Scarlet Cove treasure vault

Within the vault, Seshwan led the way to the rear of the vault though it felt like an eternity since they had started to walk, in reality, it was mere minutes. The constant threat that Vanessa provided made Seshwan think twice about bringing her along.

‘I think I’ve lost my mind. I better prepare something in case they eventually see through my bluff.’ Seshwan thought as they approached the rear of the vault.

Though Vanessa also happened to be a mercenary that had originally been out for his blood Seshwan was less worried about her killing him; Vanessa couldn’t get paid anymore so she had no reason to fill out the contract. Though Grey had reason enough to be hostile to Seshwan, the fake display of power luckily had frightened him enough he may not make an attempt on Seshwan’s life.

As they arrived Seshwan went immediately to retrieved the gloves he had inspected earlier with the other treasures the merchant's guild had labelled as 'trash'.

"If I may be so bold as to ask; What are those gloves to you? When you picked them up earlier you looked as though you knew what they were. As if they were not simply trash as the guild had labelled them." Grey asked. His eyes filled with resentment for Seshwan.

"These if I'm not wrong have been in here so long no one in the city could identify them. It just so happens while studying in the imperial capital came across a book of lost artifacts from the earliest ages of the empire. These gloves may be essence-less now, but they change with the user. If the wearer knows how the inscription works, they should prove useful to break out of this space." Seshwan smiled as he slipped the light leather gloves onto his hands, a perfect fit.

"How are a set of gloves that Master level mages can't Identify going to help us break out of this vault?" Vanessa spoke her mind as she was skeptical of Seshwan's plans.

"Well miss Vanessa, you see this inscription? it’s known as a [Rift walker] enchantment." Seshwan had both gloves on now and injected his essence into his hands, then into the enchantment on the gloves. With a brilliant purple lustre, the inscriptions lit up. "Now that they are active I can use them to open a rift! Unlike nether rifts demons use to torment humans or seal their kind as punishment, this rift will behave as a 'makeshift' passage to, what I hope is an abandoned crypt near the edge of the district.", Seshwan finished explaining. The chance of successfully navigating the void was not high but Seshwan; out of fear they may not go along with the plan decided to leave that detail out.

“If that's your plan you aim to travel into the Geohmn crypts? You do know that those crypts haven't been opened in decades due to being defiled and now wraths and undead haunt its halls.", Grey said with fear in his tone.

Grey was a young man when a thief had tried to steal from the lord of the now-dead family's treasured jewel. The whole crypt was cursed by a demonic priest after the last member of the family died off. As a counter-measure against looting. That thief had blindly entered and the result was a crypt full of tormented souls and undead.

"This city should have a holy knights' representative in the earls keep. Once we escape you will need to report that the undead has made their way into the common area of the crypts and it needs to be purified. The holy knights will then deal with the issue. We need to escape. that is the only place inconspicuous enough to open a rift gate."

The presence of the three parties in the crypt would rile up the undead. A small horde would be present within the crypt, once they cross the barrier that seals the undead in it will fail. Once a human crossed the threshold the inscriptions will break down and the undead will escape. If they wanted to keep this situation under control Seshwan would need to now involve the holy knights.

"Soon after the knights clear the undead the door will be resealed, and no one will know we were the ones to enter the crypt. Once I open the gate it will remain open to those I mark for four hours. I can't make it last any shorter than that." Seshwan continued to explain.

"What about those you don't mark?" Vanessa asked curiously

"If you enter without my mark, you'll fall into the void and be trapped there tormented by the Master of the void and his creations." Seshwan replied, "Don't worry ill mark you both, just stick close and don't venture away from me ever! The beasts of the rifts won't hesitate to devour your souls or worse."

Within the rift, there was a god-like in the outside world and below that god, his demigods, and deities. Existences that humanity could never hope to compare themselves with. Especially in the rift. Once in the rift, the inhabitants will conjure what your heart most desires to lure you into their clutches, once they have you escape is impossible. Seshwan had learned a lot about the void during his younger years that he spent studying in the capital.

Along with the gloves Seshwan had also acquired the sword that was believed to be sealed in its sheath and the small jewelry box that could not be opened.

"Before we leave grab anything you want, we will bypass the enchantments on this space, once we’re out we will not be allowed to return the same way. Also grey I will need you to update your shipping manifest so my items I purchased get shipped out. Without suspicion."

Grey nodded before walking off to execute his task.

Vanessa went to work scooping up a bag full of gold and a few small low-grade weapons; daggers, a crossbow and a set of inscribed throwing knives.

Grey returned and decided to also search for an item. He only grabbed an artifact with light attributes. A silver pendant with bright inscriptions etched into the silver. "Grey that's a holy warden, good eye. This will protect you from the beasts of the void and undead in the crypt.”

The item was a Holy Warden pendant and would cause low strength spirits and undead to flee from its holy aura.

Once they all collected their spoils Seshwan stepped over to the east-facing wall. Counting the stones along the floor till he found a spot suitable for a rift gate to open in the exact spot he required. Placing his left hand to the wall his arm ignited with a dark violet aura along with his gloves; with one hand flat on the wall, he used his other to draw a series of characters around it. After a minute, the wall radiated a majestic aura and a small opening formed.

With both hands, Seshwan reached into another space and with a small amount of force ripped a small hole between two spaces open wide enough for him to step through.

"Here, let's go." Seshwan stepped into the rift. Holding his right hand out, he tapped grey and Vanessa on the shoulders. A spot formed on each shoulder becoming marked with a character much like the symbols on Seshwan's gloves.

"Avoid contact with my left hand from here on, it will undo the void marking," Seshwan said as he stepped through to the gate.

Both Vanessa and grey nodded as they stood staring out across the plains of the void. A barren wasteland of perpetual darkness and a twisted horizon that swirled and bent along with the reality of the space they perceived before them. Though the void wasn't just infinite darkness and undead cold; also within this space eerie lights floating all around. Purple and Blue spirits danced through the darkness, surrounding the group. With a wave of his left hand, Seshwan projected a barrier that drove the spirits back to a manageable distance.

"What are they?" Vanessa whispered.

"Those are the lost souls of the void who wish to seize your body, there not that dangerous. Just ignore them. The real threat to us hasn't relieved itself. From here on don't talk unless you’re being communicated with by what you perceive as a long-dead loved one. So I know if you're in trouble." Seshwan was constantly looking about making sure they weren't being approached.

As the group moved forward, the gate behind them appeared to shrink over time then closed after what seemed like minutes. The only sources of light now were the tormented spirits stirred into a frenzy by the presence of foreign life.

Following close to Seshwan Vanessa attempted to make out the path ahead of them as they walked; though the path seemed to appear as they progressed and it vanished just as soon as they walked along.

'From what I remember the void is a twisted space existing between reality and a spiritual plain. If I head straight and follow my instincts, we will arrive at the edge of the crypt soon.' Seshwan thought as he led the way.

In the distance, a black silhouette rose from the already dark space. Towering before them was a structure that resembled a crypt that had been inverted and turned inside out. As if the entire crypt had been Hewn from the earth and placed before them.

"That's got to be it," Seshwan whispered.

"How can that be? That crypt is buried Twenty meters at its shallowest points." Old man grey forgetting instructions earlier spoke out in disbelief.

At the moment of his outburst, Seshwan turned toward him and glared this expression slightly discernable by the lights of the spirits surrounding. Not having realized it yet grey had alerted a monster of the void. From the infinite silence, the three felt a warm buzz in their ears followed by a smooth voice so sweat it could lull an enraged warrior into a surreal state of mind. "Humans entered the void and attempted to sneak through without even saying hello?"

"Shit!" Seshwan hurried his pace. "Let's move if whatever that is catches up to us were dead!" Seshwan didn't turn back as he hurried to the walls of the crypt. Activating the rift enchantment and drawing characters as fast as possible.

The gate opened. "Okay, both of you through! Now!" Seshwan grabbed Vanessa by the back of her tunic and tossed her through the gate Grey dove through close behind. Only Seshwan remained in the void.

A massive creature appeared; its silhouette covered in spines and large demonic structure like curved bone sections. The only visible portion of its massive tower-like body was its eyes. Two cyan flames burned bright starring straight through Seshwan as if it could see into the deepest recesses of his mind.

"Little mortal you possess a god’s belongings. I demand you leave it behind. The void master will trade your life for the gloves in your possession. As they belong to him he's being more than generous." The voice now cold and piercing into Seshwan's eardrums

"These gloves? Belong to the void master? I could just leave but there's something I've wanted to ask your master. So I'll only leave these godly items with him if he grants me an answer." Before Seshwan could finish speaking the giant before he vanished like rolling smoke into the darkness.

A humanoid figure appeared before him seated on a large throne of skeletal remains and twisted figures. This man before Seshwan wore all purple robs. His head was covered by a violet hood, beneath which two burning cyan ears glared with malicious intent.

"You with the mortal spirit who dares! To ask me for an answer. I am the master of the void what would you like to know?" the sweet voice spoke again, soft and serine to all who heard it.

"As I've said I will not return these gloves to you till you answer me. In the first era of the mortal world when humanity overthrew the dragons and the gods rose to power. The jade bloodline…" as Seshwan spoke the master raised a hand toward Seshwan interrupting him by cancelling all sound coming from him. His mouth continued to move but no sound transmitted.

"Boy, it's not the time for you to know what you’re about to ask. So as a favour to your father I'll allow you to live. But those gloves. If they leave here I will no longer be polite. Your greed will destroy the world of man if not kept in check." The master lowered his hand. "Also boy before I expel you from my realm know this; I allowed your passage through my realm. Next time you come without an invitation I’ll ensure you suffer something far worse than death. Begone!" the masters’ voice pierced the back of Seshwan’s mind.

The gloves on Seshwan's hands disintegrated into a mist as the gate opened wide. Seshwan was hit with a burst of energy sending him out of the void. With that, the gate sealed.

"So that's one of your boys Tiberius?" The Master smiled as he began to fade and disperse. "He's too smart for his own good.”

Geohme family crypt

Seshwan woke up face down on cold wet stones; the floor was dampened from condensation pooling in the deepest parts of the crypt. Pushing himself to his knees he could hardly make out the outline of the tomb walls.

The air within the tomb smelt foul and a heavy dense aura lingered. An aura unfamiliar to anything Seshwan had ever felt, this aura was ancient. Far older than anything in the empire.

The gate to the void had closed after he came through; closed out by the Master of the void. After coming to some degree of his senses in the pitch-black Seshwan stood. Retrieving a signal stone from his pack he injected his essence into the gem; a slight red luminescence appeared in his hand. He could see on the floor before he lay a corpse his heart skipped a beat.

With closer inspection it was a corpse; oddly though it had been dismembered, recently.

'Vanessa and grey must have had a run-in with a few undead. I better catch up!' Seshwan walked forward with a tiny light in his palm.

Navigating the tunnels of the crypt Seshwan found more remains of undead and ectoplasm smearing; a sign of wraths having passed those spots. On high alert, Seshwan slowly moved low to the ground along the paths and halls.

He moved carefully to limit the amount of noise from the noble outfit he had worn to the vault. he slowed down his movements to reduce the amount of noise made by the armour as he made his way down corridors till he came to a double door partly opened, the interior of the room illuminated by fire.

Peeking through the door Seshwan could see five large unopened sarcophaguses atop a large alter. Built-in the center of the room with stairs ascending toward the top. Four of the coffins were standing guard on all corners of the altar, in the center lay the fifth.

“This is the lords’ burial chamber!” Seshwan gasped quietly.