Stacey
>>Zarael Juel
Misty swamps of Taemar


On the lands of Taemar, there was a few swamps within. Most of them shrouded with mist and fog during dawn where the condensed water vapour would soon disappear by noon.

A small boat was soon seen peacefully floating down the swamp, in it lay a youthful looking man who seemed in peace as he looked up at the grey looking sky. The fog only hindered a bit of his sight, enough for him to make out the shape of the mangrove trees and the surface of the water.

Zarael let out a satisfied hum as he lay down on the boat, listening to the crickets and the birds as well as the whisperings of the dead. He would sometimes chirped a few times in response to the birds that flew passed him. The young undertaker soon sat up, his eyes now gazing upon a moaning figure of a ghost whose apparition was lingering above the surface of the water.

"Is your body... Perhaps, here, sir?"

He asked carefully, knowing well that the spirit himself knew he was the only human there. The spirit turned to him in a slow mechanical movement, almost eerie and creepy to anyone who had no experience in actually meeting a ghost. Any other living beings would have thought Zarael was talking to thin air if they were to saw him.

>>The spirit's dead and sunken eyes stared back at Zarael's live ones. A incoherent moan was heard again, this time sounding angry and even annoyed. Judging from his rotting clothes that he was wearing during his death, Zarael could only guess that he was a merchant. He also noticed that there was a slash wound on the spirit's neck.

"I mean no harm, sir. I'm just someone who wish to help you attain peace." Zarael quickly explained his intentions before he pointed at the spot where the ghost was floating on.

"I can help you get your body out and give it a proper burial... If you want to or is there something else you wish?"

The ghost was staring at the young man, his eyes seem skeptical as he listened to the whispers and chatters of other spirits that had followed the man, some were proudly praising him while some were encouraging the old spirit to accept his offer, claiming the human was a good man who respects the dead.

*"My body..."* The ghost then started saying. *"Just get it out... It's too cold here..."*

"Of course!" Zarael was seemingly too jovial as he responded, as if very happy to be able to help the ghost. "If I may have your name, Sir?"

*"....Radulf."*

"That's all?"

*"I was born without a family... And died without one too."*

"My apologies..."

*"You're one strange lad that I've ever met..."*

>>"Many have told me so." Zarael replies with a grin, knowing well he had met many spirits that said the same thing to him. Taking a deep breath, he took a smooth and deep dive into the swamp with a silent splash.

He swam to the bottom of the swamp, grabbing onto aquatic plants to avoid being dragged back up to the surface by the buoyancy in his body. Once he was sure he won't be floating away, he immediately used a small shovel and quickly dug at the soil. Some spirits helping him by turning into ghost fires, aiding him with their lights as he dug as much as he could to find the body which didn't take long since there was only a layer of soil above the skeleton.

He grinned underwater before he quickly pushed himself up to the surface to get another breath of air before diving back down again. This time he carefully gathered the bones and as much skeletal remains he could find into the cloth bag. 

He kept repeating the process of returning to the surface and diving back into the water a few times. Taking up about an hour or so to look for all the remains. Being so focused in his findings, he was unaware of the danger that lurks within the domain of the swamp, which were homes to alligators.

Zarael had dump the bag back onto the boat and was now looking around to find the last skeletal remain, the skull. He looked towards Radulf who only shook his head solemnly, as if indicating he had no idea where his skull was. Zarael bit his lips but nonetheless went back underwater to search for it. He knew how much the skull was essential to the dead. Somewhat like how money were important to humans, the skull was important for a proper burial.

After a long while in the water, Zarael was starting to lose energy but it was also around that time where he had found the skull, the skull was stuck within the mangrove roots and he had spent some time digging about underwater before finally able to pull the skull out from the makeshift cage.

>>His head soon popped up above the surface with a loud gasp, his clothes now dirty and soaked with the mud but he couldn't care less about it. He barely paid attention to the fact that his clothes were weighing him down in the water. 

Zarael soon realised he was quite far from his boat, swimming a bit far than usual than he thought he would. Hugging the skull with one arm, he used his other arm to swim back to his boat, unaware of the alligator that was now swimming towards him from a distance away, the animal being alerted by the movements he was making in the water.
Darla
Arthur Mansley
Misty swamps of Taemar

In a large boat affixed with burning lanterns and inscese, within it a tall man wearing thick leather robes and a large mask that resembles a crow, slowly glides through the swamp. 

He listens to the many calls and whispers of spirits as he rows, looking for the area where most are gathered. He soon finds this area, and an empty boat within it. 

"Perhaps another has been lost to the swamp." He speaks in a soft voice, muffled by the mask. He then sees a man surface holding a bag of remains, while a crowd of spirits cheers at his acomplishment. The starnge man is impressed by this, softly clapping himself.

He looks over to the side to find a suitable way out of here, but soon finds a 20 foot long alligator that is slowly gliding towards the young man in the water. Grabbing his heavy crossbow, already loaded and ready to fire, he shoots the heavy bolt into the eye of the large reptile. The gator bellows and hisses in pain as it diverts it's attention to the one who wounded it. 

The masked man produces a shovel, who's edge has sharpened to the point where you can shave with it. He waits for the creature to slam into his boat before swinging and cleaves off a portion of the gator's neck. The alligator starts to climb up onto the boat, though soon after it felt the cold steel of the shovel peirce it's throat.

As it drowns in it's own blood, he man says to it "Rest easy now. May your spirit find peace, and may your body help feed the living." Before dragging it into the boat.

He then slowly ushers the watercraft in your direction before inspecting the bones you have gathered. 

"Quite a collection. I know a place where we can bury them. Don't be alarmed at my appearance, it is just my work attire. Come, follow me through the mist and I'll lead you to my camp. There we can have a proper funeral." 

The ghosts around you mutter and whisper in agreement as the strange man begins to make his way into the mist, talking with the spirits along the way.
Stacey
Zarael Juel
Misty swamps of Taemar


Zarael was definitely not expecting for himself to almost died, yelping out when he suddenly heard the painful bellowing of the alligator. He quickly turned in the water, his eyes widened when they landed on the predator that he couldn't help but clutch the skull he was holding protectively.

Seeing the arrow that lodged itself in between the animal's eyes, Zarael turn his head once more to see another human on a boat with a crossbow in hand. Not looking at what happened next, Zarael quickly swam back to his boat and climbed back on. His long hair free of their hold and now falling freely down his back, sticking against the side of his face and clothes.

His eyes narrow skeptically at the stranger, cautious at how he seem to know what he was planning to do. His guard was put up as he sat at the further end of his boat, away from the masked stranger. As he watches the man leave in a way, he noticed he was also able to communicate with the dead.

Biting his lips in a rather anxious manner, he sighed and allowed his boat to be pushed alongside by the water spirits. Zarael choosing not to look up as he proceeded to clean the skeletal bones.
Darla
Arthur Mansley
Misty swamps of Taemar

You are led to a large grove of tall grass and reeds. Among them is a large tent with thick green canvas and a few smoldering reminants of a fire. In this area there are about twenty or so graves that have been dug, and about half the graves have been filled with dirt and several herb plants. About two or three spirits sit contently on the gravestones. 

"Morning gents. Still waiting on your friend?" The masked man asks the spirits. One nods and says "It can't really be helped, Arthur. We'll hang around until he finds his way back to his body. And when that happens, we can find him and bring him home." The other spirit nods in agreement

Arthur takes off his hat and slowly removes his mask; revealing a heavily scarred, yet beautiful, face. "Well, it won't be long then until he gets his burial. But for now, we have one who's been here a while and needs to rest." 

He grabs a battered book and extends a shaky hand towards you. "The bag, if you don't mind." He takes the bag of bones and climbs down into the grave to begin arranging them. "Fellow mortal, whose name I shall know soon, there is a small pouch of inscents in my satchel that is currently laying next to the dead alligator; could you grab it for me please?" 

Arthur then has the spirit lay down in the grave so he can lay the bones in their proper place. He then climbs out of the grave, lights the inscents, and begins his ceremony while you fill the grave with dirt. 

When all is said and done, he closes his book and adresses the spirit for the final time. "Rest easy my friend, may you be at peace." The spirit smiles as it decends into the ground, finally at rest.

Arthur then sits down on a log as he adds more wood onto the smoldering embers, rekindling the campfire to prepare his lunch. 

"Come and sit. There is enough meat for five of us if your feeling extra hungry." He says as he points to the gator "I am Arthur and it is my upmost pleasure to meet you." He says as he extends his hand for you to shake.
Stacey
Zarael Juel
Misty swamps of Taemar


Zarael would occasionally look up to see where they were going before his head was ducked back down, his attention going back to cleaning and polishing the bones before he arranged them neatly in another bag.

He slowly got out of his boat once they reached their destination, still keeping a fair distance away from the stranger he just met as he brought his stuff down. He went over to an empty grave and silently did a small prayer of gratitude upon having a grave ready for the poor spirit he had found.

He however, shot a dirty look towards the man who asked for the bag as he wanted to be the one to finish what he started all the way. Ignoring the man, he proceeded to lay down the bones respectively in order before he filled the grave with the soil.

Radulf had a look of amusement as the ghost watched the young man, amused by how his attitude was cold towards the human but warm and welcoming to the dead.

*"Ay lad, are you sure you're not a dead yourself?"*

Zarael shook his head, looking up at Radulf with a tilt of his head to show his confusion. The spirit let out a small chuckle before looking towards the stranger.

*"You don't seem to fare well with your kin."*

*"That's just him, old man!~ He never trusts humans the way he trusts us~"*

One of the spirits chirped up and a few joined in agreement, giggling a few times. Zarael chose to ignore them as he pat down the soil. He then went over to one of his larger bag and took out a large cross made of metal.

The cross had intricate designs upon it and he heaved it up to the head of the grave before hammering it into the soil. Once it was secured, he took out a small box from the bag and in it were filled with metal alphabets. As he picked out the alphabets to spell Radulf's name, he had also fished out a small metal plate with a magic circle carved onto it.

Placing the alphabet on it, he was able to summon heat onto the magic circle to melt the metal a little, using the melted metal behind the alphabet as a sort of glue, he quickly stuck it onto the cross, repeating the same process with the others as he arranged the name in an orderly fashion on the cross.

Radulf whistled, surprised at how meticulous the young human was as he hovered about his grave. Zarael dusted his hands off any dirt that could be rid off as he watched the spirit.

His attention was soon diverted to the stranger where he was surprised to see his mask was now removed. Zarael continued to be silent for a few more moments before he softly muttered out his name, not shaking the stranger's hand.

"Zarael... Juel."