1.2 Shadows of Ourselves

Domitius picks up only snippets of the conversation due to them talking heatedly over one another but he ascertains that:
- The woman is called Angelique
- She has strong opinions on the Devouring Dark
- Darden Hill would be her preferred place to infiltrate it

Angelique turns to you all.

The Devouring Dark isn't just darkness. It's worse than that. It's a living entity. Like a head made of shadow with grasping tentacles which seek out light and life then devour it. Some call it a living dungeon.

The Lady of Shadow (icon) is not as dark as she seems. Rather she is consumed by a deep and abiding sorrow. She wants to escape her current condition. She gave me a jewelry box containing treasured mementoes linked to let's say more favourable memories of hers. In order to complete her redemption, we need that jewelry box. Someone needs to enter the devouring dark and retrieve it.

Lord August turns to the group. I will pay you 500gp for the task. Anything you find within the devouring dark, less the jewelry box, is yours to keep.

Yes, that would certainly be the place to try and gain access.

Lord August looks pleased with your response.

I will provide you with an honor guard to accompany you to Darden Hill. They will not enter the dark with you. I need them here to protect the village should you fail. But you won't fail. Will you?

Lord August's honor guard escort you to Darden Hill. You pass through the dark streets of the town of Litton Hill. The fog clings to you like a funeral shroud and the fact that the townspeople aren't out on the streets cheering you on your way doesn't escape your notice. They seem to have bolted their windows and doors so tight that barely a sliver of light escapes to light the fog.

You travel for about an hour in silence, each buried in your own thoughts. You are so tired that you find yourselves slumped in the saddle, looking down at your horses mane, it leading the way as if it knows the route off by heart.

"There it is." states Lord August solemnly.

You look up. And there it is. An entity so vast that you struggle to see it initially because you can't differentiate it from the night sky. But then it moves, slowly and deliberately. A gaping black hole with even darker tentacles, waving like arms in the wind, despite the night being still as death itself.

At the centre of the black hole there is a point more black than the rest. So black that you can feel the tug of your soul being drawn towards it. Surely no life can be present in that space.

August points towards the black spot on the horizon. "The entrance. You travel alone from here."