They walked up to the gate to the old cemetery. Anna glanced at the statues that were carved into the tall stone wall that surrounded it. The statue on the left depicted a youthful man, one clearly in the prime of his life. The statue on the right depicted a skeletal figure, it resembled a corpse that had been entombed for many years, though not long enough for all the flesh to disintegrate.
The two statues were reaching for one another with their hands meeting above the gate. Below their arms was an inscription in old imperial. It read, ‘Remember that you must die’. She pondered the phrase for a moment before turning her gaze to the gate itself.
Like most ancient gates built by humans, it was made from solid bronze. The image of the black god had been cast into the surface. He was holding his arms out in a welcoming fashion.
Voekeer held out his guild badge to the mortuary guard standing just to the right of the gate. The guard was a grim-looking man to say the least and was wearing a black robe that covered him completely. She heard the sound of metal clinking when he moved to get a closer look at Voekeer’s badge, indicating that he was probably wearing armor under the robe.
“What is your business here?” the guard asked.
“We’re here to investigate a disturbance at the Reinhart family crypt,” Voekeer replied.
“May I take a look at the contract?” the guard asked.
“Of course,” Voekeer replied.
He handed the contract to the guard who looked it over.
“How’s the lad see through that hood?” Anna asked in dwarven, leaning close to Thokri.
The dwarf shrugged, and the guard looked up at her.
“In the future, you should refrain from talking about others in languages not commonly spoken in the region. It’s not polite,” he said.
“Sorry,” Anna replied.
“No need to apologize. I’m not upset. It was just something you should consider in the future, and to answer your question, the hood doesn’t obscure my vision in the slightest,” he said.
“Okay, thanks,” she replied.
The guard handed the contract back to Voekeer who rolled it up and stuffed it back into one of his belt pouches.
“I would also like to remind you that necromancy is strictly forbidden in the cemetery,” the guard added, glancing at Elaine before turning his gaze back to Voekeer.
“We understand,” Voekeer replied.
“Good, then you may enter,” the guard said.
He gestured at the other guard, who had thus far remained motionless, and they both moved to the gate and pushed the heavy doors open. The party walked into the cemetery, and the gate started to close behind them. There were two more guards on this side of the gate. They nodded at the party as they passed by.
The cemetery was a somber place filled with ancient marble buildings. It felt as if she’d stepped into another world when compared to the busy city on the other side of the gate.
They walked down the long stone path that led to the heart of the cemetery. The buildings grew larger and more elaborate the deeper they walked, changing from small structures the size of a simple tool shed to ones that resemble the grand homes of the elite located in the inner ring of the city. Voekeer stopped in front of one of the grand crypts and took out the contract, looking it over before looking at the crypt again.
“This is the one,” he said.
“How many people are buried here?” Anna asked.
“Thousands upon thousands, child. The Reinharts are an ancient family. They can trace their roots to the founding of the empire,” Barika replied.
“Oh,” Anna said.
Voekeer took a key from his belt pouch, walked over to the crypt door, and unlocked it. He pushed it open. They walked into the crypt, and Voekeer closed and locked the door behind them, putting the key back into his belt pouch.
The entry way to the crypt was a short hallway that led to a large round room. In the center of the room lay a sarcophagus made from white marble with the figure of a man wearing armor carved into the lid as if he were lying down. On the side of the sarcophagus there was a well-worn inscription in old imperial that read, ‘Here lies Richard Reinhart. He was a great man, and now he is dead’.
You don’t say.
They walked further into the room, and she looked around. The walls were lined with alcoves that contained more sarcophagi. Each one had another figure carved into the lid and simple epitaphs etched into the sides. There were three doors that led to the various sections of the crypt, one to the left, one to the right, and one on the rear wall. The party walked to the door located at the rear of the main chamber, and Voekeer took the key back out of his belt pouch.
“Alright, according to the client, we can access the lower level from the rear chamber. There's supposed to be a gate on the stairs, but the servant who heard something coming from the lower level wasn’t sure what it was. He only said he heard chewing, so we should get ready in case whatever it was figured out how to get through the gate,” Voekeer said.
She drew her sword and walked up to the door.
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“Open it. I’ll go first,” she replied.
The rest of her friends readied their weapons, and Voekeer unlocked the door and pulled it open quickly.
A gust of foul air hit her as she rushed through the opening into another hallway. Nothing but fetid air awaited them on the other side, so they closed and locked the door behind them before making their way into the rear chamber.
It was much smaller than the main chamber, though its walls were still lined with alcoves. They were smaller than the ones in the main chamber, and so were the sarcophagi which were plain and lacked the figures carved into the lids. They did have epitaphs carved into them, and when she read a few, she realized they were all women.
The gate that led to the lower level was in the center of the room, covering the stairs that led downward. She walked over to the gate, discovering it to be the source of the foul smell.
“Phew! That stinks!” Lyreen said.
“At least it’s better than the sewers,” Elaine replied
“I know, right? Now, if someone had just told the guild she was a noble last month, maybe we wouldn’t have had to spend so much time in them!” Lyreen said.
“Well, maybe you should have told them you were a princess then!” Elaine replied.
“But I’m not a princess!” Lyreen said.
“You could have fooled me!” Elaine replied.
I really am the only one that changed in the last year.
She went back to investigating the gate, ignoring her friends’ bickering. It was a massive iron structure lying over the opening to the stairwell. It seemed oddly out of place, almost as if it had been added in the millennia since the crypt’s construction. The fact that it was made from iron and not bronze gave credence to this idea, however its origins weren’t her foremost concern at the moment. The fact that it was damaged was.
“Uh, Elaine, are zombies stronger than whatever race they were made from?” Anna asked.
Elaine turned to look at her and frowned.
“No, why?” she asked.
“Well, then something else is down there, and whatever it is can bend three-inch-thick iron bars,” Anna replied.
She gestured at the damaged gate with the tip of her sword, and the rest of the party looked down at it. Thokri stroked his beard a few times and then spat on the ground next to the gate.
“Let’s get this thing open, lad,” he said.
Voekeer nodded and then used the key to unlock the gate. Anna stood at the head of the staircase with her sword at the ready as the men opened the gate, preparing to defend them if whatever was lurking down there decided to attack. They flipped the gate open and carefully set it on the ground, making sure not to damage the marble as they did. Once they finished, the party lined up behind her, and she started down the stairs.
The marble steps were cool beneath her bare feet, and a slight cool breeze rushed past her face, carrying the stench of death. She reached the bottom of the long staircase and paused to look around. The stairs led to a long hallway that reached back to where the front of the crypt was located a floor above. The walls of the hallway were filled with alcoves that contained sarcophagi along with multiple passageways that led to other parts of the lower crypt.
Dim mana lamps were mounted to the walls every few yards. They gave off a soft blue-white light. The entire area was in a shambles with sarcophagi torn open. The corpses they contained were ripped apart and gnawed upon before what remained was strewn around.
“Well, that explains the chewing sound the servant heard,” Voekeer said.
“Aye,” Thokri replied.
“What could have done this?!” Lyreen asked.
“My best guess would be ghouls, probably a pack of them,” Elaine replied.
“How do ghouls differ from zombies?” Voekeer asked.
“They’re tougher and faster, lad. Got long claws and sharp teeth, too,” Thokri replied.
“They’re also intelligent, at least compared to zombies,” Barika added.
“Great, smarter faster undead,” Lyreen said.
“I wonder how they got here? There isn’t that much death mana, at least not that I can see anyway,” Anna asked.
“Really? But there are so many bodies,” Lyreen replied.
“Everyone buried here was purified before they were put in their tombs, and the whole crypt was consecrated by the black god. I’d be surprised if there was death mana,” Barika said.
“Okay, so if there’s no death mana, then why are there undead running around?” Lyreen asked.
“That’s what we’re here to find out, lass,” Thokri replied.
With that, they started off into the lower level of the crypt, making their way past the torn corpses and debris. They paused at the first of the passageways, and she poked her head around the corner, peering down both paths before turning back to her friends.
“The gates are still intact. It doesn’t look like the ghouls, or whatever they are, got into any of the side chambers,” she said.
“Good, we’ll still have to check them on the way just to make sure, but at least we don’t have to worry about something sneaking up and biting us in the ass now,” Voekeer replied.
They moved on, pausing at any passageways they found and checking to make sure their gates were still intact, before finally reaching a large chamber at the end of the hallway. She paused at the opening and glanced around the room, searching for potential threats before stepping inside.
The chamber was in worse condition than the hallway with entire sarcophagi pulled from their resting places and smashed. She took a few steps into the room before the sound of enraged screams filled the air.
The ghouls burst out of their hiding places and came rushing at her. They were a hideous sight, with thin mottled skin pulled tightly over taught muscles. Sharp claws jutted from elongated fingers and black needle-like teeth could be seen in snarling maws.
When the closest one reached her, it hesitated for a moment, its rage seemingly replaced by terror. Before it could flee, she cleaved its head from its shoulders and kicked its body into the ghouls. They crashed to the floor, struggling to get out from under their fallen comrade. One managed to work its way free and jump up only to have an arrow sprout out of its eye. It fell back to the floor limply. A moment later, the struggling ghouls were pelted with force bolts.
After the barrage, the undead lay still. A deep growl came from behind the central sarcophagi, and a huge undead stalked out. It bore a strong resemblance to the ghouls, though it was much larger and had a foot-long tongue dangling out of its mouth. A horrid stench wafted past as the creature came into view. Suddenly Barika stepped forward and leveled her staff at the monster.
“BEGONE!!!” she shouted.
A ball of golden flame the size of an apple shot out of her staff and struck the undead square in the chest. The monster was engulfed in holy flames and let out an unearthly wail before collapsing to the ground and burning to ash in moments.
“What the fuck! What was that?” Anna asked.
“That was a ghast. They are a more dangerous type of ghoul,” Barika replied.
“No, not that! I mean the fireball. I didn’t know you could cast spells!” Anna said.
“That was not a fireball, child. It was a holy bolt, and it’s not a spell,” Barika replied.
“Oh, right,” Anna said.
She walked away from the party and over to the pile of dead ghouls which she poked at with her sword to make sure they were all dead, or rather deader, before walking over to the pile of ash that once was the ghast.
Something glinted in the light, and she leaned down and brushed the ash away from what turned out to be a ring. She picked up the ring and looked it over. The ring was solid gold and had the Reinhart family crest etched into the top.
Bet it ate someone that had this on. I’ll give it to the client when we go and see them.
She stuffed the ring into her belt pouch and walked away from the ashes, heading towards the central sarcophagus. The smell of decay grew as she approached, becoming so bad she simply stopped breathing.
Once she reached the sarcophagus, she walked around it to where the ghast had been hiding and discovered that it had been pushed to the side and that there was a large opening underneath it, leading further underground.
“Hey! I think I found where they came from!” she said.