Staring at the giant beam of purple light that’s illuminating a path somewhere to the left of where I’m stood, it dawns on me the sheer scale of the dungeon ahead. Stone pillars and gantries stretch mazelike high into the ceiling. The walkways are suspended atop vast columns and are crumbling at the edges. Time has not been kind to this place and my mind wanders about what it would have looked like when first built, in all its glory.
Dropping down from where I’m stood onto the lower walkway, I head straight towards the crystal that stands in the center of the raised platform. I cannot see the source of the beam and foolishly decide to touch it without hesitation. After holding my breath, I’m still alive and unscathed. The light is curiously pointing towards an open doorway across a huge gap and I decide, alongside my merry men, to try to make my way to it.
Working my way back across the walkway, I see what would have once been crumbling stairs. Carefully climbing onto the ledge and shimmying my way slowly down, I manage to slither onto the eroded platform opposite the purple light. As I cling to the edge and jump forward, I’m finally on the platform where the light pointed and where it now ends.
“Have you seen a path?” I ask a friend who has just stepped onto the platform beside me.
“There’s this tunnel, or we could jump down?” he responds.
Looking down the tunnel, the gargoyle faces that are waist height scream “trap!” and I’m reluctant to venture there first. Based on the light having pointed in this direction and because we are the only ones here, I decide to take a risk and head down the tunnel anyway instead of combing the dungeon floor.
Tentatively stepping forwards in front of a gargoyle, it lies dormant. Suspecting the worst, I take a second step in front of another, only to find that too offers no surprises.
“Phew” I say with a sigh of relief. My friend laughs and moves past me, running towards the end of the tunnel.
“Dead end?” he says, sounding surprised.
“Really?”
“Yeah, there’s nothing here”.
“We must have missed something”
Turning around, I notice a crumbled part of the tunnel wall is large enough for me to climb through. Stepping out, I land on a raised stone plinth that’s toppled to create a path and only big enough for one at a time. Carefully walking across, we find a fresh path that leads further to the east.
Stone walls lined with torches that tower above us line our path as we reach three small stepping stones that lead to the opposite side.
“You first?” my friend asks as I look down into the deep water beneath.
With a tentative step, I leap forward.
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