Of Liches

Season 01 - Episode 06.

The Sunken Woods are full of reagents of interest to alchemists... and to liches.

Credits:

• Alaric Von Beller - George Ledoux

Website: http://DeadhausSonata.com

Discord: https://discord.gg/XjUXa4v

Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/DeadhausGame

Created by Apocalypse Studios

 

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Second of Medilun, in the year 218 after Deadhaus
Long have I studied the dead in service ofthe Empire, for in the war with Deadhaus,
knowledge is mankind’s greatest weapon.Some cling to the gods, yet it was these very
gods that allowed this evil to befall us.No, it is only we who must deliver ourselves;

(00:26):
only by our cunning will mankind prevail.And so I search, from battlefield to battlefield,
through fen and moor and mountain. I observe,I record, I collect. Tools and weapons have
been crafted from my research, antidotes andsalves derived from my reports. Yet for all

(00:49):
my years of study, there is still so muchI fail to understand.
I was in the Sunken Woods, this time alone.I had come to gather reagents, forgoing an
escort in favor of a swifter journey. I thoughtit unlikely to encounter any undead so far
north, none that could have managed to slippast our sentries in broad daylight without alarm.

(01:15):
This complacency nearly cost me mylife, and by extension, the lives of so many more.
Having packed my satchel with all it couldcarry, I readied to depart the Sunken Woods
when at once a bluish glow cut through thegloom. I knew this light, had seen it before,

(01:37):
and so knew not to gaze upon it directly.It was a Will-O’-Wisp, a spirit of the marshes.
From my satchel I took a mirror and tiltedit to find the wandering orb that lit the
Sunken Woods. But I found something else.
A corpse was suspended above the flooded ground.My heart lurched, and I took cover behind

(02:04):
a tree. Its presence meant that one or moresentries were dead, and yet no alarm sounded.
It looked to be centuries old, a shriveledhusk wrapped in a gossamer burial shroud.
One arm, stunted and deformed, clutched anunlit lantern to the dead thing’s chest.

(02:27):
The other hung at its side. It hovered, unmoving,and gazed upon the Will-O’-Wisp. Slowly,
the arm at its side rose and pointed at thespirit.
What I recount now, I can only guess at. Throughthe mirror, I saw the orb of the Will-O’-Wisp

(02:48):
begin to waver and shift closer to the corpse.It seemed as if the spirit was compelled by
some soundless command, and though it struggledagainst the call, ultimately its form dissolved
into swirling fires that streamed into thelantern. Now the lantern was set alight with

(03:10):
the same blueish glow of the spirit, a luminousprison.
The corpse lowered its arm. Slowly, its sunkenface turned in my direction. I whipped back
around the tree, holding my breath. As carefullyas I could, I peeked the mirror out to glance

(03:31):
around the trunk. In its reflection, I sawthe corpse drifting soundlessly toward me.
Its head, usupported by ligaments, lulledto one side. I bolted from my cover as fast
as the swampy ground allowed, but my thoughtswere overwhelmed, as if a hundred voices had

(03:51):
begun to whisper at once.
My legs felt as if they were made of wood,and my sprint soon came to a halt. I knew
it was getting closer behind me, but evenwith all my fear, all my will, I could only
just barely move my toes. Then the whispersreceded, and a single voice, like a whispering

(04:16):
sigh, spoke as if from my own mind.
“Come,” it commanded. I felt my body turningto face the dead thing. Like the Will-O’-Wisp,
I tried to fight it, but my struggle onlydelayed the inevitable. The corpse drifted
nearer, its arm outstretched toward me, andas it drew close, I felt my skin deaden and

(04:43):
my blood grow cold. “Come,” it repeated.Even as I write this, I can remember how part
of me wanted nothing more than to obey thecall, as if the part of myself that remained
to me had been pushed into a tiny corner ofmy own mind.
I could feel that my face was stretched intoa scream, but no sound escaped me. As the

(05:10):
dead thing hovered just before me, my musclesseized, twisting my upper body and drawing
my limbs in toward my own chest. And so Istood there, hands frozen in claw-like clutch,
permeated by the presence of that… thing.
It reached out with two desiccated fingersand touched them against my locked-open eyes.

(05:36):
I did not feel the contact, but I did feel…I saw a vision. Briefly, I saw myself, as
if I were looking through the eyes of thedead thing, saw my paralyzed body, wracked
with terror, twisted, frozen in a silent scream.And then, when my own vision returned to me,

(06:02):
the dead thing was gone. The warmth slowlyreturned to my limbs, though they ached from
their unnatural contraction.
I fled the Sunken Woods. This was three daysago, yet I have not been able to sleep. Perhaps
recording this event will let me rest… butwhat was it? What was it doing in the Sunken

(06:28):
Woods? Why did it trap the Will-O’Wisp?Was it perhaps there for similar reasons as
myself? Was it gathering reagents? What didit do to me? I fear to seek counsel on this…
I will self-observe, monitor any changes.But for now, I must try to sleep. I hope that

(06:53):
I do not dream.
– Alaric von Beller, Grand Inquisitor ofthe Thacean Empire