The Night the Undead Turned on Their Own

By Shamboogie Spiritshuffler, Lore & Legends Editor and Investigative Correspondent

There are certain understandings one develops after spending enough time among the creatures of Eth-ur.

Wolves hunt. Goblins scheme. Adventurers occasionally mistake a tactical retreat for an opportunity to investigate another room.

And the undead, generally speaking, are united in their dislike of the living.

Or so I believed.

On the evening of October 22, while traveling through Fallen Pass with our esteemed Editor-in-Chief, Nynkies Nimblefingers, I witnessed something that challenged my understanding of the restless inhabitants of that troubled place.

The undead were fighting.

Not against adventurers.

Not against the living.

Against one another.

An Uncivil Disagreement

We first noticed the disturbance when Nynkies, scouting ahead, stopped abruptly.

“Shamboogie,” he whispered, “you’re going to want to see this.”

I approached cautiously, expecting the usual assortment of skeletal horrors preparing to relieve us of our possessions, our flesh, or both.

Instead, I discovered a most peculiar confrontation.

A plagueborn patrolman had engaged a group consisting of restless skeletons, restless necromancers, and the skeletal pets accompanying them.

Weapons were raised. Bones rattled. The patrolman fought against the skeletal attackers with considerable determination.

For creatures who had already experienced the inconvenience of dying, they appeared remarkably enthusiastic about inflicting it upon one another.

Nynkies watched the struggle with obvious fascination.

“Well, this is new.”

“Indeed,” I replied.

“Should we help?”

“Whom?”

He considered the question.

“Whichever side has the better loot.”

I reminded him that our purpose was observation, not opportunistic grave robbery.

He informed me that the distinction was largely academic.

Fortunately, before the discussion could deteriorate further, Nynkies had the presence of mind to capture an image of the confrontation.

It is reproduced here for the benefit of our readers.

Photographic evidence: The confrontation between a plagueborn patrolman and restless undead in Fallen Pass. Image captured by Nynkies Nimblefingers.

The Spirits Are Disturbed

As the confrontation continued, I withdrew a short distance and sought counsel from the spirits.

I have often found that the ancestors possess knowledge unavailable to those still burdened with breathing.

Unfortunately, they are not always inclined to share it plainly.

I closed my eyes, quieted my thoughts, and listened.

At first, only silence answered.

Then came a whisper.

Old quarrels.

I concentrated.

“What quarrels?” I asked softly.

Older than their bones.

A second presence stirred, its voice faint and uncertain.

They remember.

“Remember what?”

There was a long silence.

Then a third voice spoke.

Not all who rise together served the same master.

I opened my eyes.

The battle continued before us.

Could these creatures have belonged to opposing factions in life? Had some ancient grievance survived their passing? Or had whatever force animated them somehow failed to unite them under a common purpose?

The spirits offered no further explanation.

I have learned that asking an ancestor for a straightforward answer is rather like asking Nynkies to provide a complete accounting of the Gazette’s petty cash.

One may receive an answer.

One should not necessarily expect it to address the question.

A War Without a History?

Several possibilities deserve consideration.

The first is that these restless creatures retain some fragment of their former allegiances.

If so, the conflict we witnessed might represent the continuation of a dispute long forgotten by the living.

The second possibility is that the necromancers and their skeletal servants answer to a different influence than the plagueborn patrolman.

Perhaps the undead of Fallen Pass are not nearly as united as appearances suggest.

A third possibility is considerably more troubling.

What if the conflict was not a continuation of an ancient quarrel, but the beginning of a new one?

I shared these theories with Nynkies.

He listened patiently, which should have been my first indication that something was amiss.

“Or,” he suggested, “perhaps the patrolman simply told the skeletons they weren’t allowed through.”

I stared at him.

“What?”

“He’s a patrolman, isn’t he? Maybe they were trespassing.”

“Nynkies, these are undead creatures.”

“Doesn’t mean they can’t have rules.”

I was preparing a response when he added:

“Besides, have you ever tried arguing with a guard? Imagine one who hasn’t had a day off in three hundred years.”

I reluctantly conceded that the theory, while unsupported by evidence, was not entirely without charm.

What the Photograph Reveals

Upon reviewing Nynkies’ photograph, several details became apparent.

The plagueborn patrolman appears separated from the group of restless undead confronting him. Multiple skeletal figures are visible, their unnatural green eyes glowing against the darkness of Fallen Pass.

The image establishes that these creatures were present together during the confrontation.

It does not, however, establish what initiated the fighting.

We did not witness the beginning of the dispute, and I cannot say whether the patrolman attacked first or was responding to an assault.

Nor can I establish whether this was an isolated occurrence or something that happens regularly beyond the notice of passing adventurers.

These distinctions matter.

An investigator must resist the temptation to transform an unanswered question into a convenient explanation.

Even when that explanation involves ancient curses, forgotten wars, and the possibility of an undead municipal boundary dispute.

The Ancestors’ Final Warning

Before leaving the area, I made one final attempt to consult the spirits.

The air seemed unusually heavy as I reached outward once more.

For a time, there was nothing.

Then the first voice returned.

Old quarrels.

“I heard you before,” I whispered. “But what does it mean?”

A second voice answered.

The living forget.

The third spoke last.

The restless do not.

I waited for more.

None came.

Nynkies approached, brushing dust from his clothing.

“Finished talking to your invisible committee?”

“For now.”

“Did they explain why the skeletons were fighting?”

“Not precisely.”

“So they don’t know either.”

“I would not go that far.”

“Well, if they figure it out, tell them to submit a letter to the editor. Preferably before our deadline.”

With that, he turned toward the path home.

I remained a moment longer, watching the darkness beyond the barricades.

I could not shake the feeling that we had witnessed something more significant than a chance encounter between wandering undead.

But a feeling is not evidence.

And the spirits, for all their wisdom, had given me precious little of that.

An Investigation Remains Open

I invite the adventurers of Eth-ur to consider what we witnessed.

Have others observed plagueborn patrolmen fighting restless necromancers or their skeletal companions?

Does such hostility occur regularly in Fallen Pass?

Could there be a practical explanation for the conflict, or is there something about these restless creatures we have yet to understand?

Until further evidence emerges, I shall refrain from declaring an ancient civil war among the undead.

Nynkies has already suggested the headline “Skeletons Have a Bone to Pick With Local Law Enforcement.”

I have respectfully declined.

For now.

Yet one thought continues to trouble me.

If the ancestors are correct, and the restless still remember grievances long forgotten by the living, what other conflicts might remain buried beneath the stones of Eth-ur?

Perhaps the creatures of Fallen Pass are not fighting because they have forgotten who they were.

Perhaps they are fighting because they remember.

And that, dear reader, is a far more unsettling possibility.

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The spirits speak softly. It is the living who must learn to listen.

Shamboogie Spiritshuffler
Lore & Legends Editor and Investigative Correspondent
The Wayfarer’s Gazette

Editor’s note: The confrontation described in this article was witnessed during actual Monsters & Memories gameplay and photographed by Nynkies Nimblefingers. Shamboogie’s consultations with the spirits, their dialogue, and the proposed supernatural explanations are fictional embellishments. The cause of the observed conflict remains unverified.