The ruins of Mount Harkan instill fear into the hearts of many who dare enter. Past the treeline high up on the mountain where the air is thin, the stones shift uneasily as if something were scurrying just out of sight. The ruins of a once-great mining citadel are sunken deep into the ground where the mountain has swallowed it up. A reminder to those who come here that there are powerful forces at work which should be respected.
Who are you?
An Undead
An Archeologist
You stand among your cohorts, all with skeletal bodies and broken, deteriorating, limbs. Lines and lines of the undead all looking up with glowing eyes and listening to your master: the evil archmage himself, Razmodius Vasili Drumdale, the Necromancer of Mount Harkon and the Sorcerer of Bones. Despite his titles, everyone just calls him Mr. Drumdale, or even Raymond if you work in secretarial. You watch him from the crowd. He stands on a floating platform delivering a rousing speech to you and all the undead of the Mountain.
The headquarters of this operation is deep in the mines, safe from the prying eyes of the surface dwellers. It's a bit of a walk to get the mail, but otherwise, you are fine with it. Despite crafting evil plots to one day rule all the lands and seas of Orpheya your master is not a bad guy. He may have brought all those who died in the collapse of the citadel back to life to do his dark bidding but he also keeps you safe from all the so-called “heroes” who venture down here just to steal your gold. Not that you have much use for it, but still, one must have standards.
Your master is ending his speech by thanking everyone for coming into the meeting.“Don't forget the staff holiday party is next Tuesday!” The archmage calls down “Feel free to bring a dish, but don’t forget that Jerry is allergic to peanuts!” He gives a small wave to a skeleton in the corner who smiles gratefully, his loose jaw, swinging back and forth.
The crowd disperses mumbling and occasionally bumping into each other and the archmage lifts his arms and descends back down below the floor into his private quarters. It’s time for your patrol duty. You grab a torch and make your way out the wide halls of the cavern and watch as some of the undead patrols clock in and out. You turn some sharp corners and make your way through the passages, walking along the familiar halls of dirt and stone. You hear all the sounds of the other undead fade away as you go farther up towards the surface of the mountain. You startle a small rat who runs along the edge of the corridor and into the dark doorway of some decrepit room.
Suddenly you hear a great clammer from the doorway! You rush over and illuminate the room with your torch. The room contains multiple chests overflowing with gold and jewels, a normal site for the caverns of Mount Harken, but in the middle, perched uneasily on top of one of the lids is a small man with a large backpack. He holds in his hands several gold goblets, all overflowing with gold pieces and he is looking nervously down at the rat. Your torchlight brightens as you enter the room and he jumps at the site of you lumbering through the doorway. He drops everything he is holding onto the aging floorboards and you see a few gold pieces fall through the gaps into whatever lies below. The adventurer shakily grabs his sword but fumbles with it and manages to drop that too. He stiffens nervously and swears under his breath before glancing back up at you. You stare a the man. He stares back at you, perhaps trying to judge what kind of person you once were behind your glowing eyes. He dosen’t seem too bright. You draw your sword and take a step forward towards him but suddenly the floor makes an uneasy weaning sound and the creaks turn to cracks as the entire floor gives way, sending you, the man, and all the gold tumbling down to the floor below.
You regain consciousness as your limbs reattach to your body. The first thing you see is a bright light in the middle of the room, a powerful object, perhaps belonging to your master, sits on a pedestal radiating light that dances in multiple colors all the way up the sides of the large circular room. There are no doors, only the hole in the ceiling in which you came through, sitting unreachably high up above. You sit up and notice the man is already on his feet seemingly only bruised from the fall. Entranced by the light, he approaches uneasily and begins to reach out to take it.
The crips mountain air blows wildly around you, making it difficult to see. You finally reach the entrance of the large cave, the one the old man told you about, and step inside glad to be out of the cold. Finally, you reach the tunnels of Mount Harkan. You know it will be dark and dangerous so you light a torch and step carefully through the passageways.
You take one last look outside into the cold and desolate mountain but there is nothing but the snow falling thick and sideways in the harsh winds.
You decide not to tarry any longer here and quickly make your way down into the mountain. As you wander deeper and deeper into the mountainside, you pass by rooms filled with treasure and jewels but you are here to understand the powers of the mountain, not to loot or steal from the graves of those who may have fallen here. You feel your hairs raise on your arm, You have felt the presence of magic before and know its signs, and it is very strong here. Your studies has told you that this was once a hotbed of activity for lone sorcerers and undead armies, but no one knows what really happened here.
You pass by a large atrium and see carvings on the walls, records of a sorcerer who once dwelt here for many centuries. You read quietly, moving your torchlight along the wall. The carvings say that the undead hordes were ordered out by a young sorcerer who commanded a great a terrible power and that with this power he ordered his forces out of the mountain to make war on all the lands of Orpheya. But they had been repelled and forced to flee back to the mountain. A sudden wind flies through the passageway and your torch flusters for a moment then goes out. You swear quietly, kneeling down and fumbling in your pockets for your flint and steel to relight it. Suddenly you hear something in the dark and you go still. It sounds like footsteps, or some creature moving around. You look up to see a pair of glowing eyes in the dark, then another pair, you look behind you and there are more. As you stand up the eyes follow you, clearly able to see you in the dark. You raise your hands to show that they are empty. You open your mouth to speak but before you can, you are stabbed right through your neck from behind.
You bleed out slowly and your death marks not just an end for you, but a beginning. Your body bolsters the ranks of the undead and in your service, you have no free will. For a time you remember deep inside who you once were until eventually, even that is lost to time.
Start AgainThe crips mountain air blows wildly around you, making it difficult to see. You finally reach the entrance of the large cave, the one the old man told you about, and step inside glad to be out of the cold. Finally, you reach the tunnels of Mount Harkan. You know it will be dark and dangerous so you light a torch and step carefully through the passageways.
You take one last look outside into the cold and desolate mountainside. For a brief moment, you see a figure, cloaked and hooded but watching you silently before it disappears from view.
You decide not to tarry any longer here and quickly make your way down into the mountain. As you wander deeper and deeper into the mountainside, you pass by rooms filled with treasure and jewels but you are here to understand the powers of the mountain, not to loot or steal from the graves of those who may have fallen here. There are no signs of life at all or even magic. Your studies have told you that this was once a hotbed of activity for lone sorcerers and undead armies, but no one knows what happened here or why the powers had vanished.
You pass by a large atrium and see carvings on the walls, records of a sorcerer who once dwelt here for many centuries. You read quietly, moving your torchlight along the wall. The carvings say that the undead helped keep the citadel well maintained and managed that they had not disappeared one day without a trace, but rather lived out their extended lives peacefully until they all returned to dust under the mountain. You hear something behind you in the dark and turn suddenly. Your torchlight falls upon the cloaked figure you saw before, their face was hidden behind a larger hood. You raise your arms to show you have no weapons and the figure raises his head enough to let you see their eyes. They are glowing. You've studied the mountain long enough to know what undead look like, and your entire body goes cold.
You watch the Undead man very carefully and he pulls back his hood and step closer to you, being illuminated by your torchlight. You can now see him properly and you see his skin has been pulled tight over the bones and bits of flesh were missing entirely, including one of his arms. The Undead man was looking you over, examining the pack on your back and the clothes on your body. Before finally looking into your eyes for a short moment.
You feel like you should say something to him, but you are not even sure where to begin, or if he can even understand or speak back to you. He finishes examining you and you wonder if you passed whatever test he has given you. He reaches for his sword and pulls it out carefully before pointing it at you with a speed he hadn't yet shown. You step back involuntarily as fear washes over you. You can tell the blade is very old but has been maintained carefully. He gestures for you to follow him.
You’ve never seen an undead before, for all you know, they could be very very dangerous. You turn and run, your heavy pack and torch making it hard to see, let alone navigate. You hear noises behind you. You realize suddenly that you don’t recognize the passageways anymore, the familiar paths that lead up to the surface are gone and the dusty floor shows little signs of disturbance. You turn a corner and realize you've come into a small chamber but before you can decide what to do the floorboards beneath one of your feet break and your foot gets stuck in whatever lies below the rotten surface.
You hear the quiet footsteps of the undead walking up the hall. You pull and you pull, desperately trying to budge your foot from where it is stuck but it doesn't move. You can see his eyes now, coming closer, still brandashing the sword, but when he approaches the light of your torch and enters the small chamber his expression changes. He stops for a small moment and looks to the far end of the room. You look to see a bed with what looked like an old man resting there. You squint and raise your torch. The old man is still and silent, and as you look you realize it is only his corpse. You watch as the undead takes a step forward towards the bed and looks down at him before resting his sword point down and kneeling before the man. Was this old man the sorcerer you read about on the wall?
The skeletal man rises again and turns his attention toward you. You scramble backward but you are hopelessly stuck and can only raise your arms and close your eyes as he raises his sword at you.
You hear a massive crack and the floorboards shake. You open your eyes to see he has smashed the rotten wood and freed your foot from its trap. You stand up quickly, unsure of him but he takes a step back. You notice something then as you stand and get a good look at the room properly, there I saw glowing light coming from the old man. You walk over and see him properly, his body has been beautifully mummified and preserved. You see a faint swirling white light coming from in between his fingers, which rest together on his chest. You watch them for a moment before you notice the undead standing beside you. He reaches over and gently unfurls the sorcerer's hand to reveal a magical stone, bright and full of light and life. He gently takes the object and holds it out for you to see, watching your reaction carefully. It is beautiful to be sure but you can’t help but wonder what it is, or what it does. Why was it the only thing in this chamber with the old sorcerer? You look into his eyes and back at the stone, and you realize something with a start.
“It’s your power, isn’t it?” You say softly to him. “It’s what gives you life.” You look up into his eyes, the glow in there flickers gently and swims with the same power as the object. He takes the stone and places it in your hand. Your hand curls around it involuntarily and you are gripped with a terrible power like ice in your veins but then just as fast it fades. He grips your hand tightly, before sitting down on the bed next to the old man. He looks over one last time at his master before the light fades from behind his eyes and his body breaks apart.
You make your way out of the tunnels easily and decide to head back to the academy. You spent the rest of your academic career trying to find out more about the undead and the sorcerers who lived in the mountain and you become the foremost expert on the history of Mount Harkan. You decide to keep the small object, and every so often you feel the pull to wield it. It whispers to you when you sleep, and it seems no vault can keep you from thinking of it. You grow old very slowly and live an unexpectedly long life.
You get the feeling that the object will follow you long after your death.
You stand up quickly, determined to stop the man. You grab the back of his clothes and pull him back but he resists you with striking ferocity. He seems possessed by its magic glow, throwing his hands back and kicking as you hold onto him. You feel your arm begin to tear and he stretches out both hands hoping to reach far enough to grab the object. You have no choice. Your arm begins to rip and you bring your sword down on him cleanly. His body falls to the floor.
Suddenly the object erupts into a frenzy of lights and sparkles. The beams of light seem strikingly fragile yet more powerful than anything you've seen. Despite the terrible power, you do not feel afraid, you feel warmth similar to a familial embrace. The outpouring of lights gently illuminates the body of the man and within a few seconds the light returns to its other state, seemingly calmed. You gently examine the man sheathing your sword and crouching down beside him. Then his eyes open, and behind them is a faint glow, like yours.
“Ah, a shame.” You hear the voice behind you. ”I should have gotten here faster,” Your master hobbles from the corner of the room although you are unclear of how he came to be there, or how a circular room can even have corners.
“Thank you,” he says to you,”for if you had not taken action I fear we would have been in great danger.” he motions towards the light, “To those living, it takes a great deal of energy to resist it’s pull, hence why I have hidden it down here, away from even myself.” you turn and look at the object, wondering what the man felt to become so ravenous. The wizard walks over and kneels down beside the man, now undead,
“You probably don’t know how you got here, young one, most don’t.”your master tells him. The man looks around at his new surroundings, looking at his hands and bloodstained clothes. “Do not fear,” Your master smiles warmly “We will take care of you.”
The old wizard teleports the three of you back up to the main halls of the mountain and you spend the next few years working with the new recruit. He stands out amongst the older crowd of rotting corpses but the two of you become the best of friends.
Start Again
You stand up quickly but only watch as the man approaches the light. You have no idea what this magic is or what it could do, so you stay back. The man stumbles on the uneven ground but never looks away and never lowers his arm, completely possessed by the light. When he reaches it he carefully takes it in his hands, gently observing the small object. He closes his fingers around it in his palm, and for a second it seems like nothing would happen but then the light erupts and shoots bright beams in every direction, the man screams in pain but cannot let go, even as his other hand claws at his fist trying to pry it open. You watch as the light travels the length of his arm extending deep into his veins. Then it all comes to a stop. The light dims and the man stands hunched over and breathing heavily.
“What have you done.” You hear a voice from behind you. You turn and see your master, looking sadly at the man. It is unclear whether he is talking the man or you. The man looks up and you see his face has changed. He holds out the object suddenly and with a single beam of light evaporates the old wizard. You feel something stir within you as his gaze falls on you. With only his eyes you begin to understand the power he has absorbed is the same power that brought life to you and all the undead of the mountain. Dread washes over you as you begin to understand something even more terrible. He is your new master.
You feel your will slip away as he asserts control over you. You march with the other undead to achieve his terrible goals, eventually, you stop fighting his control from within and you forget what it was like to have free will.
Start Again
