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Wheels crunched against the cold, dry earth of the steep mountain path. The trees that lined the path were skeletal, bare of trees and appearing hollow, as if there was no depth or meat to their bones. Even the air was unusually still and crisp for the time of year. Clouds masked the skies as far as the eyes could see, settling the whole world into tints of grey and muddled shadows. There were no signs of life, no animals or birds nor insects so as he continued down the path, every foot fall and wheel turn was eccentuated.
Vlint'ner himself was swathed in a muddle of clothing- a hodge podge of fabrics creating a heavy cloak as he strode upon his horse. The speckled horse was a little uneasy as the trail dipped lower down the mountain, each step towards the deathly looking valley making him hesitate every so many feet.
The drow paused to pat the mane of his horse before slipping quietly from the saddle and stroked a gloved hand down the soft fur of the horse's neck and spoke to him in barely a whisper to soothe and calm the beast. The horse still seemed apprehensive, but did little to disobey his rider as the drow clicked his tongue and guided the horse onward by the reins.
The further down the mountain they went, the dryer the ground became despite the grey mists rising off the ground. He paused in midtrail and removed one glove, allowing dark fingers to caress through the rising mists.
Dry. The mists were dry, almost like desert heat dry but there, of course, was no heat. Vlint regarded the land before him, frowning, before returning his glove to his hand. This whole place felt hollow, like dries tree branches bleached from desert heat , or the husks of nut and shells from a late, dry autumn.
It felt...
A shiver ran up his spine.
"Death.."His horse shifted uneasily again and a sudden burst of crows took to the sky. Vlint'ner's eyes followed them, wary and tense. Then he proceeded onward until his horse began to buck its head lightly, whinnying and pull against the lead.
Vlint paused to study the animal before he looked at the thick mists before him. The mists were so dense that visibility was impossible, the fog so thick it was like a milky wall of clouds.
The sensation of dred was almost palpable here, and with that came resignation as the drow bowed his head, closed his eyes and lifted a hand as he concentrated on his will, towards the future, his mortality.. the end of his life inevitable and from that, he felt his powers surge forth into the powers of death.
The power of death emanating from this valley struck him like a freight train. It was so powerful, so strong and thick it overwhelmed him so much that he had to hurriedly drop his connection to the threads of death and stumbled to one side, dizzy.
He panted as he leaned against a nearby try and stared forward. Death... this place reeked of death. Every part inside him was screaming to run, to turn back now or this overwhelming force of death would take him.
Shaking off the sensation as best he could, he turned to where his horse was tethered and fetched something from a saddle bag and tossed an amulet around his neck.
Instantly he sighed with relief, the magical noises of death and dred were muted, though not gone and so much more manageable to chew. And then he turned back towards the mist with a firmly set frown before disappearing into it and alone.
His steps were careful and precise, the incanation he muttered under his breath helping guiding him through the forest hidden by the glaze of fog and pulled him towards the source of the necromantic powers emanating from the earth.
He had walked for nearly two hours in this valley, silently cursing himself for taking the job. But his contracts were always solid, and he had a weakness for women in trouble. A child was lost in these woods and a whole tribe of wood elves lively hood was becoming lost as the forests began to slowly die over the past decades. Now it had grown too large a problem to ignore that even paying off a
drow to help showed how desperate they must be.
And he had to be a fool. He was in over his head. How was he to find a missing child here
and the source of this necromatic corruption? He was just one person....
But he also couldn't say no, and he knew time was very much working against the child even making it out of this alive.
To prove his worth to thr desperate wood elves, Vlint'ner hadn't even requested his usual upfront fees. Infact, he asked for
no upfront fees and told the elves they'd likely need more help than just he, and that while he scouted out the area for the source and the missing child, they should look to hiring out some group of paladins or adventurers seasoned in these hills and could counter death, darkness and even perhaps.. a curse.
He should have waited. He was no hero. He worked well in darkness, in the shadows, not the fog and certainly not with elves. Every part of his being was screaming inside his head.
But he ignored it, focusing only on the fact there was a scared little girl lost in thr woods.
Vlint'ner traveled perhaps an hour more before he felt something change. While the fog somehow grew thicker, the air began to feel lighter , as did the ground beneath him. It was a strange sensation, and when he paused to raise a hand and reach out with his senses,only the second he made a connection with death- the ground cracked suddenly and Vlint'net let out a scream as he fell into a massive open cavity within the earth.
Pain tingled throughout his entire body as he coughed and groaned and rose from where he had fallen. He winced, clutching his arm. It felt broken. Great.
But as he began to look around into the lightness pit he now reside, he shivered and realized...
He was in some under world, some place that had once been thriving with life, as long carved pathways littered the towering, hollow walls all around. He grit his teeth.
He found some hidden world of the dark elves, the drow.
