So, now having decided on a course of action, Maxwell now only had to carry it out. Which, as seemed to be his habit, meant another time of experimenting was upon him. Maxwell was quite fine with this; in fact, he was looking forward to it. He wasn't quite sure why, perhaps his own undead nature was having an effect, or he just liked what he was good at, which wasn't a bad thing. Despite his positive feelings on the matter, it would be hard work.

  Not that it bothered him, as it was a reward for those that had saved him from certain death, so the whole reason he could even struggle with the work was because of them. A second reason was the work needed to get done anyway, whether it was hard or not. He couldn't continue to exist as a single skull surrounded by a single wall with ghost leaf tornadoes patrolling it and call that the kingdom's capital forever. So the fact his new necropolis could be a reward was just a bonus.

  Now the question was who he would start with, as he had said that each of those who had slain the hero would be the basis for a building. Maxwell looked at those who had taken part in the grass pixie swordsman's hero fall and decided that he would start with the haunted grass warship, one of the elite undead. As it would make sense to use that one for inspiration to make a kind of haunted dock.

  Which would make sense to make on the outer limits of his necropolis capital. So he would make it first and make his new necropolis from out to in. So now that he had the place and the project settled, it was time to get the materials. He sent out the details of his needs through out his young kingdom of necrotic smog. This caused hundreds of undead hornets and butterflies that had been patrolling the walls between his territories to begin gathering materials through out his kingdom and bringing them before him.

  Maxwell waited as the materials mounted and the piles grew and grew until he had enough to begin construction of the docks he had planned. So once he had enough, he began, though Maxwell took a moment to consider how exactly he would build a dock on grass land with no water. Then it occurred to him the ship he had originally created, the haunted grass warship, sailed on smog, not water, which made the concept of a dock on grasslands easier.

  As it was a necrotic dock in the end, the ships coming out of it would sail on the necrotic smog that filled his kingdom, not water. So taking that into account, he began to think a bit more on the fact that the necrotic docks were meant to honor the haunted grass warship. Which means he should actually take inspiration from the haunted grass warship when making the necrotic docks.

  So Maxwell, following this kind of thought, considered the haunted grass warship and recalled the fact that it had been an original prototype. As he was testing on how well he could combine three different things to create a greater whole. So if he used that fact along with the three objects that made up the might of the haunted grass warship, then he would have his dock and be honoring the haunted grass warship as he said he would.

  Now having worked out the details, Maxwell formed hands out of necrotic smog and began gathering twigs and pebbles from the pile of materials. He first gathered all the pebbles and melded them together using force to mold them into a thin but solid rock pillar. He then took the twigs and turned them into frames around the rock pillar.

  Once the pillar had its twig frame around it, he then got one more pebble, molding them into a larger pebble to act as a counter weight to what he would build next. He gathered more twigs to build the next part, which was a three-taloned claw, and once that was done, he put it all together using the magic of the dark fey. The dark fey magic came up through the ground as purple worms wrapping around and moving through what Maxwell had created

  Once the magic was done with its work, Maxwell was looking at a crane powered by a combination of undead and dark fey worm magic. So having created the first and now knowing the process to make more, having done so, he made two dozen more. As he would need that many, he believed, for the plan forming in his skull.

  So now with the first part crafted, it was on to the second. He gathered the dead leaves and the dead grass that had been gathered for him. Maxwell took a moment to think about what could be done with it. When he had been making the haunted grass warship, he had used the material to make a haunted sail. But a dock doesn't need a sail, so what to do? Maxwell thought to himself about it for a moment.

  Then it occurred to him." What about a market?" Maxwell asked himself. As docks are linked to trade markets in some cities, he thinks. Though he isn't sure, as all his past memories of civilization come from the game Age of Legends and not from his actual life as he had lost those memories. So well he recalled a few factions that could create port cities with dockside markets, he didn't know how the real thing actually worked.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Luckily he didn't have to know, as it was a necropolis he was making and not a city for the living. So he wouldn't have to worry about it being an actual functioning market. So with the idea in his skull and materials in his necrotic smog hands, he got to work. He first gathered all the grass and began weaving them together but stopped at a specific point. Once he was there, he grabbed several leafs and brought them close to him. He built up the ghostly wind in his throat before letting out a small ghost whirlwind, which cut all the leaves he had put before himself in half.

  Maxwell took the non-shredded half of the leaves and worked them into the grass weaves he had already made. Once that was done, he made a series of poles out of twigs. Once he was done making the poles, he put them in the ground and left the weaves on top. This left Maxwell with a tent, as he had intended. He then cast the final touch by pushing his ghost winds of the shredded grass into the tents, causing small whirlwinds of ghost leaves to form in and around the tents.

  So that was the second step done. Now it was time for the third step. He knew exactly what was required for this third and final piece, and so he gathered the pebbles and insect body parts from the piles of materials. He had the pebbles form into two big gates. It took him time to mold them into shape, and he had to wait for his helpers to gather more pebbles. Eventually he had enough, and the frames for two stone gates were made.

  Maxwell then gathered parts from dead hornets and added them to one stone frame and then gathered parts from dead butterflies, adding those body parts to the other. So slowly, bit by bit, he had two gates formed from rock and insect parts. Now that both gates were physically complete, all that was left was to handle the rest, and so the gate with hornet body parts Maxwell hit with angry necrotic smog, and the one with butterfly parts he hit with sad necrotic smog.

  This brought both gates to undead life as he had intended, so with this the plan could commence. He took both gates, putting the angry hornet gate in the north of his new necropolis and putting the sad butterfly gate in the south. He then put a dozen cranes behind each gate and then added the final part, the grass leaf ghost wind tents, to both new areas. Then, to properly bring his new docks into working order, he flooded both areas with his necrotic magical might, fusing all the different parts into the docks of necrotic smog he had been making.

  For a little while Maxwell just looked at his new docks as his necrotic magic fused it all together. Then, as if to show he had succeeded in his work, a purple scroll appeared before him showing how his new docks had worked out and what tangible benefits they gave to his new kingdom.

  Maxwell looked over the result of having built the docks and thus the first sections of the outer lair of his necropolis capital. He was quite proud of the results, as it showed he had done a decent job, though there were parts he was concerned about, as there were implications in what was shown here in the purple scroll that he was wary of.

  Such as what it meant by deals never made. Was that just that he had made the ruins of a structure that had technically never existed, as he never intended to make an actual market, or was it something else? Was there a possibility that it spoke of ghost deals or some other supernatural deals going on within the grass ghost tents he hadn't intended on happening? Another problem he saw was the beyond part of what the ships created by the docks would do.

  As that meant his new ships would be raiding fairy nations around him that he didn't even know existed. The purple scroll gave Maxwell much to think on easily enough, though sadly he has no time to do it, as he has the next building to make as he has promised to, and he hasn't broken his word yet. So on Maxwell was to make the next part of his new necropolis outer district.