An old woman with long, snowy white hair sits cross-legged, staring into the emerald.
She speaks without turning away from the jewel. "I am Silverio."
She emits a long, world-weary sigh. "The same as you. I defend and serve Exile, as best I can. I know something of your travels. We fight the same fight."
0
travel
0
"Yes. We magi keep track of events and significant visitors. Helps keep us all alive."
0
fight
0
She smiles sadly and peers deeper into the huge gem. "Against whoever is handy. I fight the sliths, because we need to if we are to survive. Once, long ago, I fought demons. I prefer sliths, even though their attacks are near constant."
0
demon
0
"You may have heard of it. There was once a demon called Grah-Hoth. He lived in a fort beyond a sea of lava to the southeast. I was an apprentice then. We defeated and imprisoned him, and put him in a cave near the Abyss. A well-guarded cave."
"The fort is still there, with some demons trapped in it forever. And maybe treasure."
0
treasure
0
She thinks. "Most of the fort was shattered when Grah-Hoth fell. Just a pool of lava, and basalt rubble." She thinks. "But one thing I remember! There was a body, frozen in stasis! A man, from the surface, wearing a Royal Seal, of the Empire above."
"It was a horrid and bizarre sight. I'm glad we sealed the place up."
1
stnd
0
There is a man in robes here. He fingers a holy symbol and stares through the arrow slit intently.
He turns to you briefly, and turns back to his vigil. "My name is Hodgson."
He waves at the slit. "I watch for the next attack. When it comes, I defend us as best I can. The sliths are relentless. Soon my shift will be over, and I can go to the emerald and my rest."
1
emerald
0
He flashes you a wicked grin. "It's the thing that's kept this fort going as well as it has. It was found nearby, and brought here when they found what it can do. It restores magical power! Thanks to it, each mage here casts the spells of three."
"Any sliths that come here, they get three flamestrikes for every one they send."
1
alchemy
0
"Hmm. I actually don't know that much about it. I was going to try to invent a healing potion using graymold before I got called to come here. I only got as far as finding a patch of the stuff, no mean feat!"
1
graymold
0
"Well, it probably isn't there anymore, but I found a small patch of the stuff at the headwaters of the river that runs down to the big lake. The lake Cotra sits on. The stuff was far, far to the north. Took me forever to find it!"
"I took some with, but it spoiled long ago. Sorry."
2
stnd
0
A young mage with a pointed black beard and an arrogant expression inspects a magic barrier.
"Hmm." He looks you up and down, unimpressed with what he sees. "I am Matthias. What is your business here?"
He smirks. "Teaching the sliths who come here a lesson. I'm one of the mages of this fort."
2
lesson
0
"I come from the Tower of Magi. I am here to help demonstrate our power. The lesson is directed, of course, not only to the sliths but to the humans that rely on us." His eyes glint with arrogance.
2
mage
0
"My job, in particular, is to strengthen these barriers. Sometimes I dispel one and create it anew. We can't always rebuild the walls between attacks."
2
barriers
0
"Often some upstart asks me to teach him how to dispel the barriers." He chortles. "That, I tell them, is our secret, not theirs. The tower chooses some spells to keep for itself."
3
stnd
0
A thin, nervous man cowers in the shadows. He jumps when he sees you.
He extends a twitching hand to you. "I am Chief Liaison Randall. Pleased to meet you. Please make sure the door is locked."
"I'm a fort liaison. I travel to the different forts to see how the war goes, and report back to the Castle."
3
fort
0
"There are several. It keeps me busy. But this is the worst to visit. This, and Fort Dranlon. I hate it! It terrifies me. The sound of the fireballs, the screams, the hisses. I get my report, hide, and get back to the castle as soon as I can."
3
castle
0
"Castle? The Castle! What other castle is there? It's safe there. I like it. But then his Majesty always sends me out again! And again!" His face is twitching. "I'll be caught in an ambush and eaten one of these days! Oh, how I miss the surface."
3
surface
0
"I was a messenger up there too. The Empire kept the roads nice and orderly and safe. No Nephilim up there to kill you, oh no! No no no! They're all down here now. Trying to kill me. I didn't appreciate how good things up there were. I didn't at all."
"Then, I got a little drunk and shot my mouth off, and now here I am. I miss it up there."
4
stnd
0
A serious looking woman with long, curly brown hair and the smooth, sharp movements of a natural fighter paces the fort, watching things. She is very small, but the wicked axe hanging from her belt makes her seem much taller.
She nods. "I'm Scarlet. Welcome to Fort Emerald."
"I'm in command here."
4
command
0
"I keep things in line. I defend against the raids, and sent a few sorties out in return. And I keep an eye on Gnass."
4
raids
0
"Yes. They come fast and furious. First the fireballs, then the curses, then the charge. Our north wall gets battered as fast as we can repair it. But we hang on."
4
sorties
0
"The sliths have a fort to the north, and our mages often slip up to pump firestorms into it. We'll take it soon. When we do that, we'll have a straight shot at the island!"
4
island
0
"The island where the main slith castle and their leader is. It's to the east of the fort. We could win this war, if we could just get a straight shot at that castle. And we will soon!"
4
gnass
0
"Yeah. Town near here, populated by friendly sliths." She says the word 'friendly' with a voice choked with derision. "They say they hate the sliths that attack us. But the sliths only attack us, not them. Well, this fort guards against all sliths."
"Maybe some of those bastards aren't twisted. I'll believe it when I see it."
5
stnd
0
A balding, pudgy man moves crates of supplies around at an almost glacial pace.
"Huh? Oh. Hi. I'm Moe."
"Huh? Oh. I'm the quartermaster."
5
quarter
0
"Uh. I keep track of the supplies. And stuff. Get stuff in. Hand it out. I hate it here."
5
hate
0
"Yeah. At Fort Emerald. I was at Fort Remote. I liked it there. Then they transferred me."
5
remote
0
"Yeah. To the west. Most Boring fort in Exile. Guarding a bunch of empty tunnels. Well, almost empty. There's a big drake living in there. It never attacks, so we just wait. Much better than here. Here is dangerous. Real dangerous."
6
stnd
0
A slith paces sluggishly in the cell. It's skin doesn't have the normal healthy green color. Instead, it's slightly bluish.
It stops pacing the room for a moment, to look at you with cold eyes. Then it starts moving around again.
It turns to you. It is shivering slightly. You can tell the cold-blooded creature is freezing. "I wait to be avenged, warmblood."
6
avenge
0
"Sss-Thsss is mightier that all of you humans combined," it says in a weak voice. "Our Gods are mighty. Our ally is a being of devastation." His words ooze out, sibilant and deliberate. "You are killing me slowly in this pit. Your deaths will be worse."
It continues moving around, trying to keep warm.
6
ally
0
His forked tounge flickers out, and he hisses. "We follow one of the lords of darkness. I myself have grovelled at his feet. Soon he shall be free, and he will lead us to mastery over the caves!"
7
stnd
0
You meet buxom lass with lush brown hair and a self-confident air.
She gives you a friendly, appraising glance. "I'm Eleanor."
She sighs. "Nowadays, I help out at the fort. But I used to be an actress!"
7
actress
0
"In the surface world. You wouldn't have heard of me, but I was going places!" She makes a grand wave of her arm! "I commanded the stage! Well, to some extent anyway. Then I appeared in a play that perhaps I shouldn't have."
7
play
0
"It was a stirring portrayal of what happened to the first expedition the Empire sent down here. Unfortunately, although everyone knew about it, nobody was supposed to, so they put us on trial!"
7
trial
0
"Can you imagine! The Empire does one stupid thing, and stomps on everyone who mentions it. You see, everyone in the first group who came down here died. Total disaster! I played Marianne, consort to Karzoth! The female lead!"
7
karzoth
0
"Dumb name, huh? It was what he went by, probably because his real name was 'Chucky' or something. Anyway, he was the mighty leader!" She strikes a heroic pose! "Bearer of the Royal Seal and the mighty blade Dragonslayer!"
"Anyway, he did something arrogant, got stupid and died. Like the Empire someday, I hope."
25
stnd
0
You see one of the soldiers of the fort.
When the soldier sees you're civilians, you get a quick nod, and nothing else.
You are ignored.
1
rest
0
"Not much of one. I don't enjoy this at all. I'd much rather be working on my alchemy."
