Wandering Eastward - What Am I?

Wandering Eastward is an ongoing series, so I've decided to do something strange - a new one will appear at Tuesday 8:00 pm (in Australian EDT) for the next four weeks. An update schedule! Why not. If I write more I'll add them to the schedule, too, unless I took so long that all were posted.

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Wandering Eastward - What Am I?

                "Can I choose what you'll speak of first?" asked Soff. They were taking the first steps of their journey along the road together, Taoten hobbling along on his stick. He had neatened up his clothes, and removed the armoured parts. The end result made him look like the poorest of the poor - but it was better than being marked as one of the undead.

                "Of course," Taoten replied.

                "What are we? You said some, before, but it wasn't much. I'd like to know everything about what I am," she requested.

                Taoten smiled, and began to speak, "A good place to start. But where should I start? Well. As you know, we are undead - very definitely undead. We fit the definition the old great lords came up with quite clearly, unlike many. For a particular classification, we are life-drainers. The name we were given in the secret undead tongue roughly translates to 'once-caged-mage-wights', but that was... wrong. Reclassification was put off, and as such, our kind are nameless.

                "We have two life-draining abilities; an aura that takes a little from about fifty metres around us, weakening over distance, and the ability to rapidly drain life from what we touch. It is not limited to our hands - we can drain life with our feet just as rapidly. We are not a kind cursed with great hungers or desires; our desire - or even need - to feed is not overwhelming. I suspect you have found this out already.

                "Not feeding will causes us to weaken, and eventually waste away. This takes a long time - and, so long as our aura can find even the smallest of lives to feed from, we will persist. In barren lands, draining the occasional tree or animal is plenty to fill us.

                "We cannot hoard the power we drain. Sadly, even with my experience I am unable to store the energy to heal myself from severe wounds. You can likely figure out what this means: draining a human to death is, for us, pointless. The excess energy is spent regenerating minor issues, then simply vented. It cannot be contained past that we can hold; it spills out, as if from a filled vessel. As I told you before, your death was due to necessity." Taoten paused.

                "Just keep going," said Soff.

                "Upon revival, we are not very different from how we were in life. We can cry, laugh, play, though our pains are dulled we still feel. The only noticeable difference is the lack of breeding impulses - we are not amongst the handful of fertile undead. That is all I know of, apart from the trauma that dying often causes the mind.

                "Our bodies are somewhat stronger than humans, strangely to a near-identical level. This strength translates into greater toughness, as well; our flesh is hard to cut. Most useful, however, is that we can keep going for ever with but a touch of our aura active. Without it we would still take many weeks to become tired (though rest would not sooth us).

                "The appearance changes I believe you are familiar with. We have just barely strange skin, and our eyes are grey-green. They glow when we feed, from the power we are taking in; and also when we use that power to heal ourselves or for other uses. The ordinary grey-green is, I believe, from the slow burn of power that keeps us in this world.

                "Hmm, an aside. If it is raised, end your aura now. It is a powerful sign of our presence for many with magical skills, and I am sure this age is not devoid of them. I would rather not leave a path for us to be track along."

                "I haven't raised it," said Soff, bluntly. "I will take my steps towards truly being a monster slowly."

                "Good, good. I won't force you to feed. The final thing worth a mention is my magic."

                "You have magic? Which is why you are so confident of survival."

                "Yes. And, yes. I possess two kinds of magic: one you may be able to learn, and one you may have inherited. The first is the magic of the undead, which was shared between all the kinds. Mesmerisation, suggestion. I am no master, but it is enough to trick the unwary. As three hundred years have past, I doubt all will be truly wary, though I expect most will have been taught the way. Knowing is not enough.

                "The second kind of magic is known as the 'wyrm-gift'. It is a power given to me by the one who taught me how to use it, the dread wyrm Garamjar. He gave it to few others, and I was one of two who mastered its use. Around two thirds of those turned by me inherit it, to varying degrees of strength. You should hope to find yourself amongst them.

                "It is a strong power that allows for the emission of kinetic energy. Garamjar used it to tunnel through the earth, consuming all that was caught before him, but I have adapted it. I can blast aside arrows, turn an opponent's blade, or even send them tumbling away. Mastery of it is why I was a member of the cleansers, and a lord-protector of the third province. It will not manifest for a few days, but I will test you for it."

                "So," began Soff. "You plan to teach me how to use the dread magic of the undead, and a combat magic that I might have inherited? Aren't you worried that I will... If not use them against you, use them to go on a rampage or prove the threat you are to others?"

                Taoten smiled. "That is all a long way off. And if you truly wish to slaughter humans I will not stand in your way - I have not stood in the way of others wishing to do so. But we are not driven to, nor are we driven into meaningless evil. I do not figure you for the sort. As for other possibilities: at worst I shall have to head further east, beyond the reach of humans. We are a kind that do not fear the Dead Blight."

                They walked in silence for a while, until Taoten added, "What would you like to hear of next? Or do you have questions?"

                "Not yet. I'll dig down into the details later. Why don't you - tell me about yourself next? How did you become a 'caged-wight-creature'? How did you meet the dread-wyrm?"

                "Well," began Taoten, "My own story begins a long time ago, in a different universe..."