Fredericka Bylor was nervous as she walked through the dark and dank halls of Blackstone Post. So much was happening at once and things were moving at a pace that she scarcely thought that she could keep up with.
Her master. The one who had taught the art of spellcraft when it came to using the necromantic arts. Heinrich Kemmler...was dead.
Nobody present knew what caused his death. The servant who had drawn the short straw on checking up on him to see what delayed his attendance at the morning meeting was the one who made the discovery. Master Kemmler had a habit of killing those who dared disturb his slumber and then would turn their body into a vehicle for his necromantic powers as quickly as he would blink, adding another corpse to the Barrow Legion.
Yet, when the servant had returned, he looked as if he had seen one of the hexwraiths within Blackstone Post. A few hushed and hurried words and suddenly most of Kemmler's highest-ranking acolytes, apprentices, and stewards were suddenly rushing towards his room on the highest point of his personal castle.
There he lay on his bed. Unmoving and paler than he had ever been. His body still and chest unrising.
For a mad moment, everyone within the room believed this to be a trick. A deception on their master's part. For what purpose, nobody could offer an answer, but given the nature and terrifying reputation that he held none would put it past him.
Yet after a few of her colleagues had forced other lowly servants to check his condition and after a few probing spells, their fears were confirmed. Much like how the lichemaster had committed himself to dominate everything related to death, it would appear that death ultimately claimed him in the end.
What followed was nothing short of pandemonium. After all, Kemmler was the glue that kept the acolytes within Blackstone Post together, and yet with his passing, the glue had been undone. For a moment, Fredericka feared that another of her colleagues would try to strong-arm their way into taking the lichemaster's place as master of Blackstone Post yet everyone seemed more intent on leaving and taking what they could carry surprisingly enough.
Yet perhaps it wasn't too surprising. In his pursuit of knowledge and more powerful spells, her now-former master had neglected their territorial and structural situation greatly. In his mind, the power to avoid death and to control power through the winds of magic themselves was always more on his mind than actually expanding their hold on the lands nearby. Sadly such thinking was now firmly against them in many different regards.
Their position in the Northern grey mountains was tenuous at best with dwarfs to the south of them looking upon their holding with murderous intent. She wouldn't be surprised if they would still attack even with news of Kemmler falling dead, with it not being nearly enough to satisfy their book of grudges. The populace that they controlled already cared little for Kemmler before his death and once they received word of it, they could see it as a chance to break free from the yolk that any of his apprentices could maintain on them.
Then there was the open conflict that they had with the Dukedom of Artois. Already, word on the duke for the Brettonnian province was that he was mustering a force to lay siege their holding, undoing all the work and progress she had been striving to accomplish since the fateful day she had been recruited by one of her master's many travels throughout the empire, going from tavern wench in Stirland to controller of death in short order...and now…
No. She could not allow things to unravel now. She would not. Now she was determined, more than ever to ensure that her master's work did not fall apart so quickly. Many of the tomes, scrolls, riches, and other resources that the other major acolytes under Kemmler's tutelage were gone with whatever they or their personal undead minions could carry, but Fredericka knew there was one last trump card she could pull to salvage the situation. An artifact that none of her now former fellow acolytes knew about...a secret that only her master Kemmler entrusted to her in the case of his demise.
"Fredericka I'm still not entirely sure about this." Came Wendel's unsure statement as they made their way into Kemmler's room. His pale skin and dirty blonde hair perfectly showed the nervous sweat he was breaking out in. "It could be yet another deception. A failsafe...this is our mas-...former master we're talking about." His voice was a whisper, possibly fearing that Kemmler's still unmoving corpse would move even at his apparent death.
Fredericka could understand his nervousness, but they did not need it right now. "He trusted me with this in the case of this event, Wendel. To back off now means the end of the legion as we know it and in turn the end of us. It's either this or hiding out in seclusion and fear for the rest of our lives or throwing our lot in with the Von Carstiens...is that what you want?"
"I...no."
"Then just help me. Please. Time is of the essence, for we have so little of it.
It was then that they dragged this secret from a tile hidden in Master Kemmler's room. A long scroll that resembled an eight-pointed star in the center, as long as a person's body if they were to lie down on it. Once this was accomplished it was then that she and Wendel with the assistance of two of her personal skeletons gently lifted the relatively undisturbed corpse of her master and laid it down upon the scroll with as much respect as she could muster. She then placed his most prized possession upon his body as well. His fabled skull staff.
With this done all she had to do was stand back. There were no incantations that needed to be said for this spell. All it needed were the correct items upon the scroll and it would do the work for her...And do the work it did. Dharr began to emanate from her master's corpse as it seemed magic made from pure dark shadows oozed their way over his body, covering both his form as well as his staff, along with the scroll. The shadows pooled onto the ground and covered nearly the entire room, forcing Fredericka and Wendel to yelp and pull themselves back along with her two skeleton warriors standing by her side. Finally, the shadowy ooze retracted in on itself and a shape began to rise up on the ground, taking the shape of someone who was clearly taller than her master. Suddenly, with a pulse of green-colored magic, the shadows dispersed.
Fredericka breathed a sigh of relief. The ritual was successful. As was to be expected from the diligent work of Heinrich Kemmler.
There stood a young man. A young man that with the right guidance, could surpass even that of her master. A young man with long dark hair and...some sort of bluish trousers? He also appeared to wear a white shirt with a black skull on it and some sort of overcoat with buttons on one end...she'd traveled far and wide with her master yet she'd never seen clothing of this nature. Still. She supposed it didn't matter so long as sh-
"Yoo-hoo? You got anything up there beautiful?" Came the lighthearted voice from the man in question who was now observing her with a raised yet curious eyebrow, his green eyes looking pointedly at her. "I was...kinda talking to you, and from where I'm from it's a bit rude to stare."
"B-beautiful!?" Fredericka stammered to herself as she suddenly had the urge to look in a mirror and see if she still didn't have her own greasy and matted black hair and dark circles under her frog-like eyes. Shaking her head at the compliment she tried to focus on the matter at hand. "I-forgive me. If it's not too much trouble to ask may I have your name?"
"Ohh? Gotta admit I like an aggressive woman myself. But if you gotta know It's Lyle. Lyle Spoletta to be exact. Now, how about yours beautiful? It's only fair ain't it? And you two blondie, if you feel like doin' more than starin' yourself.
Feeling her cold skin heat up at the compliment, and with Wendel sputtering at the attention also being brought on him, Fredericka kept her composure as she stammered a reply. "My name is Fredericka Bylor. The Necromancer who had a direct hand in summoning you here...my new master."
"W-wendel...just Wendel Master Lyle." Came the pale blonde's own reply.
"Whaoooahoah!" Lyle stammered, putting his hands out. "I'm all for the roleplayin' as much as the next guy, but at least let me buy you some dinner first...or the other way around if you're one of those kinds of gals...and hey buddie...I appreciate the compliment, but I don't swing that way."
Wendel blinked in befuddlement at the reply. "Swing...swing what way?"
"Also what's with the bone guys standing beside ya? They part of some out-of-season Halloween gig? This dark and dreary room certainly fits the bill."
"I'm afraid this has nothing to with this...roleplaying you speak of. I offer you a boon master." reaching towards a staff that one of her skeletons was carrying she approached a perplexed-looking Lyle as he eyed the curious thing. It looked like a very elongated staff that curled at the tip and had some sort of...webbing of sorts. Very strange in his opinion. "I offer you the powers that have been pressed onto you through the sacrifice of my former master Heinrich Kemmler. I offer you the power to bend the winds of magic with your very own thoughts and use the potential of dharr to perform feats that many could only dream of accomplishing…I offer you what I can do. Control of the undead, but with the potential to grow leaps and bounds beyond what people can comprehend...And on top of that, I offer you the world."
"Really?...the whole world?" Lyle asked, looking more amused by the second.
"Yes. From here in the Northern grey mountains, to the plains of Bretonnia, through the vast lands of the empire, to the border princes and beyond, all will fall to your power. I grant you this along with the possibility of achieving what everyone necromancer worth their salt attempts to achieve...to master death itself and to avoid its cold grip upon your body and soul."
Blinking at that long-winded speech, Lyle put a finger to his lips as if considering her proposal. "Never heard of any o' that. This like one o' those bullshit Isekai that my brother and sisters try to get me to watch...y'know...the ones where you're brought into another world, you gotta kill something, get weird-ass powers, the whole shebang?"
"I know not of this...Isekai you speak of, but yes. You may be from another world master. Former Master Kemmler did warn me of other possible dimensions parallel to our own, but if that is certainly the case...if you have never heard of the lands I speak of then surely they must be true...anyways master, please. Take your staf-
"Whoa, hol' up missy, how do I know you ain't trying to pull a fast one on me? I mean for all I know, this staff could be laced with somethin' and you could be trying to pull a practical joke or some shit! I cou-
"Master, please. There is no time for you to distrust me, I did not summon you in the most...stable of circumstances...please...trust me. For the sake of our cause."
"...our cause of controlling the world?"
"Erm...yes?"
Eying her warily, Lyle looked to be a bit on the fence until he squinted his eyes and observed Fredericka's face critically. Under such scrutiny, she began to sweat on her already somewhat unwashed and oily face as her eyes began to waver. Still, she stared resolutely at him for what felt like a minute before the brunette sighed.
"Alright, alright, no need to freak. Who am I to deny a lovely lady when she starts gettin' serious...plus this whole takin' over the world thing sounds pretty damn killer...you're not pulling my leg with that kind of talk are you?"
"No! Nononono, of course not master! You will have my full dedication along with my own personal retinue of necromancers including young Wendel here, along with the full undead armies of Blackstone Post at your disposal! Should you dedicate yourself to the undead arts you could be invincible! The Barrow Legion will be at your beck and call!
"Uh-huh. I'll see it when I believe sweetheart...sooooo...this staff gonna help me get there or whatever?"
It was here that a rare smile broke out on Fredericka's lips. "If you trust me, master...you will have a taste of what you are capable of."
Eyes moving from the woman to the skeleton next to her and the staff that one of them offered, Lyle's mouth became a thin line before he ultimately shrugged, reaching out to the staff. "Hey if conquering some fantasy world means I don't gotta pay student loans anymore, then why the hell not? Who knows, maybe I could bring my siblings some souvenirs after I'm done." and with little ceremony Lyle grabbed the staff from the skeleton, eyeing the construct warily as he tested the staff's weight looking a bit unimpressed. "Eh...don't feel different. I mean maybe I c-HOLY SHIT! The hell is this!?" Lyle damn near shrieked as he felt something like a cold chilly rush go through his arms and up his spine. He nearly hyperventilated off of the feeling until he calmed down, tightening his grip on the staff until it was like a chilly vice. "If that wasn't a damn fine rush I don't know what that was! Did you just...just give me magic power or somethin' like that?"
"I didn't give you anything master...I simply awakened what was dormant within you. Your summoning here was no accident, as you were the one who would fit well with the type of magic that Master Kemmler could wield. His staff may be unavailable to you at the moment, but this will accomplish your goals all the same."
"Amazing." Wendel breathed, staring at the spectacle in fascination. "So Master Kemmler's rite truly did work?"
"Okay...Okay…" Lyle repeated to himself to try and steady his train of thought. The more this fine-looking Fredericka woman kept on talking the more her words were beginning to seem less and less like bullshit and more like that Isekai crap indeed. "So...control over the dead you say."
"I would never speak falsehoods to you, my lord." At least not with him realizing, Fredericka thought. "If you require further proof of your power then, please. Command these skeletons animated by the dark winds of magic that we can use to our advantage."
"Wait...I can tell them to do anything?"
"You need only command it. But, you must believe it above all else. If you hold doubt in your heart, dispel it immediately. Though given your state and your unique condition, you should have little problem commanding spells in comparison to the time it would take other novice necromancers to learn.
"Oh really?...none of that training B.S. eh beautiful?"
"U-umm. No. But more advanced powerful spells will only be achieved through your further use of other spells, to better adjust your body to the magical feedback that you will be using."
"Okay err...Skeleton dudes...make a salute!"
Almost immediately the skeletons snapped to a saluting stance much to Lyle's shock and Fredericka's open pleasure, smiling at her young master's power at work.
"Holy...no effin' way! Skeletons! Do a T pose!" And to a t-pose they did, holding their arms out perpendicular to their bodies. "Do the Carleton!" Again they obeyed, much to Lyle's equal parts amusement and amazement at what he was seeing, observing the skeletons as they swung their arms side to side in the iconic dance that looked positively bizarre to Fredericka and Wendel. "Eeyyyyy! How bout that!? You weren't jokin' beautiful this is the real deal!"
"Th-thank you master...but, it's Fredericka-
"Yeah, yeah of course! You tellin' me you got an army of these bastards!?" He said in amazement as the skeletons continued to do the Carleton with gusto, their blank and bony faces a stark contrast to the dance movements they were making.
This time Wendel coughed as he cut in. "Admittedly it's a small one...but with victories against our enemies come more corpses and from there...our armies can grow unimpeded Master Lyle."
"So...what you're sayin' is...we gotta off some people then right?"
A strange tone came over Lyle's voice. From what had been lackadaisical and even casual had suddenly become serious when he looked at Fredericka. Understanding the seriousness of the conversation, the young apprentice necromancer nodded shakily, but not without swallowing some spit...she would need to be tactful from here on out.
"It's...a complicated situation, master. As much as I would like to teach you more about the dark arts so that we may obsess over its secrets together, our current state of affairs is...tenable with our neighbors." She said, hoping that the bead of sweat on her brow wasn't too noticeable.
"Hooo boy, I think I can tell where this is goin'. Lyle sighed, eyeing at how the skeletons were still doing the Carlton on repeat. "Alright skeleton dudes you can...you can stop now." And so they did. "So...I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that this Himmler guy-
"Kemmler."
"Right. Kimmler or whatever...I'm gonna guess that before he kicked the bucket that he may have pissed in some people's cheerios so to speak?"
Fredericka had no godly idea what cheerios were, but she had an idea as to what he was referring to. She then proceeded to inhale and exhale. This would take some time. Perhaps much of it could be done on their way to Artois to save what little land they could?
As the dark-haired necromancer and Wendel prepared to both get their new master ready for the trials ahead whilst briefing him on what they deemed he needed to know, Neither men nor woman noticed a white crow standing on the opening window on the far left side of the room. Said crow observed the pair for a moment longer before flying into the night sky, without making a sound.
8/27/2021 A/N: A bit late with this note, but this I felt this should be included for new readers. This is indeed a combination of the warhammer fantasy universe and campaign of Total War Warhammer 2. No the the guy taking Kemmler's mantle is not an SI. He's more of an OC and I'll be writing a detailed story from the results of the campaign. If you're interested please follow along and leave a review for the upcoming chapters so that I know what you guys think. Thank you for the time.