Necromancer's Descent

11 - Presevation

The stairway down to the morgue is surprisingly wide, which I am thankful for, but the torches at the end are turned off, making it an uncomfortable dive into the cold darkness with nothing but a thin metal rod as railing to guide me.

The stairs lead deep enough to make the temperature drop, and the walls I cling to are wet and mossy. When I finally get to the end of the staircase, I end up having to pat around on the door to find the handle hidden in the dark.

Is the morgue even in use right now with the huge amount of bodies outside?

I shove the heavy wooden door open, only to find a cold, dimly lit room with rows of open coffins across the floor. Each with a body inside wrapped in linen.

Along the walls are rows of shelves, and even more coffins, all crammed close together.

Long rows of glass jars in decorate the many shelves in the room, filled with colorful liquids like they belong to a chemistry lab, and while the jars near the work table are just liquid, the others are all filled with small critters.

I vaguely note that only the blue jars are strapped tightly to the shelves with leather straps, and the critters inside twirl about somewhat impatiently.

Specifically, a nearby glass jar has a frog inside it that almost feels like it's trying to look at me.

"Who's there?"

A black clad elderly undertaker steps out of the shadows. His chubby, sleep deprived face not matching his slim body the least. The way the two lanterns in the room light up his face seems straight out of a horror story.

"I am looking for work. My name-...."

I trail off, unsure of what name to use, but before it can continue the elderly undertaker let's put a sigh as he moves to the workbench. On it lies a young blonde man, which he has pretty visibly had to sew back together, after he was in pieces.

The shelves begin to rattle, at first making it seem like an earthquake... but nothing else is shaking

[Ghost Possession Prevented by Necromancy]

I stare at the blue popup with a chill running down my spine, as I press my lips into a thin line.

G h o s t  p o s e s s i o n?

This is a church right? Why are there ghosts here? Aren't they barred entrance from holy places, or forced to go to heaven? Or is that only inside the church? I could probably get the answer quickly by turning on the soul sight skill I got, but it'll cause my eyes to glow.

Ah- is this what they meant by increased ethereal activity? Why didn't you just write ghosts?!

"There's a shovel by the door," the undertaker interrupts my stream of thought calmly.

...I glance down around the door and find a stack of shovels, ranging from almost child-sized to one almost as big as me.

I glance back to the undertaker, but even though he interrupted me, he doesn't really seem to care about me. There's no tension or hostility in the way he moves or speaks... it makes it easy to breathe, and it makes me want to stay...

I shake my head and look back at the elderly undertaker. Perhaps he just doesn't care much for the living anymore? Or is this the altruistic attitude of priests?

I'm about to turn and leave when I notice the little frog from before in the blue liquid jar. It's not moving anymore. Now it's just holding while facing me.

It's... eerie.

Even if I know that it's dead, those glossy round pupils seem like widened eyes watching me closely.