Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

The royal palace of Tamaris was a rather sizable place to begin with, it had always been overly huge, like multiple castles were fused together to make it, an absurd amount of rooms, kitchens and all sorts of rooms, they were all large as well, patrolled by the royal guards, who all took on the likeness of Halbardier Pierre-Ornée, the requirements to be become a guard here were rather steep, an elite force that needed to number well into the hundreds to properly guard the interior.

Outside, soldiers equipped with crossbows patrolled the walls lining the edges of the palace, obviously, they were also elites in their own rights, their weapons and bolts were overly heavy, even with their strength, training specifically tailored to operate such weaponry, their equipments had to have special means built into them to pull the string, or some requiring multiple soldiers to operate.

Although Tamaris was most recognisable by the guards wearing copper coloured armours, wielding halberds and led by the halbardier and shieldmaster, King Agilulf Wanneck had spent much effort and money in the creation of all sorts of ranged weaponry, both of the siege variety or handheld.

They had recently received upgrades thanks to the learning of various technologies and techniques from other nations, the merchant king had waved those very enticing weapons in the face of his peers, but as told before, few had taken the bait and joined the preparations for what was coming.

Even in this nearly impenetrable fortress, now protected by all possible means, having received the assistance of the great powers, guards and soldiers had received arts training, the magical defences had been looked at and improved upon by the greatest mage this continent had to offer.

And yet, when night fell, when all laid in slumber, as the darkness nested in and silence ruled with an iron fist, it was hard to feel comfortable in this immense place.

Rosemary had worked on the protective measures herself, but she could not shake off the odd sensation this palace instilled after nightfall, perhaps it was the grandeur, ceiling high enough to accommodate giants, doorways to important areas were much the same way, everything was so wide, so open, as a mage, she was more of a fan of confined places, just claim a corner in an old, musty library and start reading on outdated concepts, magical theories and all.

She often found herself wandering around in the dead of night, stepping outside and enjoying the magnificent gardens, the king was very proud of his plants for some reason, one could catch him doing gardening with his ungodly amount of mistresses whenever the weather was pleasant.

Seeing all of those lovey dovey things, both from the guest and some of her students reminded her of unpleasant things however, she still did not know what had been the deal with Osworth, in the end, after her return from the field trip, the man had been left lethargic, lifeless.

Revealing his true nature as nothing more than a hollow marionette that had most certainly been piloted from far away.

Often did he find himself in her thoughts, it was rather annoying.

Stepping up to bright red bloom that seemed to shine in the night, Rosemary moved her focus to the flower, who had been nourished from her own mana, yes, the king had convinced her to engage in gardening as well, not that creating specific ingredients for potions and the likes was foreign to her.

'Mmh?' tilting her head, even in the near complete darkness, the volcano witch could see clearly and thus, something dark attracted her attention, seemingly half goo and half feather, it floated down with a distinctive lack of grace, plopping onto the grass.

"That's a bit odd…" bending down, inspecting the odd object that seemed to have fallen from nothing, or perhaps from so high up to none could see what sort of bird this most disgusting feather belonged to.

Nothing was flapping their wings in sight, and the so-called goo was not as it appeared.

"Is that rot?!" someone else shouted from a distance away, the sound of their voice muffling mid-sentence before becoming clear again, a sign that, for some reason, they had spun in place whilst speaking.

Most would have been mortified by this uncalled shouting, but Rosemary had already noticed the troublemaker's approach, hoping that he would not notice or engage her in conversation.

"Sir Audit, I thought you had gone to Millipolo?" she said, ignoring the outburst.

Quideos cleared his throat, shoving someone that was not there as he stepped forward a bit.

"Sorry for this, I meant to say, this feather, did it just fall down?"

"Yes, it seems like it is becoming less and less of a theory" she handed him the black feather.

"That is not a mere coincidence, I used to believe that it was spreading over, reaching for those already departed, because of my encounters in the snowy region, but I was wrong, it is not like a plague, at least not yet- Something was actively deceiving me but what?

Or who?" the prophet rambled to himself, his first thought was about the corpse festering with locusts that had begun to appear even outside of visions, but it could not be.

'He only appeared later on…'

'Is it her? Is she here at this very instant?!' he shook his head, giving the feather back without another word about this, instead switching subject to the nature of his presence.

"I have managed to secure assistance from many churches in Millipolo, well, rather Joana and Mealt did but that is beside the point… I have had a new vision! This one is of hope and aid, and my lips are not sealed shut for once, unknown champions that had been preparing for this very event will soon appear, would you relay my words to his majesty, Miss Rosemary?"

"Certainly" she agreed without having to think about it. Your journey continues on empire

"My thanks! Bless you" the seer went running off, going to his next destination, which might not even be known to the man himself.

The fiery mage was pleasantly surprised that he didn't start yelling out of nowhere, soon making her way back into the castle, her usual routine when prowling the night was to pass by the training areas, where she could often find some of her students training, as well as Syklon mercilessly hammering the arts into her four disciples.

Rosemary was always reminded of those small, yet hyper aggressive canines when seeing the adorable little woman being overly intense, though, even she would not say something like that to Syklon's face.

The Tochian lady was more draconian in her teachings but they were effective, which Rosemary was able of seeing as she went right past a training area, where Griar was practising all on his own, Syklon had said that this boy was a hidden prodigy, the youth's potential having only been unveiled when he combined magic and arts with his swordsmanship.

Had he not been unable of learning her own style, the swordswoman had said that she wouldn't have hesitated to take him as a disciple as well.

It would seem that Griar was not the only one partaking in late night training, but it was to be expect, Antieeld would always be there whenever Rosemary went by, the young woman was not letting go, definitely meaning to use her inborn talent to the fullest of its potential, whether it was to find and rip the plague knight apart, or simply honour Gelter by becoming the best version of herself, most did not know.

Rosemary was certain it was both, everyday, it seemed like the little commandant was getting closer to her goal, her eyes holding that distinct spark, the enlightenment that led to power.

'Good luck'