Part 5 (D.O.K.)

I was sent back, now leading a guarded expedition into the hidden passageway. The emperor bestowed several of his royal guards to accompany us into the unknown. We traveled far beneath the earth and the city above. Until we reached an opening into a vast chamber. The air here was stale and damp. Our lights only showed glimpses of a gigantic subterranean city. It was a ruin, but it's magnitude was palpable.

Exploring this immense space would take years to discover and research. Time I did not have. How I longed to get lost in my work within this place. However, I and the rest of the party was sent here on one mission. I could not afford to linger. We pushed on into the darkness. -Larkin, April. 28, 1823

We moved slowly through the silent forgotten ruin. In the dark we lost all track of navigation and time could not be calculated by our watches. In this labyrinth it was hard to keep track of every hour.

We surveyed and collected what we could. This city was beyond any other comparison. Yet the further we went. Evidence of more recent events became known to us. Large clusters of bones and preserved wood was found. These bones were human. They were trying to escape something. Piled high against a wall, all had been bitten and scratched by some large creatures. Amongst some of the bones, there were mutated ones. As if they were in the early stages of becoming something else. When no more human bones were found, the group came across bones of creatures resembling that of bats and rats. Other similar features were also found mixed in. These things still had some human aspects as well.

A few days later we saw a faint light and heard chanting in the distance. As we navigated through the ruin, the light was not any normal light. It gave no warmth, it was cold, a dead light. We watched from the shadows as the cultists and their leader gathered around an altar and chanted.

Once our force got into position, we ambushed them Fighting broke out. When I charged out to take their leader into custody, a portal opened at the end of a dead end. The tall figure the poor woman told me about stepped through slowly. He had long arms that passed his knees. He stood crooked and bent with broken armor. A small shield was on his left wrist. In both hands two twisted and rusted swords. A ring of rusted metal spikes and brackets were tightened of center around his skull. The metal covered his eyes and crusted blood showed the remnants that once were is eyes. His lower face was pulled back by metal shards revealing his teeth.

With a raise of his right shaking hand a horde of monstrous creatures ran out of the portal as more hidden within and above the city descended upon us. I killed the cult leader and turned to help my followers. I was to late. The majority were consumed along with the rest of the cultists. Before I could react, I was grabbed and pulled back through the portal. The last thing I saw was the two royal guards overwhelmed. - Larkin. Sometime between April 30 and May 4, 1823.​