This is an idea that I thought of not too long ago, and I've decided to start writing it since I'm in a slump with my other FanFic.

Introduction, Southeast Morrowind

In the Imperial West of Tamriel, the practice of Necromancy has been legalized for centuries. Despite that fact it is not widely accepted and very few openly practice it. In the eastern province of Morrowind, it is neither legal nor accepted becuase of native Dunmer tradition. Some westerners, often fugitives or refugees, attempt to practice Necromancy in secret. This is the story of a Necromancer and his Apprentice, their battle against centuries of tradition and their flight from the wrath of the gods themselves.

Part I

"God's blood! Why won't you rise you infernal slab of petrified flesh?" An Imperial in a tattered green robe sulked in the corner of a Dunmer tomb, a scowl etched into his face.

"Calm yourself, Casca, you'll put strain on your body. You're barely seventeen, and you've already got worry lines. You're going to look like me when your less then a third my age!" An elderly Breton said, putting a hand on the Imperial's shoulder. "You've forgotten to bind the flesh at the knees. He can't rightly stand with no legs, can he?"

"No sir, I suppose not. Will you show me how to do it again?" The boy asked as humbly as possible. He knew he was very fortunate to be in Kane's tutilage, the old man disliked children almost as much as he hated the Tribunal Temple.

Kane had taken Casca as an apprentice two years previously, realizing that if his knowledge was to live on he would need to pass it to another. Necromancers almost always knew when it was their time to die, death was their life and their lifelong goal was to die for their work.

"Of course, my boy. I shouldn't have expected so much of you. This is your first bonewalker, and they are far more complex than skeletons." Taking an iron rod that was bent into a U-shape, he placed it over the corpse's leg at the knee. A spike was then set in one end of the U and pushed through the joint. The other end was then fastened to the U, creating an artificial knee for their new servant. "There, you see? Now you try on the other knee."

"Yes sir!" Casca grabbed the rod and spike. Setting them through at a slightly akward angle, he looked questioningly at his master.

"Don't ask me if you did it right, you can ask him in a moment." Kane said with an approving smile. "Now, perform the ritual again and we shall see just how well you are coming along."

Casca went through the motions, lighting candles and imposing his will into the corpse. A dry rasping filled the air as a small cloud of dust fountained from the body's mouth. "It's working!" he could hardly believe it, "Corpious, I am your master an I have raised you as my servant. Do as I say and I will release or keep you as you wish. Fight my will and I will condemn you to a fate far worse than you have suffered thus far." Casca said this very carefully, recalling an incident where he had forgotten to do so and the skeleton he had been raising had nearly strangled him to death.

The bonewalker stood, shifting his weight off of the leg that Casca had bound. Pointing vaguely towards Kane, the rasping breath shaped into the question: "Whooooo?" Kane looked at Casca, waiting for his response.

"Corpious! You are not to question me, you are to serve me. Do you see the sword on the altar behind me?" The bonewalker nodded, "Cross the room and retrieve it for me."

The bonewalker did so, and after three steps the knee Casca had bound tore, leaving him with only half of his leg. He attempted to continue his lurching path with little sucess. Kane stepped over the fallen body and brandished the sword that was the slave's goal. In one swift and precise motion he severed head from body. The fallen slave crumbled away, leaving a pile of dust and bonemeal on the floor. Kane looked up to Casca, "You did well, my boy. Your binding needs work, but your dominance over him was clear and admirable. Now, go home and get some rest. I will find you when it is time for you next lesson."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." Casca turned on heel and jogged to the exit. Leaving his robe behind, he now wore black pants and a worn cotton shirt. Within minutes he had crossed the bridges into Vivec City. Once he was at the Saint Deyln canton near the palace, he approached his house at West Two.

Once inside, he greeted his mother happily and took a piece of bread from a basket on the table. His mother placed a hand on his shoulder, and she was cold. "Casca, the Ordinators were here today."

Casca's mind went blank. "Were they? What ever could they need?"

"They've accused you of necromancy. I tried to tell them that you just practice archery in the wilds but they say they've seen you creeping about the tombs with some old man." As far as she knew she was telling the truth, she wasn't aware of Casca's real reasons for leaving the house. She was as superstitious as the confounded Dunmer sometimes, and he doubted she'd understand.

"How odd! You know I have a morbid fear of the tombs just as you do!" He said, "I'll head to the Justice Offices and try to clear this up." He was already at the door when she pulled him back.

"No. You can't go to them, they'll take you and have you killed without trial. These are Hlaalu or Cyrodilian guards, these are Indoril! Go, now. I've already packed some provisions for you."

"What will you do?" Casca said, taking the package his mother presented him numbly.

"Just... Go." She pushed him out into the open, and shut the door quietly. Standing where she left him, Casca heard the door lock. Five minutes later, he was running full speed for Kane's home.

Wow... this is very good... a young boy praticing necromancy under the noses of the ordinators... well until he got caught... I hope you update soon ...

Kudos Legato... Kudos

Wow... this should be fun... an apperntice necromancer and a necromancer vs Ordinators...

Looks promising, please continue.

Wow, I didn't think I would get suh a great reception. Thanks guys!

Part II

Loud cracking echoed through the vastly empty tomb as Kane adjusted his neck. At a small circular table he ate a loaf of bread which he occasionally dipped in a clay bowl full of bonemeal. He had cleaned up the dust from today's lessons, and he had placed his equipment in a wooden box behind the altar.

Just as Kane stood up, the tap-tapping of rapid footsteps caught his attention. Making a signal with his hand, a skeletal archer faded in from the shadows with its bow trained on the closed door.

The door burst open and the skeleton loosed an arrow with deadly precision. Casca stopped running, frozen in place. Looking down and patting his body he looked up quizically. A sharp sound of metal shifting was followed by a dull thud as an Ordinator hit the ground behind him.

"That fetcher has been crawling around my home for days now under a heavy illusion spell. I've just been dying to do that." Kane muttered, pulling Casca through the door and locking it behind them. "Now, what could possibly make you come stampeding into my home unanounced and without your robe?"

"The- The Ordinators..." Casca was gasping for air now that he stopped running. Leaning against the wall, he motioned for Kane to come closer.

"What is it boy? Out with it!" Kane shook the Imperial roughly, but then added in a much gentler tone "What has happened Casca?"

"The Ordinators know about us. They know about you, and about me. They know that we're Necromancers."

"You are not yet a Necromancer, lad," Kane laughed, "Go back now and you'll recieve some time in the dungeons of Ebonhart and nothing worse."

"I'm not letting them take you. You've been like the father that I was denied. The father they denied me." The Ordinators had burned Casca's father to death in the crossfire during a raid on a Theives Guild operation in the Hlaalu Canton.

"I cannot convince you to leave me, can I?" Kane already knew the answer, but felt it necessary to ask anyways. Casca favored him with a look that could boil a flame atronach.

"No. What are you going to do when House Indoril is knocking down your door demanding your head on a spike?" Casca was no longer breathing hard from exertion, but in a fit of rage that had Kane concerned.

"Calm down before you put your body in more stress than it already is. We're leaving." Kane moved to the altar and picked up the wooden box. Removing the sword from the box and strapping it to his dark robes, he continued. "First we must seperate from one another. You will travel to Dagon Fel, from whence you will go to Khuul. From Khuul you will take a boat to Solstheim where I will meet you at the Raven Rock Mining Company, in the bottom of the mines."

"Where will you be while I go spelunking? I hardly think you can stay here."

"That is no concern of yours. Please, my boy, stay to the eastern edge of the island. The Telvanni have a flagrant disreguard for the Tribunal, and while they won't help you, they'll hinder the Indoril with everything they can. They consider it a sport, almost." Kane placed a hand firmly on the head of the skeleton archer, and tore the topmost half of the skull off. "If you need anything from the Telvanni councilors, go to Aryon and stay away from Gothren no matter how desperate you are. Give Councilor Aryon this skull as a bargaining peice if he is in a foul mood. Otherwise you'll have quite some trouble making him cooperate."

"Yes master."

The two of them left the tomb late that night, long after the moons had shown themselves. Kane turned to Casca, and with more affection than the breton had ever shown, said "Remember to stay in Telvanni territory boy."

Seconds later, he vanished.

Casca shouldered his pack and started his trek to the east.

Ha! Those stupid Telvanni help everyone!Not like my dear old Hlaalu (Oh, there's a price on your... Over here! The septims please! Thank you very much!)

I love this one. Very nice.

Hey, don't insult the Telvanni. They can be very mean when angered.
And they are not blinded by gold like the Hlaalu, they are blinded by power. What would you prefer when you were in trouble, a bag of gold or a spell of doom?

All the way to Raven Rock... wow that is a very long way... also a very long voyage for such a young boy... o well... I bet he can get there... especially if he passes through telvanni territory...

This is cetaianly an interesting story. Know you have my attention

I actually liked how they made the Hlaalu greedy, thought it was awesome...and I'd choose the gold.

Anyways great stuff there Legato, should be an interesting journey. Please continue.