Already this expedition costs me in blood and many times over in silver. Three fine destriers have fallen, their faces eaten away by poisonous emissions from the broken earth. To the harsh winds, two pack animals have succumbed, spitting blood onto the parched ground in their final moments.
Behind me, two days abandoned in this barren place, is a wagon with a broken axel. Now there is another that lies by the wayside, its frame crackling with fire as it sinks into the pool of molten rock that opened up beneath it.
I have watched, on three separate occasions, as men in my company betrayed the bonds of their professed friendship. Three times I watched as brotherhoods died in a spray of blood on the hot dirt, and the jingle of coins pocketed in envy. To those men, I said nothing.
A woman, rumored to be having an affair with one of the mercenaries I hired, dragged her lover by the hair to a pool of molten rock and pushed her in. To her, I also said nothing but for a single question. Why did she do it?
She explained that if she hadn't done it, her husband would find out about her infidelity, and that she would lose the light of her life. I thought it a strange thing to say for someone who was unfaithful, but I did not judge. Not that I believed it wasn't my place. Merely that it was beneath me.
There were those who tired of the journey. They tried to turn tail and run from us. I watched them as I watched the others. I said nothing to them as I said nothing to the others. But those who sought to flee I put down with my bow and arrow. It was for the better. This way, none of them would have to live with the shame of failing me.
Now we have arrived at last at our destination. I stand at the precipice of the Black Cauldron. I gaze out over its jagged black rock spires that ring around the base of the Mountain of Sin. I breathe gladly of the caustic wind and find myself intoxicated by the stinging brimstone of the Noðryn, the burning river that encircles the foothills.
None who have come before me have stayed longer than to give this place a name. I will press forward. No matter the cost. This is my journey. This is my expedition.
What lies beyond the broken walls of the Black Cauldron will be the discovery of my lifetime. It will be my legacy. And all the realms will ring with the song of my greatness.— Isen-et-Ilhar, Shardscape Explorer
Mount Bannorog, also known as the Mountain of Sin to many, is one of the many
Shardscape realms. Unlike the other realms, which are born from myths, legends, and the sincere beliefs of mortals, Mount Bannorog arises from a more cynical place. Mount Bannorog is begotten by mortals' most self-centered and self-serving impulses, and is colored by the worst that they see in one another. The fiery creatures that manifest from the burning river that winds around the foothills of the mountain are paranoid and faithless beasts, capable of only seeing the worst in others, ever-hungry for status, wealth, and power.
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