Story Time

         "The breeze that carried the distinct smell of decay was the first thing that had scared the locals. Never before did the wind from the east carry the smell of death that visited there noses, but now it was as if Hale's fell breath had fallen upon the small township of Yenti." Horst sat across the campfire with the rest of his group on the other side, staring at him as some nibbled on jerky provided by Horst himself. None of the spectators to Horst's story were older than seventeen, while the majority were only twelve. It was a summer's night, cloudless and lit well  by the light of the moon and the stars. The perfect night for scary stories.
         Four adults, Horst included, were chaperoning this troupe's short reconnoitering trip from Hellmuth, a dozen miles east to visit some ruins, then back. The plan was to be back in Hellmuth within the week; they had been making good time, halfway to the ruins of an old ruined keep, rumored to have been once inhabited by a good wizard, within only two days.
         "Now, after a week," Horst continued, "the smell starts to get unnerving, almost maddening even. So, to see what they were dealing with, a group of three head off to the east in order to investigate. A few days go by and the town hears nothing. Nothing by parcel, scry-glass, or any other method. Around the fifth day, the towns about to send another group to try and find the first one when one man from the first group comes back. Just the one man."
         Two of the other chaperones, twin brothers Kenta and Sousa, could not be seen; they were tasked for the night to be lookouts for anything suspicious. Most likely, Horst would joke, they would rather be trying to find some rare plant or creature with which they could practice Alchemy. The two had a knack for finding the “loopholes” in the natural world that was the basis of there art, but could never seem to find any equals besides themselves in ability.
         "The town says to the man, 'where is everyone else?' It’s a good question, no point in not answering. This guy just smiles and says, 'I have taken the three of them.' The town is confused, as was I when I first heard about this incident a while back. But I realized what had been making the smell and what had happened to the group when I heard this part, and the town also realized the horror they all faced."
         The only other adult who was still present was Krist, a rarity in that she was both a retired mercenary and a priestess of Alion. She had two children on this trip with her, the older being Jack, seventeen and as strong in both mind and body as his mother, and Susie, fourteen years of age and never without a smile, and possibly even smarter than Jack. While Jack seemed to have inherited Krist's aptitude for conflict both intellectual and bodily, as attested by his teachers and trainers, Susie had apparently inherited her mother's supernatural abilities and quick-wit.
         "What had once appeared to be a man began to collapse into itself. Its eyes fell out of its skull and bugs began to fall out. Maggots crawled across the ground from where they fell and beetles burst from the clothing as this poor person deflated like a balloon. During all of this, a laugh like insanity came from nowhere and everywhere, the laugh of evil assisted by a magic as old as the Drow.
         “It was a Necromancer, a sorcerer who specializes in the manipulation of dead tissue and the here-after. Good Necromancers, rare as they are, are more common as being priests and monks who give bodies there final rights. However, this one decided to use his gift in the art to terrorize the neighbors, torture and kill whoever he wished, and raise armies of the dead to further his own avaricious goals.”
         Horst leaned back and smiled as he witnessed his handiwork. Half the children were clinging to each other in fear and half were staring intently at Horst as if trying to push him into continuing his story in order to get it over with.
         One child shuddered and dropped some of the jerky into the fire. There, it burned and blackened, releasing the smell of burning flesh. The smell was carried by the breeze to the noses of the children, causing some of them to cry out in fear and then run to the tents they had already set up that afternoon, as if this odor was the same as the one that plagued the town of Yenti in Horst's story; Horst's smile only grew larger at the happy accident. Krist, on the other hand, scowled at Horst and went to comfort the children that had escaped to the tents; one of them had been Susie. Horst leaned forward again, the children that were still near following suit.
         "So, the town swiftly gets one of there resident wizards to set the body on fire, trying to contain any disease that the Necromancer may have sent. They discuss what to do next, and the conclusion is to call in some professionals, some real warriors who were experienced in this kind of thing. Naturally, they call me and the rest of your chaperones to see what we can do." A small wave of ahhhs and ooohs came from the children, some of disbelief and some of amazement.
         Trapped in the words, Horst thought to himself.
         "We get there, we hear about the trouble, and of course Kri-- I mean Mrs. Malioni decides for all of us to help with the problem. So, Mrs. Malioni and I choose to gather as much information as we can and our Alchemists Kenta and Sousa examine the body in order to determine how powerful this Necromancer really is. All we know is he can kill and be puppeteer to corpses, but that’s the usual necromantic magic. By Origin, this guy could be a Lich by know for all we know!"
         A rustle in the bushes made Horst instinctively grab for his usual weapons, twin daggers in his belt, but he resisted the urge when he heard laughter and the jostle of glass against glass, bottled potions hidden within both Kenta and Sousa's robes. Some of the children yelped when they saw the two come into the light from nowhere, but then relaxed, many with exasperated sighs.
         "You tellin that old story again, Horst?" Said either Kenta or Sousa; Horst still unable to tell which was which.
         "I do believe he is, brother." Said the other, who walked forward, allowing Horst to tell them apart.
         "Yes, Sousa, I know its old, but its still fun to tell," said Horst. Kenta and Sousa both made faux gasps, causing the children to exchange questioning looks with each other.
         "Did you see that, kids," said Sousa, pointing at Horst with his thumb as if trying to be sneaky, "how he only just addressed me now?"
         "Horst, after all this time, you still rely on that one little thing to tell us apart. I'm ashamed of you." Kenta spoke with mock annoyance.
         "What thing?" One of the children had spoken, but neither Kenta, Horst, nor Sousa could tell who had said it. As such, Kenta chose to speak to the group in general.
         "Well kiddies, one day Horst got so annoyed with us that he decided to make sure he would always be able to tell us apart. Back then, we always wore short pants because we lived farther south and it was too warm to wear full robes."
         "Oh by Origin." Horst realized the story that Kenta was telling the kids and scoffed quietly as he and Sousa shared a knowing nod.
         "Well, while I was sleeping, Horst gets to me and takes my leg. Figures that'll fix me and Sousa good. Even if I get an autolimb or something akin to it, the two of us will never walk the same and all he has to do is look at our legs to tell us apart." At this point in the story, Kenta lifted his robe to reveal a metal leg with a claw like that of a bird instead of a human-looking foot. Lining the appendage were numerous blue stones scintillating in the light of the fire. Dropping the hem of the robe, he watched with amusement many of the children's gazes moved from the leg to Horst, many with fear and surprise.
         "Well, little does he know that we have to move our operations up here and me and my brother adopt robes. Now, he can still tell us apart, but we have to walk first. Gets him every time when Sousa fakes a limp."
         "You know," spoke up Horst, "it’s a better story when you tell the truth."
         "Yeah, but the Sandworm of Maltak almost eating me doesn’t create as much of a reaction... well, one that I find hilarious, anyway." Sousa leaned closer to Horst as Kenta listened to the children laugh at the dialogue.
         "He usually saves that story for the bars in Boin," said Sousa.
         "Why does that not surprise me?" Horst and Sousa smiled and nodded. Horst stood and stretched, many of his joints making audible pops as he twisted. Krist came back with Susie in tow along with many of the other children who had run away. Sitting Susie down next to her brother, Krist walked to Horst with a scowl and eyes betraying her feelings of dissapointment.
         Uh-oh, Horst thought to himself.
         "I want to talk to you, Horst." Krist nodded to a small wagon that the group had been using to cart around supplies for the trip. Horst understood and followed her to the other side of it. Sousa and Kenta, seeing them leave, nodded to each other and decided to occupy the children's attention with another story. This one seemed to be calmer than Horst's, because the children once again began to nibble on the jerky. Once behind the wagon, Krist turned to Horst and shook her head.
         "You know I don't appreciate you telling that story to the kids. We get enough looks from their parents just with our reputation now, but this would just completely push there perceptions of us in the opposite direction we want them to be. Leaving those events in the past would be best." Krist was obviously annoyed, but Horst was used to this by now, and was quick to come up with an answer.
         "Well, I guess I wasted my money on that jerky."
         "Well, I guess you did... wait, what?" Krist cocked an eyebrow and turned her head to the side, almost afraid to ask.
         "The jerky? Nice stuff, made with perfectly seasoned venison with some herbs and spices that I managed to get from the twins."
         "Ok, but why did you waste your money."
         "Well, the end of the story was going to be hilarious, so I could cut to the chase. If you would permit me to tell it, I would; although, some of them might puke." By now, Horst knew he had already hooked Krist because of her natural curiosity, but he tried to give her the ability to say to herself that she hadn't already been caught by his trap.

         Horst and Krist came back out from behind the wagon and he took his seat, shooing Kenta and Sousa from the log. The twins jokingly bowed to the children like perfect mirror images to each other, then went to the large tent they shared. It was big enough to be partitioned into two roomy halves by a sheet, so they chose to use it rather than two smaller tents.
         As the twin's tent rustled then fell quite as the two went to bed, Horst decided to cut his story short.
         "Well, its getting late," after he said this, many of the children groaned in disappointment but a few sighed with releif, "but I can give you the long story short." The children went quite once more, surprised and elated that they might still be able to get the climax they were waiting for. Little do they know, though Horst.
         "Well, the twins found out that the Necromancer was actually pretty weak. He hadn't used the body itself as a puppet, he had used the bugs. Properly armed, we arrived at the keep he was using, the smell almost making us pass out on more than one occasion. Inside, the smell was pretty tame, so we move on. We fight a few undead, meet up with the other two people of the group that the town had sent before and freed them. To this day, I have no idea why the Necromancer had not yet killed them.
         "Eventually, we find the Necromancer. Now, this guy, despite not being that powerful, was one ugly bugger." Horst slowed down at this part, trying to get the right mood for what he was planning.
         "Most of him was rotten. Bone was exposed, pustules everywhere, real nasty stuff. Anyway, we fight him. The twins succeed in distracting him while I'm able to fend off the backup he manages to create from the skeletons in the corners of the room. Kris-- I mean Mrs. Malioni, uses her magic to destroy the Necromancer's ability to stay alive despite all of his infirmities. Long story short--"
         "Too late," exclaimed Kenta and Sousa from there tent in unison.
         "Go to sleep you two... long story short, Necromancer goes down and the undead crumble." A cheer emerged from the crowed children, some of whom pumped there fists into the air.
         "Well, here is the problem. The bodies are still there; the smell, the rot, everything that had alerted the town to the Necromancer and made some of them almost go mad is still present. With them there, Yenti is uninhabitable.
         "So, Mrs. Malioni, Kenta, Sousa, and I decide that, rather than let all of these bodies rot, we put them to good use." A few whats came from the children, and Horst knew there reaction was going to be splendid.
         "So kids, how’s the jerky?"