Outside The School Gates, Saturday
3 January 2026 15:04![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deathsmajestyLiliana had been informed that she was a faculty advisor for a new student, Sairis Karkaroth, which meant that going to today's picnic was mandatory, even if it meant going out in weather pretty much tailor-made for staying inside for. Perhaps next winter, they could campaign for an indoor picnic. With wine.
The rickshaw driver had nearly made it to the gates when Liliana stiffened, looking around wildly. She'd caught a stray bit of magic, which wasn't terribly surprising on this island, except for the type of magic. It was necromancy. "Hold," she called. She wasn't going anywhere until she knew what - and who - she'd caught wind of. A shade was summoned and dispatched at the speed of thought, and returned almost as quickly.
Come, it whispered in her mind. Found. Shades were not thrilling conversationalists, no. But whatever it was, it was not an immediate threat, and so she stepped out of the rickshaw and followed the shadowy form of herspy scout. It led her around a curve in the wall to a random bit of hedge near the school gate, to where a horse had been left.
But not just any horse.
A zombie horse.
A zombie horse she hadn't raised. And, considering how his magic worked, neither had Erasmus. Then who in the Abyss had?
"Come here," she ordered. The horse didn't move. Her eyes narrowed further; it had clearly been ordered to stay where it was. Mmm. That wouldn't do. "Come here," she repeated, this time backing up her command with enough mana that her scars lit up with purple light. That was enough to snap the other necromancer's control over the horse; they'd likely only put enough power in the order to keep the horse from wandering off, not to fight another necromancer for possession of it. "You're a wreck of a thing, aren't you?" she murmured to it, though it was clear that most of the damage had been done to it in life, not in death. "Time to discover who you belong to, no?"
And, more specifically, to discover whether or not a foe had come to Fandom Island.
[Mostly establishy, but open if anyone is interested! Zombie horse modded with permission]
The rickshaw driver had nearly made it to the gates when Liliana stiffened, looking around wildly. She'd caught a stray bit of magic, which wasn't terribly surprising on this island, except for the type of magic. It was necromancy. "Hold," she called. She wasn't going anywhere until she knew what - and who - she'd caught wind of. A shade was summoned and dispatched at the speed of thought, and returned almost as quickly.
Come, it whispered in her mind. Found. Shades were not thrilling conversationalists, no. But whatever it was, it was not an immediate threat, and so she stepped out of the rickshaw and followed the shadowy form of her
But not just any horse.
A zombie horse.
A zombie horse she hadn't raised. And, considering how his magic worked, neither had Erasmus. Then who in the Abyss had?
"Come here," she ordered. The horse didn't move. Her eyes narrowed further; it had clearly been ordered to stay where it was. Mmm. That wouldn't do. "Come here," she repeated, this time backing up her command with enough mana that her scars lit up with purple light. That was enough to snap the other necromancer's control over the horse; they'd likely only put enough power in the order to keep the horse from wandering off, not to fight another necromancer for possession of it. "You're a wreck of a thing, aren't you?" she murmured to it, though it was clear that most of the damage had been done to it in life, not in death. "Time to discover who you belong to, no?"
And, more specifically, to discover whether or not a foe had come to Fandom Island.
[Mostly establishy, but open if anyone is interested! Zombie horse modded with permission]