The City of Silvermere Graveyard

In the northeast corner of town, a rickety bridge leads over a swift creek and to the rocky outcropping where the city’s graveyard sits. Fortified by Silvermere’s walls, yet distanced by water – the graveyard is both a part of and separate from the city.

The bridge itself has an arching surface of thick stone, built in the style of said walls. Creaky wooden planks line the walkway, and although the design called for a wooden walkway so that it could be replaced as wear built up, it is clear from their condition that these repairs have not been made in some time. Below, a swift running creek drops some altitude as it splits from around the Silver river to encircle this rocky isle.

Across the gap, a small hut provides shelter for the graveyard’s only permanent, living resident. Nythas Eulani, a morbidly eccentric yet sociable elf. Nythas serves as gravedigger, watchman, and caretaker of the grounds.

The yard itself contains row after row of marked and unmarked graves. Several crypts are built on the rocky ground – and often deep in to the stone below. At the highest point of the island is the largest crypt – an ancient and monumental structure crafted by the first monarchs and nobility of Silvermere. Powerful magic keeps the tomb locked and protects it from unwanted intruders.

Another significant, but less imposing, crypt sits toward the back of the island. It was constructed just a few scant centuries ago in honor of Sir Dios, a powerful knight and bard who perished in battle while slaying a necromancer who had threatened the city.

Not all is peaceful among the graves. Nythas stays busy burying the dead – and often burying them again. Within the last few decades, sightings of the undead rising from their graves have turned from legend to frantic rumor to mundane annoyance. Listless zombies and animated skeletons can regularly be found roaming the yard, while even more dreadful spirits come out in the dark of night.

What dark horror haunts the dead and disturbs their eternal slumber?