Daryle spends the morning in town and she hears the gossip that the Millers have returned from their trip to the Emerald Spire and turned in over 20 pairs of goblin ears. Daryle suspects that they are a plant for Razmir.
The Coopers are relaxing in the evening with a nice glass of wine and a good book in the newly renovated library. Darelle is reading River Kingdoms Herbs: Not Just Folk Remedies, while Daryle is consulting an ancient tome about the history of the Shadowborn family, titled Shadowborn, Leaders of the River. She comes across a very strange reference to the mausoleum that sits in the corner of the estate. It appears that it was once part of a much larger crypt. Daryle tells her sister, and they vow to explore it come morning.
Calistril 5, 4712
Daryle continued to read the book last night, and she tells her sister that the last people buried here were buried over four hundred years ago. The dates span from 4218 to 4323. Shadowborn Manor was built in 4087, and the Shadowborn family itself can trace its origins from roughly 3550.
Daryle decides to search the tomb where they first discovered the dirt. She digs for fifteen minutes, but she finds nothing.
The sisters move to the left, and look at the second tomb. It is that of Anna Tirolia Shadowborn, wife of Baltazar Shadowborn, (4190-4245) the last male identified in her book as having been buried here. The corpse is wearing black funeral garb but holds a very well preserved carnation. Darelle takes a closer look and discovers that the carnation is in fact real, and appears to be as old as the body itself. She leaves the flower behind.
Lukas Shadowborn, brother of Baltazar (4231-4281). He had two broken legs, which predated his death by a few years. It would have been very difficult for him to walk. Most likely it would have been the result of accident or warfare.
Leopolda Shadowborn (4301-4323), sister of Perisic and Rudolf, was Johann's third child. Her extremities are tainted green and orange, suggesting she was poisoned. Twenty-two years old when she died, there are no records indicating that she was married to anyone, which Darelle finds strange
Rudolf (4290-4321) was Johann's second son. He also shows signs of having been poisoned. He too did not seem to have a spouse.
Perisic (4285-4298) was Johann's first son. He also shows signs of having been poisoned at the age of thirteen.
Aman Shadowborn (4277-4301) was Johann's wife. She also holds a faded red carnation. The Coopers decide not to touch that one either.
Johann Shadowborn (4210-4298) was Baltazar's brother. The body that once was Johann emerges shrouded in darkness, and casts deeper darkness. Everything goes dark. He casts ray of enfeeblement, and Darelle is hit. Fortunately, Daryle comes to her rescue and the two of them are able to neutralize this threat. All of these names are mentioned in Daryle's history book. But where is Baltazar's tomb?
Under Aman's tomb is a secret passage down, so Darelle and Daryle move Aman in Johann's now emptied tomb, and the Coopes pivot Aman's tomb, revealing a set of stairs. After a descent of about 20 feet they enter a large room with five more tombs.
- Matthias (4198-4279) and Maria Anna Shadowborn (4203-4254), husband and wife.
- Joseph (4200-4267) and Eleonora Magdelena Shadowborn (4199-4267), husband and wife.
- Margaret Teresa (4170-4208) is identified as Baltazar, Matthias and Joseph's mother. She never married and the father of the children is not identified in the book.
The Coopers continue to explore the vast rooms that lay underneath Shadowborn Manor and discover countless tombs. Each large room contains tombs organized in rough centuries. In the last (or first) room built, they find tombs with inscriptions dating from the 3600s. Strangely, many candles line the walls and are burning. When Darelle takes a closer look, the candles suddenly attack, and the Coopers must defend themselves.
After defeating the candles, they explore the room and find yet another secret passage, this time leading to a smaller room containing one tomb. The inscription on it reveals it to be that of Karolina Shadowborn (? - 3531). Carefully opening the lid, they discover a well-preserved body wearing a beautiful white dress. She is also surrounded by red carnations that have not been faded by time. The white dress shimmers in the low light, and Darelle decides to carefully remove it from the body after a small female voice whispers in her ear that the dress should belong to her. She is now in possession of the Shadowborn dress. Both Coopers pick up a red carnation, then respectfully close the lid to the tomb.
They retrace their steps and enter an unexplored room. The tombs in this room are small. Daryle realizes that there have been no other children's tombs since the first room on this level. These are all the resting place of dead children. A sobbing sound emerges from the back of the room. The Coopers cautiously enter the room and walk towards the back. Two small children made of ash emerge from behind one of the tombs and open up their arms, as if meaning to be hugged. Daryle and Darelle launch arrows, which burn instantly when they hit the young ones. They continue forward and hug Darelle, who is immediately badly burned. The battle continues until Daryle realize that they in fact want hugs. She bends down and hugs one of the children, taking some damage but releasing his soul. Darelle does the same.
They check the room to see if any other ash children remain, but they do not discover any. They check each tomb, and realize that all of the young bodies in this room have been poisoned by a similar poison to the ones in the mausoleum. Why would anyone need to poison children?
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