[Alvadas Location] The Sealed Grounds

[Fallacy]

The Sealed Grounds Deep within the Underground the landscape slowly changes transitioning to a loosely wooded area. The trees tower with age and seem dull, almost bored with existence. They hang in somber silence, and the wind blows with a chill, whispering fay words to those who bother to listen, a warning to turn back. Further in and beyond the point of return lies a fog, a white mist that spreads across the land. This marks the beginning of the Sealed Grounds. Faint whispers can be heard coming from the fog itself, moans, and even cries for help. If one where to part the fog they would find their feet planted on sections of an old stone flooring, worn with age a lot of it is broken and missing, roots and entire trees sprouting from portions of the desolate stone floor. More interesting there are runes carved into the very stone people trod upon. Further instilling and reinforcing the name of this cursed place. It is rumored that all the glyphs and markings actually make up one big seal completed by the Crypt which resides in the center of the Sealed Grounds. The chilling atmosphere is intensified by a lone building, a crypt, standing there for ages. Worn and battered by time the resting place sits, motionless, a testament to the old ones who used to reside in the earth, the ones who took shelter in the great life changing event of the Valterrian. This place holds the bodies of Alvadas’ most important people, from famous performers, government officials, Triad leaders, and even Ionu’s champions. The crypt itself has levels below the earth. How far down it goes is anyone’s guess. Anyone with significance to the city was, once upon a time, given homage here. However this fell out of practice as the crypt got an eerie reputation for the disappearances of visitors, and even bodies going astray. Those who ‘disappeared’ would soon show up as ghosts, filled with hate and malice for the living. The place was said to be corrupt and cursed all those who walk within, some accounts even say ‘near’, the crypt. The mass appearances of ghosts aside the people were most disturbed by the bodies within the crypt disappearing. Fear of the bones being used for Malediction this started the tradition of the Alvads cremating the bodies of the dead, this practice now even more supported by the appearance of the Divine Legacy and Karash Divine. It has been said that one time the ghost problem got so bad and the spirits so numerous that they went out of control. Lead and spurred on by an unknown force it prompted one spiritist, Deshira Craven, to act. It was her power and ability which made the Sealed Grounds what they are today. Credit, full credit, is given to her, as the lone spiritist, who took all the ghosts and sealed them in the crypt and surrounding lands preventing them from venturing outside the fog or beyond the runic stone flooring. This however cost her dearly. She died sealing the ghosts. It is true that Deshira created and was the mastermind behind the Seal around the grounds, but in reality it was her and her team of spiritist apprentices and colleagues that crafted such a powerful seal. It is also true that she died finishing the seal alone deep within the confines of the crypt. Her death came about unexpectedly as she turned to leave the crypt. A ghost, one of great power and skill, found a way around the safe zone Deshira created and struck her down with one blow. However, the seal was completed. Nowadays those unfortunate enough to travel within the confines of the misty substance that covers the Sealed Grounds are usually assaulted by those who refuse to pass on. They are determined to transfer their agony to the living somehow believing that if they can cause harm in any way that it will make them feel better and able to pass on. Though it should be noted that the ones outside are not nearly as dangerous as the ones that dwell within the crypt. Most of the powerful ghosts were dusted when Deshira made her seal, but that was nearly two hundred years ago. The eerie fog around the place is rather recent in the grand scheme of things. When the seal was at its prime no mist was present and no ghostly voices, or even ghosts for that matter, were to be seen or heard outside the crypt. This leads some to believe that the seal somehow is weakened, or is even breaking. Others say that the ghosts outside the crypt are new additions and that they arrived after the seal was placed. Whatever the case is any ghost who steps inside the Sealed Grounds finds themselves unable to leave. This place has been faithfully watched over and maintained to the best that it could be by the ever vigilant Craven Family who, in honor of Deshira, maintain the seal that was placed. Once a year every summer the head of the family makes his or her way into the crypt. Its said that the Craven Family alone holds the secrets to maintaining the Sealed Grounds seal. Though the family is renown in the Underground for their spiritist abilities it has yet to produce a spiritst as cunning and great as Deshira.