The battle of Light against Darkness has raged in Doomwood for centuries. But recently, the darkness in the forest seem to be overflowing.
A few weeks before, there was news from haunted travelers of a Purple Necromantress building an undead army. You were preoccupied with training your apprentices the holy arts so you sent out a few of the trainees to investigate the situation.
Their response on the recon never came. Three days ago, news spread around town like wildfire about an undead massacre in Moonridge, the last human town to resist darkness in Doomwood.
Regret and guilt about the dire situation plagued your mind. You had sent your pupils to their deaths and accidentally abandoned the townsfolk in their time of need.
However, becoming the leader of the Paladin Order required a certain strength of character. So you'd pulled yourself together and directed your sadness into righteous anger against that necromantress.
This time, you'd resolved to go on this quest on your own and left Adam, your most experienced paladin pupil, in charge while you are away.
" Stay vigilant sir, words from the survivors of the villainess resurrecting creatures deadlier than usual." he warned.
There has been accounts from the refugees about ancient skeletal warriors and reanimated corpses still capable of elemental magic.
But their fearful whispers does not faze you. You are a warrior that had dedicated his entire life to battle the darkness and slaying the supernatural creatures is what you live for.
" Do not fret friend. I am well versed in fighting the undead." you say and smile reassuringly.
Then you drop your smile to adopted a more serious expression.
" Spread word around Battleon and nearby villages that no one is to enter Doomwood. Tell them Artix von Krieger proclaimed this and they will heed your words." you ordered.
He nodded and you resumed packing.
You donned your armor and cape. Then picked up a sharpened blade from the weaponry as well as some rations and left.
Dark and spooky pretty much sums up the overall atmosphere through your trek in Doomwood. You had walked pass a gigantic graveyard in search of the vile Purple Necromanctress. These reanimators are known to visit burial grounds to desecrate graves for their foul creations.
Much of the graveyard have been claimed by the marshland on the northern and western ends. Yellowing bones littered the area and the greenish tint of the water makes you suspect it is poisonous.
You had only encountered a few feral wolves and animals so far but saw no signs of a necromancer.
Perhaps by fate or luck, when you reached the edge of flimsy bridge, you'd finally encountered her at the other end of the bridge.
The sorceress in question wore a deep purple robe with a magenta emerald that seemed to be the focus of her unholy powers.
She hovered her hand over it and the crystal seemed to get brighter.
The skeletal remains scattered on the bridge arose sluggishly as if awoken from a long slumber. Many of these skeletons let out a sinister bellow as if the very spirits trapped
within these corpses are suffering in their unlife.
You hefted your blade in preparation to put these tortured souls to rest.
Charging forward, you put your momentum to use by bisecting the skeleton's waist. Twisting your body, you swung your sword at the ribs of another undead.
The blow destroyed the right ribs and propelled the corpse to shatter on the wooden floorboards. Shards of bone flew everywhere but your armor protected you from harm.
An undead with a spear rushed at you but you gripped the shaft of the lance and shoved the skeleton to the ground. Then you'd implanted the edge your sword against his skull, obliterating it.
Ahead of you, there are three skeletons with orbs of fire at their finger tips and a fiendish glow within their eye sockets. These type of undead are typically sorcerers during their life that retained some of their skills in their unlife.
In sequence, the skeletal mages shoved the fireballs at you. Deftly, you'd dodged the blasts and sprinted towards them.
Guided by your might, your sword beheaded the most upfront of the undead sorcerers. Abandoning it's spellcraft, the nearest skeleton leaped upon you. It intended to restrain you with it's unnatural strength while the last undead mage prepares another sphere of fire.
Fortunately, the undead's physical strength did not outmatch your own and you flung it off into the toxic waters below.
The sole skeletal mage did not finish his spell in time and you slew it before you could be roasted alive in your armor.
One by one, the undead soldiers of the Purple Necromantress fell to your blade. Normally you would had relished battling undead creatures but the death of the villagers and your comrades weighted heavily in your mind.
When all the skeletons have been slain. You pointed your blade at the murderess.
" You shouldn't had strayed to the path of evil. Now you shall face justice for the lives of my friends and the people in Moonrid-."
The villainess mumbled under her breath and with a wave of her hand, a new undead rose to join the fight. But this living corpse in particular has a face you are familar with and is wearing the armor of a paladin. His name is Dage and he is one of your pupils that you sent to die.
You muttered holy prayers under your breath for his soul to be granted its eternal rest.
The skirmish after was short and decisive. While your friend might be skillful with swords in life, his martial ability clearly diminished in his undeath.
A horizontal swing sliced his head clean off and the unholy light from his eye fades away.
There is no time to grieve, your business with the necromantress is yet to be concluded.
The skull you lopped off rolls nears her.
The wind blows forcefully causing the purple robe to fly around her giving the villainess the appearance of powerful sorceress.
She then carefully picks up the skull setting it behind the magenta emerald.
By her conscious command, sparks of power flow from the focus of power to the detached head.
The head of your former apprentice was crushed in her hand.
Rivers of blood both from her palm and the crushed skull dripped down into the marshlands.
After a moment, the murderess flings the pieces of the skull onto the ground.
The lumps of bone and flesh melts before your eyes to become a crimson puddle that looked suspiciously like blood. The liquid sinks to the ground and suddenly a rupture appears from this unholy ritual.
From the giant breach in the ground came a humongous undead creature. It donned a curved horned helmet. Giant arrows pierced its back but the monster paid it no mind as he ripped out a glowing sword from the fissure he came from.
Enough of this game. It's time to bring out the big guns.
You closed your eyes focusing on shaping your mana. Suddenly your inner light surrounds you in an aura so magically potent that sparks of lighting surrounds you from the excess power.
Your red cape flies around chaotically and you grit your teeth from the exertion of the spell.
Holding your gauntlet out to the sky, a bolt of light from the heavens strikes your hand. In your grip is a holy spear that is the bane of dark monsters.
Heaving with all your might, you sent the brilliant lance at your foe.
All monsters aligned with an element have certain weaknesses. Fire is weak to water, wind, and ice. Nature is vulnerable to fire. Darkness is susceptible to light.
Your attack dealt devastating damage to the giant undead. When the spear pierced its abdominal, most of its form vaporized under your blow.
The javelin continued its trajectory towards the Purple Necromantress first by shattering her focus of power. Then it cut her side leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
Injured and defeated, the mysterious sorceress grasped her side to stop the flow of lifeblood.
The creation of the holy lance is an advanced spellcraft and has taken a lot out of you. Your mana is nearly deplenished but you don't let your fatigue show on your face.
Stepping towards your downed foe, you harden your expression for what has to come.
The glow from the divine magic has yet to leave giving you an aura of light. Combined with your flowing cape and stone countenance, you must have looked like a champion from the heavens.
The face of the murderess is hidden within the deep shadows of her hood. Perhaps you can end her life now but you admit you were curious to at least see the face of who you were going to kill.
Your curiosity won over your caution. Just who is this mysterious necromanctress?
Grabbing a fistful of her purple robes, you tossed it to the side to unveil the villainess.
Wait...the face seemed oddly familar to you. Scrutinizing her face, the dark purple hair and blue eyes makes you feel oddly nostalgic for some reason. She glares at you with hatred while clutching her wound.
Then with a horrifying realization you'd realized it was Vayle, a close childhood friend whom you though perished in an undead invasion. Dear lord, what are you going to do?