Author: Dennis

Previously, the heroes had just discovered that the binding circle they had been designing was an unintentional copy of the ramparts around Kingsport, which they found to have copper running all along the base, ostensibly turning the ramparts, gates, and bastions into an enormous binding circle. This revelation sparked questions on the Senhadrim, the vaults, the ramparts, and the defences of Kingsport, whose answers the heroes felt could only be found with those who had lived through the Age of Fear.

Ninth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waxing, Darkmoon is waning)

It was at forth bell after noon that Quentin, Emrys, Luca, and Astrid departed the Careless Wanderer and set out to find prior Benedict. Their instinct was to talk to crier Goodman to see if any of the rumours about the prior being sighted around Kingsport were true. They found Goodman in his usual spot at the eastern end of Queensbridge. He had taken refuge from the bad weather in a szygani vardo underneath the wheels of which a small family of feral dogs had made their home. Smoke rose up from a small chimney pipe, and when the heroes came closer they could smell the scent of sausages being cooked on a small stove. The scent explained the dogs. Goodman emerged from the wagon and spoke with the heroes.

Ultimately, Goodman was able to confirm that prior Benedict was indeed somewhere in or around Kingsport, but he could not say where. He had heard that the prior had been turned away at the cathedral, and reitterated that the prior had been excommunicated after his firebrand sermon at the Cathedral of the Platinum Father, and coming very close to be declared a heretic in the eyes of the church because of his challenge to the doctrine. Goodman believed that there was only one group fanatical enough to support prior Benedict; the Custodians.

When Quentin recognised that the heroes had exhausted Goodman’s knowledge, or his willingness to share it, he paid the crier with a gold crown, and asked him to make sure to pay some of the children he used as informants. Goodman assured him that they were all well taken care of, especially since their friend Brandomiir had started concerning himself with the safety of the children at the orphanage in Grimsdown. He was also able to share that Ramona, the Lady of the Raft, had been making donations to the orphanage, despite her banishment from the city. Before departure, Goodman tried to get the heroes to share what they knew of the gravekeeper, but Quentin prevented Luca from sharing any information, but inadvertently let slip more than they should during their bickering.

The heroes headed towards the Tomb of Saint Catherine, but lost Astrid along the way as she got distracted by something and saying goodbye to the others to head into Lewisham. The Quentin, Emrys, and Luca arrived at the gates of the monastary and smoothly talked their way past the two custodians who stood guard. This was mostly achieved by Quentin becoming “Lord Morvrayne” and striding past the two, barely acknowledging them and assuming their compliance. Quentin ultimately got one of them to escort the heroes to a small chapel where Jan was sitting in communion.

The church was warm and only lit by dozens of candles. Luca had spoken to Jan here before, and found that the custodian’s health had not improved since then. Afflicted by a terrible fever, the burly man was lost in prayer at the main altar, while his wife was praying in a different part of the church, hidden from view in an alcove dedicated to a particular saint. It was clear to all that the curse of Epidemius was taking a heavy toll on Jan and prevented him from healing from the wounds of his recently lost limb.

The conversation with Jan was confused at times. He claimed that the black fog that surrounded him was almost blocking out his sight and the accompanying voice was almost impossible to ignore. When Jan learned that the heroes were looking for prior Benedict he explained that the living saint was not with the custodians, but instead had made camp in the woods just east of the city. He was surprised that the heroes had not come to him for the celebration, but could not explain what he meant by that. He also offered that he had been able to convince the custodian justices to provide temporary amnesty to Neamhan for her witchcraft.

When the heroes departed the chapel, they noticed that Jan’s wife had been eavesdropping on their conversation, but Quentin decided it was not the right time to confront the woman.

A few hours later and four leagues east of Kingsport, Neamhan and Chakuq arrived at the Seat of Friendship. Despite the blizzard, they were surprised to see that there were quite a few travellers in the clearing underneath the canopy of Geolgothis, the enormous oak tree. Ciarán, Aiden, and Darragh, the three druids who were the caretakers of the tree, had welcomed almost a dozen travellers, who sit in three groups around campfires. Ciarán, the barrel-chested Kaedwyni who was the leader of the druids, came to greet Neamhan and Chakuq. Neamhan had recently been to the Seat of Friendship with Quentin, and had gotten to know Ciarán. Chakuq had stopped by the Seat of Friendship on his way to Kingsport but had not gotten a chance to get to know the druids well.

They were offered a place to rest at a fire next to a Daerlanian jongleur named Lukas, a young man with frost-covered, curly, brown hair playing the lute, and a Lyrian soldier named Hal who was part of the recently created royal army, coming back from Farcorner. Nearby, a Kaedwyni woman with a scarred face named Brukka was sitting near the edge of the shelter the tree provided, occasionally brushing snow from her shoulders. And there was Kael, a half-elven ranger who looked like he was very capable of surviving the storm by himself but decided to stop at the Seat of Friendship anyway.

Ciarán had taken an interest in Walor, and had given him a spot near a horse that belonged to Hal. Neamhan, who had connected to Walor so that she may speak with him, asked him how the ride had been. Walor seemed quite invigorated, and was concerned for Chakuq; while the Silesian was a good rider, the travel had likely taken a toll on him.

After some conversation with the jongleur and soldier, Chakuq convinced Neamhan to go and see Geolgothis, and thought it a good idea to climb the tree to get closer to it. Despite the enormous trunk of the tree, they were able to find a way into its lower branches. Neamhan felt elated as they climbed higher and higher, probably because the increasing strength in the wind the higher they went reminded her of home.

Eventually the two of them found a secured place among the branches to sit and connect to the tree. Neamhan managed to convey and resonate some of the trees intention to him and thus communicate what Geolgothis was saying to Neamhan.

As before, it was difficult to motivate Geolgothis; it neither cared about Kingsport, nor its inhabitants, and did not seem overly concerned about Epidemius or his diseases. Neamhan got he feeling that if the impact of an event could not be felt from one aeon to another, that the tree simply did not fully registered the event at all. Chakuq’s suggestion to plant part of Geolgothis so that it might spread its influence to Kingsport also seemed not to interest the ancient tree.

After some back and forth with Geolgothis the tree offered a compromise; Neamhan and Chakuq would be allowed to pick one of its fruits, a perfect acorn of enormous proportion, which they could take to fuel their ritual, after which they would plant it “in the heart of summer.” It was not immediately clear what Geolgothis meant by that, but after some back and forth between Chakuq and Neamhan they understood it to mean somewhere in the Feywild. Geolgothis said it would allow it to open a crossing that they could use to travel back and forth. Neamhan, excited by the prospect, explains that she had met flowers that were connected to the realm of faerie, and that she had named them all. Halfway through her story the tree seemed to have fallen asleep.

Chakuq and Neamhan climbed down from the tree and got ready to depart. Ciarán was keen to understand what they had done up in the branches of Geolgothis, and did not seem pleased when Chakuq explained, but made no move to reprimand them. They got ready to head back to Kingsport.

Previously, the heroes recovered the Chain of Forgotten Names by laying to rest the lingering spirits of three crownsguard that were out of time. The Raven Queen rewarded the heroes with her favour, and by having the Gravekeeper relinquish the chain for them to use it to power their binding circle.

Ninth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waxing, Darkmoon is waning)

When Quentin and Esmeralda returned to the laboratory Quentin tried to explain to the others what they had uncovered; the ramparts around Kingsport, including walls, gates, and bastions, were all part of an enormous circle. The revelation first sparked disbelief, then questions of what it could mean for their endeavour to bind Epidemius, before it devolved into a wider discussion about plans to move their mission forward.

Quentin voiced his admiration for the Senhadrim’s ability to orchestrate the defenses of Kingsport on such a grand scale, while Esmeralda suggests that she wants to go and address her find with Réonan, whom she believes must know more about it. Quentin supports that endeavour, and Emrys corroborates that Réonan knew more as he recalled the conversation he had with them after the confrontation with Epidemius. He remembered hearing Réonan and Epidemius address one another on the battlefield. When Emrys recounted some of his experiences, including that of collapsing the portal that he and his forces had appeared through, he glibly avoided speaking about what he had seen on the other side of that gate, which some recognised to come from the unresolved trauma of what he witnessed.

“On the day you were born, the very forests on the slopes of Mount Celestia whispered the name… Epidemael.”
– Réonan

Briefly, Neamhan approached Esmeralda and asked her what kind of magic she specialised in. The answer, abjuration magic, was not something Neamhan knew what to do with, but she asked whether Esmeralda was able to detect whether her memory had been altered in some way. Esmeralda said that it was possible, but not without sacrifice, and to come and see her to discuss it when she was ready.

With some encouragement from Astrid, Neamhan manages to convince Chakuq to come and join her on a trip to the Seat of Friendship. Their goal; to convince Geolgothis to help power the binding circle. Neamhan, who had communed with the tree before, knew that convincing it was going to be hard, since it hardly cared for the plight of mortals, and felt itself impervious to war, plague, or any of the every day concerns of the people of Lyria.

Emrys, Quentin, and Luca all decide to follow up on a rumour that prior Benedict is in Kingsport, thinking that his experience in fighting with the Silver Crusade will be invaluable against Epidemius and his infernal hordes. Esmeralda assures Emrys that she is not ready to confront Réonan yet, and will wait for Emrys to return, focussing first on checking the integrity of the copper underneath the ramparts.

Chakuq and Neamhan departed the laboratory and discussed how they would travel to the Seat of Friendship. Neamhan offered to fly them both there, but Chakuq declined, saying that he’d rather travel along the Silesian road on horseback. After a failed attempt to get the stablehands at the Bridle to release Walor, Quentin’s golden stallion, to Chakuq’s care, he got the help of Wojciech who managed to convince the stablehands. The stallion was both strong of physique as well as personality, but Chakuq managed to quickly build a rapport with the animal, confirming to some the stereotype of a Silesian horse lord. Neamhan found a secluded spot in the woods outside of the city to transfigure herself into the shape of a griffon; a first for Neamhan, and not one that came to her easily. But once she established herself in the new shape by all that she had learned from her interactions with Frostfeather, she quickly got used to the biomechanics. She was overwhelmed by the primal instinct of this shape, and had to fight hard not to give in to the urge to hunt, to stalk, to prey, to chase, to catch, to kill, to rend, to tear, to consume.

The other heroes left the laboratory and intended to find prior Benedict, but stopped by the Careless Wanderer first, before trying the Cathedral of the Platinum Father, the Custodians, and other potential sources of information on the whereabouts of the living saint.

At the Careless Wanderer, Luca spoke to Falka about the circle, about how it overlayed onto a map of the city of Kingsport, and how it reminded them of the layout of some of the Senhadrim vaults they discovered. Falka was to think about what some of the empty sources in the binding circle could represent. While discussing this, Magda, the blind proprietor of the inn, overheard their conversation and offered that one of the circles in the design seemed to represent the Careless Wanderer, which she described as neutral territory in the “accords.” Her worry was that what the heroes had planned might jeopardise that neutrality. She would consider lending aid to stopping Epidemius’ attack, but she would not go any further but to defend Kingsport.

Previously, the heroes managed to lay the lingering spirits of three crownsguards to rest at the Blackheath graveyard and were rewarded by the Raven Queen with her favour. Now they needed to retrieve the Chain of Forgotten Names, whom the Raven Queen had used to bind and anchor the gravekeeper to his service. They would use the chain in their binding circle to trap Epidemius.

Ninth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waxing, Darkmoon is waning)

After stillness had fallen over the mausoleum with the passing of the three crownsguard, and all that was left of them were bleached bones and corroded armour, the heroes could hear the bells strike four times in the distance. Their reverie broken, they went down to the crypt of the gravekeeper. Quentin, aided by the magic of the gauntlets he found in the Sunken Vault, removed the lid of the sarcophagus of the gravekeeper one last time. The gravekeeper reappeared without any ominous voices. “I name you; bound no more,” Quentin said, and the gravekeeper laid down in the open sarcophagus and faded away. Quentin was able to remove the Chain of Forgotten Names from around the bones of the gravekeeper and closed the lid. He decided to wear the chain around his waist.

Before departure, Chakuq raised his concern that the remains of the three crownsguard should be interred properly among the other dead in the mausoleum. He performed a search and identified several alcoves, niches, and spaces that were dignified places to leave them. Quentin supported his idea and suggested to seal the mausoleum to ensure their rest. With great solemnity they moved the bones and armour to three alcoves above one another, placing Valerie in the top, Dirk in the middle, and Jon in the bottom alcove. Quentin took a strip of leather from each of their armours and fastened it to the inside of his shield, next to Hejduk, Hamish, and the fourty-one notches he made earlier. Luca and Emrys, taking inspiration from some of the epitaths they had seen around the mausoleum, wrote some words on each one of the three crownsguard. When the heroes left, the closed the ironbound door of the Garamond mausoleum behind them.

Even though Luca was eager to return to the Circle of Magi with the chain, it was decided to first get rest at the Careless Wanderer. Emrys used his sorcery to make their passage through the city unseen, and they made their way out of the woods at Blackheath. Once back on the empty streets, they quickly made their way past several patrols of crownsguard and custodians to arrive at the inn. Ramsey, hard at work in the kitchen, opened the door for them and gruffly asked them to taste a clotted cream he was working on. It was sweet and delicious. Around fifth bell, the heroes were back in their beds and cots.

The heroes were awoken around noon to the sound of a snow storm. A gale was howling around the inn, carrying heavy flurries of snow. They found Falka downstairs doing some research at the hearth. She had prepared a travelling pack but was not going to go out in that weather. She was disappointed, mentioning something about being able to do better research while at the vault, as well as her finally being able to gain access to the Library of Ioun. A burly older gentleman with a white beard was sitting at a table by himself eating a hearty meal, and there were a scarce few other travellers stuck inside.

Everyone ate. Chakuq, who was ravenously hungry, reverted back to his mercenary days and put an arm around his plate protectively. Falka shared some of her discoveries with the others; the Newport vault was connected to five other vaults scattered around Lyria. Transportation between vaults was possible by way of miraculous devices sometimes referred to as “beacons”, which were described as “columnar, topped with crystals”. Emrys, who recalled reading something about these beacons in Atilesceon’s journal, recalled that the rising tide of magic would activate them so that the vaults could once again be found.

When the great waning set in, I observed with great interest as the last remnants of the Senhadrim slowly dwindled out of existence. I watched them blow out the lanterns, lock the doors and close up shop. But we all knew that the Seal would not last forever and there would come a time where the shop would be opened back up and the lanterns would be relit. They understood that when that time came, the Senhadrim Vaults would be valuable source of information. And so they left magical beacons whose signal, with the coming flow of magic, would start to shine more brightly until the vaults were once again unlocked and rediscovered. Their light is very faint, right now, almost imperceptible. But the former Senhadrim, like myself, will soon be sensitive enough to start picking up their signal again. Then the race to recover what’s locked away will be on.

Chakuq suggested that the heroes focussed on the here and now, dealing with the coming of Epidemius rather than spend time speculating on the vaults. He asked what was the next step for the binding circle, and suggested that Falka focus her research on Epidemius, and in particular on something about the fiend that could be used against him; his name, a personality flaw, anything that was practical rather than mythological. Falka said that when she did not have access to the Library of Ioun when she wrote her dissertation on Epidemius, so she hoped she might find more information there.

When the heroes decided to return to the Circle of Magi, the weather had not abated. Neamhan transfigured into the shape of an ermine, and spent her time en route alternating between darting through the thick cover of snow, and snuggling inside the folds of the heroes’ clothes. When the heroes plowed through the blizzard and arrived at the Circle the door was opened by the Olafur, who was surprised to see them. He ushered them in and dusted the snow from their clothes. The heroes asked for Esmeralda and said that they would be at work in the laboratory. Once there, they found that Esmeralda had continued work on the design of the circle, and as the heroes were inspecting the changes, both Luca and Quentin felt a sense of familiarity with how the circle was shaping up. The heroes spent a bit of time debating what each of the lines meant, and speculated about some of the lines that connected the places of power that they each represented.

The conversation continued when Esmeralda arrived. When Luca suggested powering the circle with the ghost orchid, Esmeralda was shocked; not just because the heroes were in possession of a ghost orchid, but also because she felt that using the orchid to fuel the circle was dangerous. Sacrifices, she reasoned, fuel great magic, but a ghost orchid would be more than just a sacrifice, it would be like letting a forest fire heat your home instead of a modest hearth. She also cautioned that bringing the ghost orchid to the Circle of Magi was dangerous, as there were too many unscrupulous people at the Circle that would murder for that kind of power.

The conversation continued on the circle, about different places of power that had not been identified. The heroes tried to identify more sources of power, and Bláthnaid and Geolgothis were mentioned as potential sources. All the while, Esmeralda seemed lost in thought, and was using a piece of coal to sketch some ideas out on a piece of parchment. The heroes started to discuss practical elements of the circle, like where to place it or what material to use, and Esmeralda, who was still distracted by her sketching, said that materials were dependent on the target of the circle; copper for fiendish creatures, iron for fey creatures, and silver for undead creatures.

Suddenly, Esmeralda fell silent mid-sentence. She dropped her sketch on the table and rushed out of the door and up the winding staircase. The heroes were surprised at her departure and watched her ascend the steps through the archways above them. Quentin was the only one that followed. Once upstairs he walked out into that unnaturally long corridor, only to see Esmeralda make her way through one of the many doors. When he followed through the door, Quentin found himself backstage of a dark, empty theatre. Esmeralda walked across the stage and disappeared on the other end. Once again, Quentin followed and found himself surrounded by props, furniture, costumes, practice swords, and blunted spears, and saw another door close. He darted through the door and found himself in a beautiful winter garden, watching Esmeralda walk up towards  cottage. He followed her through the front door and caught up with her, and found himself inside the top of a bastion. The bastion looked out over Kingsport. Esmeralda was counting out the number of gates and other bastions, revealing that the number of gates coincided with the number of leylines, and the number of bastions with the number of lesser sources of power. Quentin was still a bit confused, but slowly the revelation was starting to dawn on him. It hit home when Esmeralda opened a trapdoor in the floor and revealed a winding staircase along the inside of the bastion, down to the ground. There she removed the sand and hay that was spread along the ground to reveal a thick band of copper, inlaid into the ground, running from one end of the bastion to the other, following the direction of the ramparts that surrounded Kingsport. That’s when it clicked for Quentin; the ramparts formed an enormous binding circle around the city.

Previously, the heroes arrived at the graveyard in Blackheath to find the Gravekeeper and learn whether his reappearance might aid them in creating a binding circle strong enough to use on Epidemius. After defeating the Gravekeeper once more, as well as half a dozen necrophages, discovering a mass grave of fresh corpses collected by the Gravekeeper, and descending down a mausoleum dedicated to the Garamond family, they found the Gravekeeper’s sarcophagus and discovered that his bones were wrapped in a dark chain. Virulencia, who had followed the heroes down into the mausoleum, taught the heroes that this was the Chain of Forgotten Names.

Ninth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waxing, Darkmoon is waning)

The heroes were still deliberating on what to do with the chain that was wrapped around the bones of the Gravekeeper. As they had uncovered the lid of the sarcophagus again the ominous voice started booming through the crypt’s partially flooded floor. They knew from before that this would preceed the Gravekeeper’s next appearance, and so the sands of time were quickly running out before the next confrontation.

Quentin, driven either by a hunch, or by a sense of duty, decided to ascend the steps up to the surface. As he did so he was followed by the treachery of ravens that have came to witness the heroes down in the crypt. He passed by the three guardsmen who were still resting and continue to ascend until he smelled the cold, winter air again. The wind had picked up over the bay, bringing with it a softer, less biting cold.

Quentin found the mass grave on the eastern end of the graveyard, surrounded by walls. The treachery took place all around the graveyard to observe what he was doing. He grabbed one of the bodies, which appeared to be a recently deceased man in his middle years, and he laid him out on the frozen, snow covered grass. He expected there to be twenty-seven bodies, one for each of the ravens in the treachery, and each of the links on the Chains of Forgotten Names, but he was surprised to find there were fourty-one. That surprise did not diminish Quentin’s resolve on what he felt honourbound to do; lay them to rest, observe the rites, and remember them; “No life goes unsung,” he said, determined, and continued to lay them down next to one another.

Taking some of the soil from around the graveyard Quentin blackened his eyes, and continued to draw a glyph of a raven on the forehead of each of the dead. Those who had their eyes open got them closed. Those who had them closed got the same gesture across closed lids, like a last caress.

Someone needs to say farewell. I do not know your names.
You are fathers, daughters, mothers, and sons.
I do not know your names, but I know you all.
I name you millstone.
I name you plow.
I name you steel.
I name you lovers.
I name you joyfull.
I name you grievers.
I know who you are.

Quentin drew Róisín and heard a gleeful voice as he stuck the blade in the ground and let her spawn tangling vines all around the bodies. The vines grew quickly and wrapped around the bodies like a chrysalis, like a coffin. Once the bodies were covered, Quentin walked around the site, twelve times diesel, twelve times withershins.

Hear my voice, o Majesty, hear your servant’s plea.
I ask for deliverance; release these souls from earthly thralls.
O Mother of Mercy, and grant them access to Thine eternal halls.
I annoit them with soil and let the earth have their remains.
I beseech Thee and ask for Thine favour.
Thine servant’s hard toil is soon to be over and his burden ready to be passed.
I relieve them from their chains and consign them to Thee, o Faceless Guise: I bid them farewell.

Once Quentin was done with the ritual, the vines whithered away and the ground had swallowed up the bodies, using them for nourishment. He took off his Ser Fulton’s shield and carved fourty-one tacks next to the names of Hejduk and Hamish to remember the bodies he buried.

In the distance, the bells rang three times.

Despite feeling a sense of satisfaction by what he did for the dead, Quentin did not get the sense that his attempt had resulted in a material change to the predicament of the Chain of Forgotten Names. The ravens were still looking down on the heroes from their perches, occasionally cawing their approval. And so the heroes decided to go back down into the crypt underneath the mausoleum. On their way the found the three guardsmen who had slipped into a tired torpor by the pale light of a small campfire. Both Luca and Neamhan were worried that their lingering spirits would grown vengeful if they realised their situation without being guided by a benevolent shepherd.

Some of the heroes engaged the lethargic guards in conversation, while others went down to check on the Chain of Forgotten Names. As Luca touched the chain and heard the murmurs coming from the links he nearly forgot Hamish’s name. Chakuq, who had joined Luca, quickly surmised that nothing had changed from before the ritual Quentin had performed, and suggested to Luca to join the others.

“You speak as if the world kept moving.” She paused, frowning, as if the thought slipped away. “Of course it did. That’s foolish. We just…” she exhaled, a sound like wind through old cloth. “We just lost track of the days.”
– Valerie of Eastminster, Crownsguard

Quentin and Neamhan were engaging Valerie, and during the conversation their lethargie seemed to fade somewhat. The ravens had followed Quentin down into the crypt again and had found ledges, alcoves, wall sconces, and statues to sit atop of. Chakuq and Astrid were singing and humming a melody which sounded like a lullaby, aided by Emrys. As the conversation progressed, they slowly changed the song from a lullaby to that of a mourning song.

The heroes found it difficult to navigate the conversation with the guards, and quickly found that each of them was motivated by and mournful of different things. What worked for one, did not work on another, and several times they said the wrong thing to one, leading them to get agitated, and their appearnce to start growing distorted.

“How long did you say it’s been?” the young man, asked. “No, don’t answer that. Everytime you do, my head feels… thinner.” He pressed a hand to his temple, the tops of his fingers passing faintly through. “Sergeant, I can’t remember my sister’s face anymore…!”
– Jon of Belstone Corner, Crownsguard

Quentin tried to get the guards to accept that they could rest and let go, but this did not appear to be what they were after. Neamhan, had an equally hard time getting them to understand the situation. Different ideas were discussed among the heroes. When it was suggested to trick the guards, Quentin resolutely said; “Death is no home to lies,” and with that the matter was settled. When Astrid was asked how to treat an old warrior, she said that she would not know, since there were no such things as old warriors in Helmark.

“I remember the march down here. Cold stone. The smell of damp,” the old guard chuckled softly. “I remember thinking we’d be home by Midwinter.” He looked around the crypt, as if finally really seeing it. “Midwinter must have come and gone quite a few times, hasn’t it?”
– Dirk Cooper, Crownsguard

Eventually the heroes managed to navigate their way through the labyrinth of each guard’s motivation, and found that Valerie was in need of cold proof, while Jon needed reassurance of what happened after death, while Dirk only cared that what they had done had mattered. Each of them, however, took pride in their watch.

“If we’re dead,” Valerie swallowed hard,”say it plain, if that’s what you believe.”
“So that’s it, then,” Jon said, “we died down here.” The young guard laughed a hollow laugh. “I thought death would feel louder.”
“No,” Dirk said quietly, “this feels right.” He paused before concluding, “That’s what frightens me.”
“There’s a choice, isn’t there?” Valerie said, addressing the heroes. “We feel it. Like a door we’ve been leaning against without knowing.”
“If we step through… what happens,” Jon asked. “Is there anything after this farewell,” his voice barely a whisper.
“What I want to know is far simpler,” Dirk said as his eyes met that of the heroes. “Did we matter?”

Eventually, each of the guards accepted their death. Quentin assured them that he would honour their memory; “I’m a grave knight of the Raven Queen; whatever is your burden, so shall it be mine.”

“That’s good enough for me,” Valerie said, removing her helm. “I was afraid we’d be leaving our post. Turns out, we held it longer than anyone could.”
Jon, breaking out in tears, asked “Will you say our names again? Just once?”
“Thank you for bringing us this far,” Dirk said, standing a little straighter.

He would not forget them; Valerie the Steadfast, Dirk the Unshakable, Jon the Jovial. Later, Neamhan suggested that Valerie should be called “Valerie the Loyal”, which none could deny.

As the guards accepted their death, the slowly faded, each leaving behind bleached bones and corroded armour. The last thing they saw from Jon was a bright smile as he looked out beyond the veil; “I think I remember her now. My sister.” Valerie stood up and saluted the heroes with a sign of the aquila and said; “The watch is yours now.” When they were gone, a weight was lifted from the crypt, and the heroes felt steadier and more assured.

Previously, the heroes had made their way down into the mausoleum at the Blackheath graveyard after defeating the Gravekeeper and several necrophages. On their way down they met three crownsguard that appeared caught between the present and the past. At the bottom of the mausoleum they found a partially flooded crypt that held the sarcophagus of the Gravekeeper, whose skeletal remains was bound in a chain made of black iron.

Ninth Day, Second Ride, Autumn Twilight, 1262

(Silvermoon is waning, Bloodmoon is waxing, Darkmoon is waning)

The heroes still found themselves down in the mausoleum at Blackheath, surrounded by submerged sarcophagi. They had removed the lid of the largest and only sarcophagus that emerged from the flood water, which revealed the bones of the enormous Gravekeeper, wrapped in heavy chains of black iron. Listening closely a soft murmur could be heard coming off the chains, like syllables of incomplete words being carried on the wind. Hearing these murmurs left each hero that observed them temporarily forgetting an important name from their past.

Chakuq had attempted to attune to the resonance of the chains, but found it hard, but Neamhan managed to channel a plant growth spell which she connected to the chains, redirected through the water and connected to one of the walls; the plants that sprouted there grew to resemble the head of a corvid, which to all appeared to be a sign of the Raven Queen.

An ominous voice had been echoing cryptic messages through the mausoleum. Quentin, unsure on how to proceed, decided to try and close the sarcophagus. Before doing so, he performed a step from the Farewell to the Dead ritual he had been studying under the tutelage of Cardinal Roark; running to fingers across the sockets of the skull to indicating the closing of eyes. A symbol etched on one of the links in the chain briefly lit up, and the heroes discovered symbols on each of the links.

It was at that point that the Gravekeeper rose from the water like a thought the mausoleum had tried, and failed, to forget. Quentin stepped forward, putting himself between his companions and the danger of the monstrosity, and appealed the Gravekeeper to depart. His words, though powerful, did not seem to have any effect on the Gravekeeper.

When the fight ensued, Neamhan wisely warned everyone that defeating the Gravekeeper would just make it come back. After that warning, water rose up all around her until it seemed to swallow her whole, and Neamhan transfigured into a being of pure liquid. Those that saw it happening and had lived through the horrors of Old Llygad were reminded of the elemental by the name of Lady Lyn, guarding the Crimson Tower.

Calling upon his patron, Luca pleaded for aid and it was answered with the appearance of a celestial warrior in the likeness of Aurion who stood sentinel. It was the first time Luca had received such help and he reckoned that the celestial warrior was but an aspect of Aurion’s full divinity.

Chakuq, Emrys, and eventually Luca all made their way onto a balcony overlooking the flooded crypt, trying to circumnavigate the fight with the Gravekeeper. Chakuq, who was at the front of the manoeuvre, spotted Virulencia in the doorway leading down to the flooded crypt, holding her child, who was spitting on the two statues of celestial figures standing on either side of the door. Soon, the others had defeated the Gravekeeper again.

Virulencia shared that the chain wrapped around the bones of the Gravekeeper was called the Chain of Forgotten Names. “During a great plague, entire villages were erased, names lost, rites skipped, histories burned. The Gravekeeper carried bodies, but never their stories,” she explained. It touched a nerve with Quentin, who claimed Virulencia was in no position to judge what he considered a divine act. Virulencia and Quentin continued to argue about why she was there and she claimed, like she had before, that she was there to prevent her brother from acquiring the Book of Woe, which she wanted for herself.

The argument was dissatisfying to both Quentin and Virulencia, and she decided to depart as she realised that the heroes were still not willing to negotiate with her. “Count the links on the chain, grave knight,” she said to Quentin before departure, “you might get somewhere.”

Taking Virulencia’s advice, the heroes counted twenty-seven links in the heavy chain, each etched with a symbol. Luca quickly realised that there were nine unique symbols, repeating three times along the length of the chain. He was reminded of the ritual of farewell for his friend Hamish, which had nine distinct steps. He recalled the nine steps, and what they represented;

The Breath, the soul leaving the body.
The Name, the soul’s identity.
The Body, the physical remains.
The Grave, the earth claiming the remains.
The Vigil, the watching over the dead.
The Rite, the farewell.
The Memory, the dead’s place among the living.
The Passage, the crossing of the soul to the afterlife.
The Silence, the soul’s final rest.

Before the heroes could form a plan, a treachery of ravens came flying down the staircase and spread out around the flooded crypt, cawing nervously. There were twenty-seven ravens in total.