Night of All Souls(1) , 679 PD, 6 years prior of a Group of Adventurers leaving Silvercloud.
Mirago, Cunnott Peninsula, Kingdom of Comrir(2)

The Archbishop of Mirago was arranging the bills that were due. Even temples couldn't escape from the little things. A roof repair, an order filled by the local blacksmith for holy symbols, the weekly candle bill, and to his surprise, a correspondence from the priest of one of the smaller churches had slipped into the pile marked: To Be Paid. Father Trueknot was an older man who had been at the Archbishop's side during the Black War, and for his troubles was given a small church out of the way, where he could spend a few years before his retirement. Gladdened by a letter from his old friend the Archbishop broke the seal on the letter, and was amazed by what he found.

Your Grace:

I have met the most interesting, and terrifying creature that I have ever come across. A Hecuva(3) dedicated to the worship of our Lady. Stranger still was who this Hecuva was in Life. If you remember correctly, and if anyone does, it would be you, Lord Dragonbrande had his own monk, who was his younger brother. The Hecuva is none other than Brother Haldenor Dragonbrande! You would not recognize him if you saw him, I dare say that I did not, and attempted to turn it away from the Church. As you can tell I was in a state of utter bewilderment and excitment that I did this, for as it is a common fact, Hecuvae cannot be turned away. I stood in horror in the rectory having nothing but my limited spells, and a candlestick to aid me. I said a quick prayer to Ceridwah, and prepared to fight for my life.

I must stop now and describe this creature, for it was no longer Brother Dragonbrande, but something altogether different. He still wore the vestments he wore in life, including that odd version of the Symbol that the Dragonbrande family wore(4). The most amazing thing about him though was that he was carrying his head, or should I say skull in his right hand, and in the other he was working a set of rosary beads.

To my surprise, the creature walked into the confessional at sat down. I am not as remindful of what the catechism says as I used to, but I chanced that any creature, good, bad or ugly, that wanted to give confession, it was my sworn duty as Priest of Brown Hill Village to see that it got one. I stepped into the booth, and was immediatly struck by the smell of decay. Then it spoke.

"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned. It has been nigh onto four months since my last confession."

"Go ahead."

"For you to truly understand what has happened, you must know who I was."

"That is your choice."

"I am, was, Brother Haldenor Dragonbrande."

I gasped. For the Dragonbrande estate had recently undergone a vast upheaval where the Lord slew his wife and, it was thought, his brother, and turned to the Dark Lord of the Night(5) .

"My story is a long, a torrid one. I have no idea all the details, or where the ones I do have come from. I know what I know, and ask no more of me."

I took a deep breath.

"Six months ago, I began worshiping Markira in secret. Two months before I gave my last confession to the Archbishop himself. Needless to say I lied during that confession."

The head that was sitting in his lap chuckled, a deep resonanting sound, like the laugh of the dead, which is what he was.

"I did not know at the time why I strove to worship the deity I had fought for so long, but I did so. Black Masses, sacrificies, the whole thing. A terrible, terrible ordeal for the people I must say. The worst was that I was leading the witch hunt against myself."

This creature put the fear of death into me, that last few words did. I still wake from a deep sleep, even now a full fortnight later.

"I planned on turning my nephew's coming of age ceremony into a Black Mass and defiling the temple at the same time. I did not count on my brother forsaking his vows to become an anti-paladin at the same time."

My blood froze, I believe that this family is a threat to be eliminated.

"My brother and I were hit with the same experimental spell that the Markirans devised. Working much like a Helm of Opposites(6) , it turned one's beliefs inside out. That which happened to my brother, happened to me. In his turn he took my life, dedicated then to Markira, and that of my sister in law. The children escaped."

"How did you come to this state then? Forsaking Cerdiwah in life?"

"NO! For forsaking Markira in DEATH."

I stopped in my tracks, my mind completly derailed. He picked up his skull and left the confessional. He stopped by the altar and said a full rosary four times before getting up and leaving. I was powerless to stop him, in all my years of devoted service to our lady of Light, never before has my faith been so shaken, never before had it failed to protect me from the Evils of the world. I fear for the people that Lord Dragonbrande was in charge of. His son yet lives as does his daugther. I urge you, Archbishop, should either come to you, do not delay, but destroy the evil before it starts!

-Father Trueknot

The Archbishop put down the letter. He raised his large girth out of the seat at the desk and eased to the window. From his office window he could see the boys coming out from sword pratice and going to catechism class. Future paladins, some would be, others temple gaurds. They all played and laughed as young men tend to do, but one young man trailed behind, and indeed, was far more serious than a sixteen year old was ever meant to be. The Archbishop had felt his pain, and his desire for revenge, but evil? Never. The Archbishop shook his head and picked up the letter from Father Trueknot and without hesitation put it into the fireplace where it burned to ash.

"At least Greynor will be spared of knowing his uncle's fate."

To learn more of the young paladin Greynor's fate, go to the next story in his saga, "The Ordeal"

Footnotes:
Editing and Footnotes by Adam Davis
  1. Alternate name for Samhain, or the Feast of Souls, which falls on October 30 on Galon's calendar.
  2. Comrir was the original name of the nation now known as Gregora.
  3. A hecuva is a form of undead which results from a cleric or monk breaking his or her vows without repentance and being cursed to an eternal undeath. Hecuvae are immune to holy water, holy symbols, turning, and other holy power traditionally effective against the undead, but rarely have spellcasting powers unless they have turned to the worship of a dark god who accepts them.
  4. The Dragonbrande family wore a stylized Ceridwan holy symbol shaped like a sword with point down, giving it a long bottom bar and the shape of a Roman rather than a Celtic cross.
  5. A euphemism for Markira.
  6. A magical helmet which causes those who put it on to suddenly reverse alignments, eg. chaotic good becomes lawful evil.