Velerren

Prologue

The South should be warmer than the North, Jakob thought, as he rode his stallion down a long and abused road. He was accompanied by a small exploration party, under command of the King of Usafern. Jakob and his anonymous companions had been ordered to scout this area of the South, in an effort to expand Usafern's borders and rebuild its broken economy. After the war, the country was in ruin, as two armies clashed right in the middle of it. Now that the Eastern Empire was claiming Usafern bit by bit with little opposition, the country was looking to the abandoned South for land. But as he looked around, it was clear to see why this place was abandoned.

Down the long and rocky trail, the trees that were once filled with life at Watershade have fallen to silence. The only sound to be heard was the trot of the horses and Jakob's own breathing. The deep evergreen that laced the trees were nothing more than large sticks protruding from the ground, and what grass they could find had withered. In addition to this, the sky had adopted a dark red colour, not one from the sun, or the moon. There was definitely something wrong about this place, Jakob thought, and that wasn't helped by his silent rangers. Jakob had tried to stir up conversation with them many times, but only to be replied with a vacant stare, and not a word spoken. If he didn't have to put up with them for the next month at least, Jakob would have seen if they were muted or just didn't enjoy conversation.

It wasn't long before the dead trees opened up to reveal a village in a clearing, yet long abandoned. He warned the others, but they ignored him and all rode into the village. It was amazing how they even communicated to each other - The possibilities were endless. Realising he was now alone, Jakob rode into the village to catch up with the others.

They were found standing in a perfect circle around the well, none of them even blinking under their hoods. Jakob thought best to leave them be, and decided to investigate the small building on the ourskirts, the one with a half torn thatched roof and decaying walls. Something was definitely wrong, he thought. Why was this place abandoned?

As he walked closer, a foul stench filled the air. It was a sort of decaying smell, mixed with a very unknown scent. Jakob was filled with more and more anxiety as the smell grew stronger and stronger the closer he got to this mysterious house, until the smell was so strong he could barely breathe. When he got to the house and knocked the rotting door down, it was far more than what he had feared.

He opened the door to release a stench so strong you could almost see it, but that was the least of his problems. He had just stepped into an enormous bloodbath. The floor was filled with parts of human, arms and legs thrown into a corner,  with a vast array of insides strewn over the walls and floor. The gruesome display was one thing, but the smell of rotting flesh was enough to knock him out. And then there were the faces. The skin from these people's faces had been ripped from the skull, and hung up on the wall like decorations, doused in blood. Jakob noticed a large sigil on the far wall, a sign he had never seen, but had the initiative to take caution from. Jakob took no time to take it in, and stumbled out to warn his companions.

It didn't take long for Jakob to reach the well, only to find a handful of corpses that represented his companions. To his horror, he found that all of their faces had been ripped from the skull, leaving only a bloody hole. He wanted to run as far away from this place as possible, yet it felt as if sonething was... holding him here. Drawing him in. Jakob started to panic, and saw behind him some sort of shadow, in the shape of man. Jakob didnt even have time to beg for his life before the shadow plunged a blade into his forehead.