The now undead deer turned its majestic head in my direction and made eye contact with me. The thing had a neutral expression on its face and there was a distinct lack of emotion or intelligence in its brown orbs. While I was studying it, I received a new notification.

[Alert: You can mentally issue commands to the undead you've created. You can do so by merely thinking of whatever you wish to order strongly and transmitting it to the creatures you are commanding like when you message the system, or by taking advantage of the new menu that you can access in 3... 2... 1...] The system announced, its voice alerting me to my H.U.D. right as a new symbol appeared on the left side of my sightline.

The symbol was a skull with eyes that seemed to emit some sort of unholy light. The skull's mouth was open in what looked like a stylized triumphant laugh. While I mentally examined the symbol I began to saunter over to the location of my creation.

I reached it in less than fifteen, long steps. When I was close enough to touch the creature I reached out with my hand to touch the thing. I shivered when I made contact with it and realized that its skin was stiff and cold. The thing meekly looked at me, and there wasn't a hint of intelligence in its gaze.

I stroked the fur on the deer's torso. It was stiff but less-so than the creature's actual skin. However, as I moved my hand away the fur where I had touched fell off of the deer's body in a hand-shaped clump. I stood in stunned silence for a second and made a mental note not to touch zombies whose skin I was intent on collecting. And then I issued my first order to the zombie.

"Follow me." I told the undead thing, speaking to it mentally in the exact same manner in which I spoke to the system. I looked at it for a second, intent on divining if there was a change to the thing's face. After a few moments of intense scrutiny, I was certain that there wasn't. That didn't prevent me from trusting that my command was received since I knew the system to be reliable even if it wasn't exactly forthright.

I closed my eyes and studied my almost instantly visible not-so-mini-map. I searched for nearby crosses, intent on accomplishing two things: finding more large animals to reanimate, and finding a number of creatures to reanimate who weren't members of the same species.

I studied the map for a few seconds before quickly determining my best route forward. It was a lovely path that took me deeper into the forest than I had dared to go to date, closer than ever to the goblin settlement, but also into uncharted reaches near the edge of my mental map. I was quite excited to begin to trod down it as it brought me into contact with creatures I had never yet encountered.

Some of those creatures were humanoids or creatures called fey. One of them was a thing called a satyr, and another was a goblin. But many of them were massive creatures, including something called a "purple-skinned spider". Knowing that I was about to bring such creatures back from the dead was honestly quite exciting.

I turned to look at the deer who I hoped would travel with me, and began to walk backward. I kept my gaze on the creature, studying it stoically until it took its first few steps after me. It hadn't looked at me until I got far enough from it for it to begin to follow me, at which point its head snapped in my direction mechanically and began to take dispassionate, almost mechanical steps towards me.

I kept walking while facing away from the thing just to be sure that it was following me, but after a few seconds of watching it walk I was certain that it was on my tail. I turned back around and opened my grimoire by mentally tapping on the book-like symbol in my vision.

[Good afternoon Althos, congratulations on becoming a level one necromancer! Displaying new spells under your control in 3... 2.. 1...

Necromancer spells:

Weight of the dead: This spell causes the effects of gravity on an affected foe to increase dramatically. It can be used to cripple a speeding enemy, to cause flying foes to be violently brought to the surface. It's especially devastating for swimming creatures who can't breathe underwater.

Boneyard: This spell is only useable on enemies who are on the ground but when it's used correctly it causes bony hands to suddenly spring out from the ground and grab enemies. It can paralyze enemies but it can also slow them down. Also, though normally the spell takes control of actual bony hands, when no such bones are readily available it instead conjures spectral hands that do the deed instead.

Plant reanimation: This spell transforms deceased plants into eerie, loyal abominations that serve you unerringly.

Hungry hands: This spell reanimates a specific body part: a hand. It can be used on hands that were just cut off, or on the hands of the dead. Reanimated hands than being to serve you just as any other sorts of undead would.

Heal undead: This spell creates a spark of unlife energy that can be used to repair undead creatures and restore their health.

Disease bolt: This spell fires off a bolt of energy that inflicts those who are struck by it with a random disease. This spell could play a role in enabling you to eventually gain influence over the disease domain.

Class feature explanation: Class features are abilities that people possess through their classes. These are different from spells. Non-deities are limited in how many times they can use class features per-day, but deities aren't. Class features are unlocked as you increase your class level.

Necromancer class features:

Unlife energy channel: This feature allows you to aim and remotely channel unlife energy. Unlife energy is the energy that animates corpses and other dead things into undead creatures. If you aim this energy at a living creature it saps away at their life-force. If this ability kills something the killed thing is automatically brought back to life as an undead creature.

Life drain: This feature allows you to take health from another creature and either give it to yourself or give it to someone else. This power is handy for subjugating enemies.

In order to level up the necromancer class, you need to use necromantic class features and reanimate various corpses and other deceased things.

While we're here, we'll go ahead and inform you of your 1st level Druidic class features.

Druid class features:

Heal plants: This power allows you to heal plants. In your case, it actually gives your efforts to heal plants an innate increase to their effectiveness.

Heal animals: Much like 'Heal plants' this power gives your efforts to heal animals an innate increase to their effectiveness.

In order to level up the druid class you need to use druidic class features and tend to nature.]

Once I read through the lengthy notification it vanished from view, and I began to get closer and closer to the next corpse I was intent on reanimating.

After a few minutes of walking through the forest, avoiding the few hostile creatures my tremorsense could detect, and practicing my appraisal power on assorted plants, I was within view of the next corpse I wanted to raise.

It was a positively enormous, purple spider, one with barb-tipped legs, and venomous ichor dripping out of its recently deceased maw, seeping into and despoiling the ground underneath the thing's corpse. I stared at it, studying the thing before I rose my hand in its direction and quietly cast "Create Undead".

A sinister beam of purple, unholy energy shot out of my hand and powerfully seeped into the massive creature in front of me. The beam was a long lance of energy and it felt different from the energy that shot out of me when I reanimated the deer.

The beam was cold and seemed to sap both the color and the heat out of the air that surrounded it. It was an eerie and terrible sight, but also one that I found quite fascinating and lovely to look at. It was beautiful, in a dark sort of way.

I had made a brave choice while I contemplated what to transform the purple spider into. I was creating my first worshiper. I was transforming the spider into a ravenous, and apparently pious ghoul. And as I did so, I was surprised to receive a notification that asked me an interesting question.

[Alert: Since you are bringing something back as a ghoul, it will possess intelligence. Would you like for it to possess all of its memories? It will still worship you either way, and you'll be able to communicate mentally with it no matter whether or not you allow it to remember its life.]

I didn't hesitate and informed the system that I wanted my new companion to remember its life. I heard a soft clicking noise in my mind as the system acknowledged my response.

The beam that was emanating from my hand began to lessen in intensity, and the spider's corpse began to slowly and stiffly move once more. Before my very eyes, its closed eyes began to slowly open once more. One by one, all eight of the orbs opened and then turned to gaze at me. As they did so, I felt something seep into me.

I felt a powerful sort of emotional energy, a profound sense of relief, energy, and purpose surge into me. It was so immense and significant that I fell to my knees and had to take a breath, in order to be able to handle it. I was on my knees, not far from the arachnid horror my magic brought to an unholy mockery of life, when the thing completed the struggles that came with reanimation.

[What you're feeling is the sensation of gaining a worshiper. When your magic first began to surge into the spider you've now transformed into a ghoul it first revived the creature's predatory mind, which was immediately inundated with information about you. The spider now worships you as the god that you are, and rightfully views you not only as its god but also as its creator and master.] The system told me, explaining that my magic was responsible for this.

[Whenever you gain a worshiper, especially in the beginning you'll experience sensations vaguely similar to this, powerful sensations that might even bring you to your knees and fill you with powerful emotions. It's... a lot. We know. But there will come a time when you can gain a world of worshipers at once, and only barely feel a thing.] The system explained, informing me as to why I had fallen to my knees.

[The spider views you as its master, god, and creator. Ghouls are one of the more pious types of walking dead, and as you grow in strength you may find yourself being the object of worship of entire cults of the things, even ones who've only heard of you.] My oldest companion revealed, slowly educating me as to the sorts of undead worshipers I could expect to gain in the years to come.

[The emotions that you are experiencing are shadows of the sensations that your worshiper is experiencing. They pale in comparison to what the ghoul is experiencing.] My companion informed me, causing my eyes to widen. And this caused me to reflect on the powerful emotions my creation was emitting.

A series of powerful emotions flooded my mind, coming to me from the ghoul itself. First, there was a reverence I had never felt before. A sort of incredibly loud and dynamic sense of awe. Then there was an... eerie version of love. An eerie and unholy obsession with pleasing me. And lastly, and interestingly enough most powerfully, there was a hunger.

The hunger was incredible. It gnawed at the edge of my mind, and I could feel it in my throat. And I was experiencing but a sliver of it.

"Is there anything I can do to quiet this hunger the ghoul is feeling? It's... immense." I asked the system while staggering slowly to my feet. I looked at my strange companion and smiled.

[There isn't, at your current level of power anyway. That said, don't give up. As a god, one who... we hope is seeking ultimate power, the key is to strive to improve your influence over the various domains and subdomains that exist out in the world.] My almost robotic companion informed me, a slight smile audible in its voice. I sighed and continued to slowly get back on my feet.

Once I was back on my feet I walked slowly over to the creature and placed a gentle hand on its head. As I did, I received more notifications.

[Creature analysis complete:

This is the first time you've made direct physical contact with a creature who is both totally under your influence and also sapient. When you do that, one of the powers of your knowledge domain is that you'll immediately learn about the creature's powers and other vital information. The system has opted to award you by unlocking this power, the 'Creature Analysis' power.

Creature name: Chizi

Creature type: Purple-Skinned Spider

Template: Ghoul, Poisonous

Abilities & Traits: Web-spinning

Venomous (when Chizi bites or stabs someone paralytic toxin floods into them).

Diseased (creatures bitten by Chizi begin to suffer from a potent sickness known as 'Ghoul Plague' that has a 5% chance to kill them and resurrect them as ghouls under Althos' control).

Poisonous (Chizi wasn't originally poisonous, but its transformation into a ghoul has made it poisonous. If someone ingests its skin, then are guaranteed to transform into a ghoul upon their deaths).

Age: 15 years old

Stats:

25 strength

28 dexterity

24 constitution

10 intelligence

20 wisdom

8 charisma]

I read some of the information I was presented with and had questions about it. So, as usual, I turned my mind inward and prepared to ask a question to my old friend: the system.

"What are templates, and what are these stats that I keep seeing?" I asked the eerie entity that had both restrained me from accessing my power and thus far had frequently rewarded and encouraged my curiosity and nurtured my odd sense of adventure.

[Templates are tools used by gods and other higher powers to categorize certain states of being. When you create a ghoul, you are not creating a 'type of creature', you are applying a set of changes to an existing being. Even in cases when you are 'creating' an undead being, most of the time you are taking a creature that once lived, that existed, and applying changes to it.] The system replied, addressing my first question first.

[The stats that you see are quantifications, though admittedly shallow ones, of vital aspect's of a creature's physicality and the potency of their mind. Many of them are easy to understand, though the distinction between intelligence and wisdom might not be.] My companion began, before taking a second to consider how to proceed.

[Intelligence refers to the act of gaining and processing information. Wisdom refers to the ability to apply that information to a range of situations. Intelligent creatures are not always wise. Charisma refers to one's social skills as well as their attractiveness. Most undead are not very charismatic, though some creatures like vampires and certain kinds of magical undead are extremely charismatic.] My long-time ally told me.

With that new knowledge in my mind, I smiled and refocused on my surroundings.

The ghoul-spider shivered as I patted its head. I grinned at the thing and studied it. Its eight eyes were now wide open and staring at me, with that same almost mindless awe that I felt and was still feeling.

"So... how are you?" I asked my many-eyed minion. The thing blinked at me and stared at me somewhat vacantly before I suddenly heard a voice speak into my mind.

"I am... alive? Well... that may not be the right word. I am... animated. And that is good. I am... good. I am Chizi." The creature said, its mental voice ringing into my mind in the same way that the system's voice did.

"Hello Chizi. It is nice to meet you." I mentally spoke, while physically chuckling. I transmitted my message to the thing, hoping that by mimicking the process I did when I spoke to the system I would be able to communicate with my minion silently.

The spider began to bob excitedly and made a number of chittering noises. I grinned at it and motioned for it to follow me.

Now I had two companions. One of them was my majestic deer, and the other was my eerie spider. I was on my way to collect one more, another deer, before I made my way in the direction of the goblins. As I did so, I continued to speak to my newest friend and first worshiper.