Post by Felix Falora on Feb 23, 2011 22:56:18 GMT -5
(This little Horror story is written in the PoV of Lyricalla Margeret, High Priestess of the Cathedral of Light and Knight-Aspirant in the Saviors of Sanctuary. It is in her journal.)
I had been sent to investigate the Karazhan Crypt by Archbishop Benedictus, who wanted to make sure that the entire place was purged of unholy entities. Having been used to the horrors of the Scourge, under the rule of the cruel Lich King, Arthas Menethil, as well as the Forsaken, led by their Banshee Queen, Sylvanas Windrunner, I was unhesistant in accepting this mission. I donned my strongest cloths made of Emberflame. Many of them were bought off of the Auction House, but the Hat and Robes in paricular were crafted for me by Kaldias, a Worgen Mage in the Saviors. As for weaponry, I took the strongest dagger and most holy of books in my arsenal. The dagger I earned serving the Guardians of Hyjal. The tome was another auction purchase. I was not known for being careless and taking unnecessary risks in the Cathedral. The Saviors might have their own stories on me, but I haven't botched a mission that was done in the name of the Light yet.
I departed to the Crypts on my personally tailored Flying Carpet. The Crypt was found in Deadwind Pass with the rest of Karazhan, the area where the vile warlock Medivh used to work. There was a barred gate denying entrance to adventurers. Luckily for me, Archbishop Benedictus had given me a scroll with words upon it to read at the gate. The moment I read them, the gate lifted and opened for me to walk in. However, what disturbed me was that the gate then closed when I got in. The Archbishop had told me that was not supposed to close and, if it did for any reason, to try the scroll again. But when I read the words, they did not work. Now this might've been a reason to panic if I hadn't come in without a way out. However, any adventurer would know to carry a Hearthstone on them. Mine was linked directly to the Blue Recluse in the Mage's District of Stormwind. Hearthstones had a magic that allowed adventurers to transport themselves back to where they were linked. As a result, I had a secure way of getting out if things did get messy.
Feeling confident enough to continue on, I moved down the stairs into the first room of the crypt. To my surprise, it wasn't full of graves, coffins, or the like just yet. Rather, it was just one litte tomb-looking structure. What did catch my interest however was the hole on the other side of the structure. I looked down the hole and saw nothing but darkness, as if it were a bottomless pit. It disturbed me; something so surreal should not exist. There was a sudden wind, a blowing on the back of my body, and a voice, deep and demonic in nature that whispered to me I was not welcome there. I made to move away from the hole, but as soon as I stood, I lost my balance and fell in. The darkness overtook me and I thought I could hear some sort of heartbeat. I quickly cast Levitate on myself, hoping I would land softly somewhere. Where I did land, however, made me glad I had thought to use the Discipline-based ability.
My body just barely hovered above a huge pile of bones. I had seen bones before, mainly in the Scourge Necropolises, but never piled this high. It wasn't even a pile of bones, it was a practical mountain. Floating down back onto ground, I heard another voice. It was that same demonic rumbling tone. It said I could never escape now. My body began to shake against my will, so I muttered a quick prayer to the Light and moved on.Now deep inside the Crypt, I could see where bodies would be lain. Holes on the wall right near the ground where hands would stick out as if grasping for something would tell me that much. As I left the mountain of bones, however, I noticed a pool of water. I did not want to walk in, but going the other way was a dead end, more coffins and bodies in the room and holes above saying that I was at the lowest level. So I gathered my bearings and dove into the pool.
The water stung my eyes heavily, but in order to see where I was going, I pressed on. The tunnel took quite a while to swim through, but when I made it to the next room, I wished I could just get out immediately. Archbishop Benedictus had warned me of an underwater area in the Crypt that the priests of the Cathedral of Light referred to as the Upside Down Sinners. This room was nearly completely submerged in water. Chains and hooks were strewn about randomly. But what really completed the area were the sinners themselves; decaying human corpses, rotted and mangled in their own ways. Quite a few of them were missing limbs and appendages, such as hands, feet, arms, and legs. None of them were missing their heads however, but bones would stick out at certain places and skin would be missing and show muscle matter. I was rather disturbed, of course, at this malevolent imagery. To think that all these men were left down here to drawn and decay is just sickening. Sadly, however, curiosity got the best of me and I went up to one and examined it, face to face. His eyes were closed and he looked almost peaceful.
That's when his eyes opened. Black pits of nothingness into the void themselves, a maggot in the right socket. I pulled back and choked on the putrid water, having been startled and nearly screaming. I noticed the other corpses had opened their eyes as well and all were now staring at me, but they did not move except to look at me. I don't think even a fully-trained Rogue could move as fast as I had swam to escape. Coughing up the water in my lungs as I exited the pool, I gasped for air and heard the demonic voice in the air laughing at me. But now there was screaming, tormented voices of despair and woe filling the air. Now I was feeling threatened, Holy Fire bursting alive in my hands as I began to burn the surface of the pool and hopefully the corpses below. But as I backed away from the pool, I fell into a pit of sorts. Tumbling down the slope, I hit the ground hard and my vision dazed. I could hear a throbbing of sorts, almost like a heartbeat, through the screaming and the laughter. I half-expected something to be standing over me when my vision returned. In a way, I kind of wished there was, to at least know there was something here besides those corpses. But nothing was there.
I pulled myself out of the pit and looked around. It was a bare room with the pit just sitting there. It made me think... was this pit dug up in order to release something? If that was the case, what sort of unearthly abomination could be walking Azeroth now without our knowledge? However, it was another dead end. There was no way out. However, back across the pool was another passage. I used Levitate again in order to glide across the water. But I made the mistake of looking down to see if I burned the corpses. I saw I had done so, but that didn't stop them from staring up at me with now gaping open mouth full of sharp, rotten teeth and their eyes still as black and voidish as ever. I heard the laughter and screaming again and was pretty sure I was screaming as well as I moved across the pool with great haste. I barely took in the sights of the next room, more upturned dirt and more empty graves, before tripping over myself and falling into a walkway. I was praying to the Light, desperate at this point for some hope. But nothing happened. I wasn't even being chased by anything. Still praying, I walked up the spiraling passageway, now desperate to leave this Crypt.
On the way up, I noticed more holes on the wall near the ground yet again. More then just hands would sometimes pop up out of them and these body parts were strewn all over the room now. I continued forward, trying to get further away from the source of my torment. The voice told me I would die. I heard that before in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, when C'Thun whispered to me and my comrades and the hopes of driving us insane. But the voice was even worse then C'Thun's. I can't describe how demonic it was, but it put the Old God's whispers to shame. Perhaps it was an Old God even stronger then C'Thun. There was Yogg-Sharon of Ulduar. There was also Isoroth in the Twilight Highlands, though he did not speak. But this voice... it was worse then any of the other Old Gods. It was more demonic then Illidan's, more bone-chilling then Arthas'. It was tormenting me, making me think that perhaps I would die just by hearing it. It made me hasten my pace and I then found myself in a mausoleum of sorts. There were graves hidden behind doors and barred gates. I checked every door and found corpses inside. Men, women, and children alike were laid to rest here, their corpses violated most likely by whatever force I was hunting. Eyes plucked, entrails covering their body, and mouths gaping as if asking why this was happening to them.
I fled the mausoleum and made my way back up the path. I thought I would encounter more horrors, but much to my relief, I was at the hole again, right where I had begun. What did take me aback, however, was that the barred gate was no longer there. That wasn't to say the Crypt was just open to anybody now, but it was literally closed off with no way to just slip out. I was very fortunate to have brought my Hearthstone with me or I would've been trapped. Pulling the stone out of my bag, I watched it glow green with mystical energies. Then I closed my eyes, focused my mind on the Blue Recluse in Stormwind, and felt the magical energies overtake me. At that point, the laughter and screaming got unbearably loud. My eyes shot open and my body began to shake. The teleporting hadn't stopped, but I saw one of the burned sinners there, standing with its head down, unable to see its face. It stood there right in front of me, charcoaled skin peeling off thanks to my Holy Flame and shaking.
Just a second before my hearthstone got me out, the corpse lunged at me, head shooting up with a violent scream. That image will always be burned into my mind. Its face was peeling as much as the rest of its body. Its eyes were still hollow sockets, but this time it was infested with maggots writhing around inside. Its mouth was full of rotted, sharp-looking teeth that looked like it wanted to tear through me. And it had gotten really close to doing so. I thought I had died for a moment and had even started screaming in such horror and fear that I thought nothing could stop me. A sharp slap across my face brought me back to my senses, however, and instead of the gaping maw of Hell itsself in front of me, I saw instead a relatively concerned citizen. The demonic laughter and tormented screams were replaced by a crowd of chatter about the frightened priestess that had just appeared in the inn and the innkeeper herself calling for someone to fetch a bag of water.
I eventually reported back to Archbishop Benedictus with the information I had retrieved about the Karazhan Crypt. I had unfortunately failed this mission, but he comforted me and encouraged me not to worry. I could tell by his tone of voice, however, then it was not because my failure was insignificant, but that even he felt there was nothing anyone could do about the Crypt. At night, in my sleep, I am still haunted by the face of the burned Sinner and that demonic laughter, along with those tormented screams. I have not yet told Lord Talon or any of my fellow Saviors about this expedition yet. I fear that they might think less of me if they were to discover this journal. Perhaps I shall tell them after I am Knighted, or maybe I shall not tell them at all. There are just some things that mortal men such as ourselves are ill equipped and ill fated to deal with, after all. And we'll never be able to band together with the Horde in order to get anything done. It all just feels like a wasted effort in the end, a wasted effort that will remain as a permanent scar upon my mind.
I had been sent to investigate the Karazhan Crypt by Archbishop Benedictus, who wanted to make sure that the entire place was purged of unholy entities. Having been used to the horrors of the Scourge, under the rule of the cruel Lich King, Arthas Menethil, as well as the Forsaken, led by their Banshee Queen, Sylvanas Windrunner, I was unhesistant in accepting this mission. I donned my strongest cloths made of Emberflame. Many of them were bought off of the Auction House, but the Hat and Robes in paricular were crafted for me by Kaldias, a Worgen Mage in the Saviors. As for weaponry, I took the strongest dagger and most holy of books in my arsenal. The dagger I earned serving the Guardians of Hyjal. The tome was another auction purchase. I was not known for being careless and taking unnecessary risks in the Cathedral. The Saviors might have their own stories on me, but I haven't botched a mission that was done in the name of the Light yet.
I departed to the Crypts on my personally tailored Flying Carpet. The Crypt was found in Deadwind Pass with the rest of Karazhan, the area where the vile warlock Medivh used to work. There was a barred gate denying entrance to adventurers. Luckily for me, Archbishop Benedictus had given me a scroll with words upon it to read at the gate. The moment I read them, the gate lifted and opened for me to walk in. However, what disturbed me was that the gate then closed when I got in. The Archbishop had told me that was not supposed to close and, if it did for any reason, to try the scroll again. But when I read the words, they did not work. Now this might've been a reason to panic if I hadn't come in without a way out. However, any adventurer would know to carry a Hearthstone on them. Mine was linked directly to the Blue Recluse in the Mage's District of Stormwind. Hearthstones had a magic that allowed adventurers to transport themselves back to where they were linked. As a result, I had a secure way of getting out if things did get messy.
Feeling confident enough to continue on, I moved down the stairs into the first room of the crypt. To my surprise, it wasn't full of graves, coffins, or the like just yet. Rather, it was just one litte tomb-looking structure. What did catch my interest however was the hole on the other side of the structure. I looked down the hole and saw nothing but darkness, as if it were a bottomless pit. It disturbed me; something so surreal should not exist. There was a sudden wind, a blowing on the back of my body, and a voice, deep and demonic in nature that whispered to me I was not welcome there. I made to move away from the hole, but as soon as I stood, I lost my balance and fell in. The darkness overtook me and I thought I could hear some sort of heartbeat. I quickly cast Levitate on myself, hoping I would land softly somewhere. Where I did land, however, made me glad I had thought to use the Discipline-based ability.
My body just barely hovered above a huge pile of bones. I had seen bones before, mainly in the Scourge Necropolises, but never piled this high. It wasn't even a pile of bones, it was a practical mountain. Floating down back onto ground, I heard another voice. It was that same demonic rumbling tone. It said I could never escape now. My body began to shake against my will, so I muttered a quick prayer to the Light and moved on.Now deep inside the Crypt, I could see where bodies would be lain. Holes on the wall right near the ground where hands would stick out as if grasping for something would tell me that much. As I left the mountain of bones, however, I noticed a pool of water. I did not want to walk in, but going the other way was a dead end, more coffins and bodies in the room and holes above saying that I was at the lowest level. So I gathered my bearings and dove into the pool.
The water stung my eyes heavily, but in order to see where I was going, I pressed on. The tunnel took quite a while to swim through, but when I made it to the next room, I wished I could just get out immediately. Archbishop Benedictus had warned me of an underwater area in the Crypt that the priests of the Cathedral of Light referred to as the Upside Down Sinners. This room was nearly completely submerged in water. Chains and hooks were strewn about randomly. But what really completed the area were the sinners themselves; decaying human corpses, rotted and mangled in their own ways. Quite a few of them were missing limbs and appendages, such as hands, feet, arms, and legs. None of them were missing their heads however, but bones would stick out at certain places and skin would be missing and show muscle matter. I was rather disturbed, of course, at this malevolent imagery. To think that all these men were left down here to drawn and decay is just sickening. Sadly, however, curiosity got the best of me and I went up to one and examined it, face to face. His eyes were closed and he looked almost peaceful.
That's when his eyes opened. Black pits of nothingness into the void themselves, a maggot in the right socket. I pulled back and choked on the putrid water, having been startled and nearly screaming. I noticed the other corpses had opened their eyes as well and all were now staring at me, but they did not move except to look at me. I don't think even a fully-trained Rogue could move as fast as I had swam to escape. Coughing up the water in my lungs as I exited the pool, I gasped for air and heard the demonic voice in the air laughing at me. But now there was screaming, tormented voices of despair and woe filling the air. Now I was feeling threatened, Holy Fire bursting alive in my hands as I began to burn the surface of the pool and hopefully the corpses below. But as I backed away from the pool, I fell into a pit of sorts. Tumbling down the slope, I hit the ground hard and my vision dazed. I could hear a throbbing of sorts, almost like a heartbeat, through the screaming and the laughter. I half-expected something to be standing over me when my vision returned. In a way, I kind of wished there was, to at least know there was something here besides those corpses. But nothing was there.
I pulled myself out of the pit and looked around. It was a bare room with the pit just sitting there. It made me think... was this pit dug up in order to release something? If that was the case, what sort of unearthly abomination could be walking Azeroth now without our knowledge? However, it was another dead end. There was no way out. However, back across the pool was another passage. I used Levitate again in order to glide across the water. But I made the mistake of looking down to see if I burned the corpses. I saw I had done so, but that didn't stop them from staring up at me with now gaping open mouth full of sharp, rotten teeth and their eyes still as black and voidish as ever. I heard the laughter and screaming again and was pretty sure I was screaming as well as I moved across the pool with great haste. I barely took in the sights of the next room, more upturned dirt and more empty graves, before tripping over myself and falling into a walkway. I was praying to the Light, desperate at this point for some hope. But nothing happened. I wasn't even being chased by anything. Still praying, I walked up the spiraling passageway, now desperate to leave this Crypt.
On the way up, I noticed more holes on the wall near the ground yet again. More then just hands would sometimes pop up out of them and these body parts were strewn all over the room now. I continued forward, trying to get further away from the source of my torment. The voice told me I would die. I heard that before in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, when C'Thun whispered to me and my comrades and the hopes of driving us insane. But the voice was even worse then C'Thun's. I can't describe how demonic it was, but it put the Old God's whispers to shame. Perhaps it was an Old God even stronger then C'Thun. There was Yogg-Sharon of Ulduar. There was also Isoroth in the Twilight Highlands, though he did not speak. But this voice... it was worse then any of the other Old Gods. It was more demonic then Illidan's, more bone-chilling then Arthas'. It was tormenting me, making me think that perhaps I would die just by hearing it. It made me hasten my pace and I then found myself in a mausoleum of sorts. There were graves hidden behind doors and barred gates. I checked every door and found corpses inside. Men, women, and children alike were laid to rest here, their corpses violated most likely by whatever force I was hunting. Eyes plucked, entrails covering their body, and mouths gaping as if asking why this was happening to them.
I fled the mausoleum and made my way back up the path. I thought I would encounter more horrors, but much to my relief, I was at the hole again, right where I had begun. What did take me aback, however, was that the barred gate was no longer there. That wasn't to say the Crypt was just open to anybody now, but it was literally closed off with no way to just slip out. I was very fortunate to have brought my Hearthstone with me or I would've been trapped. Pulling the stone out of my bag, I watched it glow green with mystical energies. Then I closed my eyes, focused my mind on the Blue Recluse in Stormwind, and felt the magical energies overtake me. At that point, the laughter and screaming got unbearably loud. My eyes shot open and my body began to shake. The teleporting hadn't stopped, but I saw one of the burned sinners there, standing with its head down, unable to see its face. It stood there right in front of me, charcoaled skin peeling off thanks to my Holy Flame and shaking.
Just a second before my hearthstone got me out, the corpse lunged at me, head shooting up with a violent scream. That image will always be burned into my mind. Its face was peeling as much as the rest of its body. Its eyes were still hollow sockets, but this time it was infested with maggots writhing around inside. Its mouth was full of rotted, sharp-looking teeth that looked like it wanted to tear through me. And it had gotten really close to doing so. I thought I had died for a moment and had even started screaming in such horror and fear that I thought nothing could stop me. A sharp slap across my face brought me back to my senses, however, and instead of the gaping maw of Hell itsself in front of me, I saw instead a relatively concerned citizen. The demonic laughter and tormented screams were replaced by a crowd of chatter about the frightened priestess that had just appeared in the inn and the innkeeper herself calling for someone to fetch a bag of water.
I eventually reported back to Archbishop Benedictus with the information I had retrieved about the Karazhan Crypt. I had unfortunately failed this mission, but he comforted me and encouraged me not to worry. I could tell by his tone of voice, however, then it was not because my failure was insignificant, but that even he felt there was nothing anyone could do about the Crypt. At night, in my sleep, I am still haunted by the face of the burned Sinner and that demonic laughter, along with those tormented screams. I have not yet told Lord Talon or any of my fellow Saviors about this expedition yet. I fear that they might think less of me if they were to discover this journal. Perhaps I shall tell them after I am Knighted, or maybe I shall not tell them at all. There are just some things that mortal men such as ourselves are ill equipped and ill fated to deal with, after all. And we'll never be able to band together with the Horde in order to get anything done. It all just feels like a wasted effort in the end, a wasted effort that will remain as a permanent scar upon my mind.
