[size=14pt]Prologue [/size]...
Four weeks ago, the Talenthal Overland Trade and Supply Caravan headed for Travance Proper, entered the Rift at Altrion’s side of the Rift Gate and was not heard from again. Led by Captain Samual Delvard, the caravan was pushed off course from an uncharacteristic threat from an indigenous rift worm. One wrong turn during a flight for the caravan's safety was all it took to irreversibly cause the caravan to get deeper and deeper lost in the depths of the Rift.
Days turned into weeks and soon the caravan was running out of food supplies to sustain itself. Members of the caravan group began to go missing amid uneasily whispered rumors of cannibalism, as some of its less savory members seemed somehow less famished.
After a few incredibly odd encounters, the caravan was attacked by a large force of dark robed assailants. The battle was chaotic and bloody and a thick mist filled the caverns so badly that the battle could not be seen, only heard.
An hour later the cavern was relatively quiet and the mist began to subside. The assailants had seemed to have fled but many of caravan's members were missing as well. Only between thirty to sixty of the original caravan members appeared to survive the encounter. While collecting their bearings they noticed that a strange floating light had appeared and was slowly floating its way out of the room. Hurriedly the caravan re-mounted and followed the mysterious light.
Many suspenseful days of this had passed until, to the joy and amazement of all, a greater light could be seen as an obvious exit into the rift emerged ahead. Cheers of salvation rung out in the caravans as they emerged into the open air for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. Hours later, though, their cheers of victory melted away into cautious concern as they realized they could not possibly have reached their intended destination. There was not a doubt among them that the town they rode into was not Travance Proper. Old, brittle, and dilapidated beyond repair, this place appeared to have been deserted long ago.
The town was as silent as death itself. Too silent, many thought, as even the woods seemed dried and poisoned as well. All that was heard was the crash of a single large rotting tree trunk collapsing to the ground in the nearby tree line… that is when the silence was finally broken. That is when the screams were first heard…
- James C. Kimball Director, Knight Realms
