"I mean, if I had known how hard it would be to run a Necropolis, I might have skipped the promotion to Grand Necromancer when the entire Circle of Despair and Corruption were burned at the stake in Veedleheim. I never understood the plan, but it obviously had some holes in it. The basics were simple: They were going to sneak into the town with a few undead and murder the unfortunates in the slums, turn them into undead, use the increased forces to kill more, and repeat the cycle as they grew an army and gained experience at a rapid pace. It was an audacious plan, and all of the Circle wanted to be involved. Imagine turning a city of ten thousand souls into a tomb city of undead in only one night!"

"Something went wrong, of course. They forgot that it's traditional for Thieves Guilds to operate out of the slums, and the worst bars are always located there. Bad bars attract barbarians, dwarves, pirates, engineers, and heroes of all sorts. The first band of 'slum dwellers' they attacked were three drunken dwarven barbarians. The Circle lost most of their undead and several journeymen necromancers. An adventuring friar heard about the undead and came to investigate. He put together a group of drunken heroes from a bar, and things went downhill from there. By morning, all of the Circle were out of mana and either dead or in custody, and all of the undead were burned to ash. They held a fair and impartial trial that morning and hung them at noon. No one here knew what to do at first with all of the Grand Necromancers dead. All of the senior journeymen had gone along, too, hoping to make it to Tier 4 and become a full member of the Circle. Six of us were left, and four apprentices. It was a bleak time. Some good came of it. We promoted the apprentices to Journeymen, and the six journeymen, myself included, became Grand Necromancers no matter our test scores. The old spirits in the catacombs approved everything and put us back to work. Our new leader was Faustina Deville. She led us for a century before disappearing with most of our treasury one night. That's when I was voted in as head of the Circle. I had the best handwriting and could keep up the record books. I shortened the name to the Circle of Darkness. It is very traditional and easier to recruit apprentices. But these last few centuries, it's been difficult to recruit, and with our treasury gone, it's impossible to keep the economy going. New adventurers are showing up daily, and I'm having trouble keeping enough undead in the city to keep control. I'm so thankful for your donation of ghouls. I can't wait to turn them loose!"

Billy had been listening to Valgurius ramble on for a half-hour, learning a lot about the trials and tribulations of running an evil city of undead. Having a board of directors made up of crazed academics obsessed with death wasn't much different from what Billy had dealt with at ACME. Valgurius's problem was that his committee didn't set goals based on performance and profit. They all worked independently to create their own army of undead and competed to build the largest tomb complexes with the idea they'd be able to pursue their research undisturbed. Ultimately, they'd just painted a target on themselves for every Hero, Paladin, or Crusader looking to increase their fame. They were in a worse position now with the advent of players being let into the world.

"Not a donation. I know that a proud necromancer such as yourself won't take charity. You're holding up your end of the deal with those automatons."

"Oh, yes, of course. I guess I should look at it that way. For you, they'll be unstoppable fighting machines. For me, it's just another mana sink. Do you still utilize thousands of human and elven slaves to produce the mana you need, like in the old days? Living things are so much better at that. The dead need most of their generated mana just to hold themselves together."

"Something like that; I like to think I've somewhat improved on the basic design. But I've monopolized your time insisting on the history of your fine Necropolis. How about you fill me in on this Wheel of Eight deal? Who else besides us is involved?"

"Ah, well, let me think. I so wish my predecessor had taken notes. I know nothing about one of the old cities except that it's completely underwater. I've tried to contact the denizens of that realm, but the fish people point at their orb and laugh. I don't like them very much. Bloth we talked about, such rude people there as well, but Bloth has always had that reputation. Another of our former allies, the Mountain Lord, has succumbed to a stubborn infection of the outer darkness. Whoever is in charge calls the place N'fargleville and keeps trying to sell me strange thoughts. I took the free ones, but tearing them out of my brain took forever. I don't recommend him as an ally."

Billy nodded, "We met briefly, but the connection got cut. Thanks for the good advice about avoiding him. Who else?"

"Well, 'He who rules in solitude' still has his tower outside of Shadowport. The spell meant to destroy him was countered by his wards, but he killed everyone else in the tower and rearranged the geography. Instead of being in the center of a city, it sits on an island in a circular bay. He's a crazy old elf but not so bad to talk to if you catch him on a good day. I think he'd like visitors, but the hungry eels around his tower are too dangerous, and he can't drop his defenses for an instant, or they'll slither inside the tower."

"And, of course, Typhon's city is in the Desolation. No one dares to go there. No one! But it's interesting to take a look around. The orb is in one of the remaining high towers and gives a good vantage point, but I have to advise caution, even to a powerful ruler like yourself. The creatures there are of such a high level that they notice your attention if you stare too closely at them. You don't want them getting upset enough to come looking for you. Just a taste of your thoughts can be enough for the aberrations. Oh, and then there is this funny fellow. He's a recent conqueror of the Jungle City to the south. Let me see if he's in...oh, you're in luck. He's always entertaining and so clueless."

Into Billy's vision came a disgusting look at a familiar face nearly pressed against the orb. Vern hadn't gotten any better looking in the months since Billy last saw him.

"You say this thing is working? I don't see anything. Hello! Is anyone in there? I'm talking to you!"

A hissing voice in the background advised him. "Focus, Lord. Bend your will to master the orb. It is heavy, but you must try again. It will bring us great allies from the mightiest cities."

"I think it's broken! Dumb lizard magic. I can throw fireballs and have an army of you people. Why would I need allies? Hello? I hear giggling and laughing. I swear I hear someone laughing at me. Stupid crystal ball. Bring my scepter and palanquin; it's time to review my troops before I send them north."

The image of Vern retreated, showing Billy an immense throne room made with sandstone walls. He concentrated and could rotate the image to look around, watching Vern leave the room. Billy took a large drink of his wine. "Does he leave the connection open all of the time? What about the mana needed?"

"I believe that someone has tied the orb to the temple it resides in. Daily worship of the gods generates the mana supplied to the orb. It's a very good system that I wish we had here. Alas, I'm not sure who we would pray to. I used to watch his antics when he holds court and plots with his underlings, but I became bored. He's not that entertaining except in small doses."

Billy could certainly agree with that sentiment. "Val, good buddy, that was quite entertaining. I can feel us growing closer. How about I throw in something special for you? I've got the crypt of a ghoul lord named Bone Gnawer that I don't need. He's a nasty piece of work; you'll have to be careful with him, or he'll try to take over. But I think he might make a fine lieutenant to lead the ghouls I'm sending you."

"Oh, my. I don't know what to say. Your generosity astounds me, Gadobhra. Yes, I will gladly accept a ghoul lord, and I'm acquainted with their appetites. The hungry ones do indeed make the best lieutenants. But I have to ask, what brings on this generosity? You are, as you've told me, a businessman."

"Oh, I am. But knowledge has value. You've shown me a lot of value today, and I can think of ways to profit from this information. You deserve a bonus for that."

"And I graciously accept and am happy to be of service to you, Baron Gadobhra. We must really do this again, but for now, I need to see about a shipment of automatons. My, this is going to be so much fun."

The connection was cut, and Billy leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, this is going to be fun. For me, at least. I wonder how many ways I can raise Vern's blood pressure."

Corporate Announcements:

ACME Corporation, Northern Division, through the works of Baron William of Gadobhra and Baroness Layla, have created strong ties between the Fae Realm of Silverthorn Veil and its mysterious Countess, as well as pleasing the High King of the Fae, and earning a large favor from the Beast Princes for their daring rescue of Prince Leporidon. This resulted in a treaty between the High Fae and the Gnomes of Cinderstein and further trade between those realms and the City of Gadobhra. Additionally, methods of travel to the Kingdom of the Gnomes and the Wildlands of the Fae will soon be open for players seeking glory and corporations hoping to forge trade agreements.

The City of Gadobhra has earned 10,000 Building points.

Tesladyne Corporation of Black Rock Ridge has earned 1000 building points for forging an alliance with the Blackthunder Dwarves and has begun shipping small quantities of high-quality coal to the forges of the Empire.

Alchemarx Corporation has been fined 2000 Building Points for failure to honor business contracts with Baron PennyPincher, among other things.

Raxxon Corporation has completed the first stage of its seaside resort, White Sand, and is open for business. Raxxon Corporation has earned 1000 Building Points.

Baron Vernon of ACME Corporation, Southern Division, has earned 50 Building Points for constructing a footpath from his city to the edge of the Empire.

Pulling out a stamina and mana potion, Billy reopened the connection to Vern's throne room and was delighted to hear the sound of outraged ranting.

"Just the start, Vern. Just the start. You always said I was a vindictive little shit. You have no idea how true that is."