The countryside flew beneath Beckyann, the dead trees of the Eastern Plaguelands giving way to the partially regrown vegetation of the Western Plaguelands. She sighed, enjoying the sight of the ground rushing below her, her dress and black cape whipping about in the wind of her passage. Although she could not feel the rush of air on her skin, she still enjoyed flying. She enjoyed the solitude and the flap of skeletal wings as she began her evening.
There was just one problem however; she'd thrown her entire coin purse onto the streets of the Canal District in Stormwind a few days prior when she stopped an angry mob from hanging a thief that had been stealing bread. As a result, she now had only five golden coins left from her personal funds, and it was time to get more. With a smile, she yanked on the reins, guiding her undead gryphon in a slow spiral down towards the ground.
Below her was the town of Brill, as dead now as her nation itself was, with the eerie new structures of the Forsaken having overtaken the buildings she knew from life. In the center of the town she could see the giant statue of the Dark Lady and she shrugged as her beast flew past the outskirts of the town, not at all impressed with the undead Queen.
"Ah, there we are, just ahead," she murmured to her gryphon, leading it down beneath the treeline. On a hill that was now heavily overgrown stood the ruins of a house sticking up out of the dense foliage, the once proud Woodbury Estate having given way to the forces of undeath and nature as fate claimed the family and servants who lived there. It mattered little to Beckyann now; it was just a distant memory of her life, and perhaps a useful location to obtain more coin. With a smirk she had her gryphon land near the Woodbury family crypts, the ominous stone structures standing hollow and silent beyond the ruins of the estate.
Beckyann slid from the saddle, patting her undead gryphon as she began to wander towards the crypt entrance. The creature growled, and she turned her head to look at it, surprised to discover it was not actually growling at her this time. In the distance a pair of darkhounds played in the decaying vegetation, and their movement had attracted the attention of her mount. With a soft nod Beckyann gave it freedom to do as it pleased, watching as it happily bounded after the wolf-like animals. As she turned to head towards the crypt opening, she heard a distant howl and the sounds of bones being crushed.
She stepped into the dark opening of the crypt, her glowing eyes providing all the illumination she needed as she descended the winding steps down into the earth. The crypt had been one of the older Woodbury family tombs, and she could tell that it had not been disturbed in many hundreds of years. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, an iron gate blocked the way, the metal rusted into the floors and walls of the crypt. She smiled, reaching out to grasp the bars and slowly bending them out of the way, her unnatural strength aiding her in making the metal squeal as she removed the barrier.
Careful not to catch the hem of her dress on the bent bars, she ducked through the opening she'd made, walking into the dusty old crypt and looking about. There were many stone coffins lining the walls, with several larger and more elaborate ones free-standing in the middle of the stone chamber. Although she could see only dimly in the pitch blackness, she immediately was attracted to the central coffin, the ornate carvings on the side revealing that it was the resting place of Someone Important. Exactly what she was looking for.
With a smile on her black painted lips, Beckyann walked over to the coffin, reaching out to run her hands across the top. She leaned against it, pushing at the lid with her arms as stiff as possible, the stone beginning to slide ever so slowly as she continued with the effort. With a grating sound the coffin's lid began to slip off of the opening beneath, the weight of it eventually tipping it over and sending it tumbling to the rear of the coffin with a crash of shattered stones.
Beckyann peered into the inky blackness below, seeing the dim outline of the skeletal resident of the coffin. From the tattered remains of the dress on the skeleton she could tell that this particular person had been extremely wealthy; the cut of the cloth and the faint traces of precious metals in the threading showed just how much effort had been put into burying her. At her feet rested a golden coffer, gems encrusting the lid. Beckyann grinned, knowing she'd have to waste precious little time in obtaining what she wanted, reaching in and happily withdrawing the coffer before setting it on the stone floor beside her. It clinked with the merry sound of coins sliding against each other as she moved it.
With that task complete, Beckyann leaned over the coffin again, lifting the skeleton's arm and divesting it of several golden bracelets and a diamond studded ring. She also removed a jeweled circlet from the head of the deceased, holding it up and then whispering the words of a spell. Instantly an orb of scourge magic appeared in the air before her, the sickly blue light illuminating her find. She studied it closely, enjoying the way the gems on it sparkled before setting it on her own head.
"Your family owes me quite a bit anyway," she told the corpse in a 'matter-of-factly' tone. "I do believe you never forwarded my final payment to my next of kin, not that I had any...and not that any of your people lived through the plague. Even so, this will do nicely towards paying back the interest on that debt."
She really didn't feel bad. The gems and gold laying in the tomb were gifts for the dead, and as far as she was concerned that meant they might as well have been left for Beckyann herself. She was dead after all, wasn't she? And these were gifts for the dead, right? It wasn't like the skeleton needed them anyway, her spirit was happily in the hereafter enjoying whatever rewards or hells it had earned.
Before she turned away, Beckyann noted something odd in the coffin. Frowning, she moved the skeleton aside, not overly gentle with the old bones. Beneath the reposed dead she found a tome, and she pulled it up from the bottom of the coffin before blowing on it to get the dust off. With wide eyes she realized it was a history book of the older Woodbury family members, their deeds, and their wealth. The tome alone was a wonderful prize, but it might lead to even more interesting information or possible riches in the future. The night had just become so much more interesting suddenly!
With a smile Beckyann took the tome in her arm and settled herself on the floor of the crypt, leaning her back against the coffin. With only the glowing orb of the scourge magic to illuminate the area and a coffer full of golden coins to prop her feet up on, she opened the dusty old book and began to read the romanticized tales of the family that had employed her long ago in life.
Sometimes the best treasures were more than just coins or gems, for such riches could be expended quickly. Knowledge, however, lasted a lifetime, or in some cases an eternity.
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