Chapter 1 - Awakening

Noticing your attacks on the giant monstrosity are futile, your group breaks off, Arannis and Dwonain casting final spells to hold off the onslaught of incoming regular sized skeletons. With Tetsuwan the last to leave the audience chamber, you dash down a long, tall hallway, having been large enough to fit the giant skeleton, light streaming out it's end. As you pass more side passages, you see more skeletons coming at you, and those brave enough to peek back see little more than bone. As you get closer to the exit, Dwyn's sharp eyes notice trouble. "There's a metal portcullis in front of us!"

Reaching the portcullis, you look around for a way to open it, finding naught, leaving the stronger among you attempting to break it down. Just as you reach what looks like may be a dead end, the giant skeleton's quakes seem to shake it loose enough that a final heave by Tetsuwan knocks it down. You run out into the sunlight, it's warm basking over you, energizing you. Breaking into a run again, with the swarm of undead on your heels, you find yourself on what looks like dead land, little more than dirt and rotten trees, with no sign of life by your feet. But surprisingly enough, ahead of you stands a thick forest, vibrant as any you can remember seeing. There is a sharp divide in the ground, as if a line drawn, where the blighted land meets the living, two different worlds stitched together. Almost directly in front of you, on the living side of the line, are what look like 3 wagons.

You keep running, starting to tire, with the horde growing ever closer, when suddenly arrows whiz by your head, striking the skeletons behind you. You break across the line just as some of the skeletons reach you... and crumble to dust as they attempt to enter the lush grass. Undead after undead turn to powder, including the giant, as if an invisible barrier would not let them leave. You fall to the ground, exhausted.

When you finally look up, you notice the wagons look strange, and you don't see any horses or oxen in sight. You do see four armor clad people approach you, blades in hand. A older looking halfling in nice traveler's clothing breaks through them, gesturing them to lower their blades. "Clearly, they're not skeletons. Though what they'd be doing in there, I have no idea. Ok, blades back up."

As you stand, blades follow you up. "Where we are? You just ran out of a castle no one enters, in the middle of woods almost no one passes through, and you don't know where you are?" the halfling says with a look bordering between confusion and anger. He looks you each up and down. "If it weren't for the fact that only of you are that all that youthful, I'd have guessed you were a bunch of kids on some stupid dare. But judging from your clothes, teleportation spell gone wrong?"

As you grip your weapon, you notice it's turned to rusted dust. In fact even your clothing looks more worn, you think.

The halfling looks Arannis up and down, finally shrugging. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the Dead Forest. A strange name, given it's quite alive, but I suspected it's more to do with this castle than the forest itself. The castle has no name, or if it does, no one I know know it." He walks up to Tetsuwan, looking him over carefully, inspecting the exposed mechanations. "I assume you found this mechano in there? Looks ancient. An auto right? Can't be souled?"

None of you recognize the terms he's using.

Turning, Jorem looks back to face the way you've come. Behind you, on a wide ring of dead land, stands a menacing looking, massive castle. Made of dark stones and sharp edges, rising towers and many exits. It's clearly aged, the outer walls bearing the marks of siege, the moat dried up and in some places filled in. It's look says dread, but it's clearly lifeless, and not in the undead sense. No one has been here for a long time, but whomever did could not have meant well. There is a clear contrast between the castle and the land around it, and the forest next to you, between life and death.

The halfling stands, thinking, when you hear a voice call from one of the wagons. "Tobin! You get those swords down and bring those folk over! Clearly they need our help!" You can make out the light dings of pots and pans being moved about. The halfling looks up and shrugs again. "She's right; she always is. This isn't the place for answers; we were getting ready to move on. If you join us, you work for your time. I'd charge, but you obviously have nothing on you." He motions the guards to lower their swords, and the female guard, clearly in charge, gives you a look somewhere between distrust and disgust before lowering her sword, but doesn't put it away. She waits for you to move forward, taking up the rear.