Tumam Purplecherish the SpryI was born 16 years before recorded history began. I lived in a land of myth where nature ruled all and beasts from the most fanciful imaginations of humanity roamed the earth.
I lived in this world alone, but by the time I was 29 I realized the aging in my bones. I was surrounded by immortal monsters of an age of myth, but I would die in mere decades. I simply couldn't accept it.
Within one year of dedicating myself to prolonging my life I found the most unlikely of creatures: Dwarves.
The bearded folk of the earth had dug their way out and were beginning to build. Within a year of my discovering of them I joined their civilization.
Having come from the wilds I served as a scout for the young races attempts to colonize the surface and when not assisting them there I used dwarven resources to advance my research into death.
7 years after my initial vow to extend my life I had a breakthrough. Within my laboratory at the dwarven capital of Oarpassionate I conducted foul sorceries communicating with a plane adjacent to our own. I reached out to this plane and grabbed something within it. As I pulled with all my might it seemed as if this world too was determined to keep me from living longer, but it could not resist my will!
As I pulled it gave way and a large rock of unearthly origin came through the portal. Energy from the plane shot out from the portal in a wave and in an instant every light source in the city went out and every citizen heard dark whispers whose origin could not be identified. I looked up to see the portal had closed, but the rock I had found was engraved with supernatural precision and although the words were not written in dwarven I could understand them.
I read it and in the moment of reading an understanding of this world, and the one I had touched, flooded my mind! With this knowledge I had suddenly become immortal!
Immune to aging, no longer requiring food, drink or sleep. Most importantly of all I could command the powers of death itself.
Shortly after an officer of the guard began snooping around my lab. I believed he had suspected me for the supernatural occurrence in the city. Out of fear I attempted to bribe him, but I was arrested for attempted bribery and imprisoned for 9 years!
The new surface dwellers didn't know what to do with me and since my experiment yielded success a new religion was spreading like wildfire among the populace: The Spry had come! A god of death in the shape of a dwarven skeleton.
Source: Dark Souls
Those select few in the government knew that it was I the dwarves were following unwittingly, but they knew to keep it quiet and I was unaware of my growing religion. I likely would have been insulted by the vapid egoism of the dwarves to make this new deity in their own image. It was here that I met one of my only friends: Urdim the dwarf.
Urdim came on behalf of the king, after my repeatedly failed attempts to bribe my guards to let me escape, and he offered me a way out. The dwarven kingdom desperately needed my help to protect their future.
I wasn't sure what was meant by this at first, but Urdim asked that I be patient and wait.
I was released and while I waited for whatever assignment the dwarves had for me I picked up whatever work I could: A cook, trapper, weaponsmith, but it was all just me killing time. My neighbors began to notice that I was not aging, I had actually exceeded my natural lifespan as a white stork man, and with the swiftly growing death cult the kingdom realized it couldn't afford to wait in its dealing with me.
Urdim and I were sent north. The autumnal swamps from which I hailed were stuffed to the brim with giant monsters that often wandered south to attack the dwarves and it was one of two roads that led to the elven jungles of the north-east. Our assignment was two-fold:
1. Pacify the swamp to ensure the safety of all dwarfkind
2. Prevent the elves from becoming a threat to the dwarves
The Kingdom would officially deny affiliation with us during this time and I took Urdim as my apprentice in death. I shared my secrets of immortality with him as we began to raise our undead forces.
Seeing our defiling of the swamp the elves were quick to challenge us. Undead hordes met guerrilla fighters and giant pandas that were larger than a house! I raised fallen heroes as lieutenants and took on more apprentices.
We took the western forest retreats and defiled them with undeath. It took everything the elves had just to hold us from taking their central lands.
It was during this time that many sought my patronage, but I only ever took a few. One young woman came to me and she showed promise to be a truly great necromancer. Her name was Othla and she deeply impressed me with her wit and charm, but I could see more behind her eyes. A limitless ambition that would devour the world. So I denied her and sent her away not knowing what she would
become.I also did not realize just how intelligent and charming she could be. The humans and my dwarven friends had just finished waging war against the goblins of the Plagues of Forking and wiped out their kingdom. My own troops and lieutenants helped them do so, although they deny it to this day!
Despite my aid, Othla spoke to the humans and convinced them that I was a threat to the entire world. That the humans must put aside their own war with the elves and join them to destroy me.
She then went to my own adopted people: The dwarves.
The dwarves condemned my existence. They declared Urdim and I base criminals and fugitives from the law. They rewrote history to portray me as the villain. Soon armies of humans advanced upon me from the south as elves counter-attacked in the east. Dwarven mercenary bands joined in as well.
Despite hordes of the dead, super-powered lieutenants, and a company of students with mastery over undeath; We could not stop them! Armies of humans, dwarves and elves were accentuated by giant pandas and grizzly bears. The humans brought elephants from the savannah. That foul
swamp titan summoned the giant beasts of the earth and my kin, who abandoned me, sent rutherers and jabberers with the mercenaries!
We were overwhelmed and routed. I stood atop my tower watching as all I had spent two lifetimes to build was destroyed. Aided by those I built it to protect!
Urdim came to me as the invaders took a ram to the front gate. He urged me to flee and fly away. "We are immortal, master! Escape and we shall return when the time is right?"
"What of you, old friend?" I asked
"I'll find my own way out. There's still enough bodies left to create a diversion. You just worry about you" Urdim said as he took my hand "Its been a pleasure, Tumam"
I took flight and didn't look back as the sounds of battle continued.
As I settled into the swamp a strange feeling seized me: My mind began to cloud and my ability to form thoughts began to disappear.
My mind was shattered and despite his assurances; I never saw Urdim again.
I lost my wits and I wandered the swamps not even remembering my name. My clothes would rot off and I would not care. This would continue for over 40 years until I reawakened.
Tumam is the original necromancer of this entire world.
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Topic: In Search of Fairy Tales - Adelaathira - The End of Dwarfdom (Read 36101 times)