NecroBotany

Ysharra warmly praises, "Thank you, everyone, for attending our lectures over the course of the week-end. We have enjoyed being your hosts, and we hope you have enjoyed the topics, the artwork, and our beloved home away from home, the Alabaster Spire."

Ysharra begins, "There is a social theory that we are seeing across Elanith- civilizations reach a point where they have large, densely-populated urban centers that rely on the labor to support that progress, especially agriculture. And in order to support something of that size, agricultural labor is harsh and oppressive. This social theory states that this state is inevitable, especially when that agriculture is not only supporting the population, but their markets. Commercial agriculture is primarily done by those in some manner of slave, explicit or implicit."

Ysharra says, "The slave-state or slave society progression, as it's often called."

Ysharra suggests, "People who have been the target for other forms of institutional oppression tend to be overrepresented in slavery, as well. Half-elves and half-Kral in the Empire, humans and gnomes around the Nations and so on. On top of that, these civilizations have supplanted smaller settlements and caused demographic shifts. For example, Bourth is now home to a majority of humans, instead of Sylvans and elves, so you have the same space of land supporting a people who breed much faster and more often than its former inhabitants."

Ysharra adds, "Humans not only need more land for crops, their shorter lifespans and increased birth rates mean they need crops and land for animal husbandry, as well. The deforestation and water reclamation issues alone present a clear and present danger to a number of environments."

Ysharra continues, "The increase in population and farmland in Wehnimer's Landing, for example, has directly led to a raising of the water temperature in the Locksmehr, which encourages fungal growth. This in turn has resulted in infection and mass death of amphibians, the primary predator species for mosquitoes. I don't have to tell you what will happen from that."

Ysharra offers, "But in case I do, I'll spell it out. It means plague."

Ysharra says, "The stain of slavery has already taken its toll on our history, and soon it will become catastrophic for our health and our environment. In light of these crises, I offer a possible solution that may on its face look a like this fellow, here. Unsavory."

Ysharra takes a few steps toward an animated krolvin mercenary.

Speaking to an animated krolvin mercenary, Ysharra says, "Welcome."

Speaking to Ysharra, Yardie says, "You mean...use...."

(Ysharra walks over to Melikor's animate, meeting its miasmal stare. She stops directly in front of it, and lowers her hands toward the ground, concentrating. A few moments later, vines of green and brown burst forth from the soil, reaching toward the animate.)

Speaking to Yardie, Ysharra says, "Hear me out, Yardie."

Ysharra observes, "Not very pretty, is it? And just think. There are thousands just like it, all around us. Reivers. Krolvin. Bandits, kobolds, orcs, shelfae- creatures and people who oppose us, attack us, who we cut down for safety's sake without even thinking about it. And all of them within a few leagues of the Landing, Solhaven, Ta'Illistim- everywhere that's anywhere."

Lylia says, "An abundant resource."

Ysharra solemnly acknowledges, "When most of us look at an act of necromancy, we often think about our distant history, Despana's horde, or something far more recent, those who come back and haunt us in the Graveyard, Shadow Valley and so on. It's frightening, makes us uneasy. But so, I would hope, does slavery and species extinction."

(Laehna shudders delicately.)

(Ysharra's vines slither over the animate's legs, curling up into its frame. As they move, the earth caught in their grip begins to mold into the creature's flesh, filling out the spots riddled with decay. Here and there you can see a centipede or a worm wriggling through the soil-infused muscle.)

Ysharra gazes with awe at an animated krolvin mercenary.

Vaikhen's face turns slightly pale.

Laehna looks thoughtfully at an animated krolvin mercenary.

Ysharra wryly asserts, "Perhaps it's akin to how we look at those writhing insects and nightcrawlers. When we see a bug, almost all of us experience some level of revulsion, even toward the species such as these who are greatly beneficial for farming."

Rohese looks thoughtfully at an animated krolvin mercenary.

Ysharra says, "Those fat fellows under his brow there could fertilize a whole flowerbed."

Ysharra points at an animated krolvin mercenary.

Rohese closes her eyes for a moment.

Lylia glances at an animated krolvin mercenary.

Melikor nods at Ysharra.

(Ysharra crosses her hands, reaching again toward the writhing vines, and deep green leaves sprout and unfold across the creature's surface, giving the skin a verdant, waxy covering that gleams under the early evening sun. Here and there a few bright purple musk thistles shoot out alongside, turning the animate into a standing garden.)

Ysharra nods slowly to the krolvin mercenary.

Ysharra says, "That's better."

Rohese surreptitiously glances at an animated krolvin mercenary.

Ysharra admits, "This isn't anything more than window dressing, but if research gave us the ability to turn this animate into something that could push a plow, sow a field, the wood and the earth would make him more resilient to rot and the elements."

Vaikhen stares into space, appearing to ponder multiple possibilities and potential nuances.

Yardie buries his face in his hands.

Meril cocks her head at Yardie.

Ysharra says, "The greenery gives him more than just beauty, it keeps him from rottiing."

Ysharra says, "And perhaps would shore up his dexterity and balance. Make a stronger animate who would last longer, work harder."

Ysharra adds, "And who knows, the more we learn, perhaps we could use them for other danger-wrought labor, like mining, or bleach fields, millwork, textile operations..." She pauses a moment, furrowing her brow, and a final line of beautiful, bell-like blossoms open on the animate's head, crowning it in flora. "The possibilities could mean the end of brutish lives of backbreaking labor for our fellows and their children."

Ysharra muses, "Perhaps this act of necromancy, instead of revulsion, could become like our feeling when we see a butterfly or dragonfly spiraling about in the summer's breeze, lighting down on a flower like this animate's crown. A feeling of freedom, of hope...a poetry of possibility that so few of us know."

(Ysharra turns toward the audience, spreading her hands, releasing the controlling magic on her vines, which quickly abandon the animate and fall to the ground, trailing about the grass for a few moments before vanishing.)

Ysharra speculates, "A workforce that does not eat, does not feel pain, or exertion. One that will not be composed of children as young as age five, working from dawn until well past dark. All that has to be done is the research, meaning the Sorcerers' and Rangers' Guild would need the resources and permissions to experiment."

Rohese bites her lip.

Ysharra says, "Children can go to school, instead of being worked to death, starved."

(Vaikhen scribbles some hasty notes.)

Ysharra reminds, "The Faendryl have already advanced the magic of necromancy far beyond what it once was, as you could see, that animate was totally under Melikor's control, and no risk to anyone. If for any reason his concentration would have faltered, the magic would have been withdrawn, turning the corpse into nothing more than ash. And you know, any gardner will tell you, bone ash is not a bad thing for growing roses and tomatoes."

Speaking to Melikor, Ysharra says, "Let it go, now, love. His visit is at an end."

Ysharra rests a gentle hand on Melikor's arm.

Melikor snaps his fingers at an animated krolvin mercenary.

The krolvin mercenary hits the ground with a less than elegant thud.

Ysharra understandingly says, "I know that it's still a daunting association for many of you. But isn't the potential worth exploring? Think of all the opportunity and improvement we could give to our world's most oppressed and miserable. Make those pretty speeches about tolerance and peace mean something. Give them hope, give them the chance to know something besides toil."

Rohese lets out a sigh of relief.

Lylia places a hand over her heart.

Ysharra concludes, "Thank you again, for your own act of tolerance in listening to what I had to offer, and for attending my lecture and those of the other fine members and guests of the Faendryl Enclave. I hope at the very least, if I have not convinced you, I have given you something to consider. Please, be well, and go in good health."

Ysharra says, "Did anyone have any questions for me? Please, keep in mind that I don't actually know how to make a reanimated farm worker, yet. Just know my way around growing vines, even across a very odd sort of trellis."

Ysharra says, "Eiliriel, I think you said first."

Ysharra asks, "Did you have a question?"

Ysharra smiles at you.

You say, "Yes."

Ysharra turns to face you.

You ask, "How do you see the animated farm workers helping with humans needing more and more land?"

Vaikhen flushes slightly, some color reaching his cheeks.

Ysharra says, "I would hope that being tireless, they would be able to work rotated crops more efficiently."

Ysharra says, "And that would assist in keeping the development down to settlements, instead of encroaching into woodlands and wetlands."

Rohese's face turns slightly pale.

Meril softly says, "It would not."

Speaking in Elven, Laehna softly says, "You've given me much to think of and ponder."

Ysharra says, "There's still much research to be done, of course. It's a good question, I wish I had a more thorough answer."

Ysharra says, "Vaikhen, I think you were next."

Vaikhen clears his throat.

You agree, "There is time to think it over or find a more permanent solution."

Speaking to Ysharra, Lylia says, "Had I the power and the wealth, you would have all that you need for such research."

Speaking cautiously to Ysharra, Vaikhen asks, "Pardon my ignorance ... but with necromancy - well. How do I? Hmm. How much of the person is ... left ... inside?"

Ysharra says, "None."

Vaikhen curiously asks, "Do we know this for fact?"

Speaking to Vaikhen, Melikor says, "Nothing at all, they are completely under my control."

Ysharra asks, "At least, as I understand it, love?"

Speaking to Vaikhen, Melikor says, "They move at my every command."

Lylia explains, "You can think of it as a sort of...meat sheath. The animating principle is the sorcerer's will, not the former inhabitant's soul."

Speaking to Vaikhen, Melikor says, "They are, in fact, already dead."

Ysharra says, "The animated corpses that sorcerers create are not true undead."

Speaking nervously to Melikor, Yardie mutters, "With no chance to break out of it? No chance for that control to falter? Things can go wrong."

Ysharra says, "There is no soul within them, they are, as he said, dead."

Ysharra says, "Golem might be a better term for them."

Speaking to Yardie, Ysharra says, "You just saw what happens."

Vaikhen worriedly says, "I understand and appreciate the practicality. But I fear many will ... not be very accepting."

Ysharra nods at Vaikhen.

Speaking to Yardie, Melikor says, "No, as Ysharra said earlier, it would simply revert to a lifeless corpse."

Vaikhen admits, "It gives me quite a bit of pause, I have to say."

Bekke says, "That mercenary seems to have a modicum of remembrance, even if it is just a reflexive one."

Zannath asks, "Forsooth! Might I suggest something most suggestable?"

Lylia says, "It is the difference between necromancy as it is commonly practiced and the restive undead. They are souls bound to these rotting forms..."

Ysharra says, "I agree. It's something we would have to work to educate, about."

Speaking to Bekke, Vaikhen says, "Precisely my fear."

Speaking to Bekke, Melikor says, "Simply a reflex."

Speaking to Bekke, Ysharra says, "I think that is just an imprint, I've seen the reivers wink at me, when they're dead."

Speaking nervously to Ysharra, Yardie says, "I saw what happened, now. Nature reacts. There's always an ebb and flow. I'm not fond of the krolvin. Never have been. But it seems...wrong. And that's...all I'll say. Forgive me, but I can't help but speak my mind."

Zannath asks, "I am mused with inspiration! May I share my thought?"

Ysharra says, "Of course."

Lylia loftily says, "People always find something 'wrong' when they do not understand it."

Ysharra says, "Well, I might mention that the krolvin have been raiding our settlements for ages."

Zannath says, "In my travels, I've seen rotting woodsmen in the forests of Solhaven, and rotting farmhands near Icemule. To recruit such workers means you've already a trained lot! Perhaps even the spectral miners in the local graveyard... if they were actually corporeal..."

Lylia says, "A kind of muscle memory, then. Being able to use the bodies of those who have performed these tasks, it makes sense."

You reasonably say, "Sorcerers have ways of making such creatures corporeal, at least for a time."

Lylia says, "Much as many people have preconceived notions of the Faendryl."

Vaikhen rubs his chin thoughtfully.

Zannath exclaims, "Surely something of their bodies is conditioned to the works already! Forsooth!"

Yardie whispers aloud, "I don't know."

Ysharra asks, "It is, at least, worth a little research, yes?"

Speaking curiously to Zannath, Vaikhen says, "Is there not an issue there of the undead being tormented souls, instead of ... the dead? Plain dead? For lack of a better term."

Speaking quietly to Yardie, Meril says, "If you think it wrong, then it will be up to such as you to find the countermagic. It only takes a momentary ripple for the binding to fall, and then the fields will be abandoned in an instant."

Speaking tentatively to Ysharra, Rohese says, "I agree but I would advise caution."

Ysharra says, "Yes. They would still be vulnerable by the same magic and strength they are, now."

Ysharra says, "You could one and all put them down, with fire, with sword, and axe."

Ysharra asks, "Magister?"

Speaking to Vaikhen, Zannath exclaims, "Perhaps what they lack is purpose! To be a lumberjack that can no longer... lumber? But then they have their purpose once more!"

Speaking to Ysharra, Raelee says, "You spoke of the ranger and sorcerers' guilds acquiring permission..."

Speaking worriedly to Meril, Yardie says, "Up to me? Meril, I'm not like my Faendryl peers here. I can't wield, channel, or use magic. I've been this way since....childbirth."

Speaking to Ysharra, Raelee continues, "... while I do not necessarily agree that permission must be granted for intellectual inquiry..."

Speaking to Raelee, Ysharra says, "At least think of it as...activism."

Lylia agrees, "We do not always seek permission, it is true."

Speaking to Raelee, Ysharra says, "Those two guilds do not often cooperate. It's something that hardly ever even comes up, working together."

Raelee continues, "... some institutions will have a reflexive negative reaction to the necromantic aspects of this. Would you consider some merit in parallel research utilizing golems? Some bodies may find it... more palatable."

Speaking to Raelee, Yardie asks, "Golems?"

Lylia says, "Golems. Yes."

Speaking to Raelee, Ysharra says, "In fact, the golems may be a far superior idea in some circumstances, especially mining."

Speaking to Yardie, Raelee says, "Yes."

Speaking to Ysharra, Yardie says, "Mining."

Speaking to Raelee, Ysharra asks, "However, there is more risk with them, isn't there?"

Speaking to Ysharra, Raelee says, "Miners comprised of the very rock they collect."

Ysharra says, "I like the poetic nature of that thought."

Speaking to Ysharra, Raelee says, "A loss of control is possible, yes."

Ysharra asks, "So we could combine the sorcerers, rangers and mages, yes?"

Raelee says, "Though unlike a corpse, which comes as is, a golem can be designed."

Speaking to Ysharra, Melikor says, "We do have a near endless supply of flesh golems available, you know."

Raelee says, "Wisdom would dictate designing it in such a fashion where it has limited ability to do harm even if control is lost."

Ysharra says, "Also, I should proffer that all civilazations that reach a certain quality of life have their birth rates drop."

Lylia says, "It is elegant, yes. But if we use one sort of clay, we should not shrink from using another. Clay is clay, and the mortal vessels that we leave broken and bleeding after every good hunt are left to rot."

Ysharra says, "Look at the elves, for example."

Ysharra says, "Once you do not need multitudes of offspring to work your fields, people stop having mouths they can't feed."

Ysharra says, "Unwanted children will become the exception, instead of the majority."

Lylia adds, "Most people. Those who have too many children could even covert a few to --"

Xred says, "Oh children do taste the best."

Xred says, "Plump little legs."

You lightly say, "How nice. Xred will fix the problem of unwanted children."

Lylia concludes, "...well, to other occupations. Besides farming."

Speaking to Xred, Yardie says, "They're children."

Xred says, "I volunteer."

Rohese lowers her gaze.

Xred says, "Goes well with pie."

Vaikhen cautiously says, "Speaking from ... a human perspective. I ... well. I somehow doubt that reducing the need for labor will reduce humankind's birthrate. At least not by much."

Yardie nervously says, "Forgive me, I....need some air."

Rohese uneasily apologizes, "I think I might take a walk."

Speaking softly to Ysharra, Rohese says, "Thank you for the enlightening discussion."

Speaking affectionately to Lylia, Rohese says, "I will return for your talk."

Ysharra says, "It may, Tamzyrr's has dropped since they became a seat of power as well as commercial might."

Ysharra says, "Nydds has also followed the same track."

Speaking curiously to Ysharra, Vaikhen says, "Is that so? Interesting."

Ysharra says, "Granted, they have not leveled off to the degree of Ta'Illistim, but the latter were never as high to begin with."

Lylia says, "As you see prosperity increase, birth rates decrease. This is a truism across virtually all cultures and eras."

Ysharra says, "Most of the elves I know have one or two siblings. I think I met one sylvan family who had five children in seven hundred years."

Xred asks, "So what is the best monster to animate?"

Xred asks, "Rift monster?"

Xred asks, "Most powerful?"

Nazarr says, "I have three siblings. Granted, my family is not typical."

Archales says, "One that won't quite kill you in the process."

Ysharra says, "I suppose, as it relates to Eiliriel's question, I hope this would be a way to at least slow the progress."

Lylia says, "Good question. I would think that would depend on the purpose of the animation."

Ysharra says, "And create some breathing room while we work on other ways to conserve our environment."

You idly say, "If Xred has more siblings, that could help as well."

Melikor says, "For farming? No, something humanoid would be best."

Speaking to Lylia, Xred says, "Beat down and dismember other monsters."

Xred starts chuckling at you!

Vaikhen appears to be trying hard not to grin.

Xred taps a dwarven scalp wedding band that he is wearing.

Xred shows you a dwarven scalp wedding band, which he is wearing. The desiccated skin and flesh is set between two circles of iron, and iron threadings shaped like a coil of barbed wire wrap around the band itself.

Ysharra asks, "I think a lot of work needs to be done, hm?"

Lylia says, "I do enjoy animating rift crawlers, but I have had incidents with animating vaespilon."

You gaze in amusement at Xred.

Xred asks, "Oh?"

Xred says, "I found the best plae to get blood is a warcamp."

Xred says, "Or experinced blood."

Ysharra says, "Well, Lylia's conversation is due to start soon."

Ysharra asks, "Would you all like to get out of the rain?"