Golden Age: Endless Dungeon

The First Days in Kainford

DAY ONE

Today the CORE showed up in Kainford, twelve strong men under the command of Captain Andrews dispatched from the capital to look into the source of the mystery illness that has been rotting our crops and infecting our people.

It didn't take them long to assess the situation and come to the same conclusions as Grandfather did. Magic from a relic in the Catacombs is seeping magic up through the earth and poisoning our water. Plants, animals, and people that drink it are becoming infected.

Andrews plans to lead his men into the Catacombs to seek out the Relic and destroy it. He seems to be a good man, but I don't think that he or his men know the first thing about the maze of ruins that spreads out beneath Kainford. Nor does he appreciate the traps and Furies he will find within them. Grandfather, who knows more about them than anybody I know, thinks he will not return without help.

DAY TWO

I awoke this morning to find Grandfather packing a satchel and digging his old sword out from over the fireplace. It has been more than twenty years since he was a Freelancer, but he says that is Andrews is determined to go into the Catacombs then he is determined to go along with them as their guide.

I offered to go in his place. I;m younger and stronger than he is now and I'm afraid to lose the last family member that I have left, but he says I'm too inexperienced. Instead, he allowed me to help him pack and see him off.

Turning to give me one last wave, he and the CORE soldiers disappeared into the ruins. I returned home to wait for news and to help tend to those who have already fallen ill.

DAY THREE

The village continues to worsen. As I run errands for the town healer I wonder just how long it will take for Grandfather and the others to return. The Medical supplies that the soldiers brought with them are running out, and it will be days before any of the runners we've sent to the surrounding villages will return with more.

I settle down by the fire in the evening and look around the big empty house I share with Grandfather. It seems colder and darker while he is away.

I hope he returns soon.

DAY FOUR

No more news. I began to hear people murmuring and worrying that the soldiers never made it deep enough into the Catacombs to find the relic. There are many traps there, and the deeper you go the more violent the furies that you find. They stop talking when they realize that I am listening, and some even tried to lighten the mood by suggesting that they should be back any time now.

A day passes and night falls. Still they do not return.

DAY FIVE

We have run out of medical supplies around town now, and more of our people are succumbing to the disease. Where as at first only the old and the very young were contracting it, now it seems that it can strike any of us at any moment.

The magic has seeped into the earth, into the water, even into the walls. It's as if it were alive, stalking us. I envision it prowling around the town like some invisible predator, looking for a way in. Where is Grandfather? This needs to end soon.

DAY SIX

Enough is enough. I wake this morning determined that I will not just wait around to fall ill myself. Grandfather has trained me in the arts of a Freelancer and I know my way around a sword. I borrowed one from the house of a neighbor who died a day ago. I grab all I can and leave what seems unsafe to take.

Descending into the Catacombs for myself, I place my first foot on the step down and hear a Fury roaring from within. I'm not afraid though, not of monsters. I know that death awaits me just as certainly above ground as it does below. Drawing my blade, I start my journey. I will find this Relic and destroy it, save the town, and find out what has happened to Grandfather. Into the Catacombs I go, and the darkness swallows me . . .

(Continued in-game through the journal system!)