Book of The Dead

B4C61 - Ascension cont

After making so many selections, Tyron still had a number of feats to choose, and the options there were tempting almost across the board. Except for the Forbidden One options; they were still… odd. He wasn’t sure what his patrons were pushing for him to be, but he found increasingly he didn’t care. If he could be successful and survive to tell the tale, that was all he cared about.

Considering the options for Lord of the Ossuary, there were several that he liked. And also various choices that weren’t as interesting. Although it was powerful, Tyron didn’t intend to make the Ossuary itself the focus of his build. His priority was still, of course, his minions and empowering them as much as he could. For that reason, Skeleton Focus IV drew his eye. He’d wanted to take it for a long time, and now was as good a time as any, considering the fighting that would soon come.

For the second choice, he wasn’t sure where to go. Bone Sculptor, Bone Animator and even Class Focus were well worth consideration. Choosing two skills to raise the cap on was something that could help pay off in the long run, but right now, Bone Animator was most likely to provide a direct benefit.

His giant skeletons were technically constructs, and not undead minions. The only thing making them similar to his basic undead was the material they were made from, and their appearance, obviously. Tyron was simply used to working with that shape, so he’d stuck to it.

Selecting Bone Animator, he moved onto the next Class.

Forbidden One had several options he was more than happy to dismiss out of hand. He had less than no interest in currying favour with the patrons, any of them, which left him with limited options.

Ruler in Shade didn’t seem applicable, since he wasn’t likely to be able to hide much any longer. The Three had reinforced his glamour while he’d been in Kenmor, but the cat was out of the bag now.

However, the other choices didn’t appeal all that strongly. Corroding Presence would be useful, to an extent. Being around his skeletons during battle, the feat would help to refill the small reservoirs they contained, giving them even more staying power. The downside would be, if he couldn’t turn off or contain the aura, then he would be leaking Death Magick into everyone around him, including the living. It would make being around him extremely dangerous, and also nullify any attempt to conceal his presence.

However, there weren’t many other viable options to take. Black Soul, Dead Flesh and Still Blood all spoke of a transformation that he wasn’t sure he wanted to make. Nor was it clear precisely what they did. Which meant his only remaining option was to curry favour.

Tyron was tempted to simply leave the selection blank, which would be a criminal waste of a feat, but spending one to do nothing other than appease one of the patrons felt like a waste anyway!

This was a sub-class Tyron would be happy to abandon, despite the losses it would incur. It had helped to keep him alive when he was starting out, but it was debatable whether it was worth it any longer.

Although if he dropped it, The Three would likely remove their protection from him… exposing him fully to the Five Divines.

“I suppose it won’t hurt,” he muttered to himself and put a thumbprint next to Dark Favour and Corroding Presence.

Finally, he turned his attention to the final Class: Death Mage.

Empowered Death I was an obvious choice. He was disappointed not to see Efficient Death III, but that was too much to hope for. For the second feat, he had several tempting options. Curse Tuner would help make his curses stronger, and Fallen Shadow would give him a permanent repository of Death Magick, which may also be able to soak up the magick he would produce due to Corroding Presence.

Ultimately, his greed to have more magick available was the deciding factor. His available store of magick had grown to a massive well of power and would shortly expand further, yet with the fights to come, the demands on his reserves would be immense, since so many minions would be reliant on his power to move and fight once their own energy ran out.

He placed a mark next to Fallen Shadow, then his eyes rolled back in his head as a rush of power filled his body and knowledge trickled into his mind. The hand of the Unseen was on him, and it continued to remake his mind and body into something beyond a normal human.

After he recovered, Tyron placed his hand back on the page, and his blood continued to flow. Now he would have the most consequential choices to make. With some trepidation, he leaned forward to read the words as they formed.

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Death Mage has reached Level 20.

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Select a Class Advancement from the following:

He almost groaned in annoyance. Of course Death Mage would come first.

Curse Bringer: Strengthen your mastery of curse magick.

A fairly standard advancement, he assumed, and certainly one that had its uses. Tyron was extremely weak at offensive magick, especially compared to a specialised mage who could rain fire and unleash blasts of arcane power that put his own spells to shame. His most effective methods for aiding his minions in battle was to apply curses and weaken their foes.

Death Tempest:Unleash potent Death spells against your enemies.

This seemed like it would unlock some direct damage magick that would enable him to better participate in fights himself. It was a thought, but was it necessarily what he needed? If he were spending magick on offensive spells, then he’d have less available to support his minions. No matter how much magick he was able to amass, it would never be infinite, and he would be better off spending that energy on more minions.

Bone Mage: Conjure bones with devastating effect.

This was… something different. Perhaps it was built around spells like Bone Lance that summoned bones formed of magick to cast spells. This one had more potential, since his bone-related spells were empowered by his Bone Mastery feat. Ɽ

Corpse Mage:Give rise to minions who serve in death.

Well… this was likely a generic advancement from Death Mage that was Necromancer-adjacent. It could be safely discarded.

Unliving Mage: Turn your magick upon yourself.

This was likely to be a Class that offered some, probably weaker, form of lichdom at the end of it. Despite being repeatedly pushed in that direction, Tyron was in no hurry to shed his humanity for an undead form. The loss of his third sub-class would hit him too hard right now.

Not wanting to ponder the Death Mage options much longer, he quickly turned his eyes to what really mattered: his Gold Class selection.

Lord of the Ossuary has reached Level 60.

Select a Class Advancement from the following:

Demiurge of the Realm of Skulls: A fortress realm from which to lead your armies.

A progression from the Lord of the Ossuary. It would likely provide him the knowledge necessary to carve out an even more impressive pocket dimension. It certainly had potential; a mobile fortress in which he could operate wasn’t a bad thing by any means.

Lord of the Bone Forge: Master of constructs of Bone.

Perhaps he had impressed the Unseen with his bone giants…. This wasn’t something he’d expected to see. Obviously, stronger constructs were something Tyron would continue to research and create, but he wasn’t certain it was going to be his focus.

Imperator of the Endless Horde: Your Undead Legion knows no bounds.

Another horde-focused Class, but clearly better than what he’d been offered before. Now that his army of minions had grown, and his capacity to support more continued to grow, a Class focused on maintaining and managing a vast horde of undead was much more appealing. This was a serious contender.

Master of Death: Death Magick is the servant and you are the master.

He’d been offered something similar last time, and his continued growth in Death Magick expertise had unlocked the next Class in the chain. Even so, this Class would turn him more into a Death Mage than a Necromancer, and he wasn’t interested. Tyron knew where the true strength of his Class lay.

Judge of the Ghostly Choir: Spirits sing a song of death at your word.

This sounded a little odd. Clearly a ghost-based Class, it seemed to be referencing a type of spirit minion he currently wasn’t able to create. Also, the word ‘choir’ seemed to hint he would be able to bind some sort of retinue? Or was he reading too much into it?

Arch-Necromancer: Unparalleled at the craft of Necromancy.

This sounded like something Tyron could get behind. Improving himself and pushing the very limits of the art of Necromancy were what fascinated him the most, what had brought him to this place. To be unparalleled was something that resonated with him. It was that search for the pinnacle that had driven his parents to such absurd lengths, and he shared that desire.

And yet…

“Do I need your help to get there?” He addressed the page as though the Unseen could listen to him through the paper. “I’ve made so much progress without you, and I can go even further.”

After a long minute of consideration, he reached out and placed two thumbprints on the page.

One for Bone Mage.

The other for Imperator of the Undead Legion.

Then he ended the ritual.