A Village Horror Story

As I was cleaning up the barn I happened to discover a decrepit attic that was surprisingly barren, with wide spaces and little to no clutter. If there was the thing to be improved upon it would be the fact of the low-lying ceiling, but that comes with attics I suppose.

Unfortunately, due to its long disuse, it accumulated a quite sizable amount of dust, and one window casts dim sunlight through.

The entrance, a latch on the floor is rickety and fragile. The hinges are worn down and seem like they would collapse with the slightest amount of weight, certainly something that has to be replaced.

Climbing down the ladder was a perilous affair. With each additional step taken it seemed as if the wooden rungs were screaming in protest. The rotting wood creaked and groaned under my weight, something that would also have to be replaced.

Then there was a swooping noise and then through the bar window my Visionaries descended to me. Making much haste they psychically communicate that the town was indeed populated, but the people that resided there didn't frequent here too often.

The only issue that could possibly become a sort of annoyance was that there was apparently some sort of horror story floating around the village youth that this barn was supposedly haunted.

According to the legend established some person was tortured by their captor and then dragged here in the dead of night. From then on, they were butchered.

Not slaughtered, but butchered. While their methods are efficient, they were far too crude in the execution.

Most likely it had been another of my ilk. A testament to the work, a mistake or failure that shall pay the way for the glorious workers such as I.

Then, apparently the victim was divided into quarters/segments after being butchered before being consumed by their cruel captor.

What most likely happened though was that the victim was reanimated so to speak. Perhaps that experiment was deemed a failure and was rather forcibly decommissioned by some of the other experiments that had been conducted.

Then, following that, some sort of the organization found out and eliminated this fellow Dread Mage. Then they probably proceeded to cover up the news to eliminate the possibility of the panic spreading that such an "evil character" had been residing so close to the town limits.

But regardless of the prior events that had occurred here, I swapped the shifts out for my Visionaries, ensuring a well-rested roster took their place before scouting the area once more.

Hopefully, whatever organization had hunted by fellow peer down had missed a couple details. Oh what work I would be able to do with a couple pieces of equipment or experimental logs.

*Sigh. That aside, there are much more pressing matters to deal with as of now.

This barn possesses a great deal of potential, but… I would have to deal with the buyers when they eventually come to buy the place.

Maybe I could do something to dissuade them from looking into this, a couple messages here and there should do the trick.

Or perhaps they could be my first experiments in this new place. With a couple touches here and there, they could serve to make this place even more nondescript.

Peeking my head outside the sun immediately blinded me. Its harsh beams seared my eyes and the only thing I could do was rapidly blink my eyes to adjust. Hmm… perhaps that could be a potential topic of interest.

Well, no matter for now, though I will take note of that for later. The coast was clear and the buyers had yet to arrive.

Swiftly, I strode back into the barn and moved the kid to the side of the lab. Carefully, I then proceeded to blindfold him. Then as another safety measure I proceeded to gag him with his shirt, although a bit crude it was all I could do with the current resources.

Now, at last it was finally time to begin the construction or rather creation of my lab.

I quickly ran outside back to where I had left Brute and my sacks. That's when I see Brute standing still, practically lifeless, stowed away behind a tree.

I walk up to it and tap Brute a few times to wake it up and gesture for it to follow me.

Brute manages the heavy-lifting and follows behind me as I let him in the barn. Unfortunately the ladder wouldn't be able to support his weight nor strength, therefore I had to proceed the rest of the way myself and carry the bags up to the attic. After dropping everything I go back down and untie the child.

I lay him on the ground and nestle a broom in his hands.

Looks believable enough. Climbing back up, I call back down and instruct Brute to tuck himself away out of sight once more, keeping watch for any intruders.

"Finally.."

With a sigh of relief, I get to work as I take out my items and organize them. I took out a bottle of dark red blood as it sloshed and glimmered in the sunlight.

Popping the cork of the bottle, I dip my fingers into the lukewarm liquid and draw a magic circle in the ground. Line after lines of runes later, I finish and with a simple chant, the magic circle activates.

With a low shimmer, the magic circle glows a bright red as the room takes on a new hue. Then I procure a sheet of fabric from my bags and cover the window, causing the room to be a dark crimson.

Now time to blood bond this circle to me. Withdrawing my ceremonial knife, feeling its bronze engravings and single topaz on the handle, I prick my finger with its razor-sharp edge.

Raising out my arm above the magic circle I recite an incantation of blood binding as a single drop from my finger drips down to the middle of the circle.

A ripple of crimson shifts through the magic circle as the bond is established and the connection has been successfully forged. .

Now I just need a suitable animal to start my next experiment. While this place is a small town, it still has a community board where I can commission a job. As long as I make it innocent enough, with the money so generously donated by those Raven mercenaries I should be able to commission an owl hunt of sorts.