"Fair could be- but we also don't know if someone else in town's got a basement that leads here what a child's playing in. Kalron knows I got into a few places I shouldn've been." Deshe is ready to act with caution, but wouldn't want the group to just blindly attack either.
Klaus is one of the last to move further down, and he is happy to let the others do most of the checking and perceiving.
After Rasmus spooks a bit at what he says may be children laughing, Klaus raises an eyebrow.
"Welllllllll...personally, I feel like not at least checking the partially open door is more of a risk as once we start descending, if someone—or something—comes out of the room above us on the stairs. They would have the high ground on us stacked at best two-by-two on the stairs." Klaus ackshuallys.
"Since it really won't be that difficult to open a door to verify the other side," Klaus begins the hand motions to cast open/close, "plus at worst we would be able to retreat into and defend the room on the other side better than an open stairway, I'd like to vote for clearing at least the easily opened room first."
He fishes a small uncut brass key out of his component pouch. "Besides it stands to reason that rooms at the top the stairs would likely give some kind of hint as to what that cave portends. If they're full of mining equipment or other adventuring gear, that would be a good clue, right? Could just be an old pantry, but much rather be sure it's empty of anything that likes to snack on wizard brains, you know?"
Unless stopped, Klaus completes the spell and his arcane power should hopefully easily open the door without issue.
Erik looks back and forth between Rasmus and Klaus.
Hmm. As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Rasmus is the boss. On the other hand, Shep clearly smelled something from behind that door.
"Ah, Mr. Rasmus, how sure are you that the voice you heard from the cave is real? If it's trying to lure us somewhere, could it be luring us away from this door? Oh, and by the way, Shep's acting like she smelled something behind that door Klaus wants to check out. I'm with you, whichever way you go, though."
notice along the east and west wall that there are two aged and worn in spots, four total, on the ground. They are round and look as if whatever was sitting there were extremely heavy.
"Something heavy WAS by the side of those walls." He observes "I think."
As for backing up Rasmus, he's about to volunteer when he sees Klaus is up to something, "Up to you, Rasmus, Close is opening a door up here now as we speak it looks like."
Rasmus casts one last baleful eye at the cave, and moves to support Klaus.
"We should stick together. Maybe yer right, maybe I'm overreactin'. Thanks fer yer trust in me, lads, but I'll support ye as best I can."
He smiles, and readies his sword and Lantern.
"I'm partial to opening this wooden door to clear it first. As you say, we needn't worry about the iron one for now. We clear this room without totally ignoring the cave and then head down. Sound fair?" He then motions for others to move to where they can hear him. In a low voice he says, "I'll push the door open and step aside, you armored types can rush in." Assuming all are in agreement, he moves quietly to the door and waits for the others to stack how they will enter.
Belfer looks around the room and exposed cave as the torch passes through it.
"Oh, and by the way, Shep's acting like she smelled something behind that door Klaus wants to check out. I'm with you, whichever way you go, though."
"Animals have pretty good senses. It would be wise to pay attention to them. Besides, it might explain why the door is ajar."
Rasmus tosses a torch roughly 10-ft into the chamber. It easily falls down the stairs and lands at the bottom landing. With this, the laughter cuts off, the hair on the back of Rasmus’ neck tingles as he realizes there is no echo. There should be an echo off the stone walls, floor and ceiling.
While he can see further into the chamber the light is being suppressed. He can see that the cave area does open into a larger section and then moves north.
As conversation moves to who is doing what and going where, Alistair makes a move to open the door to the north. Before he can get there Klaus’ spell is completed and the door opens before Alistair. With the door opening, from the darkness within is the sound of screaming as if someone is in pain. To those who have heard the sound before, it is the sound of someone being tortured.
From the entry room all you can see is that the walkway turns west…
As you enter this chamber the screaming stops and your light illuminates the way. You see that there is a small hall that leads to the west before opening into a larger room.
A bench laden with clamps, knives and instruments of torture stands against the north and south walls of this chamber. A table, sinisterly stained and fitted with manacles, stands in the center of the room. A naked body is restrained on the table.
As you examine the table you see that there are groves in the table. The blood has long dried. To the south west of the table there is a slight gutter that leads from that corner of the table to a spot on the floor where the stone looks to be broken and dropped down slightly angling towards the wall.
The body is long passed and mummified. It is hard to tell because of the age and exposure, but it looks as if the flesh had been peeled from this body
"What the blazes?!?" Klaus' mouth drops open as the door opening induces agonizing screams. "Morden and Mother protect us!"
Klaus had been keeping it together until now despite the topsy turvy response to the brandy his stomach had been having. As the screams wash over them, he looks decidedly green.
"Wha...what are we getting paid again?"
Sethiel's exploratory (and a little rebellious, given that he isn't strictly speaking supposed to be here) mood sours instantly at hearing the screams of pain coming from the next room.
Rasmus steps cautiously into the chamber, his senses heightened by the eerie silence and the oppressive darkness. The sight of the mummified body on the table sends a chill down his spine, but he steels himself and approaches, his jaw set in a grim point. He whispers to his companions, his voice firm.
“This place reeks of sufferin', horrible sufferin'..."
Almost as an afterthought, he adds,
"Soften yer steps too. The dead don't always sleep peacefully.”
As he approaches the table, memories of a past encounter flood his mind. He recalls the day he found Elara, the young woman who had captured his heart, ensnared in a dark cult. She had been little older than Deshe and Erik, and the memory of her eyes still lingered with him.
He had been tracking the cult for weeks, following their trail of bloody horror through the alleys and streets of Dulwich. When he finally found their hideout, he was horrified to discover Elara, bound and surrounded by dark symbols. Her eyes, once full of life, were now hollow and filled with despair.
“Elara,” he had whispered gently, kneeling beside her. “I’m here to help ye, to get ye away from these mad cultists..."
She had flinched at his touch, but his soothing voice had seemed to calm her. As he reached forward to untie her binds, an ice-cold pain had shot through his body, and he fell backwards, clutching in vain at the dagger sticking from his abdomen.
With a single word of magic, Elara's bindings had slithered free from her wrists and coiled around him like snakes. Her eyes had lost all feigned despair and radiated a cold malice that cut into his heart mercilessly. He could say nothing as clammy, rotting hands grabbed at his tunic and dragged him further into the makeshift temple.
Flinching as his mind returns to the present, he gently examines the mummified body, looking for any clues that might reveal what happened here.
“This poor soul has been through unimaginable torment,”
he murmurs, his kind demeanor shining through despite the gruesome scene.
“We must ensure that their suffering was not in vain.”
Rasmus’ hand hovers over the broken stone on the floor, his instincts telling him that there is more to this than meets the eye. He readies his weapon warily, taking a deep breath. He silently vows to protect his companions and bring justice to the tormented souls that haunt this chamber.
Dargys hears the scream and silently agrees with Klaus's alarm, raising his shield he moves quickly to support Rasmus, then looks at the figure on the table, "This person's a long time dead? so who did the scream come from?"
“We must ensure that their suffering was not in vain.”
Erik rides up behind Rasmus as he whispers about doing right by the person tortured here. "I ain't gonna lie, Mr. Rasmus. This is more 'n I'd figured on, but you're right, somebody needs to pay for this."
"This person's a long time dead? so who did the scream come from?"
Hearing Dargys's comment as he passes, Erik replies: "I imagine it's some kind of magic trick, same as Mr. Rasmus heard something in that cave over yonder, but there wasn't anything there when he threw a torch to light the place up."
Erik leans over and scritches Shep on the neck, "Can you still smell whatever you smelled in there?"
Alistair moves into the room following the others. He stops by the table and takes in the scene. "Oh, that's disgusting," Alistair says with a grimace and a shake of head. "I was hoping to battle goblins and trolls and not find mutilated, mummified bodies."
After Erik responds about the magic trick, Alistair says, "I agree. But if they are using magic for distraction they could have magic that does worse. Best to keep a sharp eye out. Speaking of that. I'll be right back." Alistair walks back out after saying this. In the main room he looks closer at the gold piece he spotted. Is it wedged, like someone was trying to keep one of the stones from moving or is it appear like it was lost and got stuck on its own.
"Fell deeds have been done, but whether they be long in the past or recent, I don't know which is worse."
As Sethiel approaches the table to examine the person he realizes that time has not been kind to these remains. He is unsure who this is, but he believes that this body has been resting here longer than even he had been alive.
Rasmus shakes himself free from the trap of the past and moves to the present. He moves to gently examine the body .
Erik and Shep move forward to see if what Shep smelt before was present here too. Shep’s scent begins to smell something familiar and starts a low grumbling growl. In that moment Erik looks and sees it, but it is too late as Rasmus touches the body to examine it.
The body doesn’t move, but for those circled around the table you see the faces people shift over the mummified face. As if their spirits were flashing before it. Hundreds of them, in that same moment those in this chamber hear hundreds of voices violently burst out in terrible screams. It is hauntingly deafining…
As the screams fade away you hear those around you shuffling with as they are startled back a step from the table. Even though the screams are gone you are left with a ringing of tinnitus.
The screaming is piercing and suddenly stops. You might move your hands from covering you ears and you realize you didn’t hear the sound of your hands touching your ears. You look around and you cannot hear the companions around you. You are Deafened.
Sethiel's elf ears twitch painfully in the mummification room as the screaming subsides again. "Clearly this is some sort of effect created in this room, not a person in anguish. We should be cautious nonetheless."
"Mmm, alas, I didn't bring spells for divining the presence of undead and deathly haunts." Deshe answered Sethiel.
"Ouch. Is everybody all right?"
At the sight of the body on the table, Klaus' stomach spins while his hangover headache worsens. He whirls away and takes a few steps to noisily make rainbows in a corner away from the table and its mummified resident. Perhaps this unfortunate state is actually a blessing as the change in his own sinus pressure seems to buffer him from the worst of the magical/supernatural screaming.
"Ugh," Klaus moans. "That felt awful. Even my ears are ringing."
Maybe he didn't even notice the terrible sound? He retrieves his kerchief and wipes some of the sweat off his brow and traces of rainbows from his lip.
Rasmus grimaces as the scream worms its way into his brain, and small rivulets of blood begin running from his ears. Though he seems relieved when he thinks it stops, he touches his finger to the trickles of liquid, and stares in shock at the crimson fluid staining his skin.
As the deafening silence envelops the group, Rasmus’s initial shock quickly turns into a burning determination. His hatred for foul undead fuels his determination to destroy whatever malevolent force is at play. He adopts a 'coup-de-grace' sword stance, his eyes narrowing as he scans the body once more, this time cautiously.
Despite the silence, Rasmus’s body language is clear. He points to the mummified body and then makes a slashing motion across his throat, indicating his desire to destroy it. He then gestures for Erik and Shep to cover him as he approaches the body once more.
With a determined look, Rasmus approaches the mummified body again. This time, he is prepared for any supernatural occurrences. He draws his weapon, ready to strike at the first sign of movement. He motions for the others to get themselves to a reasonable distance for safety.
Belfer turns to Alistair, "Did you hear that? That cacophony of torment sounded like it came from the room. The others might need help!"
Belfer pulls out his knife and briskly moves towards the other room, yelling "Are you guys all right? Don't worry, we're coming!"
Alistair crouches down and looks at the coin where it is/was wedged. It is hard to tell what caused it to be here. The basement levels of this house were shifting, it could be wedged in there because it was a dropped coin and then the floor shifted. It could be that someone wedged it in there. At this point in time, it is too hard to tell. If you pull it free, you see the description of the original posting on the coin.
The screams have different effects on those in the chamber; Erik stands stoically, Klaus empties his stomach in the corner, Rasmus appears to not hear the questions being asked.
Approaching the body again, it looks as if it did not move. The faces you saw appears to be hundreds of faces that might have laid on this table over time. It does not move. Outside of the shuffling of feet on the floor, the group’s breathing, and swords being regripped, it is silent down here.
Dargys finds himself just beyond the effect, "Sweet Gods what a noise. Rasmus, are you sure about this?" Then notices the motions and figures the fellow might not hear him. He lets his doubt show on his face, but raises his shield just in case.
Alistair stood when he heard the scream. Pocketing the coun with his left and draws his rapier with his right. Moving back toward the room it’s obvious things are getting crowded. [b]”Is everyone ok?”[\b] he calls out as he keeps an eye on the cave entrance, just in case.
Seeing Rasmus' hand signals, Erik rides Shep around the table and down the hallway as he pulls out his sling and loads a bullet.
"Are you guys all right? Don't worry, we're coming!"
"Looks like most of us are OK. Mr. Rasmus is actin' like he can't hear, though. Not sure what happened, but maybe you can help us figure it out."
Rasmus watches the corpse balefully for a moment or two, and then lowers his blade when he sees that it remains still. He smiles apologetically at the others. The smile, however, does not reach his eyes, and in them a fearful worry can be seen. He begins signing to his friends.
He touches his index fingers to his ears, and makes an "X" shape with his hands, showing his loss of hearing. He points to the others, touches his ears again, and makes the "X" shape, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, as if asking if anyone else is hurt.
Upon seeing that the others seem to be fine, he sheathes his sword, sets the lantern down on a table, and pulls a piece of chalk out of his pack. He carefully scrawls on the wall, in a surprisingly elegant and cultured script,
That scream knocked out my hearing. Don't stop on my account, I can continue on, just please give a held up fist in the air at any sign of trouble, so I know to ready myself.
He points to the scrawling once it's complete, looks at the others, and half-smiles-half-grimaces, as a small lance of pain seems to arc through his ears.
He thinks for a moment, and reaches into one of the packs, pulling out sets of earplugs for everyone in the party. He hands them out, shrugging, as if to say "just in case."
Once this is done, he casts his eyes into the leaping and cavorting flaming light of his lantern, and begins whispering prayers to Kalron, in a steady, if very quiet voice. It is so quiet, that the others can only catch snippets of his prayer.
"Guide me sword, Master of the Clashin' Blades...bring the foes of me line, me lineage, me family, and pierce their lies...by the blade of me father, and his father, and his father's father, guide me sword along the paths of justice..."
Alistair notes many of the others still standing in the entryway of the small room from whence the scream came. "You fellas going into the room or coming out? I thought I had seen something out here and wanted to double check it. I can resume my scouting position up front if you like or I can guard the rear."
Things have quieted down and even though he is facing difficulty due to his new loss of hearing, Rasmus is calm and collected. It could come with his age and experience…
In the entry room Alistair sees the dim light flickering from the torch that Rasmus tossed into the natural cave opening. Hearing the flame his as it causes the moisture on the floor to bubble and pop.
The slanted stone to the west, just beyond the table, draws your attention . If you go look at it you will discover that it is actually on a mechanical hinge, and if you were to try, you could raise the stone up flush with the floor or cause it to be angled even further.
At this angle you are unable to see anything below.
Erik and Shep round the table and enter the hallway that leads north. The light of the group illuminates the hallway and reveals that roughly 25-feet down the hall there is an opening that leads to the east and west. Just beyond that the light starts to fail but it looks as if it opens into a larger chamber.
Dargys calls out to Alister, "Rasmus is deaf, you probably should join us, and then we can back track to your interests? It's a guess... never done anything like this in my life."
Not having noticed anything in the room they searched so far, Deshe comes at Alistair's call.
"I'll take a quick look, Alistair. Deshe walks up to the torch, raising his lit shield and taking a look around, holy weapon of Kalron in his other hand.
Wary of proceeding any further on his own, Erik turns around in his saddle and observes what is going on behind him while Shep keeps up a lookout down the hall.
Klaus looks around blearily.
"Sorry about that...I may have had too much mead last night."
”No need, i already found it. Just an old coin. I just didn’t want to start shoving my way past people only to have everyone come back in here.” he then heads back into the room. ”Ooo, an unexplored hall. Erik, if you don’t mind I’ll check the floor for surprises up to that exit or room.” Alistair offers and moves toward the hall to do just that.
Rasmus watches the others bustling around with interest. Hearing nothing from their voices, he watches their actions instead. He sees Erik starting to investigate the new hallway, and picks up his lantern again, drawing his sword.
He nods to the others, indicating his readiness to continue. He concentrates on the hallway and looks for any tracks on the floor that might indicate recent movement down in this ruined hollow, casting his senses along the hallways and passages of this ancient dwelling.
He follows the others when they move, and remains wary. His flickering lantern glows with a dancing flame, and his eyes dance along with it. His eyes seem filled with a mournful lament for the evil that lurks in the dark, and how rarely it sees the light. He glances at the others, and sees the curiosity gleam in their eyes. His own eyes soften, and he thinks,
But how long ago was I just like them? They'll learn, in time, to fear the dark, and let that fear give them strength to protect what's holy. But fer now, they should stay young, stay curious. How much worse would it be to be placid, to be content?
Lost in his thoughts, he watches the others, to see what their next move is.
"Looks like most of us are OK. Mr. Rasmus is actin' like he can't hear, though. Not sure what happened, but maybe you can help us figure it out."
"I see. Let me take a look."
"What was everyone doing exactly? Touching the table area? Hmm..."
Belfer moves forward and begins looking over the remains on the table whole Detecting Magic. Nothing in this room detects as magic, but as you are looking over this table you do see some light carvings on the table. They were hard to see at first because they are under the body and filled with grime, but they look like some kind of arcane letters. You have never seen anything like this before, but you know there are dark magics in the world that uses the life force found within blood. Your skin crawls at the evil that has been done within this layer.
As Erik leads others north down the hallway you get to a crossroad. The north still opens into a larger room. The east leads to a door that is ajar an inch, darkness is within. To the west leads to a hallway that eventually turns north.
As Rasmus follows the others his eyes turn to the floor and realize that the tracks on the floor are from them. There are no signs of movement or life outside of this group.
Back in the entry chamber Deshe heads down into the cave passing by the torch that Rasmus tossed down into this natural cave area. As Deshe moves forward through this slender natural cavern he realizes that the darkness appears to be closing in on the light that is present. The torch doesn’t throw light as far, and if he is using his Light spell the same thing is experienced.
As Deshe rounds the corner he suddenly hears a child crying. Remembering that Rasmus mentioned laughter, Deshe could think that this might be the same child. It is a girl covered in dirt and grime, her once blue dress is filthy and tattered. Under her tears, she is quietly talking; “no… stay back… don’t hurt me…” Her head turns towards Deshe looking at him through her ragged hair and returns to bury her head in her knees. “Give back my parents… I want to go home…” her crying begins to grow. “I want to go home…” Her crying continues to grow as she stands up. “I want to go home….”
She looks up at Deshe through her hair and he notices that the light source flickers off her fully black eyes, no white or color. She begins to scream as her skin on her arms, legs, and face begins to fester and grotesque tumors begin to grow. “I want to go
With that, quicker than any spooked animal, she charges towards Deshe with a jagged blade that he did not see until this moment. She covers ground unnaturally quick, but Deshe can raise a shield to cover himself and put a barrier between him and the child. She swings with the blade, and he sees the blade pass through the shield, along with her hand and arm, and it passes through him. The childlike spectre passes completely through the shield and Deshe himself.
A numbness tries to move through Deshe’s mind, but he Wills it away. Looking to his abdomen he sees no wound. There are no cries or tumor infested girl in this room. There is a chill in the air that cuts through this cave.
"Some sort of spectre or illusion- Like as not a child lost down here till it died... That's no way for anyone to die." Deshe, though unharmed, is not unmoved. Such sorrow and hopelessness found purchase in his sympathy, even if it did not succeed to harm him physically.
He heads back to the group. "I don't think an approach as that of soldiers clearing the halls of a foes castle is what we need here. Between that which deafened Rasmus and this, I think the threat we face is altogether different. Courage may be our best defense."
"We really SHOULD stay together I think," The warrior suggests and taps Rasmus' shoulder pointing to the direction Deshe went. "A spectre? How the hell do you fight one of those things with steel?" He asks anyone. Clearly out his depth but he wants to help.
Alistair moves slightly ahead of the others down the hall looking for traps or other dangers.
+1 is for traps
Dargys takes the time to catch Rasmus's attention. He makes a writing motion, if Rasmus has pen and paper to offer, the warrior hastily writes down what's happened though it is a bit rushed
If no paper is available, he tries to move lips slow enough so the fellow can read them.
Belfer gives a visible shiver at the epiphany of what the carvings mean.
"Look here. This table has symbols carved into it that allude to dark and primitive magic. It collects blood energy from it's victims, providing fuel for darker incantations. For what, I do not know. Perhaps what you heard was an echo imprinted of the trauma inflicted here."
"I think you are likely correct, Belfer." Deshe nods.
Rasmus' eyebrows furrow upon reading Dargys' transcription, and he sheathes his sword. When he reads Deshe's words about steel's folly against the ethereal, he points to it and nods. He makes a gesture of thanks to Dargys and looks around once more, looking for marks of the dead.
Seeing Belfer scanning the table's runic inscriptions, he comes closer, taking a look as well. Upon seeing the runes, however, a memory comes to mind, unbidden and unwanted.
As he was dragged deeper into the abandoned ruin, he caught glimpses of other prisoners, their eyes hollow and filled with the same despair he had seen in Elara’s before her transformation. They clutched at the cultists as they passed, begging for mercy and freedom. One old man managed to snag his hand on the leading cultist's robe. The robed cultist swiveled, his fury palpable despite the stitched mask he wore. He unsheathed his dagger and advanced on the old prisoner. Rasmus was quickly dragged out of sight, but he heard a silken sound, like the tearing of sinews, and a whimpering cry from the prisoner. The leading cultist soon returned to the point of the group, seemingly unconcerned about the blood spattering his robe. The sight filled Rasmus with a renewed sense of urgency. He couldn’t let this happen to anyone else.
He was dragged into a small room, with three braziers placed in a triangular pattern around a central, circular altar. The altar appeared to be a massive, wrought-iron bowl, covered with horrible carvings of surprisingly benign and passive faces. It was filled with an eerie black liquid, opaque as the blackness of night. It was remarkably still, almost like a mirror of tarnished silver. The bowl stood upon small granite fingers jutting from the ground like the teeth of some ravenous beast. Seven other robed people stood around the bowl, chanting in a strange language that grated on Rasmus' ears painfully. One of the robed figures turned, and briefly Rasmus saw a flash of its face, and realized it was Elara. She smiled cruelly at him, and turned back to the bowl, chanting even louder. Slowly, hauntingly, a ghostly figure began to rise from the foul lightless ichor of the bowl, strings of the liquid clung to the body like spiders' webs. The cult leader began to smile with satisfaction and his chant reached new, booming heights of ebullience.
With a surge of determination, Rasmus focused on the bindings, muttering a prayer to Kalron under his breath and relaxing his muscles as much as he could. The ropes loosened slightly, whether through his action or the hand of some higher being, enough for him to slip one hand free. He reached for the dagger still embedded in his abdomen, gritting his teeth against the pain as he pulled it out. He couldn't help but let loose a small grunt of pain, one that drew the attention of the cultists to him.
Quickly, using the dagger, he cut through the remaining bindings and staggered to his feet. The cultmaster waved his hand at Rasmus, and continued his chanting. Three cultists broke from the ranks and closed in around Rasmus, drawing wicked-looking knives. With a deft cut at the closest cultist's throat, he felled one of them, but the other two stabbed at him. The knives struck him in his sides, but he still stood, filled with hatred for Elara and the desire to save the other prisoners. A brief shout echoed through the dark halls, but Rasmus put it out of mind.
Rasmus, blood flowing from his sides like grim waterfalls, scanned the room, looking for anything that could help him disrupt the ritual. His eyes fell on the large, ornate bowl. With a deep breath, Rasmus summoned the last of his strength and lunged towards the brazier. He caught on the rim and fell past it weakly, groaning in pain. The cult leader smiled, and turned his eyes back towards the bowl, but saw that the figure was gone, and a small swirl of crimson liquid was swirling in the unseen currents of the ichor. The smile vanished from his face, and he turned to Rasmus, drawing his dagger, shouting,
"An impurity in the black blood! You heathen! You murderer! My master was close, closer than he's been in decades, and you ruined it!"
The cultists turned towards him, their faces twisted. But before they could react, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the temple. The city guards, alerted by Rasmus’ movements that evening, burst into the room, weapons drawn. In the chaos that followed, Rasmus saw Elara slip away, her eyes meeting his for a brief moment. There was no trace of the girl he once knew, only the cold malice of a devoted cultist. She disappeared into the shadows, leaving Rasmus with a mix of relief and sorrow.
The guards quickly subdued the remaining cultists, but the victory felt hollow. Rasmus knew that Elara was still out there, a part of the darkness he had sworn to fight. As he was helped to his feet by one of the guards, he vowed to continue his quest, not just to stop the cult, but to save Elara if he could.
He grimaces, and pulls his chalk from his bag again. He steadies himself and, his balance a bit lopsided from sound's disappearance, moves over to the wall he had written on before. He thinks for a moment, frowns, and writes,
These runes remind me of the Marks of Braal. I've seen them on the foreheads of undead that wander the Salt Mire, most likely poor farmers taken from their homes for ungodly experiments under the moon and turned into the walking dead. There are some differences, but I would advise caution when dealing with what's down here. Deshe and Sethiel, pray to your gods all you can. We'll need them for what is coming, I should think.
He ponders for a moment longer, and seems lost in thought. He thinks back to the rumors and hearsay he's heard these past months in the taverns around the Mire.
Dargys reads out what was written by Rasmus to the others, then adds his own "If we can find out who the spirit was maybe we can at least get word to their loved ones."