Quest
09/23/2024 - 10/18/2024 | 11:59:59PM IST
Paintings in the Dark
As you tread along the crumbling path of the fallen, the ground beneath your paws shifts uneasily. The air feels thin here, laden with dust and ancient whispers, as though the spirits of those who perished before watch your every move. Stones crack and shift underfoot, and for a brief moment, the eerie silence of the valley is broken by the groan of the earth itself. Before you can react, the ground gives way in a thunderous roar, and you plunge downward, your limbs flailing as darkness swallows you whole.
You crash into a mine shaft below, the air forced from your lungs as you collide with the dusty floor. Everything is eerily still for a moment, save for the distant echoes of falling debris settling into the abyss. Pain throbs through your body, but nothing feels broken. Slowly, you rise, shaking the dust from your pelt. The air here is musty, thick with the scent of decaying wood and stone that hasn’t been touched in eons. The dim light from the hole above barely illuminates the space, casting long, twisting shadows across the walls. As your eyes adjust, you notice them—paintings. Faint and weathered, they seem to shift and waver in the dim light, as though they were drawn by an unsteady hand. They stretch along the walls in long, haunting sequences: towering figures with hollow eyes, scenes of battle and mourning, and shapes that feel too abstract to decipher. Yet, something about them sends a chill through your spine, as though you are being watched by the very images themselves.
The silence here is deafening, broken only by the faint sound of dripping water in the distance. Your breath feels loud in the thick, stagnant air as you begin to explore your surroundings. The tunnel stretches out in two directions—both narrow and foreboding. The ceiling sags in places, barely supported by rotting beams, while deep gouges in the stone suggest the desperate efforts of miners long gone. As you move deeper into the mine, the paintings grow more vivid, their lines sharper, their colours more intense. You pass depictions of shadowy figures standing before massive gates, hooded creatures offering up sacrifices, and swirling storms of black and red. Every now and then, you catch the glimmer of something metallic embedded in the rock: tools, trinkets, or perhaps discarded coins. Their placement feels deliberate, as though they were offerings—or warnings.
The air grows colder the further you venture, and an unsettling energy begins to thrum beneath your paws. You can't shake the feeling that you’re not alone. Soft whispers tickle your ears, though when you strain to listen, there’s nothing but the drip of water and the creak of ancient wood. Your senses feel heightened, every shadow suddenly darker, every echo louder. Navigating through the labyrinthine tunnels, you come across strange symbols etched into the walls alongside the paintings. They pulse faintly in the dim light, as though imbued with some long-forgotten magic. Perhaps they hold a clue to the mine’s purpose—or its dangers. A soft, cold breeze brushes past you from deeper within the shaft, bringing with it the scent of something... metallic. Blood? Or perhaps the sharp tang of iron from the mines. Whatever it is, it's not comforting.
You come to a crossroad where the air feels heavier, oppressive even. In one direction, a faint light flickers like a dying ember, barely visible at the end of a narrow passage. In the other, the tunnel dips downward into absolute darkness, the path sloping sharply as though descending into the very belly of the earth. Something is down there. You can feel it. The hairs along your back bristle at the thought of what lies in the deep, but staying in this cursed place is no safer. As you press on, the ground shifts again beneath you, and you wonder—what else might collapse?Objective:
Depict or write your Felvarg trying to escape through the abandoned mine shaft coated in odd paintings and symbols. It is clearly unsafe to stay here, and exiting is crucial. Who knows what else lingers in the darkness.Reward:
1x Excavation Roll, 1x Randomly Rolled Item, 1,000 Felcredits.