A Word from the Inkarnator

This map was made to pair with the second chapter of my novel A Tale of Two Monsters. I intend on illustrating my books as much as possible. If you are in need of a dark ritual map, this one may work for you. Or, if you you have one cooked up but need it represented visually, feel free to reach out!

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Before moving on, I must thank Beatrixrae Cartography for her invaluable & educational timelapses which helped me create the interior look of this map, particularly The Ceremony at Cathedral's End. Go check it out if you have not yet done so, totally worth it!

The following portion of text is meant to put the scenery into perspective for those interested in knowing what it meant to my story. If you read on, I give you my eternal thanks, and just letting you know you rock!

As always, happy viewing!

- KKXIII -



Map Description



Journal of Nicholas Machevil

June the 3rd, Anno Domini 1593



"This entry may be at great risk, but I write it thus in case my plans go awry. In fact, they already have. I discovered a gentleman several years ago for whom I grew an instant fondness, and sadly he still knows not who I am, or at least, that I still exist and also know who he is. He followed the writings I produced in life, but believed me dead as all mortals must. I have been a lich for sixty-six years, and my goal was to find in him a pupil to teach and coach into becoming as I am, a powerful immortal being. It is regrettable to say that I expected this, but Mr. Marlae got himself murdered. I knew his reputation for being an atheist would catch up to him before long, I just did not foresee it happening quite so quickly.

"Thus it is however, meaning I must secure his immortality via a different manner than what I intended: I will summon a dark seed out of his heart and make him a death knight. To become a lich would require the individual to perform the ritual himself, and ergo while still alive, the main reason why I had to resort to this. Should my new plan go well, I may be able to discard this entry altogether. Our kind cannot be leaving too much writing about our states of existence to be discovered by mortals. Being discovered by the vampyres would be equally bad, and I honestly dare not imagine which would be worse.

"I had already prepared the materials I needed for the most part to conduct this ritual in case just this indeed occurred. Such a defiant sort Kit Marlae was, but it is his free spirit that attracted me to him. All I needed to obtain since he was stabbed were the nine hearts of other humans, and, his body, of course. They took him to a Debtford parish where he was to be buried, close to Mrs. Bull's Luncheon House where the deed on him was done. The parish was not well guarded, especially not well enough for one of my abilities.

"Not too far from where I have been staying is a Gypsy camp. Not that I have a policy to indiscriminately kill anyone, but I needed a good number of their lives to ensue my proceedings. Nine contributed their hearts, and I couldn't very well leave Kit's coffin empty, lest I wished for the body's absence to be discovered. Thankfully the coroner already had inspected him, so they would, in theory, have no need to open it back up if it did not look like it had been tampered with. The Gypsy camp will also be donating the hearts I will surely have to feed him after he wakes as well. All of these assets have been prepared.

"The swapping of bodies went even better than I expected. No encounters at all. Once returned, I drew the sigil first then the ritual runes. I placed the nine bowls around his corpse after extracting his heart, careful not to damage it. I placed all the candles and lit them, then conducted the nine hour incantation. Kit Marlae will awaken far more powerful than he remembers. I just hope he does not resent me for his resurrection. Again, I had no time to approach him to get his consent on anything, but I am taking a chance because I truly believe it is worth it.

"The next step is to wait a few days after the ritual is done for his heart to become a dark seed, after which I can put it back into the corpse. The nine hearts are there for its first feeding. The more hearts that are provided for this step, the less the knight will hunger thereafter, but from what I've noticed, they hunger more frequently than lich-kind in general.

"After he regains consciousness, I will take him to my current resting place, an equally abandoned parish to this crypt not too far from it, thankfully concealed by woodland. There I will brief him as to what happened to him, as I am certain he will at least have many questions, and thereafter we can set off to Rouen and out of vampyre infested London. Sadly we must cross through the city, ironically back to the Debtford docks where he was stabbed to take a merchant ship to France. The arrangements there are made as well. Because many in London knew who he was, we cannot afford for him to be seen, so I will have to have him rest in a coffin and play dead, which should be simple enough, even for a newly resurrected necroambulant being.

"Rest in peace for now, my new friend. I will be there when you wake to your new existence. Rouen will be much safer too. I have lived there for the last two decades and managed to avoid the nine vampyres that lurk the nights there. Fortunately, neither lich or knight share the vampyre's allergy to sunlight. It will be the perfect place to teach you the rules. All I hope is that I didn't wait too long to perform this ritual. All I can do now is wait."