bit less confident.
"It hasn't even been three hours since you've nearly died Typhus, are you sure this is a good idea? I mean what if it doesn't work? And you haven't exactly been forthcoming!" Sophia asked between footfalls of mud below them, stopping a decent distance away Typhus thought on the question before responding.
"Here's the thing, if this doesn't work, we can just literally speed walk away and kite this thing out or even lead it away from here and come back, orrrrrr you do this and become more usef- more of a help around here!" Cringing inwardly at the blunder he readied himself.
"Were you gunna say useful?! Hey?!" She snarled while gripping the book with white knuckles.
Shaking disrupted the conversation as the 3 meter tall figure encroached on them. Typhus felt a tug on his mind like Nocturne but with more grace,
A purple eye skillfully dodged around Sophia's fingers on the book and made eye contact with Typhus,
'Tell her to open the book before she says it'
Blinking once the eye was gone and Sophia was in a ready stance mentally preparing for the spell she would attempt to cast.
Debating momentarily, he figured if it could help them it would be worth it. If this monster was similar to Nocturne, they couldn't afford to not capitalize. "Hey, open the book before you say the phrase!"
With the skeleton close enough that Sophia had to look up to meet its eyes she didn't have time to argue or question. Ripping the cover off, the pages flowed as if guided by some outside hand until stopping abruptly. Purple light rose from the skull on its cover as deep purple ink filled in a page, along with a notification for Sophia.
[Spell Unlocked- Necrominus Tempero: Originally designed as a Turn Undead spell, until altered to make a wild undead into a thrall.]
In a cold, stable, and quiet voice she orchestrated 'flow' as Typhus had put it and spoke, "Necrominus Tempero". Black chains coated in shadows shot from the book until wrapping around the Lizardman's bones. They knotted around individual ribs, some around and through every vertebrae, until finally the monster fell to the ground. Wrapping around its snout it laid still, finally a collar with the same black chain was placed around its neck and all the shadows disappeared.
Witnessing the spectacle made Typhus almost jealous of not having a spell book. "I can see the things in class, and it has a lot of health, what is DM?" Sophia asked while still staring daggers into the undead. A small status bar hovered above the uncaring darkness that swelled within its eye sockets.
[Mortis Skeletal Lizardman Level 1]
HP:1,000/1,000
DM:93/100
"You know, I have no idea, Nocturne had that too but it just never became an issue." Typhus responded honestly with a shrug. "Well, we should figure it out cause it's dropping, slowly, but it is dropping". The pair approached the creature like a caveman would a fire. Nocturne was a skeleton, still in human anatomy. What Sasha had become was another entity entirely, making them more wary than with Nocturne.
"Were you the ones who did it? Did you kill Sasha?! Who is Typhus!" That deep voice sounded out behind them as the sun climbed higher in the sky making Sasha's bones pop more vibrantly in contrast to the earthy green grass around them.
Typhus pulled his sword and pointed it to the huts they had been leaning against earlier in the day. Dozens of Lizardmen half the size of Sasha held spears of stone and watched in awe as Sophia gained control of the wild undead.
Two stood at the front of the rest, one with blue outer scales, grey eyes, and a white underbelly. Its eyes held contempt for the humans and spat each of the questions in a disrespectful tone and manner.
Standing next to the speaker was a larger one maybe a little over 2 and a half meters, and held a colossal mace instead of the spears of the others. Orange outer scales like the fruit, yellow eyes and a sand colored underbelly opened its maw to speak for themselves,
"Slayer of Sasha, and new mentor for the future of the tutorial, we have come to see if you're suitable for the role… But seeing this-", the Lizardman motioned to Sasha's moving corpse. "We have… Much to discuss. I swear to you. No harm, but come with us." With that the tallest Lizardman dropped his mace and let it fall to the floor, starting a chain reaction of the rest doing the same. Lastly, the blue scaled Lizardman held his weapon sheathed rather than follow the others display.
Locking eyes with each other, staring at the massive skeleton, then the tall grass Typhus and Sophia followed the Lizardmen back to the small city, large footsteps followed behind them.
They were lead through the village seeing dozens if not hundreds of Lizardmen and children being rushed away from the pair. Retreating indoors to peek from windows, some of the braver citizens went about the work they were already doing. Some avoided eye contact, they both noticed but only Sophia cared.
Reaching the center was a large canopy made of a collection of hides stitched together to make a 15 meter by 15 meter wide lodge. Inside were very wrinkled Lizardmen who were kneeling as they entered. One with all jet black features and large white eyes spoke while staring down, "The Elders accept the slayer of Sasha as the new ruler and Mentor of the Embershroud."
Counting 13 of the 'Elders' who were here, Typhus saw 15 seats. "No need for the theatrics, what do you mean ruler and Mentor? Are you who is in charge of the area? Why did that huge one-" Typhus pointed to Sasha who barely fit in the tent's canopy, "Try to kill us instead of letting us pass?"
All of the assembled Elders exchanged glances while rising to their feet, whispering and quickly talking. Loudly, a Lizardman with a feathered gown and a missing eye let out a low croak from deep in its throat. Silencing the room, "You killed our previous ruler in combat, that gives you legitimacy in our culture. A Mentor is someone who came back from the dead to lead a civilization, and we're supposed to be unkillable except by other Mentors. And finally, because that one-" they pointed a carved black talon of a nail at Sasha. "Was a massive dick head."
"Why was Sasha so concerned about us coming from the red grass?", Sophia asked the responsive one immediately following the helpful explanation by the feathered Lizardman Elder.
This time the orange scaled Lizardman spoke up, "because nothing alive has come from that grass. Only the undead that come from it attack us night after night."
Crossing his arms to think Typhus spoke, "Hm, and I suppose it is the Mentor's job to deal with things like that?"
Breaking the silence the feathered one replied, "and the ruler's!" Letting out a laugh they continued, "But the truth is, we had scouts who saw you coming in the grass. The amount of monsters who chased you towards us… We thought it was the end, until Sasha went out to meet you. You can probably put together what happened from there…"
Even now the Lizardman clearly held a grudge towards the previous Mentor. "I see, well starting orders. I will abolish this council of Elders and be keeping you, you and you." Typhus pointed towards the orange scaled, feathered, and black scaled Lizardmen. Vacating around them the Elders held faces of utter hatred towards him as they left but Typhus didn't exactly care.
Awkward shuffling and grumbles followed as he waited for the tent to empty. Once it was only those three he pointed out, Sophia and Sasha's unmoving form Typhus continued, "What are you're names?"
"Atropy" the feathered one answered, "Horit" the all black one responded, "Amon" the larger mace wielding Lizardman answered.
"What were your responsibilities?" Sophia said while sizing them up with Typhus. Making him mentally high five her for the initiative.
Atropy spoke first, "I am- er- was the War Chieftain. Second in command for military operations behind the Mentor. We have been taking losses. Please don't let it continue." Their eyes burned with intensity Typhus knew and understood well. "It never pays to be a kind man in a calloused occupation, I don't let soldiers die. We will get along fine." He answered while acknowledging the cooperation between them.
'A loyal novice is much better than a wavering veteran'
That lesson was a double bladed mantra and led to distrust blossoming towards Amon, ironically since Amon was the most agreeable of those he met. Horit was next in line, his white irises made tracking where he was looking difficult as he answered,
"I am responsible for information gathering, and scouting the surroundings. But be mindful we've only been here 4 days now, and not a single one without conflict. Our circumstances don't represent what we are capable of."
Ending their debriefing with a small nod, Horit turned their head towards Amon who seemed the most ready to go.
His eyes held a spark the other Lizardman lacked as excitement filled his voice, "I was in charge of watching the grass when Sasha wanted to take a break or got tired, and I have an idea for how to do it with him gone!". Across the table they all leaned in at the proclamation, "I will teach you how to actually use fire magic, with both of us, we could conquer the blood grass!"
Atropy and Horit both smacked their snouts at the declaration indicating neither of them bought that as a viable solution. Sophia even stifled a great giggle before Typhus responded, "I like where you're headed but I think we can find a better answer, besides where I'm from we even have a saying about fighting fire with fir-", Typhus's eyes went wide as the realization hit him.
"Great plan actually! Today, I learn to fight fire with fire, tonight! We-", he motioned between himself and Sophia,"fight undead with undead. For now however, I think Sophia and myself will not be separated since, frankly I don't trust you guys quite yet. But we are going to take a look around, Amon, come along and we can discuss what you know about fire magic as we walk, sound good to everybody?"
Atropy the feathered veteran and Horit the bone white eyed Lizardmen looked towards each other before Amon spoke up, "what should they be doing?". Unaccustomed to giving out orders anymore, Typhus was almost thrown off, "find as many gatherers and hunters and you can and tell them to be ready to fight by midnight, I've got a plan."
Typhus stormed out with Atropy in tow, Sophia whispered under her breath as she turned, "what in the fuck is this this place?"
"Slayer of Sasha, and new mentor for the future of the tutorial, we have come to see if you're suitable for the role… But seeing this-", the Lizardman motioned to Sasha's moving corpse. "We have… Much to discuss. I swear to you. No harm, but come with us." With that the tallest Lizardman dropped his mace and let it fall to the floor, starting a chain reaction of the rest doing the same. Lastly, the blue scaled Lizardman held his weapon sheathed rather than follow the others display.
Locking eyes with each other, staring at the massive skeleton, then the tall grass Typhus and Sophia followed the Lizardmen back to the small city, large footsteps followed behind them.
They were lead through the village seeing dozens if not hundreds of Lizardmen and children being rushed away from the pair. Retreating indoors to peek from windows, some of the braver citizens went about the work they were already doing. Some avoided eye contact, they both noticed but only Sophia cared.
Reaching the center was a large canopy made of a collection of hides stitched together to make a 15 meter by 15 meter wide lodge. Inside were very wrinkled Lizardmen who were kneeling as they entered. One with all jet black features and large white eyes spoke while staring down, "The Elders accept the slayer of Sasha as the new ruler and Mentor of the Embershroud."
Counting 13 of the 'Elders' who were here, Typhus saw 15 seats. "No need for the theatrics, what do you mean ruler and Mentor? Are you who is in charge of the area? Why did that huge one-" Typhus pointed to Sasha who barely fit in the tent's canopy, "Try to kill us instead of letting us pass?"
All of the assembled Elders exchanged glances while rising to their feet, whispering and quickly talking. Loudly, a Lizardman with a feathered gown and a missing eye let out a low croak from deep in its throat. Silencing the room, "You killed our previous ruler in combat, that gives you legitimacy in our culture. A Mentor is someone who came back from the dead to lead a civilization, and we're supposed to be unkillable except by other Mentors. And finally, because that one-" they pointed a carved black talon of a nail at Sasha. "Was a massive dick head."
"Why was Sasha so concerned about us coming from the red grass?", Sophia asked the responsive one immediately following the helpful explanation by the feathered Lizardman Elder.
This time the orange scaled Lizardman spoke up, "because nothing alive has come from that grass. Only the undead that come from it attack us night after night."
Crossing his arms to think Typhus spoke, "Hm, and I suppose it is the Mentor's job to deal with things like that?"
Breaking the silence the feathered one replied, "and the ruler's! But the truth is, we had scouts who saw you coming in the grass. The amount of monsters who chased you towards us… We thought it was the end, until Sasha went out to meet you. You can probably put together what happened from there…"
Even now the Lizardman clearly held a grudge towards the previous Mentor. "I see, well starting orders. I will abolish this council of Elders and be keeping you, you and you." Typhus pointed towards the orange scaled, feathered, and black scaled Lizardmen. Vacating around them the Elders held faces of utter hatred towards him as they left but Typhus didn't exactly care.
Awkward shuffling and grumbles followed as he waited for the tent to empty. Once it was only those three he pointed out, Sophia and Sasha's unmoving form Typhus continued, "What are you're names?"
"Amon" the feathered one answered, "Horit" the all black one responded, "Altropy" the larger mace wielding Lizardman answered.
"What were your responsibilities?" Sophia said while sizing them up with Typhus. Making him mentally high five her for the initiative.
Amon spoke first, "I am- er- was the War Chieftain. Second in command for military operations behind the Mentor. We have been taking losses. Please don't let it continue." Their eyes burned with intensity Typhus knew and understood well. "It never pays to be a kind man in a calloused occupation, I don't let soldiers die. We will get along fine." He answered while acknowledging the cooperation between them.
'A loyal novice is much better than a wavering veteran'
That one was a double bladed mantra and led to distrust blossoming towards Amon, ironically since Amon was the most agreeable of those he met. Horit was next in line, his white irises made tracking where he was looking difficult as he answered,
"I am responsible for information gathering, and scouting the surroundings. But be mindful we've only been here 4 days now, and not a single one without conflict. Our circumstances don't represent what we are capable of."
Ending their debriefing with a small nod, Horit turned their head towards Atropy who seemed the most ready to go.
His eyes held a spark the other Lizardman lacked as excitement filled his voice, "I was in charge of watching the grass when Sasha wanted to take a break or got tired, and I have an idea for how to do it with him gone!". Across the table they all leaned in at the proclamation, "I will teach you how to actually use fire magic, and then with both of us, we could conquer the grass!"
Amon and Horit both smacked their snouts at the declaration indicating neither of them bought that as a viable solution. Sophia even stifled a great giggle before Typhus responded, "I like where you're headed but I think we can find a better answer, besides where I'm from we even have a saying about fighting fire with fir-", Typhus's eyes went wide as the realization hit him.
"Great plan actually! Today, I learn to fight fire with fire, tonight! We-", he motioned between himself and Sophia,"fight undead with undead. For now however, I think Sophia and myself will not be separated since, frankly I don't trust you guys quite yet. But we are going to take a look around, Atropy, come along and we can discuss what you know about fire magic as we walk, sound good to everybody?"
Amon and Horit looked towards each other before Amon spoke up, "what should we be doing?". Unaccustomed to giving out orders anymore Typhus was almost thrown off, "find as many gatherers and hunters and you can and tell them to be ready to fight by midnight, I've got a plan."
Typhus stormed out with Atropy in tow, Sophia whispered under her breath as she turned, "what in the fuck is this this place?"