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Chapter I
The harsh winter's ice was receding as the Spring sun was starting to show its warm face more and more. Throughout the season, rumors of villages beset by monsters from Varmouth Pass increased overtime. Though the snow had not yet completely melted, we decided to begin the delve season early. The long winter had left us lean and hungry, both physically and spiritually. It was time to make some gold to prepare for the next winter.
Once we reached the region, it didn't take long to find the source of the rumors. A hamlet ruled by a Baron, fat while his people were haggard. He welcomed us into his home with beleaguered eyes and a tight smile, not to mention the very large bounty he offered us to rid Varmouth Pass catacombs of its infestation.
And so it was, after a few days ride further North-West we arrived at the ancient fortress ruins. We stepped carefully through the broken stones and dilapidated structures, aware that just underneath our feet lay menacing creatures birthed from the ever pregnant Nether. It didn't take long to find the gate leading down into the catacombs. Surprisingly still on its hinges after so many centuries, it's etched stone guardian glaring at us in the torchlight. After some quiet debate whether or not to wait until morning, we decided to delve at once. The hinges of the heavy door creaked as we opened it, and slowly we filed into the stairwell leading down into the darkness. Every step taking us further from the light of the Moon.
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Chapter II
The dank and mossy chambers were laden with spiderwebs and sparse patches of luminescent fungal colonies that glowed with dull purple light. Hours seemed to pass and we encountered nothing aside from some harmless insects and rats that made their habitat in the moist underground corridors. Occasionally, we could hear the sound of water leaking down the stones from the melting frost in the top soil above us.
It was after taking the uneven rocky granite stairs down to the second level when we encountered the skeletons. Animated with infernal black magics, their bones scraped and clacked together as they moved towards us from outer chambers connected to the larger chamber we were passing through. The sockets in their skulls glowed a ghastly white as their teeth maddeningly chattered.
The melee began and we hacked them down, only for the infernal magics that animated them reassemble them as if their bones were puppets on invisible wires. Michaele took a blade in his side between the straps of his armor. Grimacing he cut down his assailant. Our priest stood in the center of our circular formation, her chants steeling our hearts against the onslaught.
Over and over again we cut them down, only for them to rise again and attack anew. And so, Viyonna smashed their bones with her war hammer as they went down to crush them into dust one by one, until there was none.
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Chapter III
We took rest in the proceeding chamber, taking bread and water in the flickering light of our torches. The wounded were tended to, and Michaele's head rested on Georgina's lap as she tended to the deep wound in his side. He had lost a lot of blood and his pale face and blue lips betrayed the inevitability of his fate. He grimaced in pain as she administered a potion of poppy to ease his burden into the next life. She sang to him quietly and eventually his eyes closed. After awhile his grimace went slack and faded into a peaceful sleep. His brother sat next to him with his head in his hands, his beard wet with grief.
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Chapter IV
Deeper and deeper we delved into the depths of the catacombs of Varmouth Pass, battling skeletons and demonic energies made flesh. Fatigue wore on us, shoulders stooping as our bodies weakened under the loads of our packs and armor. Corridors seemed to stretch for hours, cavernous chambers for days. Each melee made us weaker and weaker. We lost all sense of time, but the possibility of turning back wasn't brought up. We took what rest we could, in silence and heavy breaths. But something propelled us onward into the deepening black, the weakening flames of our torches the only beacons in the labyrinth.
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Chapter V
We nearly fell into the room, weapons ready, bloodshot eyes glaring into the dim light looking for our assailants. When we realized it was empty, we let our weapons drop to our sides and took in the strange setting. Unlike the other dark unlit corridors that had come before, this room had tall black candles lit in an odd formation on the floor, and script in a tongue I didn't recognize painted red on the stone walls.
Georgina sagged to her knees, staring at the words, "I know this script," She said quietly, her voice hoarse and deadpan.
The room was eerily silent, devoid of any natural ambient sound. The air was pregnant with a sickening aura and the smell of charred flesh.
"What does it say?" Viyonna asked, her face smeared with dirt and grime.
"It is a blood oath. An infernal pact made with sacrifice. An agreement that the people here would be allowed to go on with their lives without interference as long as this oath is honored and renewed with fresh blood every six years," Georgina replied, still staring at the devilish incantation.
Unfamiliar constellations of stars glowed dimly above us and brightened. Their light grew so bright that we had to shield our eyes. A low rumbling laughter echoed through the chamber, vibrations churned through our bones and teeth. People started moaning and cursing in pain. I felt my eyes start to melt in their sockets, my internal organs heaved, and I screamed in agony.
"We are the sacrifice," I heard Georgina say. Then there was nothing.
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Set almost 300 years after the Great Calamity, a party of adventurers are tasked with clearing the remote catacombs of Varmouth Pass that is rumoured to vomit forth otherworldy creatures to terrorize the villages in the region. Though a hardy crew of veteran merceneraies, nothing could have prepared them for the wicked knowledge and infernal creations they were about to face. This is their Revenant.
