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(Story by Koviell Sashermasock)

Why would someone break in a mausoleum? I look at Arkum, he looks as confused as I. I need to investigate. We get back in the hall of the inn. We can see Nova drinking with a half-elf guy at the same table.


"You guys are already up? It's still dark outside." Said Nova.

"We know, but something weird is happening outside, we're going to take a look."

"Be safe, you two." Told Nova.


We get outside and run to the church. The mausoleum is behind it, closed with 2 big metal doors. I can see broken chains and a lock on the ground.


"By the steps in the dirt, the guy is inside." Announced Arkum.

"Draw your weapon, just in case. We can't be sure if the guy might be a threat."

"Let's check inside." Said


I try to open the door delicately. As soon it was open, it falls off, making a loud noise. We can forget subtlety this time. If someone is in there, he would have hear this. I take a look inside. There are stairs going down. Whoever got inside left some footprints behind him. By the look, it's from a humanoid, a human or maybe an elf. In any cases, it was barefooted.


"Let me get in there first, just in case." Deliver Arkum.

"After you."


Arkum gets inside the mausoleum and carefully watch his step while he's going down the stairs. I follow behind him. It's quite humid inside. The air smells terrible. I doubt there is an opening to let the air flow. The stairs end up on an alcove and another stair leading deeper down. We take those stairs. We're now in a big room, with a lot of little cells with a burial pot inside. This must be the place where they leave the remains of the deads. We can see an altar at the centre of the room.


"Something's strange here." Remark Arkum.

"What it is?"

"Whoever went inside the mausoleum before us stopped leaving footprints right at the end of the stairs." State Arkum.

"Weird. Let's check around for clues."


We search around. Arkum inspects the walls while I inspect the Altar. Nothing is wrong with the Altar and I sense nothing magical in this room. Arkum doesn't seem to find something interesting.


"What do we do now?" Ask Arkum.

"Better go back, there is nothing else we can do for now. We should warn the local priest about this in the morning."


We get out of the mausoleum and I try to replace the door where it was before. We head back to the inn to see Nova and the half-elf guy.


"Did you find something?" Ask Nova.

"Someone broke in the mausoleum, but we didn't find him inside."

"It's like if he just fade away." Tell Arkum.

"This is strange. You should warn Richard about this." Conclude Nova.

"Who?"

"Richard, the priest of the church nearby. He's probably sleeping at the moment. Go see him at the church in a few hours, he gets up early." Tell Nova.

"I'll take note of this. Meanwhile, we will get back to sleep."

"Be safe." Said Nova.


We get back to our room.


"I still feel like if we missed something down there." Confess Arkum.

'Maybe, maybe not. If someone was really there, he either found a way to blend into the room or fade away."

"Maybe there was a secret door or something. This will bug me for a while." Express Arkum.

"For now, let's get some sleep."


We sleep for a few hours, until the sunrise. I send my prayers to the Ancient of the Light while Arkum is sharpening his sabres. We eat our breakfast at the inn before going to the church. The doors were closed, but Nova told us that the priest might be there now. We push the large door, it's unlocked. Inside, we can see a guy on a bench.


"Hello? Are you Richard? We want to speak to him."


The guy doesn't answer. Strange. We walk to him. We see a middle aged human with blood covering his mouth and his chest. He doesn't move. He looks dead.


"I don't think he would be able to answer any questions." State Arkum.

"Give me a sec."


I inspect the corpse. This guy had an expression of terror before going to the other world. I don't think it was a disease, at least not a common one.


"Either a disease unknown to me killed him, or something magical did. Maybe Nova knows someone that could tell us more."

"Wait a minute, there is something else." Remark Arkum, before pointing behind the guy.


I push the corpse aside. There is something written in blood. Those are draconic glyphs, but what's written makes no sense.


"I can tell you, something weird is happening now."


We get back to the inn. Nova is present and a gnome is eating his breakfast at the corner of the main room.


"Welcome back. Did you see Richard?" Demand Nova.

"If you're talking about a middle aged man's corpse covered in blood and laying on a church bench, yeah, we've seen him."

"Did you...?" Ask Nova.

"He was already dead when we found him. I think he died from a disease or something."

"This is terrible news. We can't let him there." State Nova.

"I'm sorry, but I overheard your conversation. Who would believe that two newcomers 'like you' found a dead guy? This sound pretty strange." Said the Gnome.

"We didn't kill that guy." Spit Arkum.

"I don't trust you anyway" Declare the Gnome.


He takes a bit of his meal and suddenly he starts choking. He gets ofs his chair and holds his neck.


"Dras! Help him!" Yell Arkum.


I go behind him, hold his chest and push to force him to spit his bite. It doesn't seem to work. Instead of food, he starts to spit blood and he falls on the floor. He doesn't move or breathe anymore.


"Why in the world did you kill him?" Ask Nova.

"I didn't. You may find it hard to believe, but I tried to help him. You don't spit blood if you suffocate. Something else killed him."

"This looks like poisoning." Declare Arkum.

"Why would I poison my customers? I have no reasons to." Express Nova.

"Let me check something."


- To you I send my call. The one in the Outerworld, help me uncover the secrets of magic.

I look at the gnome. He's affected by a magical illness. I can't tell what it is. I push him aside. Strange glyphs appeared under him. What's written doesn't make any sense.


"A magical effect killed him. I don't know what the source is, but this was lethal."

"Could this be related to the guy we found break in the mausoleum?" Ask Arkum.

"Maybe, I don't know. What I can be sure is that we need to investigate this case. We can't let more people die just 'like this'. This is horrible."


Suddenly, the door gets opened. A human guy with long black hair in a light grey vest with an impressive number of swords at his belt is there.


"Did you see what happened to Richard? He's dead." Declare the human.

"Those two little guys already told me about him." Said Nova.

"Who are you supposed to be?"

"I'm Zolthan Erestor Leafon, ranger and protector of Crowhack." Tell the human.

"I'm Draselth and this is Arkum. We were there to ask some infos about a guy, but we end up investigate about the mysterious death of Richard and this Gnome. I know that a magical effect killed them, but I can't tell which one."

"I think this might be related to the guy that tried to break in the mausoleum." State Arkum.

"Someone went there? There is nothing there except piles of ashes in pots." Affirm Zolthan.

"Maybe there is something else hidden there?" Ask Nova.

"Maybe, maybe not. We can't be so…"


Suddenly a great flash of light happened outside. I'm unable to see for a few seconds. When my sight come back, I can see something outside, something very unnatural : There is fire in the sky!