Priestess Emeline was in the Shrine when I returned, her head bowed as she knelt by the altar in prayer. Instead of the cold weather clothes to protect against the weather she wore during my Embracing, she now wore a set of formal religious vestments, all in white and grey, with the symbol of the Lady of Winter emblazoned upon the back of her hooded robe. She turned to me, and smiled.
“Ah, so the novice returns! I saw you pass by on your way to the marketplace upon your arrival. Decided to get any items you acquired checked out before returning to complete your mission, hmm?”
I bowed to Emeline, and said, “Well, Mistress, I did not know what would come after I brought the relic to you, so I thought it would be best to finish things up as best I could before I returned, in case there was some ceremony that needed to be done. There were items which I needed to be identified, to ensure that there were no obvious curses upon them, given how the crypt had fallen to the undead. And it would not endear me to the merchants of the town to go asking them for things after hours. At the same time, if there were a cursed item in the lot, it would be best to find out as swiftly as possible, to prevent it from becoming a danger to Sleetmouth.”
Emeline nodded. “Fair enough, little one. Now, I expect you have something to show me? Bring out the cloak, and, after we put it in its proper place, you can regale me with the story of your victory in the crypt.”
Needing no further instruction, I reached into my haversack and pulled out the Cloak of Winter’s Might. Emeline gasped as she saw it, and reverently took it from my outstretched hands. “So many years, I have heard of it, when hearing tales about the legacy of our house. I never thought that I would actually set eyes upon the relic, myself!”
She walked towards the residence of the shrine, and walked to an area that appeared to be wholly mundane to my magical senses. And yet, she placed her hand in four spots upon the floor, and an iron door swung up out of the ground, as though it had always been there. With great care, she placed the cloak into the safe that was now visible set into the ground, and closed the door once again. There was a brief glow of magic, and then the section of floor returned to seemingly normal. As a final act, the priestess rolled out a small carpet over the spot, and then moved the sitting room table on top of it.
Noticing my confusion as she turned to face me, Emeline simply smiled. “A simple mixture of two effects, my child. A pair of illusions, in fact. One to hide the door from sight and touch, and the other to hide the evidence of the first spell. And, if the wards are not disabled properly, then the traps will go off, giving a would-be thief a very bad day, indeed. This is the most secure place in Sleetmouth, for a relic this size.”
I merely nodded. My knowledge of magic was lacking, of course, when it came to higher mysteries, but I knew enough to understand that the effects she described should be possible. Working out the actual enchantments would be difficult, but not impossible. Working out countermeasures was a different measure altogether. I did not know what traps were present, but I had no doubt that Emeline would not have overlooked such an obvious flaw as spells to dispel magic or create a field where magic was powerless. I didn’t know what would happen if something like that happened here, but I had the feeling that it would be quite hazardous to one’s health.
With the relic safely secured where few would be able to find it without a substantial degree of magic on their side (which would, no doubt, draw some attention), Emeline turned her attention more fully to me, looking me over as she did so. “Hmm. Well, you’ve certainly seen combat. Here, let me help with your clothes.” She reached out, and cast a simple spell. I recognized it as the Mending spell. The priests of Tempus in the tribe had used it, sometimes, to repair items that were damaged, but could be repaired, especially in times where we were lacking materials to properly repair the items. I hadn’t even considered what the fighting might have done to my clothes, so it was useful to be able to repair them like that.
That done, she sat in a chair near the newly moved table, and motioned for me to do the same. “Now, your clothes tell me you faced some danger in the crypts. Tell me everything.”
I sat in the chair opposite her, and took a breath. “Well, after I passed through the barrier, I could feel the dark power inside had tainted the land, unhallowing it. But, since that did not affect my powers, I paid it little mind. Two pairs of skeletons armed with old and rusted weapons guarded the exterior of the crypt, but I easily dispatched them with my fists wrapped in magic.”
“That same power allowed me to shatter the great wooden door that had swollen shut through long years exposed to the elements. Passing on, into the crypt, I found four zombies in the first chamber. They came at me, and attempted to surround me in the doorway, but I was able to keep them at bay. The one hit they got on me was barely enough to be considered a bruise, given my body’s ability to shrug off damage.”
“It is at this point that I must tell you that there most certainly WERE traps in the crypt, and I only found the first with my body. That one blade, scything out from the wall, nearly disemboweled me. As it was, I needed to take a potion to close my wounds enough to stem the bleeding.”
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“I pressed on, despite my wounds, and found myself presented with four skeletons. I dispatched them easily, and turned to one of the two passages leading off from this room. I was worried about more traps at that point, so, using a staff I had acquired as a prod, I began testing each stone in my path for triggers. When I found another trap this way, I grew bold, thinking that I had found the last of the true dangers of the crypt before I met with the Patriarch. I charged into the next room with a cry, and found myself faced with not only a group of zombies, but the sight of skeletons advancing from the next room!”
“Now, I may be a child of the Tribes, but I am not so proud that I cannot admit that, in that moment, I felt fear take me. Even if I was far stronger than these minor undead, numbers could still win out, especially if they managed to encircle me, or if the archers I could see amongst the skeletons hit me with their iron arrows while I was trying to defend myself against a zombie or one of the skeletons bearing a sword and shield.”
“But I did not let the fear paralyze me. Feeling fear is no weakness. One is not a coward because one knows fear. If you allow the fear to rule you, then you are weak. So, knowing that I could not stand against this horde on my own in an open room, I turned, and moved down the hallway, taking care to avoid the trap I had discovered right before I got foolish, and took up a position just beyond it.”
“The mindless undead followed me into the choke point, allowing me to strike them one by one, or blast them when they were out of melee range. The trap in the hallway tasted many victims, I assure you, as the undead filed into it again and again, doing half of my work for me. Fighting the horde one at a time was far easier than fighting the group as a whole, and, so, I soon found myself the sole being standing in that hallway.”
“After a brief rest, for the fight had dragged on, and I needed to catch my breath, I turned to the one remaining passage through the crypt, and passed down a corridor to a long chamber, guarded by a single zombie. At the end of it were two chests, containing some treasures, but none of them were the Cloak of Winter’s Might, and I refused to believe that the lone zombie was the Patriarch. And yet, there were no further doors to follow or paths to explore. This did not sit right with me, and so I took my time examining the area, until I found the secret switch. A section of the wall slid away, revealing a hidden passage beyond.”
“Now, I was still wary of blades coming from the walls, so I was testing the floor as I had been before. As I prodded the floor, however, I found, to my displeasure, a new kind of trap waiting for me, as iron darts flew from the wall! Though they did little damage, I had already used my only healing potion, leaving me no chance to recover.”
“With little choice, I continued on, into the final chamber of the crypt. There, lit by magical torches, I found a two-stepped dais that held a throne. Sitting upon the throne was the long dead and decaying corpse of the Frostbourne Patriarch.”
“The corpse did not move, as the others had, but your divinations were not wrong in that his spirit still lingered in that place. The once fearsome lord was, however, reduced to a mere Shadow, and the incorporeal creature attacked me as soon as I entered the chamber. I felt its cold grip upon my flesh, and my strength drained away.”
“What followed was a deadly dance, as I flew about, attempting to get out of the dread creature’s reach for long enough to use my magics upon it. But, as you no doubt know, magic is not infallible against creatures lacking a physical form. Not all my blasts hit the creature, even though they were aimed true. However, the size of the throne room was large enough that I could continue to escape and evade the shadow until I hit it enough to return it to true death.”
As I spoke, I reached into my pack. Slowly and purposefully, I pulled out the two things that I knew Emeline would most like to see, my trophies from that fight, and placed them upon the table between us. “With that grim deed done, I turned to the corpse upon the throne, and cut off its head, as you asked, but also the finger which still bore the signet ring of House Frostbourne. A check of the chests in the room revealed more treasures, along with the Cloak of Winter’s Might, which I recognized on sight, thanks to your description. Finally done with the crypt and its denizens, I made my way back to the surface, careful to avoid the traps along the way, and took wing back to town.”
Emeline nodded slowly as she looked upon the items on the table. Slowly, she pulled the signet ring from the Patriarch’s finger, and looked upon it. “All my life I’ve wanted to see the face of the man who brought our family to ruin and caused them to turn away from the Lady’s worship. Finally, the dark stain on our family’s legacy has been cleansed.”
She was about to speak further, but was interrupted by a knock on the door to the shrine’s residence. Frowning, Emeline looked that way, clearly not expecting visitors. In a commanding tone, she called out, “Enter!”
Through the door walked Captain Wilmot and Lord Emberlash. Their eyes fell upon the display on the table, and a grim smile crossed the Paladin’s face. “Greetings, Sister. I see that the reports are true, and your young initiate has done Sleetmouth another service, so soon after her first one.”
Emeline smiled, and said, “Ooh, something must have happened, if you are calling me ‘sister’ again, little Brother. You haven’t called me that since you took your vows. So, what brings you and your guard captain here this day?”
Pulling his gaze away from the table to face her, he said, “My oaths are strict, and forbid me from associating with those I know to have darker hearts, you know this. But as the Lord of Sleetmouth, and the Patriarch of House Emberlash, I have other duties that allow me some leeway in circumstances like this. To that end, I have two things that I wish to say.”
He took a breath, and said, “First, the clearing of the Frostbourne Crypt means that the barrier that has been put in place for so long may be taken down. Doing so will require the power of two servants of the divine with the blood of House Frostbourne in their veins to perform the unsealing ritual. Thereafter, to prevent undead creatures and other foul monsters from the wastes finding a new home in the ruins, as Lord of Sleetmouth and head of House Emberlash, I have decided to deed the site to one of the priests of the city. As Lathander already has a temple within the city, and the site was formerly dedicated to the Frostmaiden, it is being given over to you, Priestess of Auril, so that you might build a temple to the Lady of Winter. It strains my oaths to do so, but Lathander understands that a give and take is needed, for the good of the people.”
“And second, the barbarians that your novice reported will be here upon the morrow. You and your novice are both welcome to join the forces of Sleetmouth in the defense of the city. Indeed, several of the warriors, upon hearing of your deed in calling up the storm that stymied the barbarian advance until our troops were ready, and the quickly spreading rumors of your novice’s deeds, have requested your participation.”
Emeline laughed. “In other words, they see us as a good luck charm for the coming battle. Soldiers are all the same, the world over. Very well, Brother. We will join the forces in fighting the barbarians, and I shall begin planning a temple on the site of the former Frostbourne Crypt.”