CHAPTER 3
The Price
Sometime after midnight, Jal’ shook me awake with a start. A sharp, wide moon
hung in the night sky near the desert horizon. I cursed softly. My turn at
watch wasn’t due for a few more hours, when the shining sphere was at its zenith.
“He’s dreaming again,” Jal’ told me, worriedly. “Come help me tie him down.”
Our brother Talib slept beneath the palms, away from the rest of the caravan
so his nocturnal ramblings would not disturb their rest. He was speaking in
Kadari again, the ancient language of the dead. Luckily for Jal’, she couldn’t
understand a word, but I knew some of the phrases, with my small rogue’s talent for
tongues. I ignored the obscene whispers and started binding Talib’s legs
together to keep him from wandering away into the desert. Meanwhile, Jal’ worked on
his hands, to stop him from casting his withering spells and slaying us all in
his sleep.
Jal’ started praying after she finished, her soft, holy whispers mingling with
our brother’s ravings. Jal’ prayed for a cure to his shattered sanity, but I
only hushed her into silence, straining to understand his curiously accented
Kadari. Talib’s eyes were open, as usual, staring up into the stars as he dreamed.
From his speech, I knew my brother was not mad, at least not in the usual
sense, for his sleeping gaze was focused not on the stars, but on another time,
long past, when Kadari was still spoken by the living.
—From Leyla’s Lost Journal
Whether they realize it or not at the outset of their careers, wizards that
specialize in necromancy make painful, personal sacrifices for their profession.
Even if they shun the Black Arts entirely, a necromancer is still subject to
the social prejudices, physical dangers, psychic pressures, and curses that
plague those who channel the forces of the spirit.
As with any discipline, mastery of the Art comes at a price. All necromancers
suffer from a nearly universal social stigma associated with their profession.
In addition, many of these wizards—especially those who embrace the Black
Arts—must overcome a number of personal handicaps which increase in number and
severity along with the necromancer’s power.
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