Stories of Hemenster

Being alone is never fun. Especially if you're a ghost. Like me. You see, I am Dancus Frumac, but you, reader, my refer to me as "Dan". I am a veteran of the Economy war, a worldwide disaster that nearly destroyed humanity 2 months ago. I got involved, and got killed. Since then, my allies and I have gone our separate ways. I live in Varrock, but I have no neighbors. In fact, my whole street is deserted because they're convinced my cottage is haunted. But, that's life as a ghost. But I don't like it. and I am going to put an end to this misery I've endured. I'm going to find some way to bring myself to life. Well, re-life I guess.

"How's it comin', Rai?" yelled a man to his apprentice.

"I can't get that rat to reanimate, Master," a girl, seemingly in hers 20's replied, "Let's face it. I stink at necromancy!"

"Now don't say that Raiah, you're still learning. I had trouble at first, too."

"Well this isn't at first, it's been 12 whole years since you took me under your wing and-"

"And I could just as easily kick you out. Now, continue to practice. You'll never be a master like me unless you practice like a madman," said the Master. He left Raiah to her work as he left the room. Entering his parlor, he stared out the window and out to Lake Hemenster. How he loved living in the little fishing village. It's so remote, he didn't have to worry a bit about the hunters who angle at witches and necromancers. In fact, that made him think a bit. In the past two months most of his Zamorakian friends had been arrested on a daily basis. But he had work. A huge cauldron of reanimation potion was stewing in his basement. And on that note, he went to attend to it.

My Master definitely doesn't think much of me. But I sure hope you will. This is my part of the story. I'm Raiah Gestoff, Necromancer in training. Or torture. My Master isn't exactly the most encouraging person in the world. But that name he had mentioned almost 2 months ago: Dancus James. That really set something off in my head. Who the hell was he? I wasn't sure, and my Master wasn't kind enough to inform me. Perhaps he's trying to get me to figure it out myself. Which I'm no exactly good at; considering I haven't even figured out how to reanimate a rat. Dancus James...Dancus is actually a pretty common name. But there are hundreds of ...um... Danci in this huge world! Who will be the man I'm looking for? And here's a con: I'm a Zamorakian! If he's a veteran of the Economy War, which he very well may be, then he would have to be Saradominist! Or Guthixian, but that faith isn't quite popular with humans. Even if I do meet him by some miracle...what would he need? This is confusing.

I had packed everything to get ready for my journey. Then I realized, I'm intangible! Grr. I guess I'd just have to teleport to wherever I'd go. Let's see, I could scour Kandarin! That lowlife land is still a hive of Zamorakian degenerates after 2 months. Surely I could find a Nercromancer or something. I'd have to find some runes first. So down to the basement I went; it's filled with runes from my mage days. I eventually found found the ones I needed. I teleported myself to Seer's Village. The town was very vacant; almost every house for sale, life sales on every lawn. The aftermath of the Economy War still wreaked havoc on this quiet village. And it was all because of those stupid Zamorakians. The entire world hated them now, and of good reason. And, ironically, I'm looking for one. I quickly left the village and engendered on to Hemenster. This little village, which barely scrapes the title, had seemingly survived unscathed, jumping back up on rising fish prices. It's not hard to find a business in Hemenster, and I found what I was looking for. A large sign hung over a building in the backwaters of town. 'THE MASTER AND CO. NECROMANCY SOLUTIONS'. Perhaps this is exactly what I need...

"Up, down, swirl my hand...grrr! This damned rat!" yelled a frustrated Raiah Gestoff.

"Calm down Rai!" hollered the Master from the basement, "And would you please get me some more trilafunlifica leaves?"

"Yes, Master." Raiah hollered back down, "We don't have any more! I'll need to head into town to find some!"

"Okay, but take the back exit! We don't want you scaring off customers!" Raiah promptly headed towards the back door. There was so little space between the door and Lake Hemenster that only a person very agile could find a way out without getting wet. And Raiah was perfect for the job. She walked slowly towards the Seer's Village. The Herbalist always has some trilafunlifica growing in her pot garden. She went over and rang the bell by the entrance.

"Why hello Rai!" said the Herbalist happily, "What do you need now?"

"Trilafunlifica."

"Ah! I got some growing right here! How much do ya be needin now?"

"An eighth kilo should suffice."

"That'll be 40 gold, m'lady."

"Umm...the business is short on cash; are you willing to barter?"

"Fine. Whatcha got?"

"Well, we have a walnut tree to the side of the building, I could gather some for you. How's a kilo sound?"

"Wonderful!"

"Good; expect it within the fortnight!" said Raiah as she left the shop, herb in hand. She could see the Master's shop from where she was standing. She heard a voice, one with a Varrockian accent.

"Hello? Hello? Sir? I'm Dancus James Frumac and I'd like to talk with you!"

"Oh...my...God," whispered Raiah, dropping the herbs to the ground.

"Sir! I need to talk to you please!" I said to the door. The door opened and out stepped a man in full black robes, a Zamorakian pendant gleaming in the bright sunlight.

"Ah. I'm sorry. We don't 'do' business with ghosts," said the man.

"But I need your help!"

"You'll find I'm a lot more adamant than you seem to think, my friend. No ghost business! Especially with Misthalinians."

"I'll pay you 100 thousand gold!"

"Done! What do you need?" asked the Master, his eyes aglow.

"Do you have something that can bring me back to life?"

"I'm sorry sir, but it seems that you're barking up the wrong tree. Necromancy brings things back to unlife. I'm not sure you'd like to be a mindless zombie, or ankou."

"You're lying. I can sense it. There has to be a way."

"(sigh)...Fine. One of my previous apprentices experimented with a potion called the Verto Fabrica Nox. It is supposed to bring people to life. The experiment didn't go to well, and um.... now I have a new apprentice. And a pet frog-ucorn. Don't ask."

"I won't, I assure you. May I come in?"

"Please."

Sure took him a bit of time to show up. But once he did, I ran like a madman to the door. Then I realized what he was...disturbingly. Why would a ghost want assistance and come to a Nercomancer? It really didn't make sense. When I arrived, I rang the bell on the door. "Ah, Rai. Back with the herbs I suppose?" asked the Master.

"Who's he?" I asked, ignoring the Master completely.

"A man who could use our help. Dancus Frumac. Just as I predicted-"

"Two months ago, Master."

Dancus suddenly interjected. "Um, shouldn't we be focusing on what I need? That Verto whatever that you mentioned!"

"Oh right. Well, there's a bit of a problem..."

"What are you people talking about?" I suddenly asked.

"Do you remember Jaddakh?" replied the Master

"Oh. Right. Jadd's weird potion I'm guessing?"

"Correct. The Verto Fabrica Nox."

"Well? You said there was a problem."

"Yes. Ingredients for the said potion are extremely rare. And Jaddakh never finished writing his recipe down, so there we'll have to improvise."

"Why don't you just ask Jaddakh? I'm sure he'd love to help!" asked Dancus.

"Jaddakh is now a frog unicorn hybrid who lives in or herb garden and speaks Gibberish," I explained, "It is impossible to extract the info from him now."

"Well, if your old apprentice, Jaddakh, made the potion, he might have some of the herbs and ingredients left over!" exclaimed Dancus.

"Good idea! I'll go check the attic!" said the Master, enthusiastically running up a case of stairs.

"Odd master," said Dancus.

"Tell me about it."

"So, friend," asked Raiah, "what is your story?"

"Well I, Dancus Frumac, was orphaned at the age of four, rejected from many jobs, completed college, and then discovered my power to see into the future. At that point, my girlfriend got killed, and I joined the cause against King Lathas. My group and I fought well, and defeated Lathas. I had acquired the power of telekinesis. Unfortunately, I died. My telekinesis powers got enhanced, though. I managed to hurl a boulder into Lathas' palace, and probably killed him. Here I am two months later, a ghost. So, what's your story?" I asked.

"Wait...you said your powers were enhanced?" asked Raiah.

"Yes..."

"Impossible. The only way you could've gotten that power is if you received a gift from the Gods. No person in your position could ever hurl a boulder in ghost form!"

"What? But tha-"

"Hey guys," interjected the Master as he walked down the stairs, "I have bad news. We have most of the ingredients for the Verto Fabrica Nox. We're just missing three."

"Which are..." endengered Raiah.

"Xeftun, heglerb, and kopoushké."

"Are you serious? Xeftun, heglerb and kopoushké are extremely rare!"

"That's my point. We need to find some fast."

"Well, there's only one way to find them. Go looking."