As has become tradition as the stories became more and more complex, we will be having three separate threads: A game thread, a vote thread, and a story thread.

Times were troubling.

The first thing you learn as a Necromancer…it’s not an exact science. Through practice, you hone your skills and what you conjure up is usually pretty close to what you had intended. For the most part, though, things aren’t that bad when you fail. Necromancy is, after all, one of the harder magics…most foul ups err on the side of “not potent enough.” Every Necromancer remembers a time or two (or three) when, as an apprentice, he only “half” finished a reanimation.

Requiem, though, had the opposite problem. His mistakes never fell on the side of caution. He was a powerful Necromancer, and a smart one…but he still made mistakes, and they lead to some…well…troubling results.

He guessed the problems came from the fact that he practically exuded Necromagical energy. There had been reports from his Minister of the Living that the peasants were in an uproar over some zombie attacks. Some villages were so angry that they were refusing to fill the Quota. And THAT was very, very troubling. Although he was a Necromancer first, he was a mathematician and a strategist second. He had carefully come up with the perfect ratio of living peasants to undead servants. Unlike other, less successful Necromancers, he saw the foolishness in eliminating all of the peasantry. There were some tasks that were just better performed by living, breathing humans. Like, among other things, procreating. Along with all the other benefits they brought, the peasantry also kept him supplied with bodies for his undead armies. That is, if they fulfilled the Quota.

The Quota was necessary because, really, the best kinds of undead were a bit more complicated than your typical skeleton or zombie, which could just be reanimated from any old corpse. Requiem did not lack for the simpler undead. The higher class of undead required the subject to be living (and preferably healthy) at the time of conversion. So it became necessary to institute a Quota, a number of people each town must offer to be turned into undead.

But the zombie attacks were leading the peasants to act in ways that amounted to rebellion! Now, obviously, Requiem hadn’t intended on any zombie attacks…he hadn’t even intended on any zombies! But it must be his fault, because the alternative, that there were other, Necromagical forces at work in his kingdom, was preposterous. He was the only practitioner of Necromancy in his kingdom. He made sure of that.

Still, he sensed a…presence. Someone, or something, was keeping an eye on him. He could shield himself from the magical gaze, but doing so required constant effort. It probably wasn’t worth tiring himself out over. Despite the troubles brewing in his realm, Requiem felt secure.

His Minister of the Living entered the room. The Minister, like all high-powered members of Requiem’s inner circle, was a vampire. The vampires were the most powerful, and most intelligent, type of undead that a Necromancer had the power to create. The irony of having an undead Minister of the Living was not lost on Requiem, but as far as he was concerned, there was only room for one living being in this castle: himself.

Approaching the throne, the Minister of the Living gave Requiem a quick bearing of his teeth and a slight head nod, the gesture that passed for a bow amongst vampires. He spoke in the distinctive voice of an undead. “Sir.”

Requiem nodded back. “Go ahead, Minister. I take it the news is less than fortunate.”

“We’re receiving reports of rogue zombies from as near as Galloway. Two of our outer villages have completely refused to fill their Quota, and there are rumors of-“

Suddenly, Requiem silenced the Minister with a wave of his hand. “Stop!” He stood up, appearing as if listening to something. A look of terror appeared on his face. “We’re under attack.”

“What?” The Minister asked. “Impossible! Who would attack us?’

Last Edited : Tuesday, 31 July 2007 - 14:22

“I don’t know.” Requiem said. “But I sense powerful Necromagical energy, and it’s not mine. We have to move. Now!”

***

Seconds later, out by the castle gates, chaos erupted.

The large, intimidating wooden gate was designed to stand against most conventional attacks. Unfortunately, it was a rather unconventional group that attacked that day. With little warning, the gate exploded, sending deadly splinters flying in all directions. The hailstorm of wood and metal would have killed any human.

However, there were no humans guarding the gates. Requiem’s skeleton guard, mostly unhurt by the projectiles, quickly regrouped as the dust settled. Nothing came through the gate.

For a long time, it seemed as if that was all. The skeletons remained, waiting patiently, mindlessly. Then the attack came. Later, more intelligent creatures would identify the attackers as liches, powerful undead sorcerers. The skeletons, though, being mindless as they are, responded in the same way they would to the more common peasant revolt. They stood little chance.

The liches came pouring in through the gate, spells flying. Bones shattered as rocks came unstuck from their place in the masonry and became deadly projectiles. Lightning crackled from the palms of the skeletal sorcerers, practically disintegrating the undead soldiers. The battle was over in mere minutes, but it was only the first of many battles. Requiem had built several layers of defenses into his castle. The skeletons were enough to repel even the most vicious peasant rebellion, but there were tougher battles ahead for the liches.

***

Meanwhile, Requiem had retreated to his inner sanctum. He kept his advisors with him, their responsibilities now expanded to include bodyguard. The door to his sanctum was reinforced, both material and magically. It still wasn’t clear to those inside what the attacking force was comprised of. Requiem felt sure that his defenses could handle it.

He was, of course, fatally wrong.

***

Moving further into the castle, the liches came upon a fortified zombie stronghold at the end of a long corridor. Here, the liches made their first mistake. They charged the zombies, fireballs erupting from their skeletal fingers. The fireballs had the desired effect; the smell of scorched flesh filled the room, not that anyone had the necessary equipment to actually smell it. The mistake, however, lay in the fact that, while the liches had taken out the zombie threat very efficiently, then had failed to consider that there were any other dangers in this particular corridor.

The zombies had been slow and awkward. The ghouls, hanging from the ceiling, were limber and fast. Howling, they dropped down onto the liches in a vicious ambush. Some of the attackers were able to dodge the ambush, sidestepping and dispatching the ghoul with a quick flash of lightning. Others, though, were less lucky. One ghoul managed to latch himself right onto the lich’s back, forcing his arms down to his sides. The lich struggled, briefly, until the ghoul reached around, and, with all its ghastly force, pulled the skull right off of the lich’s skeletal body.

After the initial shock of the ambush, though, the liches quickly regained their momentum. Closing together for protection, they deftly fended off the remainder of the ghouls. They had lost some of their numbers, but they were still strong enough to finish what they started.

Moving into the next room, the liches were more cautious. They first noticed the ghouls clinging to the ceiling. Not to be fooled again, a quick round of fireballs dropped them to the floor, writhing and harmless. Other than that, the room appeared to be empty. Slowly, cautiously, they crossed.

The vampires, in bat form, appeared from the nooks, crannies, and cracks in the walls of the room. Swarming, they were too small of targets for any of the liches’ more precise spells. They sorcerers, with enemies everywhere, instead resorted to less targeted, wider-effect spells…and, in doing so, accidentally caused quite a bit of friendly fire. The vampires, still in bat form, were content to keep up the confusion for as long as the liches wanted to kill each other. When they finally wised up, the vampires changed their tactics. Appearing behind a lich, the vampire would quickly morph into its natural form, snap the head off of the surprised lich, and revert back to bat form. Doing so put the vampire at risk that another lich would see and fry him with a lightning bolt…and, indeed, the attrition rate the vampires experienced was frightening; the liches were hardened soldiers. Still, by the time the last vampire fell, the liches were depleted in number…more than half the original force had fallen.

However, with only one layer of defenses left, that could still be enough.

***

Requiem was worried. Report had come in that the attackers were liches. Suddenly, his panic room didn’t seem all so safe. He knew the door had been reinforced magically, and the enchantment would hold up against any single lich…but he couldn’t be sure that the group, working together, wouldn’t be able to dispel the careful safeguard. Requiem felt very vulnerable indeed.

Still, his last layer of defense was the strongest. They really couldn’t be strong enough to break through, could they?

***

Requiem’s panic room lay behind his throne room, so, currently, the throne room was packed. Skeletons lay in wait right inside the doorway, mostly as cannon fodder. Ghouls clung to the ceiling, the walls…even the doors themselves. Zombie slingmen hid behind any available cover, ready to hail the liches with stones from afar. The vampires, lead by Requiem’s Minister of War, stood in the back of the room, ready to jump in wherever they were needed. The strongest defense, though, was Requiem’s prized possession. Reaching almost to the ceiling, a bone dragon stood in the center of the room. Bone dragons were rare, as they needed a dragon’s corpse in order to reanimate, and dragons did not die often, and when they did, they did so privately, in secret locations. That Requiem had one under his control was one of the many reasons why he had ruled for so long.

Stepping into the room, the liches were immediately bombarded with stones from the zombie slingmen. The skeletons rushed forward and, catching the liches flinching from the zombies’ assault, actually managed to land a few blows. The ghouls dropped from the ceiling, slaying even more of the liches. For a minute, it looked like the lich offensive would be over quickly.

Then the liches fought back, viciously. Simultaneously casting, lighting flared and arced from their palms, disintegrating every skeleton in the room. The ghouls fell next, as the liches learned to watch the backs of their comrades and, most of all, never let a ghoul get behind them. Still, the toll had been costly. There were only ten liches left. They were strongly outnumbered.

The liches turned their attention to the zombie slingmen, who were being picked off as their appeared from behind their cover. The vampires, turning to bat form, quickly crossed the room and joined the combat. The bone dragon lumbered behind them, entering the fray and forcing the liches to make a decision. Did they pick off the zombies, kill the vampires, or deal with the dragon? Figuring that it would take all of them to defeat the bone dragon, if it could be defeated, they focused their energy on it.

Last Edited : Tuesday, 31 July 2007 - 15:32

Requiem, though, had taken plenty of precautions in protecting his dragon. Their lightning bolts, a sorcerer’s favorite spell, had no effect on it. Having to resort to other, less effective spells, the battle was quickly turning against them. The bone dragon was slow, but the vampires helped with that. Turning into human form behind a lich, the vampire merely had to restrain the lich while the dragon swung it’s powerful, clawed paw. At the last moment, the vampire would go bat and flutter away, leaving the lich shattered by the bone dragon.

Realizing they couldn’t win, the liches realized that, to complete their mission, they’d have to go around. With only five of their number remaining, they turned their attention to the doorway. Trying to unite their minds amidst the chaos, they cast a dispel on the doorway, successfully removing the enchantment. A moment later, another lich fell to the bone dragon. The liches split into two different directions; one pair ran directly at the gate, the other ran directly at the dragon. The pair on the suicide mission held nothing back, and they left a vicious trail of bodies in their wake. By the time they were finally taken out, only a handful of the defending vampires were left alive. The vampires, looking finally toward the gate, howled in despair. The gate had been opened. The last two liches were nowhere to be seen.

***

When the gate burst open, Requiem’s Ministers, his last guard, burst toward the attackers in bat form. The two liches, prepared for this, had entered with fireballs blazing. In a moment, Requiem’s last guard was nothing more than scorched bats on the cold stone floor.

Requiem, a powerful sorcerer in his own right, put up a valiant last effort. But the liches, knowing it would come down to this, had prepared themselves to defend against any spell Requiem could conjure. The final battle lasted for several minutes, with Requiem and the liches both deflecting whatever attack came their way. Finally…inevitably…Requiem slipped up. With a final cry of anguish, he was defeated.

Just then, the remainder of the defenders from the throne room rushed in, not knowing it was too late to save their leader. Seeing him dead, the zombies wailed. The vampires howled. The bone dragon roared, sensing the sad occasion.

Before they could enact revenge, the liches vanished in a puff of smoke.

***
The liches hadn’t really vanished, of course. They had turned invisible. But the spell was brief, and if they were going to escape from the castle, they needed another trick…fast.

They altered their appearance to match that of the vampires. Rather than slip off into the night, they would remain in the castle. Perhaps, in the power void that came after Requiem’s fall, they could take over. That would allow the one who sent them to skip over Phase 2 completely. One way or another, Requiem’s kingdom would soon be under new leadership. However, if they could spare Him from having to send in more troops and waste more money, their reward would be great indeed.

Slipping into the crowd of survivors, they plotted their scheme. The vampires were the nobility…one of them would surely take the reigns of power. As long as they appeared to be vampires, they stood a chance.

One by one, the others would die. And when all of them were gone, the liches would hand the kingdom over.

And then Life would be finished.
--------------------
END NIGHT 0. Requiem (Plot Device) has been killed!

Last Edited : Tuesday, 31 July 2007 - 14:25

DAY 1

The vampires gathered in Requiem’s throne room, amongst the remains of those fallen in battle. Naturally, they were not bothered to be around death. They stood in silence for many minutes, examining the mess around them. Finally, someone broke the silence.

“So now who shall lead the kingdom?”

At this, the entire room erupted as everyone tried to stake their claim to the throne. Requiem had not left an heir of any kind, so there was no clear cut answer. Eventually, though, a voice of reason silenced them.

“The ones who killed Requiem are still here.” Mwmoss said, baring his teeth. “I suspect they are disguised amongst us.”

“Yes.” said Nebuchadnezer. “I can faintly sense the illusion. There is more than one.”

“But less than three.” said Sugarleo. “The liches are formidable, and I agree. We should rid ourselves of their filth before we decide on who will take Requiem’s throne.”

“How are we supposed to know who they are disguised as?” asked Jmacattack.

“There are only seven of us.” Said Bud Chevy. “It should be difficult for them to hide.”

Big Balla turned a suspicious eye at Nebuchadnezer. “How do you know there are more than one? I can’t sense such a thing.”

“You are younger, Balla. You’ll learn with time.”

Balla turned to Fufu. “You haven’t said much, Fufu. Hiding anything?”

“No.” said FuFu. “I’m just so broken up over Requiem’s death…”

Nebuchadnezer turned to Fufu. “Why don’t you tell us who YOU think the liches are, then?”

“Well, it’s not me!” said Fufu.

“I think it’s Jmac! We should kill him!” Balla said.

“You sure have been pointing a lot of fingers, Balla. And who said anything about killing anyone?”

“That’s a lich attitude.”

“I think BALLA is one of the liches!”

Everyone nodded in agreement and descended upon Big Balla Big Pimp. He struggled as the crowd fell upon him, biting and clawing. It was a futile fight, and he was quickly still.

Then they sadly realized that Balla was innocent, a mere vampire like the rest of them. Seeing that the sun was coming up, they quickly retreated to their resting grounds. Had they known what dangers would befall them while they slept, they might have stayed awake…

END DAY 1. BIG BALLA BIG PIMP, VAMPIRE, IS OUT OF THE GAME

NIGHT 1

As the sun set, the vampires cautiously awoke. They had been very aware of the fact that liches, unafraid of the sun, would be prowling while they slept. Everyone had suspected that they would take the time to kill.

Slowly, everyone trickled into the throne room. Surprisingly, everyone was still alive.

Now how did that happen?

END NIGHT 1. THERE HAVE BEEN NO DEATHS

DAY 2

Nobody wanted to squander the opportunity gained by keeping everyone alive. One member of the mob emerged to try and lead the pack. Nebuchadnezer, seeing that what had happened yesterday hadn’t worked, decided to try a different method today.

He gathered everyone close. “Guys, this isn’t going well.”

“What do you mean?” asked Jmac. “We didn’t lose anyone last night!”

“And that won’t help us if we kill one of our own today!” said Neb.

“Well, what do you suggest?” asked Bud_Chevy.

“I suggest that we carefully examine the evidence, seek out new information, and put EVERYONE under the microscope.”

“Everyone?” asked Fufu.

“That’s absurd!” said Sugarleo. “You’re a lich.”

Neb did a double take. “Excuse me?”

“Actually, I kind of agree with Sugar.” said mwmoss. “Only a lich wants to bounce around, examining everyone.”

“No!” said Neb. “That’s actually
the opposite of truth.”

“Sort of like how YOU’RE the opposite of a vampire!” shouted Sugar.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” said Neb. “The opposite of a vampire isn’t a lich
it’s, like
a hamster or something.”

“Trying to confuse us with your word-games, are you?” asked mwmoss.

“No! I’m just trying to match your guys’ playfulness. Unless
are you serious?”

“Of course we’re serious, lich!”

Neb dismissed them with a wave of his hand. “Well
.oooook then. Does anyone actually AGREE with me that we should look at the evidence?”

“I do.” said Fufu. “That actually sounds like it could work.”

“I think FUFU is a lich!” Jmac suddenly shouted.

“No
guys
stop.”

“But he is!” said Jmac.

“Why?”

“Only liches put together evidence and present a case, Neb. Are you a lich?”

“Damn it, no! Why does everyone think that logic is the realm of evil?”

“Neb just said evil!” said Mwmoss. “He must BE evil!”

A murmur of agreement ran through the crowd.

“Gah!” Neb shook his head violently. “Look, I’m just going to take a look at everyone and point out why they could be liches or could be vampires. Does anyone have a problem with that?

Most of the group raised their hands and nodded.

Neb growled. “Well, I’m doing it anyways!”

“Why?” asked Sugar. “Because you’re a lich?”

“No! Because I want something to get done, that’s why!”

“Um
I think you’re a lich too, Neb.” said Bud_Chevy.

“What?!?” Neb shouted. “Why?”

“Sugar and Moss make a good case.”

“THEY DON’T HAVE A CASE!”

Sugarleo stepped forward. “At this point, I’d like to point out that Neb is yelling. Do vampires yell?”

“They do when they’re frustrated!”

“If you’re so frustrated,” asked Mwmoss. “Why don’t you point out someone else who COULD be a lich?”

“Well, I think there’s a pretty good case against Jmacattack
”

Jmac, alarmed, turned to the crowd. “Ok, I’m ok with killing Neb.”

A roar erupted. “Let’s get him!”

The crowd descended upon Nebuchadnezer and tore him to pieces. On his body they found his Vampire I.D. card, an “I love Requiem” butt tattoo, and a Certificate of Excellence from the Mafia Gaming Committee for Excellence in Playstyle.

Then the room started smelling like farts for no reason, as if God were punishing everyone for killing a good guy.

Enjoy the farts.
-
END DAY 2. NEBUCHADNEZER, VAMPIRE, HAS BEEN LYNCHED!

NIGHT 2
-
Bud Chevy went to bed feeling guilty and stupid
by piling the third vote onto Neb, he had given momentum to the lynch. Lying in his coffin, thinking about how little chance they had of defeating the liches now, Bud wished he was dead.

The liches were happy to comply. They burst into his room, fireballs blazing. Soon, Bud_Chevy, ordinary vampire, was nothing but smoldering ashes.
-
BUD_CHEVY, VAMPIRE, IS OUT OF THE GAME!

When the sun went down once again, Sugarleo, FuFu, Jmacattack, and Mwmoss gathered in the throne room. Seeing that Bud was missing, they went to his chamber to investigate.

What they found were the remains from the night before. Bud’s corpse, still in his coffin, smoldered. They four looked at each other.

“You know what this means
” said Sugarleo.

“Yeah
” said Fufu, with a nervous gulp.

“Two of us are liches
” said Jmac.

“And two of us are vampires
” said Moss.

‘But, damn it, who’s who?!” asked Sugar.

Suddenly, Jmacattack dropped his illusion and revealed his lich form. Turning to Fufu, he released a lightning bolt. Fufu disintegrated.

Jmacattack turned to Moss and Sugar, skeletal eye sockets blazing. With a ghoulish grin, he cast his lightning bolt at Sugarleo


And was blocked! Sugarleo, using his own powerful magic, was holding off Jmac’s attack!

“I am the last survivor of Requiem’s ministers!” Sugarleo roared. “And you will not take this throne!”

Mwmoss dropped his own illusion and added his own power to Jmac’s attack. “The Minister of the Living! Gah! How we looked for you! But you can not stand up against both of us!”

“Then I’ll die trying!” Sugarleo redoubled his efforts. “I won’t let you destroy everything Requiem has created!”

“We’re out to destroy far more than that, Minister of the Living.” Jmac shouted. “And I think it’s entirely appropriate that we start with you before continuing on to all else that lives.”

“You can’t!”

Together, Jmac and Moss roared. “DIE!”

With a final cry, Sugarleo fell backwards, overpowered, and lay still. After a moment, his charged body sparked and caught flame.

The two liches looked at each other, satisfied. “This is very good. Very good indeed.” said Jmacattack.

“Yes.” said Moss. “Let us send word. The Extermination is to begin. Life will be no more.”

THE END! JMACATTACK AND MWMOSS, LICHES, WIN THE GAME!