Followup 5 - An Arty Necromancer Tells his Tale - Apr/27/2000

ChariShadow was beside himself. Leoric had slain him on the exact moment of lunar perigee, and laid claim to his soul.For an unknown period of time, Shadow the Sorcerer served the evil Undead King. Later freed by an unusually tough Barbarian named Garda, he nevertheless retained the physical form of a skeletal human - more accurately, a Necromancer. Shadow would travel to the East to see if this condition could be reversed, for their his kind were in abundance.

When he arrrived at the Rogue Encampment, a distasteful chap called Gheed spat on him, and forbade him to come within 100 feet of his shop. Only the witch Akara would speak to him, and she seemed to understand something of his plight. She told Shadow of a Den of Evil that had plagued the Encampment, and that he could gain the rogues trust by eliminating this threat. This would be difficult, for unlike other Necromancer who embraced their new powers, Shadow would have no part whatsoever in raising the dead or skeletal mastery. He was a sorcerer, dang it, what need would he ever have of a single lifeless golem, if any? As a seasoned Artillery or 'Arty' Mage, he would learn to avoid combat and deal death from a distance. So he regained his composure, got used to the lay of the land and in the Blood Moor outside the Encampment learned a 'Magic Missile' spell, affectionately known as 'Teeth'. Soon after, he learned how to curse foes so that all damage taken would be Amplified double - this was a major help. The Den of Evil fell to his missile attacks, and the Encampment now greeted him as a friend. Their leader, Kshara, took him aside and told him of an evil Priestess, Blood Raven, who had taken countless sisters for sacrifice - was there any way he could help? She was thought to be in sacred burial grounds, and it was thought that none but Necromancers could hope to surive there.

Off Shadow went in search of the Burial Grounds, and soon, the unmistakeable gates and tombstones marked upcoming danger. He prepared his now-stronger missiles and carefully entered. Almost instantly, a stark raving lunatic assaulted him with powerful spells and attacks. He let out a curse and began firing. It depleted his mana in short order, and unlike his home in Tristram, there were no blue potions to buy. But... any Arty Mage worth his salt knew how to avoid attacks and run. He found in doing that his mana regenerated, and he could let loose more missiles. This dance continued for a few minutes, and finally, stumbling into a mana potion, he was able to put her down for good. Nature itself rejoiced at her death, with a stunning display of lightning which slew all remaining undead. Shadow was truly in awe. Kshara was also impressed, and taught him a (weak) substitute for his beloved mana shield... a protective magical armor of bone that would absorb damage.

The next quest nearly drove Shadow mad. Absolutely unspeakable horrors were committed, of which he dare not utter a word. Suffice it to say his grief and pain were great - he would either crumble uther the wait, or steel his heart and fight, sending Rakadishu and others to their death. En route, a goliath of a beast, by the name of Treehead Woodfist, pounced upon him. Somehow, he locked Shadow in place so he could not move. Terror filled his heart, but fortunately, he was better prepared (and better stocked!) He drank fully seven potions, almost a week's supply - as he cursed "Carciwragighto!" (which is an ancient tongue meaning Amplify Damage), he let loose a torrent of quadruple teeth into the monsters chest, until he died. When the smoke had cleared, Shadow found himself in possession of a wonderful new wand. It provided two more teeth missiles, let him see better, and increased the strength of his bone armor. By this time, he was of the 9th circle of power and had learned to Weaken his opponents attacks.

To try to find answers to his condition, he went to a Forgotten Tower, where he met, and dispatched, several rather punishing boss monsters and cohorts. Who would vilify nature and raise the dead to fight for them when the Curse of Damage and the power of teeth would shred foes so well? It was a mystery to Charis Shadow. At the bottom of the tower dwelt an evil 'Countess', who in her madness set the tower on fire with a Pentagram of flame. However, this pentagram did not scare the seasoned sorcerer from Tristam - for its appearance usually met death for the Dark Lord. With this odd new body of his, Shadow was able to sprint short distances and fire off a spell. The foes would then close, try to break through his bone armor, only to find him off and running again. This Arty had long since brushed aside comments of cowardice - the battlefield littered with dead for was plain enough answer to detractors!

The Sisters once again asked his help, to recover a very special hammer of forging known as the Horadric Malus. It was guarded by a fiend quite familiar to this veteran of Tristram, although he now called himself "The Smith". It took a few mana potions, for he was indeed rather strong, but soon he was fresh meat for the Shadow slaughter. This victory gained him the circle of 12, the new abilities of Iron Maiden, Terror and Bone Wall. Now he could cause attackers to damage themselves severely for hitting him, cause whole parties to flee, or but up a physical barrier that kept them at bay for a time. Charsi the Blacksmith at the Camp was so overjoyed to see the return of the Malus that she Imbued a rare and special item for him. He would have to ponder this decision carefully...

Off he headed to what he hoped would be his final destiny, the Monastery which held the vicious demon Andariel. En route she defeated a Wraith boss which gave him the skill to raise a Golem of Clay. Now he was starting to see the return of his old powers, even though he could not for the life of him recall his old Fireball or Chain Lightning spells. He could only hope new powers he was hearing about, such as Bone Spear, a Nova (of poison, not his familiar lightning), Confusion, would one day be learned, and of course, his old Bone Spirit.

Andariel was a huge demon which embodied the purest evil. Waves of evil wracked his body as if poison, and his life ebbed and disappeared within seconds. Fortunately, his soul revived in the Encampment, and he was able to return grab his course (with typical Arty happy feet dodging), and portal out to think for a moment. He was quite sad that his various curses, to Ampilfy Damage and to Weaken, could not both be active on Andariel. But he did not fear her claws, which would be shielded by his armor. Rather her poison was the keep danger. So he stocked a few antidotes potions on his belt, and prepared his favorite combination - Amplify Damage and Teeth. The latter was now, with the wand, spewing a very healthy 8 missiles at opponents. So as soon as he saw her, he dodged the poison clouds to get right next to her, and fired at point blank range. He took a lot of damage, and drank a few potions prophylactically, but she could not stand up under the abusve of dozens of magic missiles. Andariel did not simply die, she exploded in a torrent of flame that brought down the whole level of the tower. The loot was abundant, although this did not particularly excite Shadow. For what he most wanted, an answer to the question of how to return to fully human form and regain his Sorcerer powers, was not to be found here... Perhaps, it could be found in a nearby town, Lut Gholein. But that would have to wait for another time.
 
Charis