Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Taking advantage of the now cold temperatures, Ir'Houwl ordered that new camps be constructed whilst other groups went to explore further into the surroundings, although caution was greatly advised due to the confirmed presence of sapient, hostile livings, it would be a great waste not to take advantage of the fact that no destructive heat was crashing down on them from the sky, especially when they had no idea when the pale blue sun might go away and leave place to the burning temperatures again.

And so, more of the minor lord's troops were funnelled into the desertic realm, spreading out to set up camps all around the main one, Ir'Houwl planned on not just establishing oases, but build the camp close enough to one another that they would be able of planting cooling trees in the distance that separated them from one another to truly solidify their hold over the area.

Being that it housed their only way back and forth between this realm and the main world, they should spare some time to make the surroundings especially safe and make sure that their control could not be questioned, so the creation of a large oasis was begun.

An act of large enough proportions to be noticed by the three hunters from afar as they saw trees like they had never seen before rise up over the horizon, different the palm-like trees that spread cool air over their surroundings, these were the one who produced the wood used in the construction of the camp, they were much taller and possessed a ashen grey, thick canopy of leaves that obstructed light, making it so that not only would the area under the control of the undead would be cooled down, but also drowned in darkness.

Further strengthening the position as otherwise, here in this realm, there had been no sight of actual darkness, even the dim-looking blue sun cast well enough light for a diurnal being to see perfectly well, in fact, it was probable that the majority of creatures wouldn't have even seen true dark, meaning that flooded the camps and their surrounding with it would naturally scare everything away.

Livings tended to fear darkness, after all- Or rather, they feared the unknown quantity that may dwell within the dark, they are afraid of what they could not understand nor fathom, as such, bringing darkness and deep shadows to this realm that seemingly knew neither would bring terror alongside.

Although yet unaware of just how deeply what laid beneath these talls trees would be deprived of sunlight, the three hunters were indeed afraid as they saw the speed with which the undeads were developing, without anything or anyone willing to get in there way or otherwise bully them, they just sprawled all over the place, into every directions that was available.

That swiftness was definitely worrying, undeads could work without stop, and with the rather simplistic architecture Ir'Houwl decided to go with, they could work even faster than most, coupled with the quickly grown trees provided by Yuolrt, the problem that was the sun and heat that she suspected would eventually return, would be at least solved when they were within the walls of their camp.

Despite being greatly worried about the sort of expansion occurring before their very eyes, the hunter trio did not intervene, or rather, the healer wished for them to do something, but the knight was against it.

"There are clearly more of them compared to before, Miss Archer saw the camp and told us that it couldn't have been holding so many of the corpses, meaning that our two missing fellows were undone by fewer of them than there currently are" he reasonably explained.

"Thus, it is simply impossible for us to accomplish anything as it stands, I may be more powerful than the departed hammer-knight, but that is not enough, especially with Miss Archer wounded and you not being a combatant at heart, we would simply be overwhelmed"

The warpick-knight simply couldn't be argued with, but the healer couldn't help but be disturbed.

It may be certainly true that they couldn't do much, but was it truly wise to not do anything at all? To just wait for the next cycle and for Watchful Undeviginti to simply send out more of the hunters? How much would the creatures have progressed by that time?

"The situation might be out of control by the time we can encounter these cadavers again, would it not be wiser to at least inflict some damage, give them a small setback perhaps?" spoke the healer, the pendant around his neck held in his hand as he spoke.

The knight shook his head.

"What problem we might be capable of causing to them will be resolved in little time, you can see them working, they look just as efficient as the giant ants, but with more tools and thumbs, we would just be doing ourselves, and Watchful Undeviginti a disfavour by acting now"

"You are only saying this because you dote on that archer, you wouldn't be against it otherwise, I have seen you rush into less than favourable situations for nothing more than thrill and glory!"

"Mmh…" the knight shrugged.

"She's got the skill, but she isn't plagued by madness like us- Moreover, she has only been on three hunts before, she's still a child in my eyes, is it not natural to want to protect a child?"

"Only a madman like you could call a grown woman who killed dozens of people for sport, a child"

"I call whatever my eyes see for what they are"

There was no convincing the knight otherwise, and being that he was the strongest hunter in the group, his words could not be dismissed as he held the de facto position of leader amongst them three.

"Thankfully at least, these creatures decided to settle down far from any sensitive areas, with some luck, they won't have reached too far by the time Watchful Undeviginti's time to rule the desert comes back" the healer said, moving away to tend to the archer's wound.

"Will it be Sanguine Undeviginti, or Cleansing Undeviginti that is up next?" asked the knight.

"Neither, it should be Prime Undeviginti, or Illusory Undeviginti that takes over next"

"Prime Undeviginti again? This one already rules for most of the year…" the archer spoke up in the distance, walking over with leaf-looking bandages tied around her chest.

"He isn't called Prime for no reason, but it isn't like Illusory Undeviginti is any better, he is just like Prime Undeviginti but worse" responded the healer, truly, one of the best aspects of becoming a hunter for the pale blue sun was that they no longer had to deal with the others and could just enjoy the coolness of the desert.

As these words were spoken, the three hunters all looked up at their lord, the great eye fixated on the undead, fascinated by the work that was being put in place and just how rapidly the landscape of the desert was changing according to their vision and wishes, the environment bending to their will.

Indeed, it seemed likely that next time, all of the hunters would be deployed.