As mortals across the world began to experience dire visions and
corruptions of reality, many voiced concern over what was occurring.
Though the effects were many, such as one's skin rotting away, worms of
great proportion attempting to consume those in their path, and foul,
maddening whispers, there was a single commonality, that of sickly green
light. Contacting knowledgeable citizens about their own organisations,
it was suggested that whatever was going on was a curious mixture of
physical and spiritual corruption, tainting the land. In light of the
spiritual aspect, people were directed to the Kibaya village, an ancient
people rumoured to have deep understanding of the spiritual world.

After eventually locating the village, a shaman within it was found to
possess a scroll, detailing theories regarding the nature of Spirits.
Amongst it, it mentioned Cimi as being a Spirit whom was the exception
to the usual rule that spirits of her type remained in their own realm,
never crossing to ours. The shaman made clear that this twisting of
reality appeared to be being done by a 'spirit that was not a spirit',
yet appeared to be trapped, its will not its own. Utilising his
knowledge of spiritual communion, the shaman spoke to various spirits,
passing on knowledge that some time ago, a man had come to learn more
about the spirits from him. He had been turned away, as they did not
trust him, believing him to be 'dead' inside. Suggesting they seek out a
village that might have offered him refuge, many were quick to find the
village of Cetara, recently revealed near Lake Tageen.
After a thorough search of the village, a necromancer named Malateph was
discovered in a hidden laboratory in one of the cellars, together with a
great skull of crystal that glowed with a sickly green light. As more
and more people gathered to talk to him, Malateph, calling himself the
Necromantic, claimed that he had trapped the spirit of Cimi in the
skull, draining her power to give himself abilities making himself
immortal and all-powerful. Whilst he ranted about her being a deceptive
spirit, tricking mortals ages past into worshiping her as a God, he
revealed that one of the true Divine had struck her down for usurping
their position, disfiguring her and spending her to the material realm
as a punishment. Frustrated at the apparent immortality, and its
apparent cost to the realm, Deahenots managed to knock the skull from
its pedestal. Whether he sought the power for himself, or to free the
trapped Cimi, or even to destroy her, he stamped upon it, shattering it
into a thousand shards. As the shards flew out, they embedded themselves
in all those present, killing them instantly, and animating their
remains as zombies through some unholy power.

The horror grew worse as it became apparent that any victims of the
zombies were themselves zombified, and long-dead corpses began to rise
from the ground, seeking blood. Brave attempts were made at combating
the new threat, but those originals made through the shards of the skull
merely rose again moments later, intent once more on repopulating their
numbers. As attacks found Malateph truly immortal, he began to claim he
had become a God, his foul voice echoing across the lands. William
sought to challenge him, and after managing to evade the pursuing
necromantic, he discovered to his dismay that Malateph's powers were
great indeed, managing even to move him from the temple of Lord Janus
where he had claimed sanctuary, slaying him from afar with a great blast
of sickly green fire. As the crisis escalated, the zombies spread across
the lands, and whilst the lesser zombies could be slain, the greater
ones swelled their ranks further with new corpses.

Many sought to solve the situation, the order of Lord Thanatos
discovering amulets that would temporarily bring a zombie under their
control, though could also make them a target of zombies, or even be
slain by that which they sought dominion over. In Antioch, the Cherub of
Peace and Love provided small vials of water drawn from a spring blessed
by Lady Shallah, warning that whilst they may well protect against being
made into a zombie, their strength was unknown and possibly hazardous to
mortals. It was quickly found that it did indeed prevent one's corpse
from being made into a zombie, but also that the strength of the waters
after a while would bring such peace that it would kill the imbiber.
Even so, the numbers still grew, and all seemed lost until the order of
Lady Eloweth, directed by Vynia, created a relic called the Orb of
Clarity, designed to extract the shards from the zombies, isolating them
from the rest of the world. A party, led by Wysrias, quickly began
hunting down the fiends, guided by the orb, until the last of the First
zombies was slain, the rest abruptly decaying into dust. The group,
consisting of Laia, Iridel, Brandeis, Aliandus, Vadush, Ysaviel, Karri,
Ristani, Wysrias, Rosi, Meijo, Narquem, Brydian, Inenz, and led by
Wysrias, then ventured into the sanctum of Malateph himself. It was
found that with the absorption of the shards, and the reformation of the
skull sealed inside the Orb, Malateph had lost much of his power. After
a might battle, Wysrias landed the final blow, destroying the insane
necromancer and sending his soul to whatever awaited it beyond. Thus
ended the zombie menace, and many thought themselves saved...

Penned by my hand on the 21st of Ultio, in the year 469 AD.