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Edmund looks up from his workbench at the flashing and chiming alarm. He's tried to make his visitor alert a bit more subtle, but he gets too engrossed in his work for anything less to pull him out of it. He looks over the bones on the table and nods to himself. This is as good a time to step back as any.

The elf leaves his tools on the table as he climbs the stairs from his basement, raising his voice so whoever is there knows he's on his way. "I'll be there in a moment!" He takes a few seconds to hang up his laboratory robe and put on a more casual one, before going to the door and opening it. What he sees isn't exactly welcome, but a necessary part of his life.

"Ah, inspection time already?"

The bearkin guard nods, and Edmund reflects that he's glad it's Tormus today. He doesn't ask silly questions, and instead gets to business. He proves just that as he nods. "It is. Anything I should know before going downstairs?"

"I sold the steel serpent skeleton to a merchant as a guard. I have the paperwork, and as far as I could tell, all their permits were correct."

Tormus nods and steps in. "I'd like to see the paperwork, then."

Edmund motions for him to have a seat on the couch as he moves to his ledgers, quickly getting everything needed. "I also have an order for a swarm of rat skeletons. The city council finally ran out of ways to delay their payment, so by the end of the month, the slums should have a lot fewer rats running around."

"I'm surprised they approved it at all," comments the bearkin as he goes over the paperwork, and Edmund fills the silence. While he knows Tormus isn't as prejudiced against those with death affinity as so many others, he'd be fooling only himself if he said the populace at large was comfortable with his work.

"When a rat problem gets as bad as it is in the slums, people will take whatever solutions they can get. I'm even working to make them less unsettling for normal people, though that will only go so far."

After only a few more minutes, Tormus sets aside the ledgers. "Everything appears to be in order," he states, then stands and moves for the basement stairs. Edmund is just glad he had them built wide. Originally to accommodate larger monster corpses, but they accommodate larger guards just as well.

At the landing, the bearkin inhales deeply, then subtly nods to himself. "No zombies?" he asks to confirm, and Edmund nods.

"No zombies. I'm no hedge-necromancer, needing to scrounge for what corpses I can find. And my neighbor wouldn't abide the smell anyway," he replies, genuinely glad he can deal with cleaned bones, instead of needing to strip the flesh himself. He did more than enough of that in his apprentice days.

Tormus walks around, opening cabinets, peering into a few jars, and otherwise ensuring everything is legitimate, before turning his attention to the bones scattered over Edmund's work table. He scans over the bones before gently picking up a skull to inspect, and reminding Edmund why he likes the bearkin. That skull is complete, so handling won't ruin anything. He knows enough to not interfere with Edmund's work.

"The runes are thinner than usual."

"There is only so much room on rat bones," he jokes, before explaining himself further. "I was able to get a hold of some exceptional quartz dust from an adventurer, said they got it from a dungeon far in the north. You can check my test logs there, and the hazard bin there for the remnants of the experiments I did to see if I could make the runes thinner. Possum skeleton."

Tormus does just that, and lifts up the hazard bin once satisfied, looking much more relaxed. "Inspection passed, sir. I'll dispose of the skeleton."

Edmund smiles. "Appreciated. The disposers would be another week away, and I won't have time to take care of it myself before then, thanks to the rat swarm."

"Have you talked with the rat-catchers guild about this?"

The elf nods. "I have. I'm programming the rats to bring their kills to a central spot for the catchers to deal with. The whole project would be even cheaper if we didn't need them at all, but then it really wouldn't have ever gotten approval. Like this, they'll at least get a good day or two they can charge to the city, so their guild can't raise too much of a fuss for the problem they let get out of hand in the first place."

Tormus wrinkles his nose. "Politics. A much darker art than necromancy."

Edmund smiles. "And much less regulated. Would you like some tea before you go?"

The bearkin shakes his head. "The wife is far enough along she's getting cravings, so I try not to stay out longer than I have to."

"Ah, then I won't delay you. I wish you, her, and the little one all the best."

Tormus grunts and smiles before making his way out, leaving Edmund to his lab and his work. It may be underappreciated, but it's still important.

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Inspired by Thomas Windsor, and I think a few others who have asked about necromancy in the setting. Death affinity is a rare one, but can still be very useful without creating abominations.