The Mausoleum

by Luke Thomas

Dear Diary,

We’re still deep in the mausoleum, entombed beneath stone and history, where even the dust feels sacred — or cursed. And of course, we are under constant attack.

The bone devils rose from the pyre’s blaze, skeletal things of sinew and malice, their eyes full of knowing hate. I reached into the threads of fate and twisted one’s attack off course — a near miss. I followed with a fireball, forgetting (foolishly) that devils don’t much mind fire. The flame exploded uselessly over their armored hides, illuminating the chamber in a wash of red and regret. The other devil struck back, its stinger piercing into my ribs. I tried to deflect it again, tried to cheat destiny a second time — but I wasn’t fast enough. Pain, then fire burned in my veins. The venom writhed through me. Before it could finish me off, Alistan and Liliana surged forward, blades flashing, shields held high. Together, with arrows and steel, we pushed the creatures back until they finally fell into brittle, broken piles.

Liliana placed her glowing hand on my shoulder and burned the poison out of me, her magic stern but warm. The pain ebbed. I nodded my thanks, too exhausted to speak.

In the pyre’s fading embers, I spotted a red key, untouched by flame. I plucked it out with mage hand, wary of traps and the flames. We took a short rest, Liliana praying softly while the others caught their breath. Then we moved on.

More tombs. More sarcophagi. Lesser nobles, mostly forgotten names carved in crumbling stone. Eventually, we found another sealed door.

Dadroz made quick work of the locks and traps. Inside the walls were covered in skulls, neatly arranged and fused with the stone like some macabre tapestry. In the center, another candle, flickering weakly. A riddle carved beneath it:

“I have no arms or legs or torso,
No head or neck or feet below.
Yet I stand tall in youth,
Getting shorter when I am long in the tooth.”

A candle, of course. Alistan lifted it with care. Dadroz checked and unbarred the second door in the room, leading into a cracked, crumbling fountain room. Alistan placed the candle atop the fountain’s center and it lit something unseen.

Water surged forth, black and thick, and dark energy spilled from the basin. Two Devourers emerged — warped abominations, part humanoid, part abyssal horror, with half-absorbed people writhing from their chests, like souls halfway to oblivion.

We fell into our usual battle rhythm — Alistan and Liliana to the front, Gael loosing arrows, Hayley muttering curses. I stayed close to Alistan — he needs my light to see — and launched a proper fireball, this time with results. But then the devourers turned their dark magic on us. A soul vortex tore through the room, dragging our spirits toward the brink. I felt myself fall to a knee, strength bleeding from my bones.

We took one down quickly. But the second let out a screech, cold and unnatural — and worse, it was answered. From behind us, wraiths materialized, gliding through the dark. Gael was the first to fall, overwhelmed in the rear.

Liliana killed the last Devourer and ran to him, calling upon her divine magic. Meanwhile, I raised a wall of fire, splitting the room in two and holding the wraiths at bay. But it didn’t last.

One burst through the flames — I twisted fate again to avoid the blow — but others piled in. I couldn’t hold the spell and defend myself. Their ghostly hands tore at my soul, draining life, and I crumpled. Darkness took me.

I awoke to the taste of a goodberry on my tongue, sweet and earthy. Gael, still pale but standing, had returned the favor. I cast magic missile mid-rise, tearing one of the wraiths apart in a flurry of arcane light. Alistan dispatched the final one with a clean strike.

We retrieved a black key from the fountain’s center, again using mage hand. We were tired, bleeding, but determined. No one wanted to go back yet. So we pushed on toward the third sealed door.

The next chamber held statues of Eladrin and Elves, still and watching. A new riddle awaited:

“I start the day, and end the end,
And do the same for your dear friend.”

The letter D.

Each statue bore a name, but only one had the letter D. It could be moved. Behind another door was a wide hall with shrines, marked with sun, moon, and stars — symbols tied to the names.

We solved the puzzle, aligning the statues just so. As soon as we did, vines erupted from the floor, wrapping around Alistan and Liliana. From between columns stepped strange forest centaurs, made of bark and vine, their eyes gleaming with battle-hunger.

Another fight among the dead.

— Luke

Continue reading...

A test of magic
24th of Aran, Y126 Year of the Tree

A Festival of Foxes and Frolics
30th of Dagda, Year 121, Era of the tree

Elsa

Adventure Ahead!
1st of Lug, Year 121 of the Tree

Rosebloom's Bookworm
4th of Lugh, Year 121 of the Tree

What to do when your hostess has a Secret Society Membership
5th of Lugh, 121 Year of the Tree

The most useful kind of magic
6th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

A Betrayal of Satyrs
7th of Lugh, 121 Year of the Tree

Maladies of the Mist
8-11th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

The Hunter
11th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

A Hidden Path to Logvale and Beyond
12th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

A Master of Fire
13th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Too Many Goodbyes
20th of Lug, 121 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley I
1st of Ogan, 122 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley II
3rd of Solstice, 122 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley III
24th of Edon, 123 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley IV
17th of Gobu, 124 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley V
7th of Daga, 125 Year of the Tree

Letter to Hayley VI
14th of Mannan, 125 Year of the Tree

The Reunion
14th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Emissaries of the Fenhunter
15th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Fall of Cairn Fussil
4th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Festival Frenzy
10th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Terror of Ravensfield
13th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Dragon Bones in the Dark
15th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Determination of an Undead Kobold
16th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Battle at the Burning Village
17th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Reminder to Take Action
18th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Grand Ball of Intrigue
20th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Search for Norgar
20th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Why you can never trust a bard
20th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Royal Reward and a Challenge
28th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

An apple a day...
29th of Nuan, 126 Year of the Tree

Dealing with the fey
30th of Nuan, 126 Era of the Tree

Aunty's Wrath
3rd of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Best served cold
9th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Venturing into dangerous waters
11th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

The Fury of the Marsh
11th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

The young stag and the undead wolf
20th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Anaya's Prison
21st of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Tales of Immerglade
22nd of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

The festival of Wolf's Rest
26th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Battle of the Bards
26th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Undead at the Cathedral
30th of Aran, 126 Year of the Tree

Elves and worms
4th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

How we got Sixteen Cows
8th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Descent into Acid
9th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Sorry we stole your hoard
10th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Strange Dreams of the Northern Wetlands
12th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

Latebra Velora
15th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Tragedy of Alistan De la Roost
17th of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

From Keralon into the Feywild
22nd of Brigan, 126 Year of the Tree

A Feywild Festival
??, 126 Year of the Tree

Into the Jaws of the Warg King
??, 126 Year of the Tree

The birds have wings
??, 126 Year of the Tree

Sneaking into Whitewail
??, 126 Year of the Tree

Arrival at Nimmerburg
29th of Gobu, 126 Year of the Tree

The Fey Tournament
1st of Madan, 126 Year of the Tree

Lumiria
1st of Madan, 126 Year of the Tree

Homecoming
2nd of Madan, 126 Year of the Tree

The dinner party
4th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Mausoleum
11th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

Chain of Souls
11th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

Sister Willow's Story
15th of Mannan, 126 Year of the Tree

The Mausoleum

Continue reading...

Find your way!

Resources

WHO WE ARE

LEGAL

Get the news

Listen to our Podcast

Our Allies