Chapter Two: The beginning It was a beautiful winter morning in the small town of Crossroads, at least in the opinion of Bishop Seth, one of the founders. Crossroads was aptly named for two reasons, the obvious one being that it was on the edge of civilization. It was one of a handful of towns along the border but its location was deeper and far closer to the wild lands than most humans would care to live. The town looked much like a farming outpost, a few houses scatter around the center building that was generally a church or an inn, sometimes both. In this case the structure was neither. A round stone tower without windows and a flat stone roof stood out in this rural setting. In somewhat of a transition to the town, there was a wooden staircase around the outside of the tower to the top of the flat spire. This simple design disguised the wonders of the towers and the real reason for the name of the town. While there was only one entrance to the tower from the town, once inside there was a magical doorway that lead to a series of similar towers all over the world. No one was sure who created these towers but the ragtag group of adventures that discovered them decided it was a great place to settle. Each member could have their own town and lands to develop, as they desired; each could have a home that suited them best. Crossroads was the responsibility of all of them but Seth was most at home here, especially during the winter, mostly due to his religious calling. Not surprisingly, religion was the topic of conversation again today. The Bishop was discussing it with one of the younger members of their group, Eric, a fighter by trade who questioned all religion. "Eric, with the complexity of the world, no one can specialize in all aspects of life. While a God can do anything, if They did not concentrate on Their own specific spheres of control, or more appropriately entrust Their servants to specific areas of support, there would be no difference between one God or Another. There may as well be only one Religion, One God." Seth said with such calm but intense passion, intended to wake the spirit of his faithless friend. It did not work. "So,” Eric responded with equal calm, but without passion. "That is your excuse why you cannot not turn undead." "While I admit, I cannot not make the unholy creatures tremble in fear with only my strength of my Faith, my God and my Faith will be shown through the furry of my hammer and shield." Seth grabbed his hammer and thrust it out to emphasis his point. It was as if his words fell on deaf ears. Eric looked past him like he was already moving on to a different topic. Then he started to move on to the next topic. Eric pushed past his elder and started running down the tower stairs, yelling as he ran past "Feel free to prove your might, zombies heading this way!"
Bishop Seth took a moment to evaluate the situation for himself. He did not get to this point in his life by running at the first sign of trouble, to or from that trouble. Hopefully his young friend would learn that sooner than later. With the sun just starting to coming up over the tree line, it was easy to see humanoids approaching from just north and just south of the tower. While his eyesight was not what it once was, casting a spell to improve his sight was not needed; He could not tell what species they used to be, but the way they were dressed and walked were pretty unmistakable; zombies. There were twelve of them separated evenly into two distinct groups, maybe they has encountered some difficulties on the way, maybe the natural terrain had split them up. Either way, there was no question on what Eric was going to do, he would rush out to take on one group, he was more then capable of handling six of them. Seth would engage the balance, defensively hold them off until Eric finished with his and came back to finish them off. There would most likely be some minor damage to heal, but it was clearly the way this encounter would play out. Rather than running down, Seth took a moment to say a small chant, blend into the stone roof only to exit from the stone wall at the bottom of the tower. As he returned to flesh and regained his footage he glanced over to see Eric engage the enemy. The crafty fighter was swinging both his swords, a little brash but effective in this situation. Seth stepped up and to the left a few steps to keep himself between the zombies and the entrance to the tower. He could not keep Eric in direct line of sight but he could hear him. “Two down” the young swordsman yell as the second group of the zombies shuffled their way into striking distance of Seth. Seth’s large shield protected his right flank as the hammer in his left hand slammed into the first zombie that approached. It was not hard enough to destroy the creature, but it lost its balance. “Half way there, I’ll be there in minute” Eric called out, as if he was having fun. “They maybe mindless and soulless creatures, but do be careful, they do carry some nasty diseases.” Seth warned “Eeck, why did you have to say that? A piece of one of them just fell down the back of my collar and landed on my neck. Arrgug!” A cold chill ran down Bishop Seth’s spine as he heard his friend’s agony and the whole scene replayed itself in his mind. There was no randomness to the Zombies meandering. These mindless creatures were sent here on a mission. Seth didn’t have to look for the details he missed before, he had no time. He was down in a dungeon and much younger the last time he ran into what was referred to as Worm Zombies. While still mindless and soulless, this insidious variation was created by the most evil and devious villain. They looked like the typical Zombies at first glance and often hide within their ranks, but these undead have the eerie ability to procreate themselves by means of a small worm like piece of themselves that would actually jump onto a victim and burrow under the skin. The transformation was painful and quick and the cure was complicated, but there was no time to consider that now. Seth had to save his own skin before he could save poor Eric, who was already starting his transformation. The Bishop pushed his shield with all his might, just to get a moment to cast a quick spell. But his own brash move proved to be his undoing. As he dropped his hammer and shield and started his chant, a worm landed on his cheek. He tried to concentrate, to finish his chant but it was too late. He fell back, writhing in pain. Instinctively, he scratched at his face as he had no other weapons with which to cut it out. His last view was his former friend and the rest of the zombies surround him and make sure there was no escape as his mind and soul were consumed from within. Meanwhile, a dark shadow looked on from the top of the tower, guiding his creatures through the little village, eliminating any resistance and adding them to his growing squadron. It followed then into the tower and guided them on their path of conquest to parts all over the world.
