Book 1: The Orcneas Invasion

Prolouge Arc: A day in the life of those that fear(s) death

With the first rays of the morning sun shining through the curtains, and the ringing of the alarm, Eulisses arose. He stretched his bones and let out a satisfied sigh, as his joints creaked. He was in a good mood. In fact, he was in an excellent mood, courtesy of his latest breakthrough in his research.

I should have known that old bogey would encrypt his notes, but to go as far as having the ciphertext be about the alchemical properties of ghostnettle! HA! Any novice having a glimpse at it would mistake them for some botanic rambling of his, but not me! My ingenious self discerned their true nature and set out to decipher their true meaning! I definitely didn’t grab the very first thing I got a hold of when my intrusion was discovered, no-no!

Performing a little victory dance for the umpteenth time while … adapting the events of last month in his mind to a version that suited his narrative better, Eulisses donned a dressing gown and made his way down to the second floor of his three-story tower. Still being jovial on getting the better of his old friend and archwizard, he skipped down the stairs while swinging his hip bone in time to the silly little ditty he hummed. The peculiar choice of words had their justification, for he quite literally was ‘bare-bones’. Eulisses may have been many things, but not exactly what one would call ‘mortal’.

Descending into the second floor and his study, Eulisses took a quick look at his right. In front of a couple of bookshelves, on a generous bookrest laid the object of his jovial mood. Amidst a chaotic stack of scrolls full of his scribbling, from when he unsuccessfully tried to decipher the notes he got his hands on. But with the information he gained from them, his goal was his workbench to his left. Eulisses strode past the table with the spread out cadaver that would show signs of magical tempering to the trained eye and straight towards the second table, where he had dissected a certain herb just the day before, where he left it to dry carefully under the effect of a moisture-absorbing charm.

I’ll leave the continuous immortality research to later. With the information from the old bogey, I’ll finally be able to bring Project Pocket to its conclusion!

Swiftly dispelling the charm, Eulisses took the dried herb and carefully put it into a prepared mason jar, storing it for when he needed it later.

With that done, there is only a last ingredient to gather, before I can start the procedure. How ironic, that of all the things I need to finish my project, the very last ingredient just had to be ghostnettle! It’s almost as if the old bogey knew what I was working on and what things I still missed. Food for thought, I’ll have to get back to him about that. Thankfully, with the project completed, entering the city will pose much less of a risk than it did before.

--

Exiting his tower, Eulisses took a look at the scenery and a deep breath of the fresh mountain air. Or, he went through the motions at least, seeing as he no longer had the need or means to physically perform such a feat.

What an idyll. Every wizard that takes pride in himself needs to reside in a tower in the middle of nowhere, as I do!

Eulisses tower was located half-atop the local mountain ridge, being naturally shielded against the elements and unwanted gazes. Though his wards might help too. Speaking of wards, Eulisses didn’t like the sight that greeted him on their edge: Wyverns have gathered there, despite the animal-repellent elements Eulisses tried to work into them.

Damn those sorry excuses for a flying lizard, why do they always come back? Gods, help me understand why they seem so hell-bent on turning my tower into their breeding ground! I should just kill them all and be done with them!

Despite his whining, Eulisses couldn’t bring himself to kill the poor beasts. They might be an annoyance - sure, but they were actually harmless, and have yet to actually breach the wards, since he first set them up when taking residence here.

“Shoo, shoo! Begone you overgrown scaley bats! And don’t come back or I WILL roast your hide the next time I see you!” Eulisses yelled at them, accompanied by a scaled-down fireball or two for good measure. That managed to scare them off at last. He waved his fist at them menacingly as they took flight, letting out his pent up-frustration that way.

Looks like the constant relocations affect me more than I thought, if trivial things like that make me snap.

Sensing his thoughts growing more gloomy, he quickly recollects himself, put his hands on his hip bone and haughtily laughed out loud.

“Oh-ho-ho-ho! What am I thinking? Every proper wizard has a tower somewhere out in the wilds! I just happen to be at mine all the time. Which makes me the most proper of them all - wait, I’m still in my dressing gown …“

Realizing his not-so-proper getup, Eulisses stormed back into his tower and an embarrassing changing of clothes later, he finally went down the steep path into the woods at the foot of the mountain, to gather the ghostnettle.

--

The sun was high in the sky, a bloom of brilliance peeking through the treetops and turning the underbrush into a dancing carpet of shadows, as the branches gently swayed back and forth in the blowing breeze. Or so Eulisses kept telling himself as he stalked through said underbrush, trying not let the flora tear at his clothes until they rip. He had varying degrees of success with that.

Hm, my lack of experience in the field is coming back to bite me in the bottom, now. At least I’ll learn to appreciate proper alchemical ingredients more, seeing the amount of work that might come with procuring one. Still, all I see around here are weeds, I’ll have to get closer to the spring, then.

One of the reasons for Eulisses’ choice of this particular region as residence, was the spring located in these woods. It’s magical properties are said to foster the growth of various herbs that are hard to come by elsewhere, one of them being the ghostnettle he seeked. If not for the next village being many days away, an alchemist or herbalist would have long since set up shop here.

Eulisses knew the journey to the spring to be one he would not be able to complete in a day, he might make it one-way if he made haste, but he was in no rush to do so. As such, he made camp upon sunset. After he cast the same animal repellent charm that also made up a part of the wards he set up around his tower, as well as a basic alarm ward, he laid down on the bedroll he brought with him.

With his loss of mortality, he also lost the need to rest his body, but his mind could still tire with uninterrupted use. Eulisses thus continued to practise the day-night cycle of work and rest, but instead of sleeping, it was more akin to a form of meditation.

Even after all this time, I still cannot manage to ‘clear my mind of all thought’. That sounds like a bunch of bollocks, anyway. I just let my thoughts wander freely and don’t dwell on any one thought for too long. Heh, maybe that sounds like utter nonsense to the geezer with the clear mind. Depending on the perspective, I might be the geezer. That makes me feel old …

Forming barely coherent thoughts in that manner, Eulisses quickly got into a groove and calmed his mind, letting him rest. Losing his perception of time, the night quickly passed.

--

With the first rays of the morning sun shining through the treetops, and the ringing of the alarm, Eulisses arose. He stretched his bones and let out a satisfied sigh, as his joints creaked.

With my sense of time warped during my meditation, there is no telling how long I would be out if uninterrupted.

He cancelled his magic and rolled up his bedroll, setting out for the last stretch towards the spring.

With the acquisition of the ghostnettle, I’ll basically already have my pocket realm in my, well, pocket. I will finally be free of them!

Already revelling in his success as he entered the clearing where the spring was located, Eulisses did not notice that he was not alone there. At the very least not until he heard a taken-aback “What?” resound.

Startled, he raised his head only to find himself face-to-face with a man wearing a broad brimmed hat, clothed in dark padded armor with the all too familiar symbol of life embroidered upon it.

“What in blazes are you doing here?” Eulisses asked, baffled.

“Be cleansed, undead filth!” the man yelled with extreme prejudice.