The Living Dead
 

Cara Newsman

UP: Great Lakes

    Greetings and well met! It is I, Cara Newsman,your Combat Chronicler. In the news today there was an unexplained uprising ofundead in the cemetery just north of Britain. Inhabitants of the graveyard roseup from their rest to attack the living residents of the city of Britain.

A call for aid was sent out from the Tower Criers, while others grabbed theirsilver weapons from the bank, I grabbed my sketchpad and quill to record theevents about to transpire. A pair of reapers greeted us when a group of aboutfifty fighters arrived at the cemetery to dance with the dead. They were theleast of the problems that day, though.

Inside I could hear the eerie moans of wraiths, the rattle of skeletal bonesand that chilling laugh that is so unique to liches. The fighters spread outover the usually peaceful cemetery and set to hacking the undead into littlepieces, returning their restless spirits to the peace of the afterlife.

The battle was not easily won, though. A first aid camp was set up near thesouth gates and mages were resurrecting those who�d fallen under the blade ofan undead. A few wandering healers made their way through the battle field aswell, offering help for those who could not make their way down to the first aidstation.

The first waves seemed simple, skeletons, wraiths and the occasional liche. Astime went on, the undead seemed to grow in strength, perhaps drawing power fromthe ones that were dying. Soon there were bone knights and bone mages crunchingtheir way through the cemetery. As if they were not bad enough, mummies andliche lords began to rise from the ground to lay waste to those around them.

I can�t rightly say how long the fighting went on. The sun rose and thenset while the fighters moved through the undead, silver blades glinting in thelight of the setting sun. It seemed rather sudden when it all ended. The wailsand moans were only coming from the living that were injured. A few stragglerskeletons were dispatched and the cemetery returned to its peaceful state.

No evil entity has come forward to claim responsibility for the dead rising andthe dead had no comments to make while they were shambling around. For now, theattack remains a mystery, perhaps never to be solved. I�m Cara Newsman, tillnext time, may the Virtues be with you.




From the Town Cryer - The Journal of Ultima Online, Thursday, August 3rd 2000