Heather the Necromancer

“I don’t recall seeing that when we came back,” Breanne said.

“That’s because it wasn’t there when we came back,” Frank said as he stood on his toes to get a better look.

Quinny's forest went over the road and down it for a good hundred feet. Just beyond the gloom of her trees was a building made of white plaster walls and dark wooden beams. It had narrow windows with yellowed glass, and a sharply peaked roof of wood shingles, that were warped and split as if aged for many years under the sun.

“What is it?” Heather asked as she stepped forward.

“It’s a house,” Quinny replied.

Heather rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. “I know it’s a house, but what kind, and who built it?”

“There is one way to find out,” Frank suggested and walked onto the road.

“Where are you going?” Heather asked.

“To see who lives there,” he replied.

“Are you planning to walk up and ring the bell?” Heather asked as she quickly followed.

“It's a fantasy world; they won't' have a bell.”

“You know what I mean,” Heather pressed as she fell in beside him. “What if they are shocked to see you?”

“They built right next to us, they may as well know who their neighbors are and get used to it,” he replied as he led the way.

Quinny and Breanne fell in behind them as they approached the strange new building. Once they got closer, they noticed the house sat back off the road. There was a loop of gray and brown cobblestones that formed a sort of courtyard before the structure. In the center of the courtyard was a mound of grass on which sat a small covered well. It looked every bit like a well from a fantasy book, with a round stone base and wooden posts holding up a roof of green shingles. There was a little hand crank to lower the rope and bucket that were dangling over the shaft down.

They approached the well first, standing on the hill and looking around. From this new vantage point, they could see three stone platforms; two to either side of the house, and one directly across the road in the trees.

“What is all this?” Heather asked as she noted the strange stone areas.

“This is a town of some kind,” Frank said. “Those are the building spots the player can use to place structures,” he added as he pointed to the foundations.

“It has to be a village builder,” Breanne said. “Maybe one of the farm styles.”

“Why does it look so old?” Heather asked as she noticed cracked window glass and cobwebs under eaves.

“It’s the style they picked,” Frank said. “It kinda fits in with the forest.”

“It looks like it belongs here,” Quinny said. “But who built it?”

Frank shrugged and made his way to the three wooden steps that led to the tall building. They paused at the door to read a small sign.

“Ring bell for service,” Frank read aloud and saw a small rope dangling from a hole in the roof.

“And you said it wouldn’t have a bell,” Heather laughed.

“I meant a real doorbell.”

“It's literally a doorbell,” Heather said as she pointed at the rope.

With a sigh, he reached up and pulled the rope. Above them, a bell made a sharp drone, and they waited at the door.

Inside could be heard shuffling and footsteps as somebody approached. The door shook a moment and then opened to reveal the man in a straw hat, eating an apple.

“You?” Heather said in surprise.

“Well, hello again,” he said in a cheery voice. “I was hoping to see you soon.”

“Do you know this person?” Breanne asked.

“His name is Fennel or something,” Quinny said.

“Finneous,” the man in the straw hat corrected. “Finneous Jones.”

Breanne threw her head back and shook it.

“Your name is Finneous Jones?” Breanne asked.

“It is,” he stated with a grin.

“You couldn't think of anything else?” Breanne asked, but Finneous only shrugged and took a bite from his apple.

“What are you doing here?” Heather asked to push the conversation along.

“Building my village, of course,” he said with a smile.

“You’re a village builder?” Frank asked.

“Indeed,” Finneous remarked before taking another bite. “I am a Village Elder,” he mumbled around his mouthful.

“You don’t look that old to me,” Heather remarked.

“It’s just a class,” Frank said. “It has nothing to do with age.”

With a groan, Heather folded her arms and looked the man in the eyes.

“So, you just decided to build here without asking any of us?”

Finneous smiled and scratched at the dark beard the circled his mouth.

“The land was open, and your areas are so far from a town. I assumed you would welcome a small village.”

Heather went to argue with him and tell him he was wrong. However, they did indeed want a village nearby, but for some reason, she didn't want him to be there. Something about him made her aggravated and was pretty sure it was his smile. He always smiled in every circumstance as if he was hiding something. In fact, his mannerisms made her feel like he was going out of his way to annoy her. She began to wonder if Frank was starting to rub off on her.

“What kind of town is it?” Frank asked as she continued to think.

“It's a farming village,” Finneous replied. “I can build the town square, and as it levels, I can add up to four buildings. Players who want a single home can buy the farm plots the village spawns.”

“What kind of farms?” Quinny asked.

“Depending on what the player chooses, it can be all sorts of things from vegetables to animals or both. Players who have a farming secondary have extra options and can expand beyond the basic plot.”

“Can players set a home point here?” Quinny asked again.

“If they build a house, but once I build the inn, anybody can,” Finneous replied, his smile unwavering.

Frank sat on his heels and scratched at the top of his head with his long nails as he pondered a thought.

“I guess this is good,” he said. “We wanted a town nearby, now theirs one right outside the forest.”

“It’s hardly a town,” Heather remarked as she looked around.

“I just started it this morning,” Finneous said. “It will grow as players arrive.”

“And players will stick around to adventure in our dungeons,” Frank said.

Finneous took a bite of his apple and nodded in agreement as he chewed.

Heather fixated on the apple and then remembered why they were here in the first place.

“Where did you get that apple?” she asked.

“Do you want one?” Finneous asked. “I have a whole basket of them.”

A twitch came to her eye as her hands curled at her hips. “And where did you get the basket?”

“I found it on the road by the forest,” Finneous admitted.

“Those are my apples!” Heather shouted. Her stomach growled loudly as if in full agreement, causing Finneous to regard her with a quizzical grin. He looked down at the half-eaten apple in his hand and then looked up as Heather scowled at him.

“They are?”

“Yes, they are,” she reiterated as she struggled to remain calm.

“Why were they sitting in the road?”

“The goblins bring me some every few days,” she said. “They leave them outside the forest.”

“Why would the goblins bring you apples?”

“Heather saved their queen, so they bring apples to thank her,” Frank explained.

Finneous shrugged and took another bite as if he didn’t care.

“Could I have the rest of them back, please?” Heather asked, trying to remain calm.

“Of course,” he said with a smile, and stepped out of the doorway, waving them in.

The inner room was a single large hall with two small rooms in the back. A table stood along one wall, and on it rested the little basket of apples. Heather swept up the remaining fruit with a sigh and looked around the empty space.

“So, is this your home?”

“I have a bedroom in the back,” Finneous said. “I spent all my points on the expanded plots outside. I will have to earn some more before I can furnish the building or build others.”

Heather strode across the wooden floor, her steps echoing in the space. The inner walls were the same white plaster, and the ceiling soared up, following the roof of exposed beams.

“What can you build in here?”

“It's meant to be a sort of town hall. I can build pews, and a stage, and expand it to have offices so I can manage the town. If it gets big enough, I can add a third story that has a proper bedroom and a few bonus rooms of my choice. I can even add a basement to get a few more rooms.”

“And that’s it?”

“Most of what I can do is in the town itself. I can add three buildings, and some minor things to the town square. The more points I spend on the town, the more farm plots it will spawn.”

“So, it can get bigger?” Heather asked as she wondered just how large it could be. Moons town had a good fifty buildings in it, and she began to dream of having an array of places to shop nearby.

“It can get reasonably bigger, but it's a farming town, so it sprawls out into little farms and shops,” he replied. “If it gets big enough, I can invest in a level five town hall and upgrade it into a village. Then I can add proper roads and set plots for people to build in, but it becomes costly to upgrade any further.”

She nodded as she paced and then spun around. Somehow the town she wanted had come right to her doorstep. Players might soon be playing here, or even staying for a few days to adventure in their lairs. With any luck, this would mean more points to expand their buildings as well. Frank could spread further over the river and build his lower tunnels. Quinny's trees would grow across the land and crawl with monsters and hidden treasures. Her tower? She paused to tap the side of the basket as she wondered what she would do with her tower.

“All we need are some players to find the town now,” Quinny said as Heather daydreamed of her tower.

“Is this wise?” Breanne asked. “You told me how many others know her secret. Surely one of them will return soon, and this is where they will come first.”

“What secret?” Finneous asked with a smile.

Breanne looked to Heather with confusion. “I thought you knew him?”

“We do,” Heather said. “But we told him I was a sorceress.”

“You’re not a sorceress?” he asked.

“No,” Heather said dryly. “What I am is none of your business.”

He looked about with a crooked smile as if this was all a game of words.

“What if people come asking about you? What am I supposed to tell them?”

“You tell them she is a flower singer and a recluse,” Breanne said.

“Is that the truth?” he asked.

“As close to it as your going to get,” Heather snapped.

The smile faded from his face, and he reached up to take off his hat.

“Look, I know you're a necromancer,” he said.

“She is not!” Breanne snapped, but he paid her no mind.

“I have been skulking around your forest for days. You were gone for some of them, and I explored the buildings.”

“So what?” Heather asked.

“You have a few strange items in your tower. A skull-faced amulet and a metal-bound book of dark magic.”

Heather went wide-eyed to realize he had seen the book she foolishly left out when they went for pizza.

“It's a spellbook, but it isn't mine,” Heather said. “I found it someplace else with the amulet.”

“I have also seen you command the skeletons to rise back up,” he said dryly. “There are very few classes that can animate the undead, and only one can do so many at once.”

“When did you see that?” Heather asked in shock.

Finneous shook his head and folded his arms over his broad chest. “I am good at sneaking about when I want to. You are the necromancer the people up north are whispering about.”

“At least I got that aggravating smile off your face,” she sighed in defeat.

“Why would you pick a class that’s forbidden?”

“I didn't pick it,” Heather snapped. “I was still second level, and I was experimenting with classes that worked well with Frank. I wasn't going to keep it, but somebody tricked me into leveling to three before I could change.”

“What do you mean before you could change?” Finneous said with a confused look.

“Clearly, you hardly know him,” Breanne said with an exasperated sigh.

“We met once,” Heather stated firmly. “I assumed he was just passing through.”

“Well, if he is going to build here and keep your secrets, he might as well know the rest,” Frank said before turning to Finneous and explaining what Heather was.

“A chosen and a necromancer!” Finneous said in shock. “The bounty on your head will buy kingdoms!”

“So we have heard,” Heather shot back. “Do you plan to try and claim it?”

To her utter annoyance, the smile returned, and he stood tall. “Unfortunately, I will have to pass on such a reward. I would prefer to avoid getting entangled with the paladins and their hunters.”

“Why?” Breanne asked.

“I have my reasons,” Finneous replied dismissively.

Breanne frowned as this response and glared at him intently.

“They had better be good ones,” she said.

“Can I eat the townspeople?” Quinny asked.

“Quinny?” Heather said in shock.

“What?” Quinny replied. “I assume there will be some NPCs?”

“Once I place some of the other buildings, there will be,” Finneous replied. “I can create one NPC farm as well.”

“See,” Quinny replied.

“That’s cannibalism,” Heather remarked.

“I’m a zombie, and I don’t really eat them,” Quinny said. “I sort of absorb them, and all it does is heal me and give me a buff.”

Heather shook her head and looked down at her apples. “At least I have some real food.” Her stomach growled in agreement, reminding her it still wanted to be fed.

“Are apples the only thing you eat?” Finneous asked.

“It’s not the only thing I eat,” Heather said.

“We had pizza a few days ago,” Quinny added.

“A good choice,” Finneous replied. “Where did you get that?”

“A few days north in the dwarven kingdoms,” Quinny replied.

“So that's where you were,” he said while rubbing at his chin. His eyes fell to Heather and the basket of apples in her arms. “So, you eat apples otherwise?”

“I have some cheese left from Moon’s town,” Heather replied.

“That cheese is hard as a rock,” Quinny laughed.

“Why have you not added a kitchen and a larder to your tower?” Finneous asked.

Heather looked at him as if a spider had crawled out of his nose and put on a top hat.

“A kitchen? I can add a kitchen?”

“If you upgrade it a few times, it will come with a few basic food items that respawn every morning,” he replied.

“It does?” Heather stammered as her stomach cried out.

“Sure,” he replied. “I intend to add one to the inn as soon as I can. Then I will add an NPC cook to make foods.”

“You can add a cook too?” Heather stammered again.

Finneous nodded as he rubbed at his chin. “If you add a larder, you get a sort of pantry with more items. Every time you upgrade, they get slightly bigger and have more basic things to cook with.”

Heather nodded as she reached for the tattoo on her arm and brought up her display.

“Ha, Heather can’t wait now,” Quinny teased.

“Hush,” Heather said as she shook her head again. She went into the tower upgrades and searched. When she found the kitchen, she wanted to scream in frustration. She could have had food all this time but never realized it. As she poked through the options, she realized they were very basic, bread, cheese, butter, eggs, and fruits. Even more annoying was the fact that with a few upgrades, she could add a hand pump for water directly into the tower.

“I need to spend a week looking through all this,” she sighed and dismissed the glowing display.

“It never occurred to me you didn’t know you could build that,” Breanne said. “I assumed Frank or Quinny would have told you. I should have known when you didn’t realize you could have a study.”

“We told her she could add rooms. I didn’t think I needed to say add a kitchen specifically,” Frank said.

“It’s fine,” Heather said in a harsh tone. “I have plenty of points; I will add one when I get back.”

“If people start to live here and play in our bases, you will be able to upgrade quickly,” Frank said.

Heather looked down at the apples and shook her head. “Until then, I guess it's apples.”

“You know,” Finneous began. “If the goblins bring you apples often, I can set up a small market and put an NPC in it to sell them. Then you could use the money it makes to buy other things the farms produce.”

“I could use the apples to buy other things?” Heather asked.

“Of course. I'm sure you can add a cook to your tower, all buildings with kitchens have the option. They will use whatever foodstuffs you put in your kitchen to make things. The wider the variety, the more options they will have to cook with.”

Heather smiled at the thought of actual meals for a change. She was so sick of eating a lump of cheese or an apple. Even if they could turn the apples into something else, like a pie or a tart, it would be better.

“Then I finally have something to look forward to,” she said.

“And I can eat your NPCs too,” Quinny added.

“No, eating my cooks!” Heather scolded.

“Oh, your no fun,” Quinny pouted.

“I suppose this is a good step forward, but we have to be prepared for Heather’s enemies to come calling,” Breanne said. “I still think we should move to another spawn far away.”

“But then Frank and Quinny will have to start their bases over,” Heather argued.

“They will have to do that anyway,” Breanne said.

“I say we stay until we have to leave,” Frank said. “There is no point in running away. If they know she's here; they aren't going to stop looking for her just because she moved. They will search every road to every spawn and find us.”

“What if we move way out into the wilds?” Quinny asked.

“Then we won't see any players at all. We need to be close to the spawn to get regular players.” Frank said. “Without it, we will be stuck again.”

“Oh, pooh!”

“We stay,” Heather said firmly. “If they come for me, I will deal with it.”

Breanne looked at her with narrow eyes. “There is no dealing with it. They will drag you to the spawn and reset you.”

“Then I will get to pick another class,” Heather replied.

Breanne looked at her with narrow eyes, but Heather turned away. She was tired of being afraid of what might happen. She was a necromancer and couldn't do anything about it. If the paladins came, she would explain what happened. If they couldn't accept it, she would fight for her life. Right now, she was more concerned with buying a kitchen for her tower.

She and the others spoke with Finneous for a little longer before she excused herself. She wanted to get the apples back to her tower, buy a kitchen, and spend more time in the book. Breanne followed her out, walking beside her silently as they headed back through the woods.

“You have an awfully casual opinion of what will happen if they come for you?”

Heather sighed. “What can I do about it? I didn’t ask to be here or intend to play this class. I only picked it because it worked well with Frank, but I was going to change it.”

“All of that may be true, but none of it is going to change how they will treat you,” Breanne said. “I saw what being brutally reset did to people.”

“So what should I do? Run and hide where they will never find me?” Heather sniped. “As far as I am concerned, they have no right to tell me what I can or can't do. If they want to reset me, they can tell my bone knight.”

“They will shatter your bone knight.”

“Then I will summon something they can’t shatter,” Heather argued as she rolled her eyes. “Look, I already don’t want to be here. I don’t need a reason to hate the people who are in here with me.”

“No, I suppose that won’t do,” Breanne admitted. “I guess I just worry about you.”

“I appreciate that,” Heather said as she took an apple from her basket. Her stomach growled as she took her first bite. “We do have the plan to run to the hidden tower if they come in force, and I can delay them with the skeletons we brought back.”

“All good starts,” Breanne agreed. “With any luck, your cover story will keep you safe, but this Finneous knows your secret.”

“I wish I knew how,” Heather said. “He was watching us, and we didn't even know it.”

“Lots of classes have stealth or can turn invisible. Magical classes can use spells to spy on remote places. They could be watching you right now, and you would never know it.”

“Great, now every time I take a bath, I will wonder who is gawking at me,” Heather sighed as she took another bite.

“I am just making the point that he found out, which means others might do so as well. Our cover story will only last so long. The question now is, can we trust him?”

Heather pondered that notion over another mouth full of apple.

“He has a secret of his own, but he seems to be just as keen to keep his as I am mine. Maybe he won't draw any attention to me that might cause people to look hard at him.”

“What could he be keeping secret that is so important?” Breanne asked.

Heather shrugged. “Maybe he’s a necromancer too. None of us know what his primary class is.”

“I doubt that,” Breanne said as she tossed her hair. “He seems too happy to have his secret. He likes people to know he has one, but not what it is.”

“He highlighted the point that I foolishly left the book and amulet laying out when we left for pizza,” Heather groaned. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to hide it.”

“What’s done is done. Let’s hope he was the only one who saw it.”

Heather nodded as she chewed another mouth full and made her way down the forest path. There was nothing more that could be done about it, and right now, she didn't care. She had a ton of points from the nillac horde and a kitchen to buy for her tower. They passed through the graveyard and arrived at the tower. She handed her basket off to a skeleton and pulled up her panel, quickly going to the kitchen options.

“You really can’t wait to add one,” Breanne laughed.

“My lack of understanding of this world and how things work keeps holding me back. I may be stuck here, but I don’t have to be miserable, it’s time I enjoyed some of the things this world has to offer.”

With a tap, she brought up the kitchen and looked a the point cost.

“You will have quite a few points left over,” Breanne said from behind her.

“Then, let's see just how much I can upgrade it.”