You are at the bottom of a large, round shaft. The walls are smooth, and covered with moist, highly slippery mold. There's no way you can climb up - the shaft is too big to be able to clear off the mold, and too cramped to fly up.
You see a huge, black fort to the east, rising up above chasms to either side. However, when you try to pass these huge statues, their eyes flash red. A force throws you back, and little green lizards crawl out from behind them to drive you off.
Some red lizards have snuck up behind you.
To keep heading east, you will need to climb uphill over piles of rubble and past thick collections of pointy stalagmites. There is nothing alive in this tunnel.
One listless guard approaches, and asks you for your gray pass. You show it to him. He shrugs, waves you on, and returns to the mugs of beer and the dice game he left behind.
The guards are bored and lazy, but not so bored and lazy they don't bother to ask you for your pass. You don't have a gray pass, and their weapons don't stay sheathed...
You have heard of this place - this was the fabled sole-remaining exit to the surface. At least is was, before the Empire came down and collapsed the route under thousands of tons of rock. Nothing left here but a lost opportunity.
Boldly, strongly, and with a blood-curdling battle-howl, you charge the Empire lines. They then carve you into pieces, and divide your stuff amongst themselves.
You flee from the barricades towards the safety of your own lines, chased by a peppering of arrows.
In the valley above you to the north, you see the Empire barricades, filled with teeming hordes of organized, well-trained troops. Both sides have excellent defenses, and here they sit, in uneasy stalemate.
You enter a massive labyrinth of stone walls, magical barriers, traps, and ever-vigilant garrisons of Exile soldiers. This is the front line - the most active front between the soldiers of Exile and the Empire.
You move a bit too close to the Empire lines. A band of soldiers runs out to intercept you.
There is a fumarole at the top of this plateau - a weak geyser spouting sulphurous steam. Everything is caked with yellow sulphur deposits. It is not a welcoming place.
You make your way along this steep slope, which leads up a plateau to the south. The air is very humid here, and there is a rich, overwhelming sulphur smell.
There is a heavy barricade blowing this route, guarded by a powerful looking garrison of sliths, hundreds of them, with plenty of magic. They nod to you politely as they let you pass, but are wary of speaking with you.
You knock on the door. There's no answer. You check the door. It's locked. After a brief period of being ignored, you give up.
Your hands touch your blades. Silverlocke shakes her head sadly. There is a flash of light. When you wake up, you're outside, and you don't feel too good.
There are two tiny fishing villages on this island, one of humans and one of sliths. They each seem to keep to themselves, but they also seem to be keeping a wary peace.
There are several mages and priests sitting around this fire, meditating and restoring their powers for battles to come. You decide not to bother them.
You see, to the north, the Remote Lake, a broad body of brackish water. No boats are sailed on it - there's nothing on the other side but sheer limestone. Still, it's a pretty sight.
You meet a boisterous band of Exile raiders. They welcome you in to join in their brawling and boozing. You take them up on it for a while.
A weary band of Exile troops is camped here. They greet you cordially, but distantly.
You find a settlement of weary, embittered farmers, spending half their time raising their feeble crops and half their time defending themselves from Empire raids. You have a hard time figuring out why they bother.
However, you also find signs of digging and explosions. Some of the rocks have been cleared away. There has been only a tiny bit of progress, but someone has started to clear the debris away. A small sign of hope, amidst all the fear and death.
The passage has been sloping sharply upward for miles, bringing you, you're sure, close to the surface world. However, the corridor has been sealed off by one of the most massive rockfalls you've ever seen - thousands and thousands of stacked boulders.
Odd. You would swear the large passage to the south is shimmering, like the air above a campfire. Then, abruptly, the shimmering ceases.
They tell you Empire soldiers have been killing sliths indiscriminately to the northwest, and they came here to flee the violence and prepare to defend themselves. You wish them luck, and depart.
You find a slith village in the middle of this swamp. When the warriors see you aren't Empire soldiers, they approach you with hands open in a gesture of peace.
The baby ice puddings are still there, keeping things nice and chilly. You try to squish them, but there are too many. You give up.
You cross a narrow, natural bridge, over a deep chasm. You hear a river roaring far below, as it plunges into the depths.
You investigate this small island, covered with tall, elegant, untouched toadstools of all types. It's an unusually unspoiled place in these increasingly crowded caves. You leave it that way.
Oh yeah, right! Who are you trying to kid? You come to your senses and leave, before the unpredictable beings pick you apart.
You meet an Exile patrol. They warn you that bands of Empire raiders are all over the place. You thank them for the warning, and depart.
You meet a band of refugees. You greet them, and they tell you they are fleeing the recent destruction of the city of Cotra. They ask if you've found anyplace where they can find shelter, but there is little you can tell them. They thank you, and depart.
The stone in this cavern is black and jagged. As you enter, a strange, incense-like smell hits your nose, distracting and abrasive. At various points around you are totems, covered with dire warnings, skulls, and bones. Welcoming place.
You find that this filth-filled cavern has already been discovered by a band of grubby nasties. You discover this because you find them trying to eat some giant lizards.
The huge statues still tower ominously on either side of you. However, fortunately, nothing attacks.
The Nephilim greet you enthusiastically. You find that they are recovering from the fungus, not quickly, but fast enough. After being greeted and fawned over a bit, you leave.
You spend some time and effort attempting to heal the sick Nephilim. However, the fungus escapes all your efforts to eradicate it. The Nephilim thank you for your efforts, and you leave the village.
They spend a day explaining to you ancient secrets of Nephilim archery. You profit from the instruction.
Several of the village elders come out to meet you. They explain that they are a peaceful clan and mean no harm to humans, but that they have nothing to offer you and that they'd prefer if you left. You oblige them.
This small cave has been occupied by a clan of Nephilim. You see them working their small fields of mushrooms and flocks of giant lizards, amongst the totems and decorated poles favored by their race.
When you approach, the statue comes to life! The metal beast lashes forward, a rusty, jagged iron arm swinging out. You jump back, but too late...
Taking a guess, you place an insect body in the bowl. It disappears. Nothing else happens.
You reach a stone ledge at the far end of the vast expanse of lava. It's hot. Really hot. You search around, looking for some treasure. You find nothing. Odds are, you're the first beings to ever step on this rock.
You try placing some gold and some food in the bowls. They disappear. However, nothing else happens. Eventually you get bored and leave.
You find, much to your surprise, a small dock, poking out into the lava. It's made of a strange material, like bronze mixed with marble, or perhaps the other way around. It is very strange, and very ancient.
The air down here suddenly becomes highly humid, stagnant and pungent. In the cave ahead, the light from the fungus is exceptionally bright, revealing walls and floor glistening with mold and lichen, dotted with rank mounds of decomposing plants.
The roaring of the water, instead of lessening, grows louder and louder. Ahead, the rapids are starting to get even worse. This is going to be ugly.
You search the bodies, trying to find some insignia or indication of who these Vahnatai were. You find nothing. Peculiar.
In your struggles to stay alive, you have no time to take care of your supplies...
The river is starting to flow noticeably faster. From ahead, you hear that unpleasantly familiar roaring noise. One thing is different though - the roaring noise here is louder than at any of the other rapids ...
The river lazily flows into a huge cave. There isn't much to see in it, very little in the way of vegetation or interesting features. Ahead, you see the river disappearing into a depression in the ground. Maybe your journey is near its end.
The current grabs you and hurls you down. You desperately maneuver and paddle, knowing that falling overboard means certain death in these icy tunnels.
Icy water soaking you, you maneuver the boat around a corner and see something truly chilling. Ahead of you, clearly lit by the glowing fungus, is the longest, nastiest series of rapids you've ever seen in your years in Exile.
This section of river is refreshingly calm. Maybe the nightmarish rapids are behind you.
