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.

Table of Contents