I probably have a bit of explaining to do.

Why would I, Madison Freebird, want to show up at the front door of Ixian Castle?

Why would I, Madison Freebird, the Scourge of Eiskalt, the Plaguesinger, war criminal, the (reformed) Agent and (no longer) Heir of Pode, (retired) Left Hand of Lichensith Ulroke, the one responsible for Alerar controlling a stash of bioweapons, killer of one (1) Kyla Orlouge, walking houseplant and a litany of other possible accusatory titles want to waltz right up to the gates of those who I should consider my worst enemies?

Easy.

Ain't nobody home.

Place has been a ghost town for a while now.

Ever since that old glitterboy Sei Orlouge flapped his stupid fucking butterfly wings and disappeared off the face of the planet, the Ixian Knights have all but officially disbanded. The leaders and advisers kicked rocks and left the place to collect dust and moss. Their underlings found work elsewhere, or faded into obscurity entirely.

Rumors made their way across the four corners of Corone and whatever the fuck Akashima is calling itself nowadays that the place was ripe for the picking. Those who ventured into Concordia either came back empty-handed, or didn't come back at all. The ones who returned spread a fresh wave of tales, of the tricks and traps that waited patiently for those who would be stupid enough not to look for them. Various sorts of fun things, ranging from warning blasts of fire and electricity to malevolent spirits and beasts who protected the castle's most precious treasures.

I planned on running into exactly zero of these thing.

I wasn't looking for treasures and artifacts left behind by the Knights; I simply wanted their dead.

I vaguely remembered seeing a graveyard in the castle grounds when Aurelianus and I staged a short siege a couple years ago.

Sure, I could try and sneak my way into the castle proper, feel my way down to the catacombs and go for their most honored dead; but that wasn't necessary for my plans at all. Just needed a bit of the ol' rank and file, you know?

Maybe eventually I could return for some of the more illustrious names that got penned in their dead-book, but that's a long-term project. I needed to get my feet back on the ground first.

From what I've gathered from various texts and a couple sketches of the castle grounds I could get my grubby mitts on, the graveyard was off to the side. With all of the adventurers and thieves who already blundered their way through the place, most if not all of the smaller traps that were set up to protect the Ixians had to have already been tripped. Given that nobody is there anymore to reset them, I should have a free pass to come and go as I please.

Not that I planned on making more than one trip for now, of course.

The plan was exceedingly simple. Make my way through a gap in the wall, sneak my way to the burial plots, dig up several, and then have my special parasites consume their remains and turn them into Briarbanes much like Hyperion. Wash, rinse, and repeat until I have a sizable company, and then get the hell out of there.

After that, I could begin Phase Two of my latest project, but I'll divulge details on that when the time comes.