Whispers of a Dead Empire

Chapter 6

Hey guys! So here's the deal. From this chapter forward, I may or may not have put various puns in. Some chapters will have them, others may not. If you find them, drop them in the comments below. If all are found, I will upload a bonus chapter! Probably not directly after, because I edit the chapters meticulously, but I will upload it during the week at some point! Ty for your love and support! 

Also, I will be including undead from various walks of life, mythos, fantasy, etc. If you have any that you wish to see, drop it in the comment section as well. As long as it isn't copyrighted or trademarked its fair game.

I caved and summoned a few items from my menus. It would have felt wrong to make them work without the proper tools after all. I gave a team of five skeletons the primitive mining tool kit and a group of five zombies some broken blades for defense. It didn't cost too much since it was a premade template, but I wanted to be somewhat smart about my spending. I brought my map up and looked up the direction of the mine. "Kharon, would you mind showing this group towards the mine? I want to get a small operation growing so I can utilize resources the best I can, while we have the time." I asked him as I motioned him over to look at the map.

"Of course, mistress. Before you issue your order, however, make sure they are as clear and concise as possible. The lower level mobs will not think for themselves and will do only what they are asked." That was going to be a bit annoying but expected. I hated micromanaging with a burning passion. I sent a mental order to the zombies to carry the stones back here and stack them as neatly as possible and defend the skeletons mining the rock. I further emphasized the neat part for them since I really hated stuff not being in its place. I looked at the skeletons team and sent them a picture of mining out the stone and metal, though I lacked information on adequately doing that. Hopefully, Kharon can fill them in better than I could. "Alright, I think that should be okay. If you know how could you show them how to mine properly, and what to look for? That's not something that I can command all too well."

"Of course. Do you need anything else?" He asked, and I shook my head. "I see, well then we will be on our way." He made a gesture, and they began to move away from the outpost as a small shambling horde of undead. I sent a mental command to five ghosts to follow above the group and protect them and help out when possible. I didn't know what was out there, and I didn't want to risk losing my assets. With that job done, I looked towards the remaining mobs. I glanced at my essence and let out a sigh. I was burning through it faster than I wanted to.

For the remaining team of skeletons, I gave them a woodworking kit and told them to chop down the trees and then cut them into smaller sizes. Then I selected a group of three zombies to drag over the logs and stack them neatly in a pile close by. For the remainder, I order to start cleaning up the area to make it look more presentable. I refuse to live in a dirty place, even if it was the home of the undead. Once I finished issuing out the task, I decided that it was time to head back inside. I wanted to find something to eat and figure out my next few steps for this domain.

I sat down on my cot and pulled out my notebook, and began to scribble in it as I tried to sort through what I wanted to do next. So far, it was just me winging it and having the mobs collect resources so we can start building. I could say that it was me being smart, but honestly, it was me just stalling. I had no idea what I wanted to do or even how to manage something like this. I felt like I was a little over my head in this task. I let out a deep sigh as I tried to think things over. What to do, what to do. I decided to clear my thoughts and make a list for starters.

1. Set up a storehouse.
2. Figure out how to get more life essence for the time being.

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3. Pick out a class to use
4. Work on expanding the domain out
5. Find more food, and collect some water
6. Research undead and see what other templates I can get
7. Look through the books in that room and see what I can discover
8. Plan building designs for future use.

There was probably more to add there, but that's all I could think of at the moment. I bounced my pen across the surface of the notebook and tried to think about what I wanted to do. Surely enough, it dawned on me. I have all this newfound power, so why don't I create a story instead of just having something basic and repetitive like a dungeon? I felt a grin cross my face as I scribbled that into my notebook. I reached down to grab my sports bag and grabbed a snack bar and some water, and quickly scarfed them down. Now, what do I want to focus the theme of my domain around? I do have undead, so I think the idea of a fallen empire would fit well. I jotted the idea down and thought it over. I can't really go too far in-depth with it until I have bosses and the domain expanded. I scribbled in a new section into my notebook.

Questions to ask my companion

1) Can I add in area names to be seen

2) Create bosses

3) How do I create more mob variants

4) Can I create more items then what's on my list

5) How do I gather essence

6) How do mobs level

I closed my notebook and laid back on my cot, and a yawn forced its way through my lips. I was exhausted, and I had no idea what time it was. I summoned a ghost in my room and gave it a command to fetch me water and see if they could find some wildlife or something and kill it and bring its corpse back. It was a vague command, but it would do for now. Shortly after, I curled up in my cot and fell asleep, dreaming of what it was I wanted to create.

When I awoke, I found a pot of water sitting at the foot of my bed, along with a dead squirrel-like creature. The spirit hovered there, watching me like a dog would have. It sent shivers down my spine and made me a little uncomfortable when I realized that it was just watching me while I slept. I sat up and pulled up my bag, and pulled out the hairbrush and a small handheld mirror as I tried to pull my attention away from the ghost in the room. I pulled the mirror up and looked at my face for a moment. My light brown hair was frizzled slightly, and I grimaced at that. I grabbed my hairbrush and quickly tried to get rid of the knots and straighten it out as much as possible. I enjoyed how my hair felt; it was always soft and came with natural gentle curls. I hated that I had to keep it tied up in a stupid hat for work, but that won't be the case anymore. I finished brushing it and ran my fingers through my hair, and positioned it around my shoulders.

I brought the mirror up again and quickly looked over my face. My deep green eyes glittered back at me as I looked over my face. I looked tired, which was a given. I worked a lot and didn't really get much sleep at all. The bags that filled up space under my eyelids attested to that. I wish I had some makeup in this bag, but sadly I didn't carry that around. I would love to get rid of these bags. My eyebrows I kept trimmed and sat on a high arch and came down to a tapered point at the end. My nose was straight and narrow and sat on my face proudly. I actually really liked my nose. It wasn't as ugly as it could have been. My lips sat at the perfect thickness and curved downward on the edges.

I looked over my face one last time and wiped away some dirt that was building up. I really wanted to take a shower. That would be lovely right now. I pushed my mirror back into the bag along with the hairbrush and looked back at the spirit. I wasn't super off-put by the fact that it was a ghost. I mean, it wasn't going to hurt me. At least, I don't think that it would. It was more like a pet, albeit a partially creepy one. If that was the case, though, I'll make this one my bodyguard and maybe experiment with it later and see what I could do with itthat why Kharon could be used elsewhere, and I could work on things with my end. I issued a command for it to follow me and protect me if I was attacked and shifted my focus towards the items it brought me.

Now let's see what it brought back for me. I leaned over the pot to inspect the water. The water was clear, but I could see a few dirt particles sunk to the bottom of the metal container. I would have to boil it for a little while before I drank it. I would hate to get sick here. Considering that there would be nothing here to help me but undead if I were to come down with something. But then a question struck me right after I looked at the pot of water. How did the ghost manage to drag the pot and corpse into here? Didn't they have trouble interacting with physical objects? I eyed the ghost wearily as I thought about it. There really was more than meets the eye when it comes to this stuff. It was probably a good thing I decided to keep this ghost with me. But it also made me realize that I really had a lot to learn and such little time for it all. It felt a little daunting thinking about it all; I was still new to this, and I wasn't sure that I was ready for it. But I will do my best to succeed. Losing isn't something that I do, ever.

I shifted my attention to the dead animal to inspect it. It was a bit larger than my entire arm length and was still slightly warm to the touch. I guess ghosty here just recently killed it. I carefully picked it up by its tail, looked it over, and didn't see any visible marks on its brown fur. I wonder how it was slain. Just another question to ask my dear companion when I see him next. But let's get this bad boy cooked. I decided to leave the pot of water there for now. I could lift if I wanted to, but I really didn't want to struggle with it at the moment. I grabbed my sports bag and pushed the oversized squirrel into it, and decided to drop it off in the kitchen and then gather some firewood so I can get this guy cooked.

I navigated my way through the ruins and made it to the kitchen. I rummaged through it once more in hopes of finding more things to use. There were a few whetstones that were tucked away in the cabinets, along with more rotted utensils. At least I could use these to sharpen those knives. I don't know what I could use to knock away the rust built upon it, but I'll find something. I set the whetstones down on the counter and rummaged around for some of the knives I left behind. Since I wasn't sure where I put that knife, I had early at. I still had three in here.

I had a butcher knife with a black metal handle that had spots of rust that tarnished its surface. The other was something close to an all-purpose chef's knife that I would have used in the kitchen that I worked in, and the third was a long thin knife, that would be used for making fillets. It was nice to have a knife set like this. I hated using one knife for everything; it was the bane of my existence as a cook. I looked around the kitchen some more before I started cooking. It was best to get everything together first, while my breakfast sat in my bag. I had no idea if it would stay fresh in there or not, so I better hurry. Sadly there wasn't anything of value that I could use with this. A lot of cutting boards were not safe to be used. Which annoyed me cause I really didn't want to deal with all the extra cleaning. I gathered a few plates and what not to put the creature on it to catch all the excess stuff. I stacked them in a neat pile next to the knives and decided to head outside to gather some firewood so I can get this ball rolling.

I stepped outside and noticed a large stack of stones that was nowhere near being neat, along with a pile of logs that were haphazardly thrown around. Didn't I tell these guys to stack them neatly? I felt my eyebrow twitch as I stared at the pile for a few more seconds. They had one job to do. Just one, was it that hard? I buried my annoyance and decided to take stock of the rest of the courtyard. A vast portion of the grass and plant life was now dead and gone, leaving just dirt. I could see my companion moving some stones around with the other skeletons attempting to bring some order to the area in the distance. Oh good, I'm glad that someone here decided to follow my orders. I could also ask him a few questions since he was back.

"Kharon, can you come over here for a moment?" As I sat down on the steps, I called out to him, my previous task wholly forgotten as I fixated on getting my questions answered. My ghostly companion was behind me, floating silently. As silent as the grave, some may say. I reached into my bag and pulled out my notebook along with a pen, and flipped open to my page of questions.

Kharon lumbered over and gave me a bow. "Mistress Calixa, how may I help you?" He asked. His voice was as raspy as usual. It made me wonder how a skeleton could talk.

"I have a few questions for you regarding the domain. Since I am stuck here, I want to get to work immediately. That, and I want some input on a few things as well." I crossed my legs and sat up straight. It was time to work, and if there was one thing I prided myself on, it was my work ethic.