A small man, of Halfling descent, knelt at a freshly dug hole in one of the many burial mounds in the clearing outside of the village of Ancient's Rest in the Circe Woods. Two of the village guards, a Danu with fine, lavender-gray fur, and a Dwarf stood near by telling him to get away from the grave site. He was ignoring them, given their reluctance to tread upon the mound this was working out quite nicely.
Ashy Claye ran his fingers through his gray hair, he wasn't old just altered by having died during his training. There were less obvious results to him having stepped onto the shores of the 'other side' as well. Sighing he examined what wasn't missing from the grave- i.e. the bones that remained. These mounds were so ancient that most everything had returned to nature so it was a safe guess that whatever it was that had been removed was enchanted in some way. That was the only way something could survive any length of time six feet deep.
“You can stop trying to lecture me, you're starting to become annoying as background sound.” He said in the general direction of the guards.
“Do you want to end up in the cell?” The Danu snapped at him.
“I am Death Priest,” Ashy rustled his robes, all of his clothing was some shade of gray, “I belong here more than anyone, besides someone needs to fill in this hole and perform Rites. Do you know them?” He said in a tone that made it clear any conversation would be perceived as tedious.
“You should have announced yourself.” The Dwarf huffed.
“You should have used your skills of perception and figured it out.” He snapped back, the Dwarf clicked their tongue. “Do you know who this grave belongs to?”
“Uh, if memory serves, that is the grave of Torg Geon the Exorcist and their partner Eines Keil who was a local priest.” The Danu answered.
“There are three people buried here, did they have dear friend?” Ashy asked without looking away from the crudely dug hole.
“That'd have to be their constant companion Carver Hast.” The Dwarf answered.
“I see, whoever dug this spot up was after something that belonged to the Goblinoid of this group. Any idea what that might have been?” Ashy asked.
“That would be Torg... can't think of anything they would have been buried with that wouldn't have decomposed by now. Eines had an enchanted staff but our current priest, Emmi, has that at the temple.” The Danu pointed out.
“Could one of you fetch them for me, I have questions they will probably have the most complete answers to, I need to attend to this grave now.” Ashy sat down, cross-legged and began to meditate with his eyes closed, truthfully he was feeling out for anything enchanted in the grave. Wouldn't be the first time that a reproduction was given to the local priest so the actual item could be buried with it's owner. In this position the sunlight hit his face, showing his plain features and alabaster pale skin. Interestingly he didn't feel any restless spirits in the area. It would seem these three had truly moved on when they died. That was good.
The Dwarf headed out, the sound of their have foot falls and clicking mail faded off in the distance.
“What exactly do Death Priests do?” The Danu asked.
“What is your name?” He did not open his eyes.
“Ivy Vine.” She answered.
“We insure the peaceful rest of the dead attending to funeral rites, protecting burial grounds, and help the grieving. Some of us travel to measure the balance of the world.” He explained. “I put the dead who have been awoken back to rest and purge those who try to enslave them.”
“So you're a warrior?” Ivy asked.
“Not unless I have to be. My preference is peace.” He concluded his magical search, fairly certain this Danu, a mortal offshoot of the Fae, had felt his exploration of the grave. He sat up on his knees and started to fill in the hole with his hands.
“I've heard that the dead can be raised if enough magic concentrates naturally where they died, is that true?” The Danu asked.
“It is, it is very rare thankfully. If there is an abundance of death it can draw in and collect energy leading to undead creatures being more common there, battlefields not properly attended to and cleansed at a good example of this. Places where famine or illness killed many also have this tendency. These woods are very safe, no major conflicts or death counts.
