Xinon was walking down the corridor, her bells ringing with every step and echoing on the walls. The castle was constructed to accommodate dragons and her small frame seemed out of place. The others were away, some of them studying or doing some research on the fresh specimens that just arrived from Draudatch, other resting until sunrise. She smiled. Until today, she also needed 8 hours of sleep a day. From tomorrow onwards, no more.

She didn't remember how long it was since he came to this palace. One day she was taking care of her garden, mercilessly killing any plants who dared to soil the ashen blackness of the Shadow Plane. Before he knew, he was transported into this realm, filled with vibrant colors, the blue of the sky, the brown of the tree trunks and the green. So much green. He was so disgusted she almost puked. This was not what nature was supposed to look like. Things were supposed to be black, grey, or at most white, if they were bones. All of this was wrong. It was never meant to be this… Green.

As soon as the nauseating fetor of flowers stopped, she started casting a spell

Blight

As the incantation finished, the plants started to loose color, the leaves started to fall, the grass became first brown, then grey. Xinon looked around. It wasn't as grey as it should have been, but was a start. But she wanted to do better, she needed a different approach. Perhaps a more... destructive one?

Fire Storm

The fire took on very fast, burning the plant life and anything in its wake. Xinon smiled. After the fire was done, the forest would have been cold, dead and gray. As it was always meant to be.

After a couple of days of fire and death, a flying eye reached her.

"An Istoq? Aren't you little fellas meant for espionage?"

Almost as an answer, the little eye circled around her, flying away a couple of feet, only to float around looking at him. An invitation? Xinon unsheathed her staff, a large stone slab in the shape of a greatsword. Her feet were weak, and she needed the staff to follow the Istoq. After a few hours of walk in the ashen remain of the forest, she finally saw it. Dull and dead soil, grey clouds moving in circle blocking the sun, the small pool of early white, glowing water. Was this home? Did she travelled back to the Plane of Shadows? No, she thought while looking back. This was far from her home. But still, she swore she would protect this little paradise at the cost of her life.

The kind people who opened the doors of this paradise were not exactly what she expected. She had hoped for some of her kin, other Kayals, maybe even a Velstrac or a cleric of Zon- Kuthon. But not even in her wildest dream she would have imagined to be greeted by a Lich and Daughter of the Dead, offering her to seat with them in a Death coach.

At this exact moment Xinon knew that her life was over. She had no chance of defeating any of them in a one-on-one fight. 3 on 1? It would have ended before she could even whisper the name of her God. No choice but to take them on their offer and hope that enough grovelling and begging would convince them to spare her life.

The travel was probably the most awkward ride she ever experienced, as the undead didn't spoke a single word. For the next twenty six hours, she couldn't move a muscle, she just stared at the two, before passing out from a combination of thirst, exhaustion, hunger and fear.

That was forty years ago.

She laughed, remembering the weird way she met her soon-to be companions. Sege, the Lich, was waiting for her at the end of the corridor. He smiled, his face covered in a bone mask Quare, the Daughter of the Dead, made for him two decades ago.

"You took your time. We almost thought you died of old age."

Xinon smiled, stumbling forward with the help of her staff.

"You wish. This old body of mine is almost done for, but tomorrow I will be immortal."

The Lich laughed, opening the huge obsidian door right behind him.

"Oh, we'll see about that. Come on now, everyone is waiting"

The room was a large classroom, the desk meant for the students filled with the most respectable representative of the noble houses in charge of Potema's Catacombs and the teachers of the academy. Vampires, Liches, Daughter of the Dead, Ghosts, even a couple of Mummy lords. As the old Kayal stumbled in, they all quieted down. The rebirth ceremony was something many people looked forward.

The different undead formed some sort kabals, pushing their agenda. Liches wanted powerful humans for harvesting their souls, Vampires wanted young humans for their blood and so on. Acquiring a new member, especially someone as powerful as she was, was a good way to increase the power of their kabal. And since no one knew what kind of undead she had chosen to become, they were all here, drooling with anticipation.

Sege and Qare smiled a bit. They were the only ones who knew of the ritual. As she sat down and started to read on her book, they spectators were… surprised. No one recognized the chant. Was the ritual something exclusive to the Shadow Plane? No, many Liches travelled there, they would know. Was it a prayer to Zon-Kuthon? No, she was far from the only one worshipping the god of pain in the room. A few nobles recognized one or two lines and people started to whisper. Was it… a druidic spell?

It was something unheard of. Yes, everyone knew Xinon was a Swarm Mongrel but… could druids even create undead? The discussion soon died down, as the ritual started to show its effect. The pitch-black skin of the Kayals turn pale, lifeless and so thin you could almost see through it, and started to rot in many places. The muscles shrank, until the skin was directly touching the bones, with the exception of her neck, almost like all her muscle mass moved there. The eyes melted away, replaced by a black space, while the jaw and teeth drooled down her mask, almost fusing with it. As the ritual came to its finish, three nail-like horns started to grow from the side of her head. As her head rose, the nobles stared in silence. If any of them recognized the creature he had turned into, they were hiding it very well.

Sege and Qare moved next to her. "All hail Xinon, the first Siabrae of Potema's Catacombs!"

Prompt used

Image of an old-looking undead with chains and bell piercings. She's wielding a greatsword obviously too big for her and has a mask seemingly fused to her head with three massive twisted nails piercing her skull