[voice]

[burntbridges]

Has anyone else tried communing with the dead since they came here?

[Probably not - not only have the locals probably not had a mortal body in ages, she hasn't met a single person who knows about necromancy. It's a terrible shame.]

I can't find any human remains here, I'm not sure anyone even knew what I was talking about when I asked. I found a dead animal yesterday - I think it was dead - but it didn't make any noise. I can't tell if something's wrong with me, or... if death just works differently here. I haven't even been able to hear my crow since I got here.

[There's a long pause while she stews in her distress, before adding on what seems like an unrelated thought.]

Does anyone know how to hire a maid?

Comments

[burntbridges]

There's still time.

[Which is said thoughtfully, without any feelings one way or the other. Death is inevitable.]

Tell me more about this apparition. Do you mean a ghost?

[wakemelater]

[He snorts softly. He likes her already.]

Yes. Though not like any ghost I've encountered before. Which...I guess makes sense, this being a different world and all.

[burntbridges]

Ghosts aren't real, at least not in my world. The living can visit the dead, but the dead tend to stay where they belong. I suppose all of that would be different here.

But I take it you have some experience. Are there ghosts in your world?

[wakemelater]

There are. Most will go to the Underworld, but some will remain on the surface.

If there are no ghosts, then are they just corpses? Can they communicate?

[burntbridges]

There are souls, but they stay in the Netherworld. When we visit them, we call it death-walking. We can speak to them through their remains, but they have no say over what happens to the corpse. Once the soul dies, we use the corpse for manual labor until the bones are too old and brittle for our magic to hold it together.

Most people shy away when I speak about necromancy, here.

[wakemelater]

[Death-walking sounds badass.]

Their souls can die? [Bodies eventually crumbling away makes sense. But he's always known souls to be eternal.]

People fear death. It's natural. I don't mind it.