Oh, how much I would like to say that after the forces of evil were defeated at Codul that Christendom returned to peace and normality. But, it seems, God was no more happy with us than he was with the people of that wicked city.

The survivors of that battle had caught the plague, each and every one. Though many submitted themselves for inspection, many others simply fled, wishing to live as long as they could. And even those who had submitted themselves for inspection did not all show symptoms of the plague soon enough to be caught.

Codul, though destroyed, had accomplished its goal. The plague spread as fast as flames upon dragon's bile, until all of Christendom, and any nations too close to Christendom, were utterly devastated.

This, dear reader, is why the world as you know is the way it is. Why the population of the world you know has dropped from many millions to only a few thousand. Why you can travel for weeks, even months, without seeing another human face. It's why so many cities lay empty, save for a few survivors scavenging in the dirt for whatever they can find.

What's left of the Church has kept me in their care and asked me to write this story so that you might learn something from it. What you are supposed to learn, I cannot know for sure. But if you know our mistakes, our follies, and the history surrounding these events, maybe you can figure out for yourself what it all means.

Nearly all of the men in Christendom now lie dead, leaving a population of twenty women to every one man. Johanna, the first woman Pope, says that this is a sign of hope, for it is women who will bring a new future. A world far different from any we had known before.

I'm sure you want to know what happened to those brave souls who fought in the battle of Codul.

Sir Emeric was one of those who submitted himself for inspection after the battle. Black buboes were discovered on his body. Not wanting to be responsible for the deaths of any more innocents, he took poison and his body was burned. It had been his last hope that his death would be the example to others. Sadly, not everyone shared his courage.

As the plague spread rapidly, the sick of Christendom panicked, hoping to blame their situation on a scapegoat. As has happened far too many times in our history, they assigned guilt to the Jews. Shlomo was lynched by a violent mob. His body was left to hang until ravens had come to pick it clean.

Levanna was not given a trial, her crimes were far too obvious for such a farce. After I finished interviewing her to fill in whatever parts of the story I could gather from her, she was burned at the stake before a large, jeering crowd. I wasn't there for her burning, but it's said she didn't stop laughing until the very end, when her spirit left her body. I can only hope that in Hell her terrible laughter has finally come to an end.

I know not what happened to Fulk. There were rumors that after Codul he escaped into the woods, and some have claimed to have seen him hiding out in the wilderness, occasionally stopping by abbeys among the pilgrims. I pray he has finally found peace and redemption after all that happened. Maybe, just maybe, St. Giradin managed to save his soul.

As far as I know, Dr. Yves is still at large too. I wonder sometimes, is he proud of the destruction he's caused? All the mass graves that lay all over Christendom? All the wailing mothers who had to bury their babies, all the weeping children left without parents? I try to tell myself I don't care what that madman thinks, but it's hard not to be curious.

As for me? Well, I, Sir Cristoff, am still a Vermin, though I have so-far kept my mind intact. I can't rightly say why it is that I kept my sanity while all other Vermin became mindless beasts bent on destroying mankind. Maybe their madness was the result of drugs Dr. Yves had given them, or maybe none of the rest of them were ever human.

In any case, while my body is that of a monster, my mind is still that of a man. A wicked, sinful, damned man. How so many virtuous people died while I was left alive I will never know.

Read over this story carefully, dear reader. Perhaps, in this retelling of the events, you can see where it was that we went wrong, what we did to enrage God Almighty so much that he would take the lives of nine out of ten of every household in Christendom. Take hope that you may do better than we did back then, but also remember that the Angel of Death waits at your door, ready to slay you. He needs only God's permission to snuff out the flame of life forever.