11. Eyes of the Grave

Having fled the death knight, the crew of *the Drunken Dragon* returned to where they had first arrived in the Land Beyond Life. Cold to their bones and anxious to deal with the three sources of power - Clark had inferred that they were tethers anchoring this portion of the world of the dead to the island they'd originally sailed towards - the party opted to head to the town in the distance where one source waited. Before they left the forest completely, Clark opened his senses to take in more of this monochrome land. He felt a connection to it, as if this was something akin to the source of his power, as if he could peer beyond the veil and see what once had been in this place. Clark opened his eyes of the grave and watched the small history of this forest play out before him:

> *Attendants with tightly bound top knots are planting an oak sapling in the ground of the forest, commemorating the birth of Lord Hideki's first son. However, some of them lament that the first son was born to the lord's second concubine - even going so far as to say that the first concubine may be infertile. This earns the youths stern reprimands from their seniors. Time passes and the oak grows. Fifteen years later, attendants plant a cherry tree beside it, for the first concubine has given birth to a child at last, a son named Hidenori, the new heir apparent. The first born, Hideyori, is to be reduced to the rank of a warrior as a result.*
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> *Years pass and the two trees grow side by side. Two brothers, one a decade-and-a-half older than the other, begin coming to the forest regularly, sitting in the shade of the trees that were planted at their births. They play dragonchess often. Hidenori seems to love the game and grows in skill at a startling speed, soon beating his older brother regularly. As they age, Hidenori asks his older brother about the swords he carries - mismatched in size as they are. Hideyori explains that the wielding of a longsword and shortsword honours the many-armed god, for the god does not have a right hand. Thus, the asymmetry of the blades imitates His beauty; the imperfection itself a mark of perfection. Many years and many dragonchess matches later, Hidenori asks his older brother about the oaths he has now sworn over his longsword. Hideyori explains that he has sworn to only use the hand of god to wield the blade, to only use it in the service of his other oaths, and to never betray or abandon it. In return, it has manifested power of its own - such is the potential of an oathsworn warrior, he says. More years pass, and eventually an army march past, travelling up the path just beyond the forest. Later again, a bloodied Hideyori, left hand and longsword missing, walks from the castle towards the town. After an hour, he returns, somehow even more bloody than before. He chops down the oak that was planted at his birth, sits on the stump, and weeps as he looks to his brother's cherry tree. Eventually, Hideyori takes his own life.*
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> A *century passes, the seasons on the trees cycling from one to the next at blurring speed. The forest and the land falls into decline, and one day the shadows deepen beneath the canopy. A voice says, 'this is good . . . There's regret here . . . sorrow . . . longing to go back, to keep things as they were. Yes . . .'*
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> *A necrotic pulse, centred in the forest, spreads out across the land.*
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> *Hideyori rises as a death knight.*
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Clark reeled from the experience, his mind and spirit struggling to reconcile over 100 years playing out in what was a mere instant to everyone else. Tension and pain began to build in his head, but he relayed the information he had gained to the others. The party then made for the town, skirting the edge of the forest rather than walking near the death knight within it again. As they did so, they saw a crashed ship in the distance, towards the base of the hill upon which the castle stood. Clark peered through the veil again and saw another crew arrive in the land just as they had, a boat materialising suddenly and grinding to a loud, harsh halt on the iridescent ground. A banshee wail then wracked some of the new arrivals, felling them. Those still standing scrambled to help their crew and flee the scene, abandoning their ship as they went. A quick investigation of the boat allowed Wilfred to conclude that the crew had either been smugglers or merchants. They had been transporting fish, spices, and bolts of cloth. Neither the boat nor its goods had worn or rotten in the time that had passed since its arrival in the Land Beyond Life.

Heading towards the town, Clark quickly realised how powerful the tether that waited there was. Once the party had covered about half the distance to the settlement, the half-dwarf could tell that this source of power was far stronger than the other two tethers. The group opted to turn around and make for the castle instead.

The party travelled up the slope that led to a set of metal gates and the castle grounds beyond. A thick manacle was attached to the iron gate and a single-edged sword was stuck in the ground near it. Clwyd also noticed the skeletal bones of a hand half-covered in dirt in the area too. As the party debated what to do, they heard another wail, this one from much closer. More of their members were downed by the psychic screaming, and a banshee rose from a well 60 feet further into the courtyard. A brief, harrowing skirmish ensued, and *the Drunken Dragon's* crew threw a lot of their most powerful resources at the spectral creature, managing to destroy her before any serious harm befell them. With the fight passed, Malak attempted to magically sense for more unholy dangers in the area. He learned that there was an invisible, undead creature behind them, some ways down the sloping approach to the castle. It had been following the party. Pyt quickly summoned his magical hut and they all rested inside, shielded from the cold by the bardic magic imbued in the drum-yurt's walls. Clwyd took the single-edged sword in with her and used *identify* on it, learning that it was a powerful blade that oaths had been sworn over. Faith magic, not unlike what Clark and Malak made use of, had been imbued into the weapon. The party opted not to have anyone attune to the blade despite its power, for fear that it might hold a curse.

Stepping out the hut, Clark decided to look into the past of this location. He felt that both the gate and the well the banshee had risen from held strong memories. First he looked to the gate:

> M*any come and go through the gate over the years.*
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> *Eventually, Hideyori and Hidenori begin travelling through it frequently, heading towards the forest to play dragonchess together. Years pass and an army approaches. An armoured Hideyori steps out beyond the iron gate and orders it closed behind him. He keeps his eyes looking at the ground as soldiers with a lordly figure in robes at their head meet him.*
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> *'Move aside, warrior,' the lord says - spitting out the last word as if it were a curse.*
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> '*Lord Yasu,' Hideyori says, eyes still on the ground. 'Forgive me, but my father and his retainers died in your company not one month past. As such, the master of this castle and these lands, Lord Hidenori, has requested that I meet you here and turn you away. With circumstances as they are, you are not welcome within our walls.'*
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> *'We are here to collect 300 bars of silver that are owed by this estate, warrior. I say for the final time, move aside. It is not your place to presume where one such as I is welcome. I do not recognise the authority of your child lord . . . or his messenger.'*
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> *Hideyori flashes with anger, begins to draw his sword, and looks Lord Yasu in the eye. He is immediately backhanded by the lord.*
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> *'You dare, warrior! You dare meet my gaze when you are so below my station! Listen well, and remember who you are. . .'*
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> *At the lord's side,* a *figure in brilliant, blue chainmail steps forward, a scroll writ unfurled in his hands. He reads: 'Hereby, Lord Yasu is the sole benefactor and lord of Castle Hideno and its presiding lands. . .' The armoured man, Lord Yasu's oathsworn warrior, Tomoe, continues reading into the minutiae. He then spins the writ around so that Hideyori can read it for himself.*
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> *A small smirk creeps on Yasu's face. 'So you see, warrior, you have just broken your sworn oath to serve and protect the lord of your castle. Trying to draw your sword at them no less.'*
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> *Hideyori is overcome with shock. He doesn't move as Yasu orders the gates to be opened for the castle's lord. His army begins to move in. Tomoe hands Hideyori a set of manacles and Yasu looks to the warrior.*
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> *'You will shackle yourself by the hand of god to this gate. You will watch and you will listen to what your insolence has brought upon your house. You will remember your station, warrior. We shall make you.'*
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> *Many screams are heard in the following minutes, most of them female. One-by-one, they grow distant, as if their owners were falling. Hideyori, still shook from breaking an oath he had lived for his entire life, briefly looks up towards the courtyard's well and then turns away in shame. It is only when he hears a child's voice from atop the castle that he snaps out of stupor. He draws his shortsword in his right hand and tries to free himself from the metal bonds, but it is to no avail. He hears the young scream again. Hideyori steels himself and puts his right hand on his longsword's grip.*
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> *'I betray you with this, and I am truly sorry for it. But there is one oath I cannot afford to fail, even at the cost of all my others. . . Even those I made to you.'*
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> *In one motion, he draws the blade and severs his left hand at the wrist. He leaves the blade stuck in the ground, slamming his right hand over the bleeding stump, sealing the wound with radiant magic - though his power immediately begins to corrupt through the force of broken oaths. Small wisps of black smoke start to curl up from the stump. Hideyori runs towards the castle. He later walks past, bloodied, stump now billowing thick, black smoke, and he heads for the town in the distance.*
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> *A century passes, and the fields that lay between the castle and the town fall fallow. A pulse of necrotic energy washes over the land, originating from the forest.*
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Clark snapped out of the vision, pain lancing through his eyes and his mind. Without stopping to catch his breath, he fought against the pressure building in his skull and wheeled around, peering at the memories of the well:

> *A young Hidenori collects water from the well with his mother, the first concubine, a woman dressed is twelve layers of ceremonial robes. They walk with it towards the steps at the far side of the courtyard. Hideyori watches fondly from the sides with his mother, the second concubine. She is dressed in more conservative robes.*
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> *Years pass, and eventually Lord Yasu's army arrives. They push into the castle grounds, demanding gates be opened for the lord and meeting no resistance with their writ in hand. Ladies-in-waiting and servants are dragged out from the castle by the army and, one-by-one, they are thrown into the well. Eventually, the first concubine is thrown in too. She screams out in pain and sorrow. The second concubine is next. She meets eyes with her son, manacled to the gate as his is. He turns away in shame. The woman accepts her fate, but the sorrow she feels in her final moment is clear to all onlookers.*
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> *Hideyori, hand severed, eventually runs past the well. He returns later, fury and sorrow warring on his face. He heads out the courtyard.*
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> *A century later, a necrotic pulse washes over the land and the second concubine rises from the well as a banshee, bound to undeath by the sorrow she felt in her final moments.*
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Clark's skull and jaw shook from the back-to-back effort. Through the screaming pain in his eyes and head, he relayed all of what he had learned to the group. The party then opted to press on to the castle's approach.

Through another gate, the party came to an inner courtyard with seven skeletal warriors standing to attention in its centre, the one at their head dressed in brilliant, blue chainmail. Clwyd attempted to sneak up on them but they quickly became aware of her presence. In the ensuing battle, Wilfred instantly rent most of the undead warriors to ash with a large ball of royal-blue fire. Pyt fell to the ground under the force of the blue warrior's necrotic smiting. Then, suddenly, a will-o-the-wisp appeared above the bard's unconscious form - the undead creature that had been following the party since the destroyed ship. The wisp attempted to feed on Pyt's final drops of vitality, but was ultimately unsuccessful. It buzzed in agitation and sent lighting coursing through the unconcious bard, burning the side of Pyt's neck badly. Clark abjured the remaining undead creatures with his magic, forcing them to flee from his unconscious unconscious, and the party were then able to destroy the last of the skeletons and save Pyt. Lacking the time to take the blue armour off the figure in the freezing cold, and unsure if his undead form would taint what else they had in the portable hole, the group left the gleaming armour and the body in the inner courtyard for the time being. Clark again felt the pressure of strong memories in the area, but this time opted to save himself the strain of looking. The party pressed on.

Using her alchemical acid, Clwyd ate through the wood of a huge oaken gate, revealing the castle approach, a counter-clockwise path that spiralled inwards as it rose to the top of the hillock. The party began dashing through the path, harried by skeletal archers firing through arrow slits on the flanking walls of the approach. The group burst through gate after gate thanks to Clark and Clwyd's abilities to produce fire, all the while sheltering from volleys of arrows under Wilfred's fog cloud and later Malak's wall of water. The party eventually managed to get to the top of the hill. They dealt with the last of the skeletons that were still harrying them, and then push into the castle itself.

The interior was a long corridor of dark wood, its left side a solid wooden wall, and its right a number of sliding paper doors. The inside continued the counter-clockwise spiralling of the outside approach, each floor smaller than the one below it. The party opted to head straight to the top floor of the building, towards the tether that Clark could sense above them. On the second floor, they passed a corridor leading to the castle's sub-donjon, but left it unexplored. Just before the group ascended the third and final set of stairs, Wilfred used his wand of detect magic and felt strong necrotic energy in the room above them, as well as strong abjuration magic on Vic's necklace. The party ascended the stairs, Malak leading the charge, and a fight erupted as soon as they emerged in the top-floor room.

A bodak and five skeletal warriors were waiting in the lord's receiving room at the top of the castle. Just being near the bodak caused the party great pain, and when they locked eyes with it, their minds were wracked by psychic and necrotic assaults. At one point, Malak was instantly downed when his gaze met the creature's. Vic, Clwyd, and Clark were all also rendered unconcious at various points in the skirmish, and were kept alive thanks to the combined healing efforts of Pyt, Clark, and Clwyd. Wilfred was able to tie up a number of the skeletal warriors in his *web* spell and, skirting around the room, blasted gouts of royal-blue fire at the bodak while not falling within the sweep of its gaze. Just as all looked lost, Malak locked gaze with the foul, undead creature, willed himself forward as its gaze beckoned him unto death, and smote it in its empty eyes with a mighty strike of steel trident, booming thunder, and searing radiant magic.

During the skirmish, Vic had noticed a small, blue figure on the far side of the room. It was a translucent boy in regal clothing, crouched on all fours - though his limbs didn't quite touch the ground, hovering just above it instead. He was trying to pick up pieces of a dragonchess set that had been scattered about. His incorporeal fingers kept passing through a piece but he continued to try, relentlessly. He didn't take notice of the party as they gathered around. Clark recognised the boy as Hidenori, the younger of the two brothers, now a ghost.

Despite the pain, Clark felt that they needed to learn what had happened in this room. He looked with his eyes of the grave one more time:

> *Hideyori and Hidenori are being raised by a strict father. They must be proper and regal when in his recieving room. They play dragonchess here at first, but quickly take to sneaking away to the forest once Hidenori is old enough.*
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> *Their father dies suddenly while visiting Lord Yasu's estate, and Hidenori is thrust into the role of lord at age seven. His older brother comforts him, telling him not to worry because they'll do what they have to together, for the sake of the land and their house. Hideyori promises to protect and aid Hidenori as his oathsworn warrior, and as his brother.*
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> *A month passes and Lord Yasu's army arrive in the town. Hideyori reassures his brother that there is nothing to worry about and that he will handle everything. All his little brother needs to do is set up the dragonchess board like always and then they'll play when he returns. Hideyori promises his brother this.*
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> *Lord Yasu's men arrive and slay the young boy, the only ostensible challenge to Yasu's claim of the castle and land. Hideyori arrives soon after, bloody from having slain all of Yasu's men on his climb through the castle. He's too late. His pain knows no bounds. The smoke leaking from his stump of an arm thickens with his anguish. He succumbs to the weight of all the oaths he has broken on this day. And even as Hideyori conjures a ball of black hellfire to consume these men who had killed his brother, Lord Yasu, incredulous, screams, 'You dare look me in the eye, warrior‽ I am your lord!'*
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> *Hideyori crouches over his dead brother, then looks out the window to the town where the rest of Yasu's army waits. He leaves to kill them all.*
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> *A century and more passes, and a necrotic pulse washes over this land. Yasu and his duty-bound warriors rise in undeath as wretched beings. Hidenori rises too, bound by promises to his brother as he was. He begins trying to set up the dragonchess board to no avail.*
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