The Blackvale Chambers

Date: Hollowfall 17th, 421 years after the TCOSA's founding.

After weeks of missing persons reports, the Blackvale Citadel guards were struck with a disturbing finding. An unofficial number of people, twenty-two as of today--farmers, merchants, kids, and even one aristocratic heir—went missing. There was no trend to the disappearances in terms of gender, age, or wealth. Initially, the rumors accused bandits, raiders, or even hellish creatures. However, the rumors became more pointed as the count mounted, and eventually the word came out: Chambers.

The Chambers were located close to the southern wall, behind an abandoned barrack. Brickwork concealed the stairwell, which was coated with plaster so thick that it appeared to be a part of the foundation. Nevertheless, it had been in use by someone--something even more sour in the air that seeped through the crevices.

The guards fell into darkness when the stones were shattered open. Narrow hallways dotted with claw marks and walls sticky with dampness and dark goop like sweat were illuminated by their candles. The Chambers extended outward at the end of the passage.

There were twelve in total. Each of the twelve rudimentary stone-carved passages was worse than the others.

Bones, stripped of flesh but placed as if in prayer, were found in the first chamber. The second was a puddle of blood that, in spite of the stagnant air, never dried and whose surface remained intact. In the fourth, chains hung from the ceiling, each one passing through a flesh mask that was made to seem like an unidentifiable faces.

A body was still in the seventh chamber, but it was impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or a woman, a child or an elderly person. Its ribs were stretched outward into a spiral cage, its spine was missing, and it had been hollowed out. There was a lantern burning within the cage, but it was not supported by any oil or wick.

The worst was the eleventh chamber. It could not be penetrated by light. As if they were being drained by the darkness itself, the torches guttered, their flames dwindling. The guards inside claimed to have heard murmurs. Some begged them to approach, claiming the murmurs were their own voices. Others said that the voices were those of the missing, pleading for their release. The captain in charge of the descent gave the order to have the room stone-sealed once more and to have his report removed from the Calyra's official file.

The killer was never apprehended. No name, no face. Even with what little was left, the victims could not be identified. The incidents are referred to as an isolated horror by the Calyra. It's the work of malevolent spirits, the priests say. However, guards at Blackvale murmur that they occasionally still hear voices leaking from beneath the sealed stone in the middle of the night.

They claim that rather than being remnants of a crime, the Chambers are doorways that lead to a deeper place and will eventually reopen.

And although TCOSA takes pride in its power, solidarity, and sunshine, the legacy of Blackvale clings to the organization like an unhealing wound. TCOSA, according to some, is no longer all sunshine and peace. Slowly, it's turned to rot.

The Chambers, however, did not remain sealed.

Disappearances resumed in the low villages outside of Blackvale's shadow during the frosty month of Wintermarch, 72 years later. Farmwives, troops on patrol, and a group of traveling actors—the count increased quickly. The Chambers was waiting when the guards smashed the stones again.

The first eleven remained the same, unaltered by the passage of time, with the shackled still swaying and the blood still wet. The walled room of whispers, the twelfth, was no longer empty, however.

Twenty bodies lay there in the darkness. New. They were all set up as if in a ritual. They were all unidentifiable.

Once more, the doors were sealed, but this time they were triple-barricaded and covered in layers of priestly sigils. The issue was deemed "contained" by the Calyra. However, those on guard claimed that the walls pulsed softly, as though something underneath had started to breathe.