Once I'm recovered from the fight with the Ancient Lindorm, which took a few days, I finally feel well enough to be out and about again. Honestly, it wasn't so much the fight with the Lindorm that was tiring, but the restoration of the Dungeon.
Having the Lindorm taken apart would prove to be a challenge due to its size. Essentially, there's nowhere to put it where it won't go rotten before they manage to take care of all the parts, meaning I'd end up wasting a lot of it since the parts would lose quality as the corpse degraded.
So, for now, I'll keep it in storage. Seems the closest place with facilities for processing large monsters is in Eyslef, by the coast.
Instead, I decide to test out my new Skills and Spells. Most importantly, I need to figure out the specific limitations that are imposed upon Undead monsters. Doing this now, instead of making a mistake later, seems to be the correct course of action.
My test subject is a colorful songbird I've lured and trapped. Now, let's see... I cast Death upon the sparrow-sized monster, and after roughly half a minute, it flops over, dead.
*Obtain dominion over Other Will of Lazurite Brushwarbler?*
Yes.
*Dominion Successful*
... I expected some sort of feeling to accompany this, but I'm just aware that I have one Other Will ready for use. Like an invisible resource display in my head. Of course, I felt the warmth of Power Osmosis, but nothing more. I'll check what I got later, at the moment I want to get this experimentation over with.
I summon Animate Will: Bow, choosing a longbow. The bow that appears is simple, made out of wood, though it does have feather decorations below the handle in the same color as the bird whose Other Will I'm using. I inspect the bow.
*Animated Longbow - Undead - +50 Atc. +0 M.Atc. Arrows: Light Homing*
Eh? Light Homing?
*Made from the Will of an Avianoid Monster, these arrows are light, reducing their damage but increasing their range. The fletching acts as wings, steering the arrows as they fly, increasing their accuracy dramatically, though they cannot change direction, only guide up, down or to the left or right whilst maintaining their original direction of travel*
Oh. Interesting. So the type of monster the Will originally was influences how the arrows behave. Since this was a small avianoid, perhaps a larger one would produce normal homing? And a huge avianoid would make heavy homing... I'd need to catch and dominate other kinds of avianoids to test this though, so let's wait with that.
Next, I summon Animate Will: Spear, choosing a normal type. From what I understand, spear-type weapons include everything from the normal spear, to lances to naginatas and halberds. The result is a light spear with feathery decorations at the end of the shaft. It seems unremarkable.
*Animated Spear - Undead - +50 Atc. +0 M.Atc.*
It is. I'm guessing the most variety I'll see with weapons other than bows or crossbows is in looks. Or perhaps spears and Avianoids are a poor match? That might be it. I unsummon the spear and proceed to the next step of my experiments.
The lifeless body of the Lazurite Brushwarbler still lies on the ground where it dropped, its legs and wings still tangled in my webs. Carefully, I untangle it, and use True Raise on the body.
*Please select Autonomy. Currently 10%*
Hm? Autonomy, how much it will act on its own?
*At 100% the Will will act as it pleases, though still carry out orders. At 0%, the Will will only move when ordered, even if attacked. At 10% it behaves much like your Draugr and Gasts do, defending themselves but otherwise not moving when not under orders.*
For now, let's keep it at ten percent.
*Affirmative*
A dark aura surrounds the small bird in my hand. As the aura is sucked into the body, it changes. The bright blue and cyan feathers dull and become black, its eyes open, revealing piercing red irises around a milky white pupil. I inspect my creation.
*Lurastray*
*A cunning Undead taking the form of a crow-like Avianoid. It excels at vocal mimicking, luring travelers into dangerous areas like swamps and the like by pretending to be a humanoid in distress. The cries of its victims adds to its vocal repertoire, making it more convincing still.
Usually found guarding the borders of Lairs belonging to monsters capable of Raise. Since it is small, it is hard to find use for its parts, though many travelers swear that having a Lurastray feather on your person makes you immune to its calls.*
*Rating: 2 Stars*
It's quietly watching me. It's honestly kind of unnerving. It's slightly larger than it used to be, but not by much. I hate to do this, but I need to figure out how to heal, or if I even can heal, the Undead. I gently poke it, drawing blood. I double check to see how much I damaged it. It's got three fourths of its HP left. Okay.
Now, I'm fairly certain that blasting it with Miracure will do damage, so let's try less invasive things first. The Lurastray looks at me, tilting its head. Seems even though I technically attacked it, it's not going to retaliate against me. Makes sense.
Okay, let's try... Death Magic... I hesitate slightly, I might end up killing it just with this... No-no- don't worry- we can always just Raise the body again-
I carefully use Necrosis on it. By carefully, I mean I make it as weak as possibly by stemming my own magic flow as I cast it. It hurts, similarly to how it hurts to have a rubber band tightly wrapped around a finger, but I bear it for the moment it takes.
The undead bird flinches as the magic hits it. Let's see... nope, it's got half its HP left now. Okay, let's try using True Raise on it again? It... it accepts the bird as an eligible target at least. The dark aura envelops the monster, and it... it grew? It's now crow sized. Checking its HP, it's fully restored, and all its Stats have gone up.
Can I power up the Undead by using True Raise multiple times?
*Repeated applications of Raise or True Raise not only heals the target Undead, it greatly speeds up the Wills bonding to the body.*
... So- It would have grown this big over time, but since I used True Raise, it just power-leveled to this stage.
*Affirmative*
"Means we should take care in preparing any Undead before a fight, instead of during one."
I agree... Though, I'm not sure... It seems wrong. You know, just...
"No I agree, this is fucked up. We killed a bird and brought it back to life and now we're checking if we're able to keep it alive by casting various Spells at it."
Okay, last test.
"You're going to explode that poor thing."
I know, but I have to know what happens, and I can't know unless I do it myself. Or at least- this is the fastest method.
I cast Miracure upon the Lurastray. It shrieks as it is enveloped in a white light. It's blinding. Once I can actually see without damaging my eyesight, I'm holding a pile of ashes. Oops.
"Oh man, I'd hoped it went like, pop. Burning into ashes is neat tho."
Ugh- Please- I know this is what I feel deep down, just-
"I know you're still uncomfortable with my existence, but that doesn't mean I'll keep quiet just because you don't like it. I'm applying desensitization therapy to you!"
... I'm going to ignore you now.
Power Osmosis didn't activate, which also solves that question. I can't create a feedback loop by creating and killing Undead to get their Stats. The ashes are also no longer eligible for True Raise. But I don't want to just let the Other Will sit around if they grow more powerful over time when bonded to a body.
Wait-
I retrieve the Slime Core I picked up all that time ago. As much as I might have hoped to somehow revive the thing later, it seems this is the closest thing I'll get. Is it? It is! It's valid! Okay, True Raise!
*Please Select Autonomy. Currently 10%*
Set it to a hundred.
*Affirmative*
The small sphere, with its intricate patterning, glows with the same dark aura as the bird did. Except that this time, the aura is being shaped instead of absorbed. The core lifts from my hand as the aura solidifies into a grayish liquid enclosed in a translucent membrane. I see, the Spell restored the body of the slime. I inspect it.
*Osseous Slime*
*A peculiar Undead formed from the core of a Slime. It is able to absorb bones, restructuring them to build a skeleton of sorts to protect its vulnerable core. It seems the form of this skeletal structure is heavily dependent on the origin of the Will that animates it, with for example a Mammaloid Will going for a form that closely resembles that of a canine or feline. Constantly growing and adding to itself, its size largely determines the difficulty hunting one; the larger, the harder to hunt it is, as the bones it has absorbed harden over time. This also means that any bones harvested from a slain Osseous Slime is of excellent quality.*
*Rank: Dependent on size. 2-6 Stars*
Currently, it looks just like a gray slime. It's poking around in my hand, eventually making its way onto my shoulder, where it burrows into my mane.
...
I- I'm not sure if that's the response I expected from it, considering what I just put the Will through, and the history of that core... But I can't complain, can I? Eh- Why am I tearing up?
I try my best to hold in the tears as I approach the refuse pile behind the giant tree that marks the middle of my Lair. It consists mostly of bones that are unsuited for crafting, such as vertebrae and hip-bones, as well as scraps of sinew, hide, fur and innards. I ignore the stench of the pile as I gently place the Slime near it.
It 'turns' from me to the pile, though it's hard to tell since it doesn't have a face. "Go on, eat. It's junk to us anyway." I tell it. It performs a little hop, before starting to feed on the bones in the pile. I retreat out of the range of the smell, sitting down to do some crafting as I wait for it to eat its fill.
If I can help it, I'll not let it die again.