Deacon and Ralph sat there in the cemetery staring at the body on the ground. The magic net Ralph cast had disappeared and the Vasilly Lord lay motionless. They could see it wore at least two rings and there was a candle flickering in the mausoleum it had its meeting in. Deacon was the first to get to his feet but not before concentrating on his breathing and absorbing the lord’s soul. He also noticed his hoody had self-repaired. The idea of not being half naked after every fight made him feel warm and fuzzy. He walked over to help Ralph up who had a bruise over his right cheek that was slowly shrinking.

“That was clutch.” Deacon said.

“What?” Ralph asked.

“The magic spell. I’m pretty sure it saved our lives. It’s claws were scraping my bones.” Deacon said wincing at the memory.

“Right. We should check on those people at the gates.” Ralph said getting his feet under him.

“How bout we loot the body, check that crypt, then check on the civilians?” Deacon asked.

“I’m going to start towards the civilians. Find me when you are done.” Ralph replied.

Deacon and Ralph split off. Ralph gaining more confidence in his steps the more time passed. Deacon looked down at the body and started checking it. On its right hand it had a ring with a yellow stone embedded in it. Both hands had metal tipped blades on each finger. Like tiny finger hats. That must have aided in the damage. The monsters left hand had an inscribed band on the index finger. Deacon started with the yellow stone ring.

New Item- Ring of Hypnotic Control- This ring grants the user plus twenty percent more targets it can control with Hypnotic Gaze.

New Item- Band of Heat- Wearers of this ring will maintain a ninety-eight-degree temperature at all times.

They both seemed like Vasilly specific magic items. He’d see if he could sell them for coin. Next up was the crypt it was using for an office. Deacon made his way over to the building and looked inside. On the far wall was a table with the candle on it. It looks like they emptied the original inhabitants on the floor and pushed them against the right wall. On the table were four communication crystals. Deacon wondered if he was running the whole operation from here. He dumped them in his bag. Next to the table was a yellow tinged breast plate and a spear with an orange tip. The breast plate had an emblem of a snake wrapping around the globe. That made Deacon wonder if they knew the world was round or if they just guessed. So this must have been its armor. It wasn’t wearing it because they caught it off guard, he thought. How much harder would the fight have been if it was using its weapon, he mused. Deacon stuffed the armor into his satchel along with the rings. He knew he couldn’t touch the spear and it looked like it weighed more than six pounds, so Polterheist was a no go. Deacon noticed a green light was making its way out of the corpses on the floor. He turned fully to them expecting to absorb some more soul energy when one took shape and began to speak.

“Did you manage to kill it?” asked the ghost.

“I did.” Deacon replied.

“Are you the reincarnation of Samhain?” asked a second spirit floating in from outside.

“What? I’m sorry I don’t know what that means.” Deacon replied beginning to get nervous at the number of apparitions that began to crowd the ten-by-ten space.

“Step back brethren, this one is young and does not know the old tales. Let me enlighten you” said a more solid looking spirit that drifted closer.

“Deacon watch out!” Came Zageracks voice.

The spirit touched Deacons forehead and the room swirled around him. He then watched a battle taking place between two groups. Arcane energies flowed back and forth over the clanging of weapons. Then Deacon saw the plateau with riders coming down a slope. It wasn’t so much a city as it was a fort in the time he’s being shown. A man came from the tree line, and it looked like he was absorbing the souls of the dead. He was wearing a hooded cloak over dark robes. He waded through the battlefield dodging arrow fire and dashing around sword strikes with a trailing spectral image. At this point Deacon believed he was seeing the exploits of another Nether Monk. The figure reached the center of the all the fighting where the strongest combatants were changing the landscape around them with their power. A conversation was held in an effort to stop the fighting. When they refused both sides attacked the man in robes. Green energy from all over the battlefield flowed and poured into him granting him tremendous power. The monk did not attack his assailants. He let them exhaust themselves using very little of his accumulated energy with dodges and blocks. Eventually they stopped trying and he pulled a bell from his pack. It was no larger than a human head. He rang that bell and a shockwave of green force exploded from him knocking down every combatant left standing. During all the fighting and his subsequent counter the monk didn’t notice four figures taking the field. Suddenly lances of fire, lightning, and water all met in a cage of stone around monk. He was unable to escape as his body was ravaged by the holy energies. Monks of the four elemental orders converged on his broken body and finished what they came to do. Once they were done, his spirit lifted from his body invisible to the naked eye. He then projected his voice from the ether that Samhain would return one day to punish the dogs of war.

Deacon’s vision came back to the crypt surrounded by the spirits of the past. The ghost who gave him the vision slowly absorbed into Deacon soon followed by all the others racing toward him in an attempt to be part of Samhain’s punishment. Deacon’s soul energy bar was flashing, and he had a new notification.

Zagerack’s Breathing Technique has increased to level three- The Legend of Samhain has convinced an entire graveyard’s worth of souls to rally to your cause. Your maximum soul energy has increased by fifty percent.

Immediately after reading the notification his soul bar grew by half. Considering he was still level one in the breathing technique a few minutes ago, this was quite the shock. He was even twenty five percent to level four now. He then looked on the ground to find a green ring. It was just a solid green color and didn’t look like any metal or stone he’d ever seen. Choosing to throw caution to the wind, he picked it up.

New Quest- Find the Toll of Samhain- Follow the rings guidance to the Toll of Samhain. Rewards- Powerful artifact of the now forgotten school of Nether Monks.

The ring appeared on Deacon’s finger fitting perfectly. As far as he could tell it didn’t do anything. He then heard Ralph yelling for him. Deacon began to leave the creepy building when he had a thought.

“Why did you try to warn me about the ghost?” he asked into the air.

“I didn’t know if it was some kind of trick to possess you.” Zageracks said.

“Is that even possible with both of us in here?” Deacon asked.

“You already have two, what’s one more?” Zageracks said.

“Any truth to that vision?” Deacon asked.

“That was a story from my hatch-ling days. I doubt anyone alive today has ever heard of Samhain.” Replied Zageracks.

Deacon then shot out of the crypt running toward the gates at the bottom of the hill. Once he was in sight of the fence line, he could see Ralph waving him in. He was surrounded by people yelling at him. It was obvious they were terrified and just wanted answers. Deacon mantled over a tombstone getting dirty looks from the crowd and approached the gates.

“Look we deserve to know where the guard is!” Yelled one man.

“We are from the Adventurer’s guild. The Empire has started an invasion of Iron Mountain Plateau. We need to get you all to the Temple of Astrael or our guild hall for safety. Barring that, there is temporary shelter set up at Desentes Keep.” Ralph explained.

“Why are they all still here?” Deacon asked Ralph.

“They don’t want answers as to why they are out here. Some of them are starving. I had to give up some travel rations.” Ralph explained.

“How long have they been here?” Deacon wondered aloud.

“I don’t know and I’m beginning not to care. People lets go; we are moving west to the Temple now.” Ralph said urging people to get moving.

After another five minutes of bickering and a display of power by Deacon, everyone started moving rather quickly toward the temple. Halfway there they ran into a group of Town Guards that were dispatched to check on the southern portions of the city. They began attempting to help the people. Deacon and Ralph hurried on to the Temple to check on Amanda.

“You’re back.” Said a tired looking Genevieve.

“Yes, how is she?” Ralph asked.

“I had to restrain her from running after you two once recovered. She should be in the back.” Genevieve gestured.

“Thank you for everything.” Ralph said hugging her.

“Geez you two, get a room.” Deacon quipped earning a smack from Genevieve. Ralph ran to the back by the alter to find Amanda.

“So how is your prophecy going?” Genevieve asked Deacon who was rubbing his arm mockingly.

“Well I’ve been seeking answers within a lot lately. I’m assuming the garden part was about Philo’s Wandering Maze, so bullet dodged there. Never really been afraid of the dark so that one came pre-done.” Deacon said.

“Holy prophecies are never so clean cut. Just remember what our lady said. Praise her light that scatters the darkness.” Genevieve said before walking off to greet someone else.

“Strange little mole person, that one.” Deacon muttered to himself. Just then Ralph and Amanda came up to him. Amanda looking healthier than she had in days.

“I can’t thank you enough. I am so sorry. She kept telling me to kill you and then she started to take over my body and made me do terrible things. She has cave in the mines. We should go down there right now and gut her!” Amanda rattled off while Deacon put his hands up to get her to stop.

“What terrible things? Are there others in trouble?” Deacon asked with a worried look on his face.

“She made us kidnap people. Whole families sometimes. She would do a ritual to bind them to her and Amon the God of Agriculture and Earth. Sometimes she would just tempt greedy people with rubies that would corrupt them and make them do her bidding. I don’t really know her whole plans since she had a dedicated group bent on killing you. What did you do to her?” Amanda said.

“Nothing she didn’t deserve. She’s tried to kill me too many times now and I’ve only been here for three months,” Deacon said with a scowl, “But these other people, that’s my responsibility. I let her loose on the surface world.”

“Nothing we can do about it now; she was ordered out of the city remember?” Ralph said.

“Right.” Deacon said looking dejected.

“She was always talking into some crystal when I was down there. It stood out because it was the only thing that wasn’t ruby red.” Amanda said.

“Ok let’s go. We should probably interrogate the Vasilly Lord we killed.” Deacon said.

“If you killed it, how are we going to do that?” Amanda asked.

“You’ll see.” Deacon said as he made his way out of the Temple.