By Randy Price (prices@one.net)
Claudius Giovanni searches long and hard for the Khazar's Diary, blunderingly plundering the tomb's remains. He never finds it. Perhaps this is because Lazarus already found it and tucked it safely away alongside the True Vessel? Perhaps it was never at Erciyes to begin with. Regardless, the foolish and frustrated Claudius orders the temple burned to the ground after salvaging as many scrolls, tomes, and trinkets that he can find. Lazarus watches in horror from his nearby village sanctuary as the Necromancers utterly destroy one of the last remaining ancient libraries in all of the known world. His frown slithers into a smirk as he envisions a way to destroy Claudius.
Now that the Necromancers hold claim to the remaining secrets of Erciyes, the "Capuchin" visits the infamous Giovanni leader and proposes a barter: in exchange for teaching him the secrets of Necromancy and access to the Giovanni's libraries and treasure vaults, Lazarus offers to personally hand-deliver Augustus rare manuscripts from the coveted subterranean vaults beneath the Vatican. Lazarus has no further need of them, having satiated his curiosity with them decades ago. Lazarus uses this ploy to gradually build trust between himself and his loathsome "step-brother."
Between trips to Venice, Lazarus meets a Turkish stranger who travels by the name of Rene Caraos and seems to know all about Lazarus' "Capuchin" facade. As Lazarus quickly plans the death of this presumptuous man, the Turk offers to help the old Cappadocian in his dark quest. Lazarus listens to the man, bemused by his offer. Mr. Caraos seeks access to Lazarus' personal archives as well as his powerful vitae. In return, Caraos will revive and release the hundreds of Lazarus' Infitiore brethren who lie trapped in bloodless torpor deep within their tomb-like prison of Kaymakli*. Lazarus is stunned. How could a mere mortal know so much about his extinct clan? The strange man smiles and informs Lazarus that he is an Obertus revenant -- a ghoul family, bred over 800 years ago by the ancient Tzimisce lord known as "The Dracon." The topic of Gehenna has preoccupied Rene ever since he was a youth, and when he learned of Lazarus, he knew this was the opportunity he'd been looking for.
Lazarus considers Rene's offer and agrees, sending two of his strongest ghouls with Rene to "help out." Lazarus' ghouls are actually sent to watch after this insane Turk in the event that he should feel compelled to share his newfound knowledge with the Giovanni.
Still, Lazarus is curious to see if the man's plan works. So, the three of them travel to the outskirts of the Kaymakli ruins and hire a team of diggers to assist them in their "excavation." Once they reach the entrance to the bottom-most catacombs, Rene orders the others to take a break, as he wanders alone under the guidance of his lantern and his ambition. Finally he reaches the glyph. According to legend, Cappadocius magically sealed the depths of Kaymakli with a powerful ward. It prevented humans from passing beyond this point, while forever trapping all Cainites who passed beyond its watchful eye. Rene calls for the diggers and the ghoul assistants to help him push aside the huge millstone blocking the entrance beyond the archway. Afterwards, he then orders them back to the surface to retrieve the rest of their tools and supplies. Once alone, Rene sets about chiseling at the glyph, reciting a few Koldunic verses he'd learned in an attempt to further weaken the glyph's protective magics. After an hour of furious effort, the glyph cracks! He passes his hand into the archway beyond and nothing prevents his passage! It works! Cappadocus' ancient curse has been broken. Or has it? His revenant blood may have excluded him from the curse as he was neither human nor vampire... He steps through and back again. He then calls for the diggers and his ghoul assistants to join him. He stands all the way at the end of the entrance passageway -- beyond the protective arch. When the men manage to reach him, he breathes a sigh of relief and knows with certainty that the curse has been lifted. He turns and sees a huge stone-hewn pit filled with thousands of skeletons and dried, husk-like corpses. All are dressed in the torn and dust-covered remnants of an era that coincides with the fabled "Feast of Folly," where Cappadocius ordered his loyal childer to entomb their worldy brothers and sisters.* Rene orders the men to attach large chains to the stone dome covering the pit. The men hesitate, looking confused as to the purpose of this, but do as they are told -- after all, this man is paying them very well. Once the chains are hung, Rene nods knowingly to his two ghoul assistants and all three pull scimitars from the folds of their robes and quickly kill all of the men. The diggers' bodies are hung upside down from the chains and decapitated. As blood fills the pit, Rene draws forth an aspergillum filled with Lazarus' vitae and splashes droplets of the powerful blood across the undead legion that lie in silent torpor. When the baptismal device is empty, he turns and scrawls a message in Greek onto the wall with a piece of coal: "All who seek vengeance, prepare thyselves. The time is nigh!" Rene then turns and escorts his two accomplices back the way they've come and resurfaces into the dwindling sun aboveground. Before Mother Night draws all into Her soothing swathe of darkness, Rene pays for another dozen diggers to meet his party at the bottom of the catacombs. With a sinister grin, he turns to his accomplices and all three watch as the mortal herd descends beneath the ruins to their deaths.
~And so begins the rebirth of the Harbingers of Skulls and the nights of Gehenna . . . .
Also, look up the words "Capuchin" and "Cappuccino" in a good dictionary. The Franciscan monks responsible for this delicious coffee have links to Cappadocia (sound familiar?)