AN EVIL PLAN

Dante and Keiron found themselves in a small village surrounded by sheer cliffs. The cliffs, mica sparkling in the sun far above, reached, neverending, toward the sky. They quickly realize that they’re standing next to a finely constructed gazebo in the center of the village. Nearby, a conversation is taking place.

“There’s a plan,” one man says. “It has to be stopped. It’s monstrous.”

“What’s the plan?” the other asks.

“No one really knows. But it’s monstrous and could destroy the world.”

As the men had talked, an old woman had tottered forward, her hair a veritable mass of gray worthy of a giant rat’s nest. Later, Dante and Keiron discover that the woman is called Crazy Mary by the villagers. On her part, Crazy Mary considers herself a prophet.

Though, she’d yet to predict anything of record. “It’s the Wendigo,” Mary says. “Eric the Destroyer of All Good has found it. He’s going to let him loose on the world, starting here.”

Failing to notice how the villagers have just taken his presence in stride, Dante steps forward and says, “Then we just kill Eric.”

Mary turns her beady eyes on him. “Only way to kill him is with the artifact. Only way.”

Meanwhile, another man had entered the forming conversational circle. “And that artifact is hidden deep within the catacombs. No one here dares enter.”

Keiron, an adventurer, immediately dares.

THE CATACOMBS

The man, who turns out to be a storekeeper by the name of Ulrich, volunteers to sponsor their small quest. However, it’s under one condition—that they return with the artifact wholly intact. As sponsor, he supplies them with whatever they need. Keiron and Dante set out through a narrow passageway, emerging at circular sinkhole filled with dark blue water. The sinkhole is walled by the same sheer cliffs that wall everything else in this valley. Finally, the adventurers realize that they can cross the sinkhole using the floating grass islands. Once on the other side, they enter through an ancient doorway carved into the stone. Dante, as is his custom, manages to smack his head on the way in.

They find themselves in a cavernous room as dark as a moonless night. When they reach the middle of the cavern, a green goo falls onto Dante’s head. Keiron manages to help him remove the goo and they figure out that said goo is quite flammable. Dante scoops some into a bag and tosses it into his backpack. Unwilling to go further into the catacombs without additional gear, the two adventurers head back to the village for some rest and some supplies.

The next day, they return with darkvision contacts in hand (and eventually, in eyes). They proceed through the antechamber unmolested. They’re faced with four tunnel entrances. As they mull over their choices, one notices words scratched into the smooth stone wall.

Obviously spurred on by the creepy message on the wall, Dante and Keiron choose to take the left-most tunnel. Some twenty feet in, they come across a split. They take the left turn and end up in a room with a floor littered with bones. Upon stepping inside, they’re attacked by two displacer beasts. After dispatching the beasts, they set on dispatching a couple zombies, followed by looting the room. They travel back the way they came and are hit by a wall of water as they enter the first cavern. Luckily, the deluge is incredibly short. The water has cleaned the dirt off the ground, revealing a mosaic. The tiles say:

Without question, they agree that the ‘it’ is the artifact, and that they should find it as soon as possible. Their journey throughout the rest of the catacombs brings them against ghouls, ghasts, zombies, and skeletons. A treasure chest found after swimming their way through a water trap nets them a full set of Ceramic Armor. After battling a chain devil, they explore a small chapel. Dante picks up a couple iron cups. Bored, Dante then declares, “I want to check the altar.”

“It’s made of solid stone and so are the pews. You don’t find anything.”

Dante says, “I want to smash something.”

He’s told to feel free to do so.

Dante says, “I smash the pew!”

“The pew is made of solid stone. You break your sword.”

Dante swears loudly while his companion laughs.

They survive a door trap and find the artifact. The artifact is an ancient, leather-bound book. A curious Dante opens the book. As soon as he does, the first page disintegrates. He attempts to turn the next page, and it disintegrates between his dusty fingers. Keiron, highly irritated, yanks the book away from Dante and put it into his own backpack. The magic door magically sealed behind them, they continued down the dark corridor until they ran into another riddle-door. After many failed guesses, they solve the riddle, and the door creaks open. They find themselves back in the room with the bone-littered floor. Artifact in hand, they triumphantly head back to the village.

DARK PASSAGE

Dante and Keiron present the book the Ulrich the Shopkeeper. When Ulrich realizes that the book is missing pages, he declares their contract broken and sends them away. The two stymied adventurers spend the night in the inn, unsure of what will happen next. In the morning, they leave the inn and wander about the village only to find that the village lacks actual villagers. They’re all gone, except for Crazy Mary and Ulrich. Dante asks Mary where everyone is.

“I don’t know. They’ve disappeared.”

Dante asks if she has any useful abilities.

“I control the lightning.”

However, she offers no further information.

Ulrich also claims to be without knowledge, though he seems strangely unperturbed at the incident. As they all discuss the situation, they make their way over to the gazebo. When they tread on the wooden planks in the middle, the floor suddenly disappeared from underneath their feet. Dante, Keiron, and Crazy Mary fall into a pit below. Ulrich has somehow remained on the surface. He tosses the book down to them before sealing the secret door with a strength of magic Keiron can’t disable.