'13th Frostfall, 427
Magicka of Nirn has many interesting schools, but the most mysterious, most powerful of sorcery is by far the ancient art of Necromancy.'

"Burgio! What are you doing over there?"

"Nothing, Aldam. Nothing." Burgio slipped the untitled leatherback journal into one of the many pockets of his robes. He stood up in the dark cave, making sure not to bump his head on a stalactite. He looked at the old wooden table once more, to make sure there weren't any other books, then left the small rock chamber. He saw his fellow mage in the tunnel that connected the two rooms of the necromancer's lair.

"Did you find anything?" Aldam asked "There was nothing in the living quarters here, just a barrel with some food and a shelf of dishes and alchemy equipment. Honestly can't say where the cretin slept."

"Uh, no. Nothing, just a tiny room with a table and writing equipment; I didn't know necromancer's haunts were so un-exemplarily. I had expected corpses, bloodstains, something." Burgio replied, attempting to sound nonchalant.

"Yeah, I know." Burgio's friend and fellow Journeyman, Aldam shrugged "Well, we're not going to find anything here. Let's go back to Kvatch and report to Dandane."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." The two left the cave through the small crack in the rock one after the other. Looking back, Burgio noted how well hidden it was, an unnoticeable opening covered by grasses. The two mages would have missed it had their superior, Dandane not warned them.

"So, how did they catch this guy?" Burgio asked, trying to make small talk as the pair made their way through the hills leading back to Kvatch.

"I hear they tracked him back here after a murder on the road. They were hunting him for months before they finally got the necromancer. Some guys from the Arcane University came out and traced his magic, still took them half a-ahh!" The elf replied, shouting as he tripped over a rock.

"Careful." Burgio caught him with a minor telekinesis spell.
Aldam covered his embarrassment with a look of annoyance. "I would've been fine."

"Right, let's keep moving." Burgio released the spell, setting his friend down on his feet.

"Hmph." The altmer walked ahead of Burgio for some time, then slowed down and let his friend catch up.

"Feeling better?" Burgio chuckled.

"Fine, thank you. When did you learn telekinetic spells, I know they weren't covered in any lectures."

"I picked them up from a book, I can teach you later if you'd like." Burgio offered.

"No thanks, I'll just ask Dandane later."

"Of course." Burgio smiled again.

"What's that supposed to mean, Burgio?" He stopped and turned to face Burgio, his brow knotted in anger. The Imperial mage stopped as well, turning to stare the altmer in his golden eyes. They both burst out laughing.

Burgio wiped a tear from his eye "Let's keep going." Their chuckles subsided and echoed into the golden grassy hills as they mounted the road to the well guarded city of Kvatch.


Sorry to start without a hello, but I feel it adds effect. Regardless, thank you for reading so far, I hope you enjoyed what is here. Any and all comment is more than welcome, thanks again.

Another fanfic m8?
Thusfar I thought yours are quite amusing so you have at least 1 reader.

Thank you very much ^^ I just need people to let me know that they are reading. Don't worry, I'll keep up with all my fan fics. Pre-writing's complete for this and Fallen Champion, still working on Viro.

'13th Frostfall, 427

Magicka of Nirn has many interesting schools, but the most mysterious, most powerful of sorcery is by far the ancient art of Necromancy.

Necromancy, the art of utilizing souls to accomplish one's own means, has long been misunderstood by the general population. Ever since ancient times, our darker art has been shunned by most nations. We were once safe within the ranks of so called mages, but now we must take refuge in solitude. Few of us band together under pitiful leaders, but I see no need to make ourselves into another Mages Guild.

Despite the mystery held by commoners, Necromancy is, in principle, just another form of magic, like Illusion and Mysticism. The closest art to Necromancy is enchanting, and many necromancers find their start manipulating souls within the charming of objects. The actual raising of the undead is a mere step away.

I myself was once a lesser mage who was convinced, like my brethren, that meddling with the dead was sacrilege. My natural curiosity and instinctual pursuit of higher, more complete knowledge drove me to discover needlessly kept secrets. It all started with a journal, much like the one I am writing now, written by a powerful necromancer. This is precisely the reason I am writing this, in hopes that other mages may learn from my work and carry it on themselves.'

Burgio closed the book with a start, causing a small cloud of dust to puff from the worn pages. He sat up in his cozy bed within the Kvatch Guildhall, causing his roommate to look up with a start "Huh?! Oh, it's just you. What are you still doing up, Burgio?"

"Nothing, Aldam. Just reading a book about?" Burgio paused, uncertain how his friend would react if he revealed he had stolen a Necromancer's journal without telling him "Conjuration." He lied.

"Okay, just don't get too ahead of the rest of us." Aldam chuckled as he lay back down on his own bed.

"Right." Burgio said, trailing off as he opened the leather bound book once more. He lay back on his bed and checked his bedside candle before he began reading.

'The most important thing to remember when first starting down the bumpy road of necromancy is that anything is possible, and everything must be attempted. If your morals are too warped by the repressing culture in which you live, if you are incapable of making the choice between knowledge and so called decency, then you have no place within our ranks. The fruits of our art are worth the occasional victims; casualties of Imperial wars, murders, and the rare grave robbing are meaningless to those that would have them rot in the ground.

Whenever possible, avoid killing your victims yourself, as this causes complications beyond what you are prepared to deal with. There are plenty of corpses to be found, be they dug up, purchased, or donated by nature. The better the state of the corpse, and their intellect while alive, the better servant they will become. Which is why I try to get as many scholars and mages as possible for my own research.

Do not be confused, my young mage, there is more to necromancy than the reanimation of corpses. Anything involving souls that are not mysticism or enchanting is shunned as Dark Arts. This includes many useful spells such as: shaping biological matter into new forms, bolstering the energies of the living, and learning to listen to and channel souls so as to absorb their knowledge. And of course, the raising of inanimate remains or the direct summoning of souls in the form of ghosts is the staple of necromancy.

These broad definitions encompass many spells and effects, including many that cannot be achieved through use of normal magics. Another way necromancy differs from other magics, notably conjuration, is that the only time the practitioner's magicka is required is during the binding or use of soul energy. No magical drain is experienced by merely having minions of the darker variety, which makes them infinitely more useful than summoned beasts.

On a more personal note, the current quest of my own is to find a way to make fully sentient corpses. We know that souls are capable of thought and creativity, but so far all previous conscious thought is lost when they are inserted into a body. If only we could make minions that are capable of everything they were while alive! The possibilities are endless. Unfortunately, despite my research into the transition period between soul gem and host body, I have found no cause for such a decrease of thought. Soon, perhaps I may discover my hidden link. Hopefully I will find it before I am forced to stop writing to you, my friend.


Sincerely,

Your Newest Teacher'


Burgio could not believe what he had read. A pure, unaltered necromancer's journal that was written with the sole purpose of teaching mages necromancy! But now, just as the book had warned, he must make a choice. Will he continue reading, possibly exposing himself to secret knowledge that his masters have hidden from him his whole life, or will he stop, never to know what happened to the now late necromancer? If he chose to close the book forever, he would have to hide it somewhere so that his master, Dandane, could not find it, else she think he had hidden it from her. Which he technically had, but he despaired at the thought of her knowing.

He decided it would be best to keep it for now, if nothing else then to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands; it obviously contains powerful knowledge that could tempt a lesser mage. He glanced over to the now slumbering Aldam, and then quickly forced his eyes back to the cover of the book in front of him 'Don't get a big head now, Burgio. You know that will only lead to disaster.'

"Hmm?" Burgio sighed, and hid the book within the confines of his sock drawer as he blew out his nub of a candle. His thoughts tormented him throughout the night, with two very different sides slugging it out within his mind.

'You wanted to learn as much as you could about magic! This is a perfect chance to learn something no one else here will know!'

'Yes, but at what cost? You know necromancy has been outlawed, and with good reason!'

'Those were fools, murderous mages even before they learned necromancy. One does not simply become a killer by making himself familiar with death.'

'Power corrupts, and this art is undoubtedly powerful.'

'Yes, very.' Burgio shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts in the soft moonlight streaming through the large window behind his bed. He cast a calm spell upon himself, making sure not to illuminate the room and cause his friend to awaken once more. The spell did its work as he drifted off to sleep; the debate seemed to be finished. He still did not know, however, which side he would take.



Sorry to start it out just like the last one, I just wanted to let you know he had to reread that line. Thank you for reading, and any criticism is more than appreciated Oh, and let me know if you dislike the book being written in bold, because that is a simple fix.


EDIT: Thank you for reading, but I believe it is spelled http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sacrilege%20. At least in the US, according to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sacriledge%20and MS Word. Thanks anyway

Nice chapter, it adds to the character. :tops:
I don't really mind the bold part.

I did find a typo; sacrilege = sacriledge.

Umm... whats a sacriLEDGE?

Its that ledge you sacrifice things on?

How did you guess?

Closed as only one active fan fiction is allowed.