"A new arrival," Aldrik said. "She was killed in a whaling accident."
The woman had been middle-aged, yet obviously fit and strong. A wide gash bared her ribs to the world; the blood must have been washed away.
"She was caught in the trailing line of a harpoon," the necromancer said matter-of-factly. "There was no way to save her."
Ella fought to maintain her composure. She couldn't show weakness, or the Dain might decide she was too squeamish and would portray his lore negatively. "What happens next?"
"Today, before she grows stiff, we will stitch her wounds and wash her skin with an acid solution. The skin must be completely clean before we can begin work on the runes."
"I see," said Ella.
"She will then wait here with the others until we are ready to bring her back. Here, let me take you to another example."
Aldrik led Ella past the rows of dead bodies to a raised platform. On the platform, four wooden tables stood side-by-side.
Only one of the tables was the scene of activity. Half a dozen necromancers in grey robes hovered around a body, their moves smooth and synchronous.
Aldrik took Ella close enough that she could see something of what they were doing without getting in the way.
"It's a complex process," Aldrik said, "and we never work on more than four at a time. First, the frozen body is thawed in warm water and cleaned a second time. Then it's brought here," he gestured, "and the work begins."
Ella watched the men at work. They used scrills and protective gloves just like enchanters, dipping them in tiny vials of essence and drawing runes with smooth strokes.
"Will you teach me the runes?" Ella asked.
"Yes, yes," Aldrik said. "Later."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"What is it?" he said.
"How much of the original personality remains? The woman we saw earlier, you said she was a whaler. What will she become?"
Aldrik hesitated. "It's something we don't speak of much. Her skill memory remains, but she will not remember her loved ones — to them she is dead. If ordered, she will be able to throw a harpoon as well as she could in life, but that does not necessarily mean she would make a good whaler. There is more to being a whaler than possessing a good throwing arm. It is the team working together that brings in the whale."
"So what will she be, then?"
"A warrior, most likely. She will join the Dain's armies, I should think."
"Will she be able to speak?"
"Ella," Aldrik took her aside, "I perhaps am not explaining myself well. You see, we choose not to bring back much of the draug's personality."
"Why?"
"There can be… problems."
"What kind of problems?"
Aldrik sighed. "A draug's eyes are turned white by the animation process. This is the sign of a healthy draug. There are some, servants and the like, who we bring back with a little more of who they were, so that they may speak. If you look, you will see their eyes are tinged with pink. We don't do this often, because they require more essence to animate, and they do not last as long. Also, there is a risk."
"A risk of what?"
"It happens only once in a while, and only to the draugar we bring back with more of who they were. Sometimes the eyes turn entirely red, and the life leaves them." The necromancer's voice turned ominous. "But before they go, they become berserk."
Aldrik's words stayed with Ella as he next took her to the vats. The knowledge complicated her plan, a risk she hoped to mitigate by applying herself and learning as much as possible.
Ella suppressed a shudder as she saw the huge vats, as large as trees. She remembered seeing them in Tingara, when the Primate's mad plan saw multitudes murdered for the essence in their bodies.
There were six of the great vessels, with steam rising from vents in the sides. Ella wrinkled her nose at a putrid smell in the air. Aldrik said there were more, elsewhere under the ice city.
"When the energy leaves a draug, we bring the body here," the necromancer explained. "The process is simple to operate, a fool could do it, yet the runes on the vats are complex. Only the wisest of my order understand how they work."
"Is Renrik one of those?" Ella asked.
"Yes," Aldrik said stiffly.
Ella could see she was discussing a sore point. "What do you do with the bodies?"
"There's a door in the side. First, an activation sequence is spoken to bring the temperature down. Then the door is opened, with the operator careful to avoid the escaping gases. The body, or bodies, are thrown in. We wait."
"How long?"
"Only a few days. Can you see that tube coming out of the side? It leaves this chamber and flows down into the vault, an area only the Dain can access."
"Do you only insert the bodies of draugar?" Ella asked.