Letter 3: An Anecdote From the Demon Plague
1929-03-30
Petal,
Blessings!
The leads that you passed along to me were perfect. I found a new catacomb from a long time ago. It's been hidden and sealed for at least 200 years. I found some great stuff in there. I sold it all to Gail and made enough money to last for most of the year. Don't worry, I didn't steal from the dead. There were tables of stuff just sitting there. I suppose that the people that visited the catacomb in the Elder days just left it there.
The trip was a little dangerous. There was a skeleton wandering around in the catacomb. Can you believe that? I don't expect that you will. But I have a scar to prove it. I've never seen such a thing before. It got angry when it saw me and tried to stab me with a spear. I jumped out of the way at the last second and it cut my arm. But I knocked it's head off with my war hammer. Problem solved. I even brought the head to Gail in case she wanted to study it.
I miss you too, dear sister. I wish that I could come home. But there is more of this catacomb to explore. I hope to make enough money to retire with. If I'm lucky, I'll come back to Bearbat permanently.
I believe you about the demon (that's what we're calling them here in Twigstar). I was walking around in the city and just missed seeing a man fall off of a balcony. He landed on his head in the street. He was already dead when I came upon him. Everyone was standing around looking at him. Then I head someone shout, “He's alive! He's getting up!”
I looked at him and his head was turned at a weird angle. The amount of blood pouring from his ear was terrifying. There is no way that he could have survived the fall. But he was walking around, trying to grab at people. He grabbed a little boy and broke his arm. That's when everyone panicked and ran away. I saw the boy screaming and struggling to free himself. So I ran over and smacked the man with my hammer. His head came off and his body fell to the ground. But it was still wriggling around.
Some guards threw oil all over him and burned his corpse. Right there in the street! He stopped moving after that. I've seen some horrible things in my days, but this was the worst.
One of the guards thanked me for saving the boy. I asked him why they burned the man. He said that the recent dead have been coming back to life and attacking people. This is the only way to kill them again.
I'm going to the tavern to drink away the memories of the past few days. I have a big day tomorrow. I'm going back into the catacomb. Wish me luck!
I remain your foolish and loving brother,
Wood