The hallway is long and lined with dust, though how the dust appeared was a mystery in and of itself; there are no cracks in the seemless walls and floor, the stone preventing external interruptions from taking place. Lining the hallway are several doors, each identical, but she knew where to go.
Pushing open one of the doors - an oddity that the stone door-opening was silent when her breathing and footsteps were not!- she entered, with confidence mixed with trepidation.
As soon as she entered, the door swung shut, and a burst of blue light filled the contours of the door, which dissipated to reveal...nothing. The lines were gone. The door was gone.
She didn't expect that. But she knew, she knew that she might be stuck there. That only if she completes her task, could she be freed. Turning away from the door, she scanned the room. Eight statues, dusty and old (how did the dust get here too?), line the walls, all facing towards the centre, occupied by a huge slab. A tomb.
Stepping forwards, she wiped off the dust on the slab, revealing words, old and ancient, and simply thus: "Read the Book."
She dug out the book from her satchel, and placed it on the slab. The book was red, with a cover showing a gold ring. Above the defining picture, the title stood out.
The Rings of Destiny
And she began Reading Aloud.
---
Chapter One: Exploring, Defining, Accentuating
Mountain climbed, his warforged body easily overcoming the challenges set by the pathetic mound of rock in his path. If he had the new-fangled InforX-3000 installed, right now, it would be displaying temperature (cool), humidity (average), time (10am), and the events of today (2nd Day of Celebrations, regards to Town Adonis (demographic: Mainly human), Proximity: Close.
If he was ever so inclined, that add-on would also have displayed information of the Celebration itself, like this:
Adonis
Every year, a small human town, Adonis, celebrates a festival, lasting one week, commemorating the time where they prevented a powerful cult of Orcus from summoning it into this plane. It is during this festival, where hundreds of races, from the mighty dragonborn to the beautiful elves, gather together, put aside differences, and have a good time (although many are wary of tieflings, and other races with a bad reputation).
Today is a little special, with several spellcasters coming together at 11am to call forth a black dragon and the celebrated heroes to do battle. All illusions, of course, to commerate the time they overcame a black dragon in their task to stop Orcus.
Now, however, he are climbing his namesake, for mention of a cave above, which he knew was close.
Climbing over the last ledge, but his eyes tell him something is wrong. Blood leads in, though if he enters, he would only find five other innocent people.
A Thri-Kreen that is fairly tall, and not particularly heavily built, helping him slip in unnoticed when the need arises, and helps with his athletic ability. Still rather young, he moves about especially quickly for a Thri-Kreen. His exoskeleton is completely gray, unusual for a Thri-Kreen, but not unheard of. He wears dark, hooded cloaks, trying to keep from being seen.
A Elf that is tall, wiry, and very thin. He has beautiful silver hair that hangs to his shoulders, matched by his pale grey eyes. He dresses in what appears to be once-fine elven robes, at least when he isn't begging in the streets or scamming patrons at the local tavern. When he is, however, he's garbed in ratty, tattered, linen shirts. He's underweight and underfed, another factor that helps in his begging. Malus is rather paranoid and skittish, due to a few tragedies in nis past. He's also quite squeamish at the sight of blood. He has an odd quirk, in which he starts to flip a "lucky" coin, often to make decisions, when he's nervous.
A shifter, a Genasi and a half-elf half-hidden in shadow.
The cave is small, and contains nothing, save a path leading further in, and a orb on the floor. How curious.