The Silver Bayonet - Il Negromante

It was shortly after the battle of Campo Tenese when rumours of a figure of shadow, cloaked in black with an unnatural disposition, started to spread. Whoever had the misfortune to spot this shadow and live to tell of it, typically in the dark hours before dawn, would say they could hear the moans of spectres, the rattling of bones, but somehow these phantom sounds seemed to emanate from it, rather than around it. As if the dead spawned from the shadow being itself. But soon, the rumour turned to terror. The shadow began to show up in broad daylight, surrounded by a thick green fog. And, as the fog settled to the ground, a veritable legion of undead – ghosts, skeletal hordes, revenants, and more – would appear, as if the fog had been obscuring them all along. Scores would perish, only to rise again. And, just as quickly as the shadow appeared, it would vanish, having just acquired more minions for its dark army.