With heavy hearts they gather up Trajans remains and transport them back to the hunting lodge and then by horseback to the temple in Bridlerest. Messages are sent up to Knightsbridge and Alkanar is able to make it down by the next holy day. In moving ceremony Trajan is publicly restored to life, and after a couple of days recovering they are ready to investigate those ancient dungeons once again.
This time they are joined by a scout named Orlandar, a young ranger who works for the crown. Once again they delve into the dungeon. They find a library with doors that are sealed and which they cannot pick. Following the dungeon round they find a passage cloaked in a darkness which sucks their light into it. Scary baying starts up, and Orlandar is freaked out and runs for safety. Zherinda casts daylight which dispels the darkness and reveals several Shadow mastiffs. Trajan springs forward and takes one down in a single blow. Anne-Marie steps into the gap and uses her whirlwind attack to injure two of them. Zherinda follows up by stepping forward and impaling one on her flaming spear and the last one is finished off very quickly. Orlandar overcomes his fear and returns shamefaced.
A little further on they find an underground well room, and Orlandars search skills reveal a hidden space behind some loose bricks – there are a couple of scrolls which Zherinda can use and the tattered remains of a secret message – but they need at least one more fragment to make sense of it.
Further investigation in the dungeon tunnels reveal a pit trap which guards some doors which can’t be opened, so they return to the library they found earlier. Outside the library door both M’ir and Anne-Marie sense psychic static from inside. A key which they found earlier amongst the shadows opens the library door and inside the room appears untouched – even to the skeletal body sitting at the table with a silvery diary.
The slightest vibration causes the skeleton to crumble to dust. The silvery coating on the diary is identified as quintessence, a substance which freezes small items in time. It is scraped off and saved carefully, and the diary is read.
/46 – I am beginning to worry about the prince. He is acting strangely. I am starting to think that this might not be the best place to secret one such as he. Despite royal decrees to the contrary. It is not much , but occasionally I see him gazing at one of the keepers with a look of, well, I cannot describe it but it is frightful. And now he has been very quiet of late. brooding.
I am sure I am merely imagining the worst. After all, he is on the cusp of manhood, and being locked away with the likes of us probably does not appeal to his youthful sensibilities. Though one would imagine that he would be used to it by now.
/50 – I think something is troubling the mind of our reverend cleric Septimus. He has shut himself within his chambers and has not ventured forth for even meals for almost two days now. The serving boy who last saw him said the priest was hurrying down the hall with a look of such consternation as to make a man blanche. And I now recall that shortly before I saw him remove something from the hidden alcove by the cistern. What he is doing in his rooms I do not know but I dare not disturb him for fear of ruinding some divine process.
/55 – I learned some interesting things about Severi von Purry today, after speaking with Gridla the serving maid. I knew Severi was a powerful wizard, but I never before realised how powerful – it turns out he was once the royal court wizard of the king himself! I knew that Severi was a member of house von Purry, related by blood to the king and of a very noble and powerful family, but I didn’t know Severi was actually the Kings Wizard! I asked Gridla how such a one came to be here hiding in obscurity, watching over this moody prince we’re sheltering instead of at court where he belongs. Did he fail the king somehow? No, Gridla told me, it’s the opposite. When the prince was born with his obvious problems and the king decided he needed to be secreted away, Severi volunteered for the job! It makes me proud to be serving under such a man.
/61 – Oh, tragedy, tragedy! I had never thought that such a thing could occur in our quiet sanctuary. Sweet Septimus has been murdered! A servant discovered the fact when she went in to clean the clerics chamber and found his rent and bloody corpse on the bed. Horrible, horrible! I have never before heard such a clamour! The servants were in an ungodly state of confusion, milling around like ants, and the girl who found him was positively hysterical. Even we keepers found it hard to keep our heads. Through it all, only the prince seemed to remain calm; perhaps there is hope for him yet. Well, guards on all entrances were immediately doubled and extra torches ordered for the halls at night. I pray the intruder be found!
/63 – We received a messenger from Baron Bediss von Purry, Severis’ brother and as head of House Purry the one ultimately responsible for the prince. The message stated that the Baron was sending a troop of soldiers to help us guard against whatever fiend slew poor Septimus. The company includes the famed Honourbound Knight Tremones the Pure who wields a blade called Sunrazor! The presence of such a knight will undoubtedly raise spirits around here. Also with them comes a high priest of Asura to administer the last rites to Septimus as befits a devout cleric.
/65 – Tremones and the other men from the Baron arrived today and they searched every crevice and alcove in the keep for the signs of the murdered. As we had already done this several times it was no surprise to me that they found nothing. The High Priest laid what was left of dear Septimus to rest but he also spoke out in fear that whoever did this gruesome deed would return with the intention of desecrating our honoured dead. Personally I would think the killer would want to desecrate the honoured living but that’s priests for you. No, I shouldn’t be sacrilegious, we are all in such a state right now. The High Priest cast many magical traps upon the entryway to the crypts but we can bypass them by uttering certain holy phrases. I suppose I ought to write them down here so I do not forget.
The first phrase is “I am of noble intent” said when entering the fist door. The second is “I come to honour the sacred dead” which must be spoken as one passes about halfway down the entry hallway. Lastly “I beseech admittance in the holy names of our ancestors” when opening the door to the mausoleum proper.
/68 – Well, things have quieted down a bit there have been no more incidents of any kind. The High Priest has returned back to Singh as have most of the men sent by the Baron, though the knight Tremones stays on. We can only assume that whoever or whatever this murderer is, we have scared it away. Even so, I cannot shake a feeling of dread gnawing at my gut.
/70 – Strange. Everything appears normal but I have been on edge for several days and cannot sleep properly. Perhaps I will take some medicine.
/71 – Oh, horrible, horrible! The worst disaster ever has come to pass! The prince is the murderer, the prince! Not only is he guilty of Septimus’ bloody end but now he is the slayer of them all! Blood runs down the halls. I can still hear the screams! What shall I do? I saw the prince, laughing, red light streaming from his eyes and mouth as he brutally cleaved through men and women! For a sword he wielded naught but unholy darkness! How they screamed! And he, laughing all the while. Weapons were useless, blades could not pierce the skin and magic might as well have been water for all the good it did. What a sorrowful catastrophe!
I awoke to terrifying screams in the night and emerged from my cell to find the keep in a horrifying state of madness. The prince stalked the halls slaying whoever he came across! He must not have seen me, thank Asura, but be murdered any who tried to flee the keep. Finally all the servants and keepers rallied around Tremones in the storage room. I saw it all from the hallway, saw the prince go in, saw the shaking men and women gather themselves around the knight… but when the prince entered darkness entered with him and it was like it all happened on a night with no moon. I held hope to my breast as I watched Tremones approach the prince, Sunrazor blazing, but the knight was cut down with a hideous cry! The remaining servants huddled together, clutching whatever weapons they could find but the prince cam on uncaring and then I saw two more creatures lurking in the shadows, falling upon the helpless victims. They were terrifying monstrosities – something out of a twisted nightmare. One was tall and covered in immense thorns and spikes, the other was shorter wielding a glaive that left horrifying rounds in whoever it touched. The massacre began and I couldn’t take it any more. But I had to do something. I rushed forwards and slammed the doors shut and locked them, then ran to the library and locked myself in. I fear he will find me even here, that prince – he should have been killed after he was born, after they saw the horns and the eyes.
Is that a sound outside my door? Asura preserve me.