As we moved from the Rocky Outpost to the Crypt, the trees began looking more decrepit and some were even rotted. A green haze filled the air enough to be noticable, but not enough to hinder vision. Crows could infrequently be seen flying through the haze, however for the most part the landscape seemed to be completely still. Compared to the forest that was so full of life, the trees here certainly seemed more appropriate for a graveyard. As the trees began parting way, a very large clearing about the size of 4 or 5 football fields in both length and width could be seen.

In the middle of the clearing, a U shaped structure seemed to have emerged from the ground. The structure alone took up half the space of the clearing. The opening of the 'U' faceds towards us and the path from the forest. At the opposing side of the structure stood a large skull. Though the skull looked like a human's, the fact that it was taller than a 15 story building meant that it certainly wasn't from a human that had ever been alive. It's jaw was opened and partly dug into the ground, creating a doorframe that led into the building.

The walls of the building, which led from the jaw and swung around a small enclosure towards us, almost matched the tower's architecture. Both took on a gothic-style. However, where the tower was a greyish white, the Crypt was stained black. The black on the Crypt's walls almost reflected what little light shone through the surrounding haze. Most Gothic styles of architecture have a painful amount of details that line every wall. However while the windowless walls may have had such details at one point, the details seemed to have melted off the walls and merged into the ground. It looked as if the walls were growing into the ground. Despite the state of the walls, they still stood a towering 4 or 5 stories about the ground, perfectly aligning the top of the walls with the top row of teeth on the skull. 

Between the two sides of the buildings a metal gate was erect to keep intruders out of the path leading up to the entrance of the building. Inside the gated area stood various demon-like statues. Each statue had large wings that folded around its body. The body itself was impossible to see due to the wings. The faces that stared out of the wings looked like a Japanese Oni mask. However, I'm pretty sure Oni weren't some sort of stone statue creature. There were a total of 20 of these creatures in the courtyard. Nine lined each side of the back walls near the skull's jaw which formed the entrance. The remaining two were perched on the top of the gates that were the entrance of the courtyard.

Around the large building were tree stumps and various decayed plants. It seemed as if the crypt was sucking the life from anything surrounding it and pulling that life force into its bleak entrance. Patrolling the parameter of the clearing were groups of anywhere from 3 to 5 skeletons. 

"I know you said they were more like minions, but do the skeletons have to look exactly the same?" Devin looked slightly uneasy as he searched the clearing. What he was searching for, I wasn't sure. The skeletons were all bare from head to toe aside from a sash that went from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and a small helmet that sat on top of their heads. The sash held a sheath for a shortsword, although they almost never sheathed their swords and prefered to have them in their hands at all times.

"The ghouls are formed from fallen adventurers, so naturally they all look different from one another. However, the skeletons are kind of like summoned creatures, I guess? And all the knights have the same armor, although you can tell they are different as some are larger than others." I was studying the patrols while answering the duo which seemed to look more and more unsettled. 

"They're fallen adventurers? I never knew that!" Mary almost gave away our position as she angrily and shockingly looked at myself.

"Yes, that's why people who die in this world are all cremated. If you can't cremate your party you need to at least behead them so they won't turn into ghouls." This was common knowledge for those groups that had existed for more than a few months.

"What the hell?" Both Devin and Mary were looking at me, repulsion in their eyes.

"Didn't they go over this in your 'welcome to hell', or whatever they call that introductory course the governments been running?" I attempted to ignore their looks and continue studying the skeletons.

"NO! Why would anyone think to behead their comrades?!" Despite my blatant attempt to ignore their looks, they refused to change them.

I let out a sigh, "Well, they should. While losing someone can be traumatizing, having that person you love come back and attempt to kill you is even worse. The undead are the smarter of the monsters in this world. They know their ghouls are only as strong as the corpses that turn into undead. If you see skeletons stop attacking someone, that means they've already died. No undead will attack a corpse." Them not knowing this actually made me feel slightly unnerved. It wasn't always public, but there were incidents where citizens commited suicide or had been murdered and their body had not been disposed of properly. This led to ghouls 'spawning' in the town and reeking havoc until an adventurer subdued them.

"As the rank of the undead increases, so does their intelligence. We'll be focusing on skeletons, the dumbest of this class. They won't be anywhere near as smart as a human, but they'll follow a set of rules and actions. While they can be threatening because this leads to them working together, they are also much more predictable compared to the golems you're used to fighting."

"So what's the plan? Attack the small groups when they cross the opening near us?" Devin had been going back and forth between studying the skeletons and shooting shocked glances at me. He apparently was at least trying to focus despite whether he disagreed with my explanations. 

"The patrols are managed by the knights I believe, the kni- excuse me, the wraiths are close to as smart as humans. The crypt has no shortage of man power, yet they make the patrols go in different sizes. This has to be intentional." I began drawing in the dirt with my short sword while thinking out a plan.

"So the small groups are a trap?" Mary asked.

"They should be, but I don't see how. It's a good thing we came here without needing to make money today, we need to do some tests." I'd been here before, but never have I tried to farm the skeletons, and they certainly weren't in organized patrols. The wraiths may have been growing in strategic prowess as time went on. Or maybe they were simply learning from past events. When the town expected Halloweek to occur, they had setup patrols around the town in order to spot the undead that would be creeping closer. It's not impossible for the Wraiths to have observed and mimicked our actions.

"We need to draw a group, preferably a group of skeletons without a trap, from the clearing to see what happens. Hopefully whatever trap they have ready is only effective near the crypt." The skeletons shouldn't have archery, and while ghouls could cast magic, the odds of ghouls being constantly on standby for intruders just wasn't realistic. If they had some ranged attack, they'd position the origin of the attack at the crypt. Attacking away from the crypt was the best course of action.

I attempted to draw my thoughts into the dirt, with arrows going in circles around a large stone, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't understand their patrols. With such an open clearing, the only option for a trap was a ranged attack. With the design of their race, they didn't have ranged attacks. Maybe the wraiths had learned the basics of patrols, but hadn't understood the importance of balancing them?

"I brought the Nile water, should we use that as bait?" Devin brought out the bottle to show me. 

"That's a good idea, we won't need to take as many risks if we can draw the skeletons towards us without them seeing us." I sat in thought for a minute. The cogs in my brain began thinking of the most effective way to do this. The few times I'd tried to think of a plan to keep multiple people safe, had failed miserably. Running solo was much easier for difficult regions. Even in the easy region like the Rocky Outpost, I was still mostly solo, with Mary and Devin fighting a rock golem, and myself fighting another alone nearby. 

That's how I should do it. I'll have Mary and Devin positioned nearby, but out of the way for the first run. With the vile of Nile water, I won't need help attracting skeletons. Regardless of what the trap is, I shouldn't have trouble dealing with them. In the worst case scenario, I had brought the failed holy swords I'd attempted to make before. Although, I had no idea how reliable they'd be.

"We'll scout the area a bit more." I declared. If we wanted this to work, we needed to become acquainted with the area we were bringing the skeletons towards.