The Darkest Dungeon
Prologue
During the mid 1300's Europe was thrown into a panic whilst the seemingly apocalyptic disease known as the Black Plague spread like a wildfire, untouched by man. Cities were broken down and torn apart as the southern half of France was bombarded by certain doom. Many were eager to band together and travel north. Home to the few untouched sanctuaries left in France. Bizarrely this happened to be the time that a the owner of an estate sent letters far and wide throughout the country to his long lost relatives, pleading for help. "Ruin has come to our family. Untouched by the sickness, our dismay strings from a far more complex evil. Hurry my cousins, brothers, and sisters, for time is of the essence and riches are ripe for the taking. Hurry before I am overtaken by the madness that haunts my fair estate." Thus the recipients set out, wether in small groups or on their lonesome they travelled the old road in search of wealth, sanctuary from the turmoil of the world, and in search of a desperate relative.
"Silence you idiot! The dead may just roll over in their graves if you speak any louder!" Screamed the man dressed in a shimmering suit of armor. He was a man of tradition and honor. Driven by his religious beliefs he cared more for his god than himself or his colleagues.
"Excuse me 'Sir' Reynauld! For I have no respect for your damned traditions!" Dismas was a simple man, a highwayman you may call him, perhaps an opportunist to the more polite. The two met in a large city, both trying to find a carriage for sale. They found themselves fighting over one of the few remaining carriages in the city, out of options the unlikely duo decided that they shall share the carriage as it appeared they were both heading for the estate.
"Enough." The crusader had drawn a small dagger out of his boot and pointed it at the thug. "I will not let scum such as yourself disobey me." Silence held the carriage hostage. The Highwayman was not willing to trade his life to win a argument with a religious fanatic. "Good, if you keep this up I think we might just get along."
He sheathed the blade into his right boot, just in time for the howls of wild dogs to fill the air. It had been getting progressively more difficult to see as fog surrounded the carriage. The fog almost seemed to have an agenda.
The carriage slowed as Reynauld halted the horse pulling them. "Whoa girl!" He shouted, determined to show courage in spite of his surroundings. Dismas, both fed up with his accomplice and the fog, barked curse words into the mist taunting the beasts within. This turned out to be regrettable as a snout snapped out of the mist back at him. Three other hounds appeared through the fog as the carriage came to a rest. Dismas readied a small flintlock pistol, a rare weapon at the time, and a serrated blade built to bleed any potential targets. Reynauld, while more sluggish due to the weight of his platemail, readied a greatsword, far longer than a normal blade, to fight off the aggressors. Both were experienced in combat, both with other humans and beasts, and were confident in their abilities.
The ground quaked as Dismas fired a round towards his target, the ball flew with precision between the hounds eyes, creating a fracture in the skull of the dog. Reynauld could hear the whimpers of the beasts as he slashed his assailant across the back making a deep wound. The two remaining dogs heeded their attack after watching the others be dispatched with such ruthless accuracy. "Back you mutt!" Dismas yelled as the beast retreated, he swung his blade back and forth attempting to discourage the animal. That was until the second beast ran past Reynauld who was too heavy to react with any sense of speed. Reynauld held a hand out to his companion, smiling under his helmet. Dismas, covered in fresh blood, was not in the mood for an argument and simply took his hand. The final beast had backed away and begun to retreat into the fog, being outnumbered it realized the futility of its task. "Ordinary dogs don't attack travelers like that. Especially after hearing a shot from Laura." Dismas spoke softly stroked his single shot and carefully filled the barrel with another shot.
"Laura? You named your weapon?" Reynauld was unfamiliar with this and thought of weapons only as harbingers of righteousness.
"Course I do. Girl saved my life more than a couple times." The two returned to the carriage, the horse had been thoroughly spooked but remained attached to the reins. The ride was mostly silent from then on to the estate, both men reflected upon the attack. They knew that something wanted their heads, whether it was nature herself or something eldritch.
Chapter 1: Right of Passage
The corridor was eerily silent as the shadows danced along the walls. Two women and one man roamed the caves nearing the estate in search for a short cut through the mountains. The three proved to be a dangerous trio, they consisted of a arbalest, a woman that's as dangerous with a crossbow as a knight with any blade, a grave robber, willing to defile anyones tomb for a quick buck, and a bounty hunter, armed with a hatchet, a hooked chain, and his knowledge of how to kill man in a matter of seconds. They came across a large gate guarding the entrance to what appeared to be ancient ruins, although the inside did not appear to be uninhabited. Torches were lit on the other side, this along with the metallic smell of blood was fresh. "This is far bigger than what I usually raid!" The ambitious grave robber, Marlene, was surprised with the girth of the gate and surrounding brick. Bertrand, being a monotonous bounty hunter, held Marlene back from the bars. "I wouldn't have brought you along if I knew that you'd act like this." He spoke firmly as he moved her aside. "These are not your ordinary tombs, this place is far more complex." Bertrand showed certainty but in truth had only heard legends of the true history behind this place.
"Ida, find a way to open the gate, I'll check the area." Bertrand ran his hands over the walls near the gate as his companion Ida, the arbalest, searched for a lever. Marlene stalked anxiously imagining the riches held within. Marlene was far from an addict but proved to enjoy dabbling in alchemy and often partook in her experiments. Alchemy during this time was very basic for people such as her, all you needed was a heat source, pot, utensil, and whatever organic ingredients that you could muster. This lead to her developing constant anxiety, caused directly by her remedies. In a satchel attached to her hip she pulled out a clear vial filled with a light blue liquid. A small sip was all this junkie needed, as she put her lips to the vial she felt tranquility as her anxiety was quenched. After several minutes of searching, Bertrand found a small amulet. The amulet bore a small circle with a single etching on the front, a black sun rising over a white horizon. The symbol was common amongst old trinkets and baubles as for hundreds of years ago it was at its peak. The symbol representing the largest cult in human history, The Rising Sun, a group once feared and now only spoken about. Bertrand had seen many amulets like this and chose to set it back down, as it was worth nothing to him.
"Found it boss." Ida pulled the rope, proving her discovery. The gate rose slowly, inch by inch, as Ida struggled with the rope. Marlene dashed under the opening, then turning back and pulling the gate back down to the ground. The rope fell out of Ida's hands as it was then cut by a sharp steel dagger. Bertrand grabbed the gate with both hands.
"By the gods woman! We are not working against you, we all got the same damn letter!" He shouted as he shook the bars, only seeing the glowing light of her satchel as she ran. He reached around his waist grabbing the chain he has slaughtered countless men with and threw it through the pulley system. He then tied it to the top of the gate and pulled on the chain as hard as possible. Without being commanded, Ida rushed to her employer, heaving the chain over her shoulder. Together they lifted the gate and then tied the chain to a nearby pillar. "You'll always come through for me, I've learned that much." Bertrand patted Ida on the back.
"What about your chain?" Ida asked as she examined the hook attached to the gate, made of cold steel and tinted with the blood of its victims.
"Its best not to get attached to your tools Ida, they are but only metal. Forged to fuel the engine of war." Bertrand spoke softly equipping his hand axe from his belt. "Come we must catch her, god knows what lies in wait for her arrival." He commands as he delves into the unknown, with only a torch and his companion.
Only a few hundred meters in, the path deviates into three each with a gate. The left and center gate appeared untouched, sealed shut by a thick layer of rust. The rightmost gate was swung all the way open, the layer of rust had fallen to the ground around the gate. "Why would she leave her trail so blatantly obvious?" Ida said as she inspected the other gates for possible entry.
"A girl her age, probably cocky enough to think we can't catch up." Bertrand gazed through the open seeing only a faint glow a distance away. "Speaking of which, let's not let her get any more ahead." Bertrand walked through the gate pulling a small torch out of his belt. "Too dark to see now, always have an emergency light on me." Bertrand mumbled to himself as he struck the torch with a small piece of flint. Minutes later, a small star was born and lit the path ahead. Blood. Blood everywhere. The red mist painted the walls and ground around him. "Ida!" He reeled back his hatchet ready to strike anything that moved.
"Ay sir?" She spoke softly but was then quickly silenced by the discovery of the blood. It was only then that Bertrand sniffed the air and noticed that he could not smell the blood.
"False alarm, the scent is stale." He lowered his hatchet and felt across the blood. It had stained the area around him many years ago, only a memo of what happened here. "With so much blood, it looks like someone was butchered." He continued forward, motioning for Ida to follow him. As they approached the glow down the hall, it became brighter and brighter till it filled the hall. As they approached the source of the light a slam of a gate could be heard behind them. Ida looked behind them only to be met with the pale skeletal figure that closed the door. The sharp release of an arrow from her crossbow was all it took to knock the figure over.
"Bertrand, we need to leave. Now." She begged as she looked to her partner. His face, lit by the dim torch, spoke of the horror he had began to feel. Ahead, from the light bathed room, Marlene could be seen. She was contained in a cage hanging from the ceiling. She appeared bound and gagged, only able to moan her pleas for help. Both Bertrand and Ida rushed to her rescue, into the bright room. They entered onto a balcony with stair cases leading downwards on both left and right sides. Marlene was only a few feet away from the balcony, still crying desperately. "What are those freaks?!" Ida screamed as she quickly reloaded her crossbow from a quiver on her back. Below the pair, 3 pale figures stood. The aggressors watched silently only making light clicking noises as they moved their jaws. The monsters appeared skeletal humanoids, missing all skin and muscle. You could see each and every bone of their anatomy, only covered partly by simple armor. One of them stood over the rest, he was easily 8 feet tall while the others measured about 5. It wore a large chest plate and a chainmail helmet. Over its right shoulder it hoisted a large flail made of crude bronze. Standing next to it, a skeleton holding a simple early model crossbow begun to take aim. It wore light armor for mobility, at least as much as a corpse could muster, and a simple helmet. Lastly, a skeleton with a broken broadsword and no armor stood. Bertrand was petrified. He observed the skeletons without showing any emotion. It was only when the arrow of the skeleton's crossbow was let loose that he snapped back to reality. The arrow zoomed by his face hitting the wall behind them.
"I'll handle the bowman, keep the big one off of me." Bertrand commanded with determination. He leaped over the balcony onto the floor below, striking the archer on the shoulder upon landing. Yet the archer stood tall and began to ready his next shot. The giant skeleton towered over Bertrand and began to reel back his flail in preparation to strike. A swift cross bolt pierced the chain on the flail as he struck and sent the metallic sphere hurling towards the swordsman skeleton behind Bertrand.