As the light of day began to fade, a young woman wandered the woods near the village of Deathknell. Like the others in that town she was undead, killed and reanimated by a plague and eventually returned to free will. She herself had only been properly awakened to this new life a few days before, and seeing the world with new eyes, she felt driven to explore her surroundings. Her name was Meridith, and though in life she had been the stifled daughter of a noble family, in unlife she had already chosen a new path as a mage. She wore the robes customary of a magic-user, though in a dark hue that this evening helped her blend in to the cursed forest. She had only worn them since shortly after awakening, but already the jagged edges of her exposed bones had worn it away in spots. The arcane for