"The Varisian Horror"

Note · 55 gp · Weight 2

"When they reached the cemetery hill, the rain was pouring. In spite of the weather and the priest's weak protests, Regor had no intention of stopping. If his suspicions were correct, the evil that settled in the village many years ago had to be stopped as soon as possible. The local priest, whom Regor and Moghra had approached for help in their quest, was alarmed that these strangers were accusing someone from his flock and decided to tag along so that he could defend the innocent, should the need arise. Ascending the broken stairs leading up to the ancient crypt atop the hill, Regor quietly pulled out his blade and hid it under his soaked cloak. Once the two got to the hewn stone that served as a sacrificial altar, he spotted the gravedigger: despite the late hour and the violent storm, he was digging a shallow grave. Before Regor had the time to intervene, the priest, prompted by a desire to clear the hermit of suspicion, went straight toward the massive, misshapen figure. The gravedigger turned his head and, at the first sight of Regor and Moghra, started moving with speed that didn't match his proportions. He leaped far forward and the shovel cut through the cold autumn air, striking the priest's head. Pieces of skull and bloody scraps spattered forth, and the gravedigger, letting out an unintelligible roar, lunged at the outsiders. Moghra, who had already raised her hands, froze in terror: the gravedigger's gaping mouth was filled with dozens of rows of sharp, needle-like teeth, and the sorceress's weakened mind was struck by a murky stream of abhorrent blasphemy in an otherworldly tongue. Regor, however, had kept his composure: dodging to the side, he slashed the corpulent body, as if cutting open a rotten, bloated shell. With a wet smack, the gravedigger's neck and chest burst open, revealing to the mortal eyes the beast's true form — one of a foul worm, whose sickening body was now gushing in coils out of the now-useless human frame. The cemetery keeper was an abominable vermlek demon, created from the souls of despicable scum that, in life, used to defile graves and disturb the deceased in the vilest of ways. After rising from the bowels of the Abyss and invading Golarion, he and his kind are always drawn to places that used to excite the minds and fantasies of their progenitors..."