Modern Necromancy Quest #1

>>248887
The first step along the path of Necromancy is the raising of a simple shade from an animal's earthly remains. Many apprentices have tried this exercise, and nearly all those suited to the work succeeded easily enough. It is a rite of passage for many, and it it not uncommon to find wizened old men recounting their first shade summoning with no small amount of nostalgia. Make no mistake, young novice, you will remember this day.
A sample of the remains are needed, a bone being the usual choice. This is placed in a dry place, where chalk can be applied easily. Around the bone, the circle is drawn. [There is a diagram of an intricate, complex series of shapes on the opposite page. It's comprised mostly of thin, looping circles that meet in the middle as well as a few triangles seeming to connect some of the different circles. The whole affair is contained within a single larger circle. Looking at it makes your head spin.] Then, three candles are lit, one each for Birth, Life, and Death, the three gateposts of existence on this plane, and placed around the circle. Now comes the most crucial step; the libation. Good wine should be found and warmed, and certain herbs added. For the raising of a shade the most common are Lavender, Pennyroyal, and Thyme. Pomegranate seeds, mugwort, elderberries, and the bark or root taken from the cedar tree are also used, though less frequently. The harvest and storage of these herbs need not be special, but if certain preparations are taken their potency may be improved.
To this libation must be added that which the shade wants above all, blood, the truest elixir of life to those beyond death's gate. The greater the quantity, the more powerful the bonds drawing the shade to our world. For a small summoning as this, a few drops will suffice.
When the remains are in the circle, the candles lit and the libation mixed, the spirit must be summoned by voice as the libation is poured over the remains and the circle. The words themselves do not matter, so long as the meaning is intact. The summoner must call the spirit, demand it return to the world it left with blood and wine as its reward. If all other instructions have been followed, a shade shall appear to do your will.
Well. Seems simple enough, anyway. You're sure you can find most of the herbs in the kitchen or the garden--though it is pretty late, so you'll have to be quiet to avoid waking your family. Wine and candles are in the pantry, and you know you've got chalk stashed away here somewhere. Now how to find some remains...?
But wait! Before we get too far ahead of ourselves...what's your name? Your gender?

>>248887
>Male
>Tony D'Rude

>>248909
Normally I'll give it 5 or so minutes for votes, but I'll probably wait a little longer to start with, just so you know.

>>248891
>Lucas Jensen
>Male

>>248891
Michael Remic, male.

>>248928
>>248924
>>248909
Random number machine says Michael Remic, male. Writing now.

Ah yes, of course! How could you forget, you're Michael Remic, biology nerd and occasional member of the Goffston High track team! Go Gophers!
You live here in the suburbs of Goffston, Connecticut with your family. It's late summer, and the recent heat wave is showing no signs of breaking. You've just turned 18 a few weeks ago and your senior year is coming up, so you've been enjoying the summer break to the fullest until it arrives.
Not long ago, you were tapping away on your computer and a friend forwarded a local news story about an unidentified suicide case getting up off the slab and walking out of the mortuary by herself! Crazy stuff, and he probably just sent it to freak you out...still. Something about it seemed to grab you, really get hold of your imagination somehow. Corpses rising, necromancy, zombies; it was all just made up, right?
Over the next few days, you couldn't get the idea out of your head. You had to try it. Had to. Just once, see if it was real, you know? People had certainly done nuttier things here in the 'burbs, on drunken dares or in desperate attempts to escape boredom on a Saturday night. So you'd ordered the book.
It was certainly sketchy, buying what was supposedly a spellbook from some shady guy halfway across the country, but his reviews seemed good, if cryptic. And it looked like he'd come through in the end. Now to test things out.
You peek your head out the door. Yup, all lights out, as you suspected. Your, your younger sister's, and your parent's bedrooms are all on the second floor of the typical split-level cookie-cutter home. Now...where to start?
>Try to find remains
>get chalk/draw circle
>get herbs/start libation
>other/write in

>>248978
>Other
Let's do some research about the materials and where we can find them at a reasonable price.

>>248978
Let's look for chalk first, then herbs, and then remains. There's not a whole lot suspicious about the first few items, but I think remains aren't the sort of thing you want to be hanging on to for long.

>>249003
Agreed

>>249003
+1

>>249002
You open up your laptop and do a quick check around. It seems there's a craft store nearby that sells chalk, candles and dried herbs, and you've got a friend with a fake ID for the wine. Still, you're pretty sure you can find everything you need in the house, and the store would be closed at this time of night. Good for future reference though.
>>249003
>>249027
>>249006
You dig around in your drawers for a while, tossing pens and coloured pencils from freshman year onto your desk while you look for the set of chalk that had been sitting in your desk for about a million years. Nothing. It takes a few more minutes of rifling through last year's backpack before you manage to find a single piece of white chalk. It's not terribly long, but it should be enough for your purposes. You tuck it in your jean's pocket and peek your head out your bedroom door.
Yup, everybody's in bed. Mia might still be on her phone though, so you've got to be quiet. It's probably a good idea to gather the more inconspicuous ingredients first, just in case you do get caught. A lot easier to explain a handful of lavender than something's earthly remains.
You pad down the carpeted stairs with the book under your arm, barely remembering to skip the creaky last step, and head for the kitchen. The pantry opens up easily enough, revealing a truly impressive array of little spice bottles with dried herbs that you can't remember your mother using more than once in a blue moon. Setting the book down on the counter, you pick out thyme easily enough, and flick your phone light on to try to find lavender and pennyroyal. They end up being right next to one another down at the bottom of the cupboard, both vaguely purple flakes in stylish glass jars. You set them out on the counter as well, and grab a bottle of wine from the fridge, nudging aside last night's barbecue to get it out. It's pretty full, so you're sure your parents won't notice the disappearance of a cup or two.
Now, the remains...hmm. If you just need bones, where's the best place to look? You remember burying a few guinea pigs in the backyard, but you don't really want to go pulling up the lawn. You lean against the fridge and try to think. Bones, bones bones...
>Suggestions?

>>249047
Buy a chicken with bones or something similar at the butcher

>>249047
There's always some sort of roadkill about on the side of roads. Perhaps try to find a corpse where it would be easy to remove a tuft of fur or a bone (I assume either would work as a sample). Just be careful to do so when there are no cars passing or people around to see you do so.

>>249047
Either that of a bird or a rodent. Mouse/Rat will do, cats or dogs will seem creapy.

>>249059
>>249057
Consensus seems to be find small animal roadkill, writing.

>>249056
>>249057
>>249059
>Not prepping to recreate Dead Heat's butcher shop scene.

>>249070
Something small will be perfect for intel gathering or other purposes.

Well, this is the suburbs after all, and the height of summer. There's got to be something dead lying on the side of the road just waiting to be necromanced. In fact, you think you remember something from the other day.
You head to the front door and slip into your sneakers. Thankfully it wouldn't be too out of the ordinary for you to go out for a run late at night; the benefits of being a track kid. You close the door as quietly as you can behind you and head for a stretch of road that goes between two patches of scrub-pines and wild brambles. As you get closer you start to smell something, and realize that yeah, something definitely died here. It's hard to tell from the smear of red and the corpse, but it looks bigger than a squirrel, definitely not a cat or a dog though. Maybe a raccoon? You don't suppose it really matters, and grab one of the smaller bones that's been picked mostly clean by ants. It's about the size of your little finger, and almost the same shape. You tuck it in your back pocket and wipe your hand off before heading back home.
Thankfully you remembered your key so you don't have to break in, and you make it back to the kitchen without any further incidents.
Everything is just as you left it. Perfect! Now you just have to draw the circle, grab some of mom's tealights out of the kitchen drawer, mix the libation, and you're home free! Only...where to do it?
Well, there's the back patio. It's got a little light, so you'd be able to see while drawing the circle, but the fence leaves something to be desired when it comes to privacy. Nobody should be up this late, but you never know.
You could try to do things right here in the kitchen. Easy to clean up spills, no worries about being spotted so long you're quiet and nobody comes down for a midnight snack. You might have issues with the smell from the candles or the libations being noticeable tomorrow morning though.
The last option is your room. Totally safe, even if somebody knocked on the door you'd probably be alright. Downside is, it's a bit cramped, and you're not sure how you'd draw with chalk on carpet, not to mention the danger of setting off the fire alarm up there.
So where do you want to set up?
>Patio
>Kitchen
>Bedroom
>Other?

>>249104
>Basement
If we have one

>>249115
Second.

>>249104
what, no attic or crawlspace no one goes into? a shed? bathroom?

>>249115
Agreed.

>>249115
>>249119
>>249142
That's right, how could you have forgotten? Well, actually it's pretty understandable. Nobody really goes into the basement, or uses it for much. It's too damp for storage or use as a game room or anything like that, and the only way to get in is a bulkhead door around back. It's rusty as hell, and there used to be a padlock on it before Dad lost the key and had to take a pair of bolt cutters to it.
You gather everything up and take a big bowl to mix the libation, and head back outside. This time you go out the backdoor and loop around the house to the side opposite the driveway and garage. The doors are painted a dull red--or maybe they're just rusted? It's hard to tell in this light.
It's awkward getting them open with your arms half-full, but you manage it and carefully go down the wooden stairs, feeling them sag in the middle from age and the damp. The bulkhead closes behind you.
The basement has a light, you know that much. Just where was the switch...? A little piece of metal taps your forehead, and you remember. It's a pull cord. A single bare bulb flickers to life, and the almost totally bare basement is lit up. There's a rug rolled up in the corner and an easy chair looking like more of a health hazard than a piece of furniture next to it. Should be plenty for what you need.
You put the bone down in the middle of the room and open up the book, painstakingly copying the circle over. It's hard work, getting the patterns and geometric designs right with nothing more than your bare hands. You resolve to find a big piece of string and a yardstick the next time you try to do this, but for now you have to make do.
>Roll for success. 10 or better succeeds. Best of 3

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>249188
Is this the right die?

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>249188
Plz be crit success.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>249188

>>249201
>>249194
Ah, sorry I didn't specify. 1d20, 10 or better succeeds. Easy on purpose, first try sort of thing. Kind of moot, but feel free to reroll.

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>249216
Alright. Plz be a Crit Success.

>>249229
So close, and yet so far! Writing!

Rolled 19 (1d20)

>>249216
Are crits going to be a thing in this?

>>249244
If they are, we need to be prepared for the critfails.

Though the concrete floor of the basement is a bit uneven, the light isn't great, and you're pretty new to this, the circle comes out great! There may be a few tiny mistakes, but you've really captured the geometric pseudo-spiral look of the book, copied down just about perfectly. It took you a while, and your knees are sore from crawling around, but it was certainly worth the effort.
Now, the candles! You lay them out in a sort of triangular pattern outside the circle, and light them, using a barbecue lighter you took from inside as well. Like all tealights, they're a bit finicky at first but soon they catch and burn well enough. You go over the steps in your head one more time, and double-check the book to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. Nope, now it's just mixing the libation and calling the shade.
You splash a generous amount of wine into the bowl and throw in a few pinches of each of the spices. You'd expect it to smell gross (who in their right mind ever mixed lavender, thyme and pennyroyal in food, after all?) but it takes on a different scent. It's a little musty, like a mix between the earth after a rain and an old museum, with the sourness of the wine lingering afterwards. That's probably a good sign, right?
Stomach in your throat, you stand up, bowl in your hands, and slowly begin to pour the mixture of wine and herbs over the bone and the circle. The chalk is smudged a little by the liquid, but the circle stays intact, and you realize you're supposed to be calling the spirit now. But...the book didn't give you any words to recite, so what should you say? Should it rhyme?
>What do you say to summon the spirit forth?

>>249280
>Spirit from the nether realms, I call you to the mortal plane. Take my offerings and be bound to my will.
Or something like that.

>>249280
Oh come to me. Although I may bit inexperienced, I welcome you to the world anew.

>>249280
>"Uhm, departed spirits, hear my call! Feast upon my gift and serve me!"
Something like that.

>>249280
Insanium vult, mortem vult servire me spiritus, et adorabunt me domini
et non nocuerunt mihi : Dimitte me non experietur quicquam mali

>>249326
That's shitty Latin basically I meant to say
>Insanity wills it, death wills it, your corpse shall serve me, you will let no harm come to me, nor will you hurt me

>>249343
I read it as too edgy for some reason.

>>249301
>>249310
>>249315
"Oh departed spirit of the nether realms, hear my call! Come to me on the mortal plane, feed on my gifts and be bound to my will!" It seems a little over the top, but if now isn't the time for theatrics, when is?
Your voice echoes around the basement, growing louder and louder until it's like crashing thunder, filling your mind. The lines of the circle begin to pulse, seeming to drink in the libation and change colour to the purple-red of the wine and the tiny pinprick of blood added at the last minute. The bone, lying in the center of the circle, starts to glow with a painful intensity. In contrast to the bare white of the bulb above you, the bone seems to emit almost a blue light, cold and harsh. You're forced to look away, the afterimage scalded onto your eyes for a few moments until you blink them clear.
Finally, the light fades, along with the echoes of your summons. The basement is once again quiet and dimly lit. You dare to glance up at the circle, and the bone is still there, lying in the middle of the circle. The libation seems to have disappeared, and the chalk returned to its normal colour.
"H-hello?" You stammer "Spirit?"
At your voice, the same blue glow as before begins to coalesce around the bone, though at not nearly the same intensity as before. It swirls and forms a mist, that, after a moment, takes on the form of a skunk. So that's what the roadkill was. Huh.
It looks almost like a hologram, a translucent blue-ish image of a skunk standing right on top of the bone. That is, until it speaks, its mouth moving just a little out of sync with the sound.
"What do you require?"
The voice isn't exactly what a lifetime of Disney cartoons have trained you to expect. It's deep, gravelly, and to be honest, a little intimidating. You remind yourself that you summoned this spirit, and it seems to be addressing you courteously. There's little chance you're in any danger. Still, it's looking at you rather expectantly...
>how do you answer the spirit?

>>249355
We're mother Fucking doing a quest where we're a teenage necromancer where do you think we're going if this isn't meant to get edgy

>>249326
>>249343
Sorry, had already started to write. May include this next time (assuming there's a next time) though.
>>249244
They are.

>>249390
The edge kinda flew out too quickly.
>>249387
I wish to know more about my path.

>>249387
>Do some cool ghost shit!

>>249387
>I need you to walk around the block and tell me how many lamp posts there are.

I think we should ease into this. See how it responds to a simple task. We really should have read the whole book before we tried this.

>>249387
"Well, I'm a new...necromancer(?) and I was practicing my new skills. Also, thank you for answering my summoning."

>>249401
>>249411
>>249409
>>249402
"Well...a couple of things. I'm a new necromancer, just practicing, so that's why I summoned you. Thanks, by the way."
"When a shade is summoned, they have no choice but to appear, young necromancer," The skunk (if it really is a skunk, since you never figured they were this intelligent) "However many of us enjoy the chance to taste again, even if it is only blood and wine. Perhaps I should be the one thanking you."
"Huh. That's good to know. Let's see...what cool ghost shit can you do? Could you fly around the block and tell me how many lamp posts there are?"
"One moment."
The skunk dissolves back into a formless mist, and flies straight into the far wall, seeming to pass straight through it. About thirty seconds later, the same mist comes back through the wall and once again takes the form of a skunk in the center of the circle.
"There are eight lamp posts on this block. One of them is broken, a cracked bulb."
That sounded right, at least, and you could think of no reason a dead skunk would lie to you. Still, you'd be sure to check it later.
"Thank you. Listen, can you tell me anything else about my path? Raising the dead in general?" The raccoon pauses a moment and somehow, its face conveys a serious expression.
"That is not my place. I am a simple shade, and limited in my powers. Carry messages, find information, these are my duties." Damn. That sucks, it would have been nice to get filled in a little more. From what you can see, the Grimoire is primarily a how-to book, with not a lot of fluff after the introduction. It would have been nice to learn more than just how to perform a few rituals.
"However." You're surprised to hear the raccoon speak again, and it looks at you a little disgruntled. "There are a few things I can tell you. First--you are not this town's only necromancer. Second--a learned man, who may know some of what you wish to know, died some time ago, and is buried not far from here. That is all I know. If that is all, I will depart, with your leave."
>Anything else, before we release the shade?

>>249485
Where is the guy buried and do you know where he kept his research notes?

>>249485
>>Anything else, before we release the shade?
Mind if I call you up again sometime? It'd be nice to see you around.

>>249485
"Do you have any warnings for a beginner?"

>>249485
Nah, let him go.

>>249511
>>249515
>>249518
Just realized I called it a raccoon in the last post. It's too late for this shit
"Just a few things before I let you go, okay?" The skunk nods assent, though you guess that like coming, it doesn't have much choice in the matter.
"So do you know anything else about the guy? His name? Where he's buried? Where he kept his notes?"
"It is difficult. His name is Jacob, this much I know. He is at the cemetery two miles north of here. I am afraid that's all I can tell you. As I said, I am a simple shade, and do not know much of things that were."
"Fair enough, I appreciate what you can give me. Any warnings for a beginner?"
"Do not get caught. Do not try a thing until you are certain you can succeed. Few look with favour upon raising corpses, and there are things more dangerous than shades to be summoned."
"That's...ominous. Oh, before you go, do you mind if I call you up again sometime? It'd be nice to see you around." The skunk blinks, seemingly surprised.
"Of course. As I said, I rarely mind a chance to see the world. With my cooperation, you will not need the circle. Hold my bone and give an offering and I will come. Goodbye."
"Goodbye." You wave briefly, then scratch out the edge of the circle. The skunk dissipates back into a formless mist, then vanishes, leaving the little bone untouched in the center of the room.
That was certainly an informative night.
You drag the rug over to cover the circle just in case, and take everything else upstairs, returning it to its proper place. The bone you leave in your nightstand. It's quite late, almost early, in fact. Still, you'd pull a dozen all-nighters if all of them were like this one. You wash your hands, brush your teeth, and prepare to go to bed.
>Anything else to do before we finish up?

>>249574
See if you can learn anything else from the book you got.

>>249574
Do a little prayer to see God doesn't smite us for summoning the dead
Read a bit more of the book.

>>249574
Put skunk's bone in a ziploc bag, label it SKUNKBRO.

>>249620
>>249593
You decide to flip through the grimoire some more before you go to bed, see if there's anything else of interest. It's a fairly thick book, so you decide to start at the table of context. It looks like each chapter is a single ritual, and the book holds nine rituals in what appears to be order of increasing difficulty. Simple enough.
1.) Summoning a Simple Shade (Animal)
2.) Raising Lesser Physical Forms (Animal)
3.) Raising Greater Physical Forms (Animal)
4.) Summoning a Simple Shade (Human)
5.) Summoning a True Shade (Human)
6.) Raising Lesser Physical Forms (Human)
7.) Raising Greater Physical Forms (Human)
8.) Maintaining Multiple Summons
9.) True Resurrection
They all look pretty interesting, truth be told, but you figure it's probably best to continue from where you left off, so you open to chapter two, Raising Lesser Physical Forms. It's in a similar style as the first chapter--it talks briefly about the uses of a Lesser Physical Form, then tells you how to summon one. From the diagrams, they look like skeletons with bits of meat hanging off them here and there. Gross. The directions are a little more complicated too. The same deal of a circle, candles, and a libation, but the herbs are different this time, and some can be added or removed based on the age of the remains. Aconite, Cedar, and Comfrey seem to be the most important here, with Mullein and others optional depending on other factors. Shouldn't be too hard to find with a bit of a walk in the woods.
Also, it seems like you need a whole body for this one, or at least most of one. In case of partial remains, Barnaby Sikes recommends using a short-term shade (an even simpler and less useful version of the simple shade, as he explains it) raised from the parts you do have to find the parts you don't, as all shades know the location of their bones pretty much no matter what.
Mulling this over, you head back down to the kitchen to grab a sandwich baggie and carefully place the skunk bone in it, labeling it "SKUNKBRO" with a sharpie and a bit of tape. Can't hurt to be neat, especially if you're going to be getting more of these things soon.
You tuck the baggie back into the nightstand and glance back at the book. It's pretty late, but you could probably skim over one more chapter real quick before you risk falling asleep and drooling on it.

>>249678
>Do you want to read another chapter?
>If so, which one?

>>249687
>Yes
2.) Raising Lesser Physical Forms (Animal)
Have to master the basics first.

>>249678
>>249687
>1.) Summoning a Simple Shade (Animal)
I want to see if skunkbro can do some of the things it did in life when it was a normal skunk.

Particularly using his spray glands on the undead to dissuade them.

Rolled 9, 7 = 16 (2d10)

>>249699
First d10
>>249698
Second d10
To determine choice.

You flip back to the first section on summoning simple shades, combing through for anything to do with the capabilities of a simple shade. What can they do, what can they not? You hit a promising passage
A simple shade is, first and foremost, a pair of eyes. It is fast, it is invisible to those who do not practice necromancy, and it is reasonably intelligent. Many simple shades bring some knowledge from other shades as well, granting their masters information from the spirit realm on past occurrences. This is not always the case however, and sometimes the information is scrambled.
Beyond their role as a messenger, however, simple shades can be effective poltergeists against the uninformed. Mechanisms may go haywire, small items may fall over, voices can be heard, all from a determined simple shade adequately provided with offerings to maintain its energies.
Being ethereal, and truly a kind of artificial ghost, a simple shade will of course be invaluable in driving off other spirits such as natural ghosts from any space you desire. For the same reason, however, they are rarely any use in physical combat, and Physical Forms are almost always more useful.
The animal form of a simple shade may sometimes offer slight advantages after it has passed on, but rarely in a very noticeable way. A wolf's shade may be particularly tireless in its hunt for information, a ram's shade may be particularly good at knocking over objects, and bird particularly swift. It is rarely worth attempting to summon multiple shades to rely on their "specialities" since they are so rarely definitive.
That's a good bit of information. You scribble down a few notes in a little spiral-bound pocket notebook to help you remember, and give out a long yawn. You'll definitely be sleeping in tomorrow, then maybe going to check out that graveyard?
You carefully tuck the book under the bed, turn off the light, and by the time your head hits the pillow, you're quite asleep.

OP sticking around for a few more minutes in case of questions/comments/suggestions from all of my nine readers.
I'll probably be running this again tomorrow afternoon/evening, maybe 3-5 pm EST. Anybody interested?

>>249748
Thanks for running. I'm interested.

>>249751
Glad you liked it. Tell your friends.