The moonlit woods are frightening in their own right, but a true test of mettle is the cold ancient dark beneath a resting mountain. Filled with those seeking refuge from above, and even below, the tunnels under Mount V’razmus were originally carved by dwarves in search of precious metals and dazzling gems. It has since been abandoned and repurposed countless times by all manner of creature.
Duerogar from the underdark coming to claim new territory and loot what riches their dark-blind cousin dwarves left behind. Goblins clawing their way down and out of the suns blinding light, and the reach of men and elve’s sharp steel. Or the ancient order of dragon keepers who held the marvelous winged creatures as slaves; through dark rituals they drew from the dragon’s magic and might to bolster their own.
Thousands of years later, with a thick coating of dust and cave moss now shrouding the stories of the past two scholarly sorcerers, seek out Ifriti’s Precipice where, it is said ancient runes hold magical secrets. But such a reward is not without threat, or so legend tells.
Marius stretched his aching arm, raising the lit torch, as if to push the encroaching darkness away. It seemed to be pressing in around them, fighting to snuff out the light.
Pebbles skittered across the chalky stone steps as Liana stumbled backward up them, tripping on billowing purple robes with her nose fixed between the pages of an ancient tome.
“Careful now,” Marius chirped at her. “It’d be a shame to have climbed all those steps just to fall off the ledge now.” A cold grimace stretched across his amber face as the fiery wisps of the torch danced in eyes.
“The runes should be here. It says at the beginning of the end the signs will guide you,” Liana said as she pointed to the script in her book, almost pleading with the pages.
“And so they shall, look my friend!”
Marius reached his free hand back and raised Liana’s chin, pointing her gaze up at the wall, now aglow. Three distinct symbols were etched in the stone surface.
“At least we didn’t have to worry about any dragons, I told you those stories were myths and not based on anything credible.”
As Marius let out a chortle the caverns around them were filled with the echoes of a deep rumbling. It shook the steps and stone. Small pieces crumbled off the wall nearby. Suddenly a warm breeze rushed passed their cold skin, and sent the ends of their voluminous robes rippling in the air. It smelled faintly of a campfire smoke as the last coals were put out.
Marius’ and Liana’s eyes met, their own fear reflected in the stare of their companion, until another breeze washed over them. This one uncomfortably warm, and with it, poof. The torch hissed and the light doused, enveloping them in total darkness.
