*You discover a tattered letter written on vellum. It is mostly readable.*
To whomever it may concern,
As I pen these final words, I do so with a heavy heart. It is our sacred duty to safeguard the followers of the Archangel from threats of occult and supernatural. This mission, entrusted to us by the Holy Order of the Venerated Church, brought us into the depths of this darkness.
This vault was once a pagan temple held by those that lived on the First Coast before the arrival of our ancestors, but now it serves a purpose for the benefit of the True Faith. Many heretical items of the Collatian Old Dynasty were brought here for safekeeping after the closing of Angelspire. They are old relics of blasphemous origins, best kept out of the eyes and souls of the faithful public, which is so easily corrupted. The pieces rest in peaceful secrecy; our organization only catalogs and checks them once or twice in a generation. This task is only entrusted to a select few. I was one of the blessed, and so I myself and three of my brothers in faith - Phylas, Cteatus and Arisbe - arrived here to undertake the duty.
Our inspection revealed that the passage of time had not been kind to the artifacts, and the ravages of nature had taken their toll upon the ancient relics, leaving many warped and tainted by the touch of decay.
Blinded by ignorance, brother Phylas was lured in by a cursed artifact contained in the last chamber. It tarnished his body with a darkness that now threatens to consume us all. During the time we have taken to try and learn more about the plague it has spread to the rest of my brothers. The sickness that now courses through their veins is both physical and spiritual, a malignant force that gnaws at the very fabric of their being. As the days pass and their strength wanes, I have come to understand the true nature of the curse that afflicts them, and I know now that our time in this world draws to a close.
Mine is the authority as the last unaffected brother present. I have made the decision to contain the curse within the walls of this accursed temple, sealing each of the tainted in their chambers so that they will eventually starve out not only themselves, but also what horrible visages of Hel they were fated to become. As I have commanded the death of my brethren, albeit as a desperate act of mercy, I must also face the judgement of our Lord alongside them. I pray that none shall come looking for us, not until this devil within has deceased. Forgiveness of the One True God be upon us all.
- Cordylion, Tender of the Venerated Church of Archangel Decus on 16th of Thawmist, 1257 AS