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Proudly he says, "Indeed!"
He scoffs and relays, "There was only one of these at each fort, upon the ley lines that the mage kings wanted so badly. Let's see which kind of warforge this is, shall we?" You hear some whirrling and mechanical movement. Then his hands rotate back into the arm. Then a blade quickly emerges from the end of his arm. He laughs and states, "Well this blade might be a decent backup. Now I need to find a proper blade." He had secured a belt, a chacrum, a throwing dagger, and a pendant to his new body.
Desseer stays back from the commotion pondering furiously. Many 'if...then...'s run through his mind at the emergence of the suited hand. The consistency of Yggdrasil mechanics permeates this world. As much as it seems different because they were in it more than before, it keeps reminding him that it was still in many ways Yggdrasil. This was further reinforced by the loot chest that was brought up.
The lithe elf-succubus refocuses on the here and now. "Sorry for zoning out. This has been a long day and a lot to process." As he apologizes, his eyes notice a ring in the chest. "Is that...? he trails off and reaches for it. "...of spell knowledge.."
This could be useful if..hmm..
Seeing no one else interested, he slips it on for later.
"Well Warlord, I must say, this is quite a bounty you have bestowed. I am grateful, Desseer says with a small bow. "Do you know where your other outposts would be with this one as a reference?"
"No...I have a couple Sickles?" she says as she begins sniffing abour and finds an old leather bag. She flips it open and takes a whiff. She giggles and reaches in to pull out a jar of honey and some perserved meat.
" Its bigger on the inside!! And it has food! YAY!!!" Fyr says as she takes a bite of the Jerky and giggles.
Galahad chuckles wathcing Fyr's excitment at the inventory and food, then turning to the now golem warlord.
"I do have spare weapons, these spares are not enchanted though so they don't have any magical effects..." - He says, reaching into his inventory and pulling out an axe, happy to have hoarded some common weapons for a later enchantment, even if that day hadn't come thus far.
"Would this one be enough?
Myriana was glad to see the warlord was able to get out of the hole once it was widened. Once he had she dismissed her spell and watched as he opened the chest up. As they all began to get something from its Myriana's eyes fell on a rod that seemed to represent making something longer. She studied it a moment and then realized what it was with a shocked, "NYAAAA!!!!!" She took up the rod and began to rub it against her cheek happily while muttering, "meowmeowmeowmeow," in what seemed reminiscent of a commercial jingle.
When they started talking about moving on Myriana's attention was caught. She put her new rod away in her pack and then went over to the others. "Sorry, I don't have any spare weapons, I don't carry any at all really."
Desseer nods, "I'm ready. By the way Warlord, what is the body of water that it is the coast of?"
Soren finds a luxurious suit of clothing in her colors, and determining them to be her heart's desire, claims them from the chest. She looks around and decides behind the giant warrior-construct is the best nearby place to change.
She strips down and changes into the new clothes. As she changes, she says "I primarily use whips, I'm afraid. I have a wrist launcher I could let you borrow for awhile. Don't know how that bulky thing would be good at using it, though."
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He offers simply, "In my day it was called the Ragged Sabre Coast. We will find what they call it now."
With a bit of gratitude in his voice he states, "I think the axe should do nicely for now. Thank you for all your offers. For ranged I have globes of alchemist fire."
Before the group sets out he pushes the chest back into the hole. Then moves it back to its previous resting spot. When he emerges if anyone has a questioning look he states, "It will take time but more magical items will be made."
Galahad shakes his head and says
"Don't mention it, I have other weapons available if you need a sword, a polearm or whatnot, as a user of the Steelfist I usually attack with my hands, but having weapons at the ready can be pretty useful, specially against some adversaries."
He then raises an eyebrow at the Warlord's statement
"Made? You're saying that this chest makes the magic items by itself?!"
He couldn't help but show the surprise in his voice, a loot chest whose rewards respawn after some time had passed? That's exactly like the reward mechanics of a videogame! The RPG logic from this world was going far and beyond what he had originally imagined, it seemed to not only apply to just sentient beings anymore.
Desseer regards the Warlord the same way as Galah'ad.
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He happily states, "Indeed, most chests found in the world came from somewhere. The High Heavens bestow them upon the brave. We took some of the chests for our own and had our mages make them better. It seems the High Heavens took our ingenuity to heart and most chests are such replicating wonders now. At least it was in my days. Same as defeating a monster, you would find treasure as the creature fell."
Myriana found herself listening intently to what the Warlord said about the chest making items. She knew how to do that and had made a few herself over her time playing the game. She wondered what it would be like now that the game was real, how different would the process be? She couldn't wait to find out.
"Do we should steal one and use it as a lure for the weak and foolhardy! Especially in my traps" Fyr said with fervent hunger in her eyes. She was a trapsmith after all and such a inticing lure would test the preys wits. Oh if they got caught it was splendid,but if they beat it more the better. Means she would need to build a new trap that was twice as difficult to offset!
" Sorry, just think about all the people who would get caught by such a reward and then notoce too late that they were in my web!" she bites into meat as she devilishly relishes the idea of esting the prey caught in her trap.
Abscently Jimmy and Franklin are feed bits of the meat and the scorpions eat hungrily.
Galahad was a little concerned at Fyr's reaction, he could tell that the game had altered his mind as well to fit with his now form, but watching her speak made him wonder how far had the changes gone, but what she said had caused another curiosity as well.
"Fyr, has anyone checked if the defense systems and traps of the guild are working as in the gam- I mean, as usual?"
He asked, the security system of guild bases in YGGDRASIL was setup by the players, but it's activation used the AI of the game as many things, he wondered what was powering them now that they were in the real world. Likely magic, he thought.
Another thing also bothered him, this one more than anything else.
"Morgrave, when you say High Heavens you mean... Gods? You received that from an actual god?" - He asked, fearful of the answer.
As a divine caster his magic was heavily tied to religious themes, specially to the tribal power of Jujumancy and the Wendo spirits, however in YGGDRASIL gods were more flavour text than anything else. Sure, you had some characters who were considered "Gods" according to in-game lore such as Cainabel, the ancestral vampire god who was an event boss, but outside of lore deities didn't really impact the game's mechanics. But if gods were indeed a real thing now how would that affect him and his fellow divine caster Willow? Specially since they were both on the evil side of divine spectrum, did that meant their magic was tied to some evil god now? And if gods could bestow blessings upon the brave, them could they somehow receive such a thing?
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You think he counts as medium but likely has the powerful build ability.
He replies simply, "Yes... would you like a lesson upon the religions of my days? This form is... how should I put it... sorry I don't know arcane or divine powers well. This was a experiment, maybe an early adaption of the golem I was locked into with you." He motions to Galahad. Then he continues, "Likely my sect stole it from a mage king or it was left behind. I do know until we can find a part of my body the only other option is to have a true ressurection spell cast but I didn't know of anyone who knew little much less cast it."
Desseer gives Fyr a warm smile as she describes her sanguine thoughts. "Fyr, I will do what I can to make that a reality. If we are stuck here, which it seems we are, we might as well make the best of it."
Desseer then follows the Warlord, flying above to get a good look at the scenery so he doesn't get lost.
The warforge can run a great distance, about five miles before he must rest. Running he has a speed of 150 feet per round!
"Warlord, if you wish, you may ride upon Braking Dawn along with Fyr in my stead. I am capable of flying on my own if necessary. Perhaps an arial view will make it easier for you to find landmarks as well." So'ren offers.
Given that So'ren had Fyr riding with her this time Myriana sprouted her wings again and flew under her own power. Though her wings looked like those of a butterfly she was very maneuverable with them and occasionally did tricks during their travel, loops, barrel rolls, and a number of other things she read about once on the net.
Occasionally Myriana flew close to So'ren and Fyr and when she did her gaze kept getting drawn to their necks. All this flying was starting to make her thirsty again and So'ren in particular looked really yummy. She resisted her urge to bite and instead said, "Hey, if anyone sees a village along the way let me know. I want to see what we can find out nya and..." she hunched her shoulders a little and then added, "I'm thirsty nya."
Galahad once again nodded, much less surprised at the mention of True Ressurrection now that he was getting used to the video game logic of this world. In fact, what the Warlord said made him relieved, True Ressurrection was a spell that only very high level players could cast, the fact that it seemed to be so rare in this world indicated that they at least wouldn't run into a powerful divine caster anytime soon, which was good considering how many of them were undead. But still a disappointment that Morgrave didn't knew much about the High Heavens.
"So you didn't had contact with the High Heavens yourself, that's unfortunate... I wonder if the Mage King who had it would know about it... along with anything left of your body as well, do you perhaps believe they would have preserved it somehow? It's unlikely to still be around after all this time."
He glances at the thirsting Myriana and looks concerned, the cravings of vampirism seems to be already getting to her.
"Perhaps we shouldn't swoop in and kill at the first sight of civilization, I'm certain we'll come accross some animals on the way. If not I can use a summoning spell to create one for you to eat" - He said, not really wanting to use a spell just for that, but it would certainly be better than having Myriana attack one of them. He didn't knew if it would actually come to that, in YGGDRASIL that certainly wouldn't happen to a player, but now that this was the real world he didn't knew how far the undead cravings could take someone.
Given that So'ren had Fyr riding with her this time
Desseer remains mostly quiet and his expression is clearly lost in thought.
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He would willingly accept a spot on Breaking Dawn. He nods agreeing with Soren.
Responding to Galahad in almost a whimsical notion, "Oh no, I didn't have an arcane or divine class. If anything you could call me a mage slayer. To contact the High Heavens would require one of those. The dieties have their interests but don't directly affect the world much. Yes my original body likely was destroyed. I don't even remember how I died. A magical assassin most likely. No they would have disintegrated it if they had the power, no reason to keep a mage slayer that wanted your demise."
He then states his hope, "At the secret base is a certain table that should restore my body. Hopefully the finger is preserved too!"
Galahad nodded, a little more relieved, deities did exist then, but at least they wouldn't be interfering directly in their plans by what the Warlord was saying.
"Ah, a Mage Slayer? I have heard about those. Guess that was a reason why you and the Mage Kings didn't see eye to eye?"
Mage Slayers, in YGGDRASIL that was a class who was great at fighting all types of spellcasters in close combat. When someone with that class was on the opposing side, almost all spellcasters would be wary to maintain their distance, no wonder a person called a Mage King would want Morgrave dead, but he wondered if there was more to it.
His eyes went wide when he heard of the table.
In YGGDRASIL there were some spells and items aimed at making it more to fully ressurrect a character, some of them could even stop the player from being ressurrected by anything other than the most powerful divine spells and even then at their usual huge cost. The tablet of reawakening was a highly prized item in the game, not only because it could ressurrect any character regardless of how they were killed, but also because it required no material components other than the tablet itself and it could be used by anyone. However, it didn't seem to match what Morgrave said, since the tablet didn't require any pieces of the original body to function, only the user's name. Galad would try to get more information on it.
"That sounds like a very powerful magical item indeed, would it even need a body part to work? And forgive me for asking, is it really necessary for you to get your body back right now? I understand that some might desire to go back to their usual forms for plenty of reasons, but I'm certain you understand the... fragilities of the regular living beings. Are you sure it's a safe choice?
He was aware that both his ghostly form and the warforge had their own weaknesses as well. In YGGDRASIL races with several immunities and resistances like the undead and constructs were balanced out by having other weaknesses and limitations, but that was in the game, this was now the real world. If one were to ask Galahad what would he rather have in a fight, then a body that didn't require sustenance, couldn't bleed out and didn't need sleep was far better suited for a military campaign. Hell, developing that was part of his job back in the real world! He struggled to understand why would a Warlord want to go back into a mortal body so desperately, while he had tried to create the exact opposite in his original life.
Desseer emerges from his deep ponderings to the warlord's admission as a mage slayer.
Well, a mage slayer could be a problem...
"Mages can be pretty wily Warlord. What strategies did you utilize?" Desseer asks curiously.
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"Moreso we became mage slayers because of the tyrant mage kings."
On the subject of the magical item he responds, "Yes very powerful but the creation of it needed many components. If part of the body is present it will take less time for the body to form or the ressurection to happen. I would like the process to begin, because it could take anywhere from a month to years. Also I want to see if the secret base is intact and if anyone survived of my Sect, they likely will be there. Also my body was near immortal in my time. I had acquired the Sublime form."
Looking to Desseer he smiled thinking back to his hunts. He mischievously says, "Wouldn't you like to know!? I had a handy pair of teleportation boots, so normally once I found a mage I would use those and my blade typically did the work nicely. Invisibility worked some too."
Galahad was in deep thought for a while after hearing this, so the process would take a good while to finish, way longer than any ritual in YGGDRASIL, curious, so this world also had it's own type of magic items with their own rules. But what surprised him most was the mention of the Sublime form. A subtype of creature particularly attuned to positive energy, the opposite of the undead, the same racial class that his guildmate So'ren had acquired and this did made him curious, rare templates like that had to be acquired through certain missions or magical items in YGGDRASIL. Like the Book of the Dead, which allowed a common undead to become a Lich, or the Seed of the Fallen, which allowed one to become a fiend, but in this world it couldn't work simply as that... could it?
"I see, a Sublime form is quite a step-up from the common mortal body, I can understand why you'd want it back, specially considering the ammount of work or blessings that it took for you to acquire such form... At least I assume it did?" - He tried to play it safe, not fully revealing his ignorance, but eager to know how the people of this world could improve upon the race they were born in. That also might give a hint of how the undead evolved in this world as well, as a necromancer he was eager to learn.
"Also, I assume that if your sect has any survivours wouldn't they be hundreds of years old by now? Would they even recognize you?" - He asked, by what he had seem the creature's in this world were not such huge threats to them, but the mention of the Boots of Teleportation and the treasure chest from before showed the sheer power of the magical items they had access to, picking a fight with someone like that would be unwise if they could instead make friends out of them. Of course if conlict was unavoidable, then it couldn't be helped.
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He would relay, "Indeed it did take a long time, the bath treatments, currying enough favor with the divine, the expensive sacrifices, and the infusion of positive energy."
He coughs in exasperation but then says simply, "Oh I don't envision finding any of my subordinates but their kin and offspring. I hope that my way of life ended with my death. There might be a few elves still that I remember. They wouldn't recognize me in this body."
As you continue to fly North East by North you see signs of life. Coastal villages.
Galahad listens to Morgrave with a stern expression, of course, evolving your own racial traits would be definitely much harder in a real world, his respect increased somewhat for the Warlord and his dedication. He remembered how much work it took to get items and rituals to evolve races in YGGDRASIL and it seems to have been that much harder for him.
"Let us hope that they will at least listen to us and not promptly raise their weapons at a party of... non-humanoids." - Galahad says, avoiding the word 'monsters'
As he notices the sign of civilization he points down, to the distant village down bellow and calls out to his guildmates
"Everyone! A village!" - He warns, turning to the Warlord and the ghostly Mistress
"Would any of you two be familiar with this location?" - He asks, curious about the village and not wanting to dodge out of it's way, but also remembering the words of the pair about the war on the undead and that monstrous races were barred entry from some cities and villages in YGGDRASIL, wary that some of them might not be welcome in this place in their usual forms.
At the sight of the coastal villages, Desseer gets excited. This is what the character he built was supposed to excel at, NPC influence.
As he continues to fly along, he unconsciously begins straightening his clothing and hair. Something also stirs inside of him thinking of the villages, a hunger..
His thoughts begin being absorbed by the possibilities of these villages.
"I could go down and ask," he says hopefully. "I can easily look less...fiendish. Information would be useful right?"
She shakes her head, she explains, "I was in there longer than the warlord." At Desseer's words she offers, "I will accompany you. I would like to gather some of my own information."
"Perhaps we shouldn't swoop in and kill at the first sight of civilization, I'm certain we'll come accross some animals on the way. If not I can use a summoning spell to create one for you to eat" - He said, not really wanting to use a spell just for that, but it would certainly be better than having Myriana attack one of them. He didn't knew if it would actually come to that, in YGGDRASIL that certainly wouldn't happen to a player, but now that this was the real world he didn't knew how far the undead cravings could take someone.
Myriana rolled her eyes and replied, "Who ever said anything about killing them nya? Why would I want to do that nya?" She continued to fly along and seemed to be in control of herself as she did not attack any of the living for their blood. She half listened to the conversation as they traveled but didn't involve herself too much though she did pay particular attention as the Warlord began to explain about his body was made and reforming it.
When they spotted the village Myriana's eyes lit up and she said, "I'll look into it," as she excitedly flew closer to it. She wasn't far ahead of the others and only landed moments before they did. When she landed her wings vanished first but then her entire body changed right afterwards. It wasn't too different from her normal look other than she was now fully human in appearance. "There, that should get me by I think."
" You want to kill them for the sweet sweet meat!" Fyr says smiling hungrilu. She then stops and blinks as she adjusts then leans down.
" Why would I...I know my character loves eating seintent creatures but..." she let that hang as she seemed conflixted about her humanity and her monster identity.
"Let's all play monster races..." So'ren mutter quietly. She shakes her head and clears her throat, speaking more clearly. "I'll travel with you, Warlord, so you may continue riding Breaking Dawn. Let us find this base of yours while the others attend to... dinner and conversation."
Galahad looks at Myriana ahead and then at the Mistress
"Won't they be frightened by the sudden appearance of a Ghost? I know that we can use our powers to look like normal humanoids, but if there's someone in there capable of seeing through it we could end up in trouble...
He then looks over at Fyr
"It appears that the changes were not only limited to our bodies, our minds were also changed by whatever urges... or lack of them, that our characters had. We have to watch out for this. - He says, aware of how undeath seems to affect both his senses and emotions now.
"Regardless, I think this is a discussion for another time, are you going with So'ren, Fyr? Lady Tearsu already has the support of Desseer and Myriana, so if you need my help to find the base I'll accompany you. If not I can use my illusion to disguise myself as a humanoid and help with the village, though there's a risk of someone seeing through it."
Galahad looks at Myriana ahead and then at the Mistress
"Won't they be frightened by the sudden appearance of a Ghost? I know that we can use our powers to look like normal humanoids, but if there's someone in there capable of seeing through it we could end up in trouble...
She scoffs and replies astoundedly, "This simple village with someone who can see through my disguise?! Ha, you make me laugh." She drops down and as she lands she alters her form to that of a simple merchant with a pretty face.
The small fishing village appears to have mostly huts and lean-tos for buildings. Walking around you notice that there is a couple dozen humans around. Just off the coast you see several fishing boats some with sails but mostly moving with oars.
Desseer chuckles with Serisha's scoff and runs a hand through his platinum hair. As he does so, minor details about his appearance changes. His hair turns a radiant golden. His skin takes on a strong bronze hue, and his irises turn a slightly darker shade of golden than his hair. His fingers no longer end in clawed points and his bat-like wings appear to now be covered in snowy white feathers. His clothes also change to be white with gold and silver trim.
Desseer, the now appearing elf/aasimar, looks himself over and does a quick spin for the crew. With a very satisfied smile he says, "Not too bad." He then tucks his 'feathered' wings underneath a cloak and strolls toward the village.
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As he goes through the village, he walks with a happy, carefree countenance.
"You there!" he calls to the nearest human he comes across with cheer, a pearly smile, and a friendly wave. "I have traveled far! I don't suppose you could give me some directions?"
As the human draws closer aasimar-Desseer gives a hearty, warm, laugh and an arms-wide gesture. "I seem to be a little lost, friend."
His animated antics also serve the purpose to disguise his spellcasting, again.
So'ren nods, flying off alongside the warlord mounted upon Breaking Dawn.
"I doubt you're acquainted with that town either. A moment while I note its location, and we should travel on." she says to the warlord.
"I, too, know the touch of the positive that resides in this sublime body. If there is a way I can find to restore it to you as well, I will. To find yourself lacking it must be... lonely and cold." she says, her voice perhaps more seductive than she intended it to be.
G#*~!@n, why did I build So'ren so ... sultry? Xander pondered briefly. Sighing inwardly.
Because I'm such a g##&~+n horndog. he concludes after the briefest delay.
Diplomacy
So'ren and the Warlord continue north without a visit to the town, but she does her best to memorize its location.
" Yes a nice warm cave with plenty of nooks and crannies to hide in. Perfect for setting up webs to trap and devour..." Fyr coughed and the. Sighed.
"Im gonna have to get used to all this
I still feel like Emily. Im not Emily Im Fyr" the Drider said as she then laughed.
" I shoukd be able to wildshape!!!" she says laughing as she figited looking about.
"Like I could have become a horse or something" she laughed even harder as she secured her bow and just find the absurdity of it all!
As they approached the village Myriana smelled people, it was an interesting smell, an enticing smell, and one she tried to shove to the back of her mind so she could focus. She also smelled fish! Nummy, NUMMY, fish! She wanted to eat some fish without thinking about whether her body could even do so now that she was...no longer alive.
Myriana was flouncing along and humming a happy tune to herself that seemed to be interspersed with the word "fish" here and there. Once they reached their destination and Deseer spoke to the human and used his powers, not that Myriana noticed that given her pre-occupation, Myriana looked at the villagers. She wanted to find someone she deemed worth her time for companionship and a cuppa.
Galah'ad laughed a little at Serisha's response, he thought he should be mad, but her acting as a stereotypical ojou-sama was kinda of endearing for him to get mad at. He then winced a little at Fyr's response, they usually refered to eachother by their usernames, but he was pretty sure Emily was Fyr's real name. Well, maybe she was more Fyr than Emily now, just like he was feeling more and more like Galah'ad. He reached his hand out to hers as she grasped her bow
"Un-Understandable, let us calm down, shall we? If you can wildshape and join the Desseer that would be great. I'll join Morgrave and So'ren since I don't like the idea of leaving one of ours alone with someone we just met. Watch out for the others, alright?" - He said, giving her a light tap on the shoulder, before heading out to follow So'ren. The Warlord hadn't showed them anything except a perfectly decent and amicable behaviour, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Regardless, with Desseer, Myriana and Fyr at the village it was unlikely Serisha would need him in this village more than So'ren and Morgrave could.
The human simply nods and walks up to Desseer, once he can speak, he asks, "Where are you heading. We are the furthest fishing village and not much is around here."
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With galahad in tow, the three of you make good time and do eventually find the spot of the secret base. After Galahad does some prodding most of the entrances are closed and seem to have fallen upon themselves.
Another hour of searching, as John worked to clear one of the entrances, you find a coastal access point. Most of the cave is underground but that doesn't affect you. Eventually finding the complex of hallways and rooms.
It does not look like the place has been ransacked or looted but a lot of time has passed and not much can be salvaged. After bringing Morgrave in, he makes a bee line to the alchemy room. Where he points out the table and the crypt. He searches and finds it, his preserved finger and takes it to the table. Then he notices it. A large metal cauldron that had a lid upon it. He broke the seal and took off the top. Within was a body, his body! He hooted and hollared to the High Heavens for his luck.
Taking the body to the table and laying it down, he looks to Soren and asks, "Would you please spill a bit of blood on the table, it should act as the starting point." He places his hand on the clones head and chest over its heart. He asks Galahad, "If you would read the words on the far side of the table, along its edge. Then I will speak the words on this side. Then the awakening and transfer should start." [ooc]You are more than welcome to stop or interfere, I am just getting the narrative up!
[dice=Disguise]1d20+15+10
As they approached the village Myriana smelled people, it was an interesting smell, an enticing smell, and one she tried to shove to the back of her mind so she could focus. She also smelled fish! Nummy, NUMMY, fish! She wanted to eat some fish without thinking about whether her body could even do so now that she was...no longer alive.
Myriana was flouncing along and humming a happy tune to herself that seemed to be interspersed with the word "fish" here and there. Once they reached their destination and Deseer spoke to the human and used his powers, not that Myriana noticed that given her pre-occupation, Myriana looked at the villagers. She wanted to find someone she deemed worth her time for companionship and a cuppa.
[dice=P3rception looking for the most attractive, seemingly single, villager she can spot (gender is unimportant to her)]1d20+17
It takes you a good while to find a good looking figure. Walking around you see two possible candidates, a boy of about seventeen winters that has a scar running down one of his arms, and the witch. She works over her cauldron but through the veil you can see covered beauty.
So'ren examines the table, the words, and the body. Despite her initial interest in helping the Warlord, she knew to be cautious about such things, so she recalls what she knows about the set-up.
For a sublime creature to become undead is the greatest perversion of form, and may have had corruptive effects. she reminds herself to slow down and examine the circumstances. But we are in a new world, and perhaps inside that thing his connection to the positive was severed.
Kn Arcana
Spellcraft
Sense Motive