Confessions in the Dark

 

Preface

To the ones who enter this place and found this tome. Be you adventures, thieves, hunters or just one who are curious. Know that you will find no great treasure or hordes of ancient knowledge in this place. You will only find the silence of the tomb and this confession. You are asking who I am. I have many names and titles but for now I am the confessor in this dark tomb. I ask that you do not disturb anything in the tomb or attempt to remove the confession as it cannot be removed. I would ask that you read this confession as there is much that must be said as to who this place became the tomb it is, and how I came to write and leave this confession here.

Early life and First Sin

I was born in the time before the catastrophe that broke the first world. The age before the coming of the demons and the great wars with Lumeria and Castiana. I was born in a small village in the region of Sahal. My family was considered strange. My father was a violent drunk you might think that it meant he beat me and my mother, but he did not. My mother was called a witch, a maker of medicines and poisons. On the one occasion my father tried to strike me in his drunkenness he spent a week being sick and my mother tending him. I believe she poisoned him for trying to strike me and spent time reminding him of what she could do. My mother stayed with my father because as she said he had uses if properly directed. As I grew up my mother taught me many things about herbs and how they could be used for medicines and poisons. At this time, I also had a best friend he was one of a few kids in our village.

It was a normal day like any other I was out in the nearby forest. When I heard shouts from my home. I ran home to find a mob in front of my home the villagers were there dragging my mother away. My father tried to interfere but was attacked and killed by members of the mob. My mother was dragged away to the village square and tried for be a witch and executed. The village took sympathy on me when I came out and tried to stop the trial. My friend's family took me in as both my parents were dead. I stayed with them for a few months when my friend became ill. I was like he had contracted a wasting disease. He had trouble keeping food down and spent some whole days unable to rise. I helped tend him using some of what I knew of medicines to help him. He lived for many years this way with the wasting disease going into remission and coming back on occasions. He finally lost his battle with his disease several years later. He confessed to me just before he died that he was responsible for my parent's deaths. Having been near my home several times he had seen things that made him realize that my mother was a witch. He had told some villagers of what he had seen, and the deed was done. I confessed to him that I knew that he was the one responsible and that his disease was because I had been slowly poisoning him. I watched his face as I told him how I had been slipping poison to him not enough to be lethal but enough to keep him in suffering. I savored his distress as he realized what I had said as I gave him a lethal dose. I left the village shortly after my friend's funeral going out find a new life. I learned later that my friend's family fell apart after his death. The mother withering from grief and the father giving into drink.

Life in the temple

After I left the village, I began travelling through the region of Sahal moving towards the capital. As I travelled, I passed through a few villages and towns and managed to pick up a reputation as a healer. I would come into a village and when I found people suffering, I would help. I will say I did not help people out of any sense of humanity. It was an easy way to get resources to travel and I found the study of injuries and illnesses, and their effects on the people. When I arrived at the capital city of Kor, I sought out a place where I could continue my studies. I heard many things but the place I found that truly suited my taste was the Temple of Mortis, The archon of Death.

I came to the temple and sough admittance and was accepted as a neophyte of the temple. I spent a year as a neophyte before I was chosen to become an apprentice to a master priest. My master was a crochety and relentless taskmaster, but he was an expert in many fields. My master also had a massive private library with books on many places and subjects including translations of elvish and dwarfish writings. Books on anatomy of humans and non-human species. As well as many books of magic I spent many of my spare hours in my master's library absorbing knowledge. My main duties of were in helping my master and learning the rituals of the temple.

As I progressed through my apprenticeship, we began to hear of bodies that the temple was preparing for burial were going missing and kidnapping of citizens within the city. My master took interest in these events and began to investigate. It was as I was preparing for my test of priesthood that would mark the end of my apprenticeship that my master came to me. He looked like they had been up for several days and needed rest, but he told me he had discovered who was behind the crimes wave that had been going on. He told me he feared something might happen to him and told me that he had collected all his evident and I was to take it the high priest of the temple if something did happen. I told him I would and made him a draught to help him sleep and helped him to bed. He clearly knew something as he died in the night and when I gave my master's evident to the priest. When they went to find the culprits, they found most of them dead killed after using a dark ritual of necromancy only one madman survived. The man was an apprentice I had known since we were both neophytes. My master's death was brought up as natural causes and in his will, I discovered I was left the entire contents of his library.

I confess that I was part of my compatriots attempts at necromancy. I knew him and knew that necromancy was very difficult my compatriot I will not call him a friend did not seem to understand. He tried to bring life back to the dead but could not do more than puppet the body. In his attempts he had created a virus using magic that he thought would allow him to bring back the dead. His actions had brought him to the attention of my master and when my master discovered him and the others, they infected him with the virus, and I saw it on the night as a mercy to a man I respected I insured the draught I gave him would destroy the virus and allow my master to pass on in peace. I was a mercy I did not give to my former compatriots. I knew where their lair was and that they would all be there, so I went to them. Their lair was in a catacomb, and I did when I came, I did what they had been attempting. I raised a group of skeletons they took up their rusty arms and passed through the catacombs and began killing. While my skeletons dealt with the others, I found my compatriot and as he came to realize why I had come he began begging for his life. I just looked at him and told him he really should have been more careful, and I have no more use for him. With magics that I had discovered in my master's library I broke his mind and left him a jabbering madman. I took all their research and samples and left them to be found the temple guards and priest.

I passed my test and became a priest and prepared to continue my studies and duties as a full priest of the temple. My compatriot was imprisoned in an asylum never able to recover his wits.

Journey to Lumeria

After the death of my master and the completion of my apprenticeship I was elevated to the priesthood, and I decided to further expand my knowledge I would journey to the regions of Lumeria and Castiana and study at those temples. The early parts of my travels were not very eventful I joined a group from Kor that was traveling north. We passed through many villages and towns before we reached the borders of Lumeria. I quickly began to discover plants that I had not seen before and began collecting plants as we traveled.

When we reached the city of Lumeria I quickly settled in and began to learn the rites and rituals of the temple and continued my own studies. During this time, I also acted as a healer I discovered that many of the new plants had useful medical properties and how to make use of them. I also discovered several of them were poisons though I could not test out their properties.

During my time in Lumeria a rash of poisoning began to happen. I began small with only a few people being poisons but it moved up to large numbers of people being threaten when water sources were targeted. I helped where I could, treating people suffering from poison. I learned that the city guard were seeking the group poisoning the people. The guard soon discovered the group and captured or killed them.  They learned that the group leader managed to learn about the poison from and unknown man and began using it for furthering their plans. I was happy when I learned this since I was the one who told them about the poisons and where to find it. I admit there was really no reason to do this but I wish to know the effects of the poison and those fools proved to be perfect for the purpose.

There was not much to say about my further journeys to Castiana and then back to Sahal. I learned many things on my journey and was ready to begin to take more of a leadership position.

Endings

After I returned from my travels, I began to take more of a leadership role with the temple. After several years, I was elevated to a high position, and I was able to establish and run my own branch of the temple. I already had a place in mind a place I had known when I was young after leaving my village. I set of my temple in that place offering the temples services intending to the dead and funerary services. I ran this temple gathering new followers and researching. During my early research I had discovered many useful things for society including preserving the dead and new techniques for healing. Now my research turned more interesting. Such as expanding my knowledge of creating and controlling the undead.

I served as the leader of the temple for many years. When the demon appeared and began their invasion. I had gathered much respect from the local villages and when the invasion threatened the surrounding area I opened the temple as a safe haven. Since certain wards placed on the temple offered protection from the demon threat. We heard as the invasion progressed that many of the cities were protected while the villages and town were being taken over. It was in the midst of the invasion that the demons first appeared at the temple. It could not enter but still demanded the surrender of the temple and everyone inside. I spoke with the demon and told it we would not surrender but the demon made an offer. An offer of nearly infinite power if I gave the temple and everyone inside to the demon. I asked him how I could trust him if I lowered the wards and gave him what he wanted he could kill me and never fulfill his part of the bargain. The demon smiled and complimented me on being a clever mortal but I did not give into his flattery and told him I could not trusted his offer.  The demon then changed his offer, opening a portal he drew forth a book. The book was wrapped in pale leather and had an evil aura about it. The demon claimed it was a grimoire concerning many forms of dark magic including necromancy. He offered to give me the book and a year to study it and in returned I give him the temple and everyone inside. I consider his offer and agree and the deal is struck. The demon says he will return in a year to claim his due. I immediately begin studying the book and quickly decipher it. During the time I studied the book I kept a up with what news there was to be gained. We heard rumors of a miracle child being conceived and coming to the capital with the rumors claiming that the child when born would help drive the demons back. There were also rumors of a monstrous red wolf terrorizing the eastern forest and something draining people of blood in the north. Near the end of the given year, I and my closest followers began a ritual. The ritual was going to give us nearly unlimited power and to save us from the demon's bargain. The ritual required a sacrifice and we chose a young priest he was told his sacrifice would save the temple from the demon and he went willing to his death. We began the ritual with chants and prayers to the archon Mortis and at the height of our ritual I raised a sacrifice knife and in a swift stroke the sacrifice was made. With the sacrifice a hole was ripped into the realm of the dead. With the portal opened wave of power flowed into us and through the temple. At first it was transcended and euphoric as the power flowed. Then came all consuming pain as our bodies were being consumed by the power and the people screamed. Then came the darkness and everything went quiet.

I awoke first I was irrevocably changed and I knew it. The temple had died in waves of power from the portal but I knew it worked. I could feel the power coursing through my veins. I waited for the others to wake and we began to put the temple in order. Outside the war waged on from the whispers and rumors the capital fell and with it Sahal. The war expanded out towards Lumeria and Castiana. We cared little for the war at that point until the cataclysm came like a terrible storm a force that could only come from the gods shook and broke the world and cast us to the place were we are now.

Conclusion

Now you must ask why I have told this story or revealed so much about my past. Well, I have committed many sins and while I regret none there is still one more to reveal. The last sin I have to admit to is you diligent reader. You will never leave this temple I am sorry to say. I you may have already figured this out you were drawn to this room to this book so I could tell you this.

Now we are waking up and we will be with you soon. I must ask you not to struggle and if you did not disturb anyone. I can tell you that you will be killed quickly and painlessly. You will sleep with the others until the awakening begins. If you struggle or if you disturbed the others, you will suffer for it. Well that it I will see you soon.