Koyuki, the Necromancing Foxkin

We spent the remaining day practising our magic. No one exploded. The next day Skadi managed to collect the money from the driver who had betrayed us, they only kept the pouch as evidence. It was two platinum! That was twenty gold! That meant five for everyone, but I only took four and gave one to Cassie. She had spent a lot on the Iron Beaks after all.

On Terday I had advanced necromancy again, my favourite class. As usual I was rather excited. I was the first in the room. Soon afterwards Tom and Tim entered. Both had an undead cat with them.

“Hello Koyuki.” They said.

“Hi.” I greeted them.

“I have a question, how do you keep Nyx on your head?” Tom asked.

“Well, she just manages to stay up there. I am not sure if she uses any magic. It helps that she can shrink to the size of a kitten.” I explained. Nyx worked in mysterious ways.

“Ah. Well we got our skeletons from old cats that died. Sadly they can’t change their size. But they are a bit big for our heads and have trouble staying on…” Tim said.

“Why do you want them on your head anyway?” I wondered.

“So… some women like it.” Tom said, while blushing.

“Necromancers are getting more popular. Having an undead cat is an easy way to show off.” Tim added.

Nyx jumped from my head and stretched. Then she approached the other undead cats. They were simple tier two skeletons and just sitting on the floor. She walked around them and sniffed. Then she poked one with a paw. There was no reaction. Nyx turned around and jumped on my desk, then curled up.

Tim and Tom looked disappointed. Maybe they had hoped for some interaction.

Leo entered the room with one of his wolves. He saw the undead cats and snorted.

“What a waste of mana. You should focus on creatures that can fight.” He said.

“Cats can fight!” Tom protested.

“Fight? What? A child?” Leo asked.

“Don’t underestimate their claws. I mean, the bones might need some reinforcing but a cat is agile and a small target.” I pointed out.

Leo shook his head. “Your Nyx is impressive but a normal cat? Not so much. Reinforcing the bones would be a waste. Go for something bigger. Like a panther. Even better if you can get a magical one.”

“Ah! What a great discussion.” Gronir said as he entered the room. “Take your seats everyone. Today we will discuss enhanced undead.”

He waited until everyone sat down, then continued: “There are a lot of different undead. Creating most of them is beyond you, for now. But it ties nicely into your discussion. Is a regular cat skeleton usable for combat?”

Tim and Tom looked hopeful. Nyx opened an eye and watched Gronir.

“The nature of the corpse influences quite a bit. A magical creature will create a stronger undead than a normal creature. A bigger animal will be stronger than a small animal, usually. But as you have seen with the draugr, there are different kinds of zombies, there are also different kinds of skeletons.”

Leo raised his hand.

“Leo.”

“Is a draugr not simply a zombie with an added water affinity?” He asked.

“No. Adding an element can be done in multiple ways. Honestly, there is not really a name or classification for every undead. You can have a normal zombie and add a bit of water magic to it. It will still be a normal zombie, just more effective in water or snow. While undead can’t drown, or freeze, they might still be slowed by the elements. An addition of water mana during their creation can offer them some resistance to that element.”

“You could also make more specific changes. You could give an animal a venomous attack with earth mana. It would be a normal skeleton, except for its bite. That would be a way to turn a small creature, like a cat, into something deadly. Such a creature would be called an earth infused skeleton.”

He paused, then he continued with excitement: “Necromancy has a lot of room for experimentation! How you prepare a corpse, what corpse you use, how you raise it,...”

Leo raised his hand.

“Leo.”

“But we can’t add an element if we do not have the right affinity.” He complained.

“Ah. You do not have to add an element. You can do similar things with death mana. You could change the bite to be necrotic.” Gronir said with a smile. “Every undead is infused with death mana, obviously. But you can add additional properties. By forcing extra mana into the teeth, or claws, you can enhance their attacks.“

“The spell you use to create an undead limits the amount of modifications you can make. A more powerful spell is needed for stronger enhancements and eventually you will end up creating a different kind of undead. Besides the spell you will also need a corpse that can hold the required amount of mana. So you could turn a cat into a suitable combat undead, within reason. But you would want to reinforce the bones and specifically enhance the attacks.” He explained.

Tom raised his hand.

“Tom.”

“Would that be worth it?” He wondered.

Gronir chuckled. “Worth is not universal. For some people? Yes. A cat could make a reasonable assassin. As a soldier for an army? No. An army of undead cats would be a waste of resources. It would be far simpler to animate bigger creatures. Or humanoids. Instead of making stronger undead you can simply give them weapons and armour.”

“Keep in mind that more complex undead take more mana to maintain. That is why most necromancers use simple undead for an army. Throw a horde of zombies and skeletons at the enemy and replenish them with the fallen.”

Gronir smiled at us. “But while overwhelming the enemy with numbers is effective, I do encourage you to experiment! In a small scale engagement enhanced undead can be rather valuable. Or as bodyguards. So I want you to try and enhance some part of your next undead. It does not have to be anything drastic. I am looking forward to your creations!"