The group took a beat to process this new information that Gerald casually dropped. The idea that the Rupturing, a world shaping, civilization ending event that defined generation after generation since it happened had been caused by a person was… jarring, to say the least. Even more so because it was laid at the feet of a ubiquitous boogeyman, the Demon Lord.
Will was first to break the silence. “The Demon Lord? You mean, the same Demon Lord that kids tell stories about over the fire at night? The one that has an army of Abyssal fiends at their command, stalking the night to spirit people away?” He shared a shocked look with the others. “I… Thought that they were just some kind of fairy tale. Are you telling us that there is some kind of, what, commanding force, just waiting to take control of the Abyss, the Domains, and wage war on civilization again?” His voice trembled a little at the idea.
Gerald held his hands up, chuckling. “Hah, no, not that I know of. That,” he said, pointing at them, “would be terrifying. No, the Demon Lord is… both more and less frightening, I would say,” he did say, tilting his hand back and forth. “Less frightening because, to the best of our knowledge, they are long out of this world. More frightening because there is clear evidence that they were once a living, breathing human, powerful enough to begin a chain of events that changed the entire world. All on their own.” He stroked his chin. “Now, I know most people have a hard time understanding the relative strength of magic users when they can’t use magic themselves. Being a mage myself, and having spent time around many during my time at the Archives, I have a bit of insight on the subject. Prior to the Rupturing, mana was less abundant in our realm. People were weaker, crops less hardy, monsters far less common. During this era, users of magic, those capable of consciously manipulating mana outside of their bodies, were rare, and even a small spark of magic could make one uncontested in a match of power. In this era of relative weakness, where technological innovation was more valued than magical innovation, the Demon Lord made their first appearance. In their time, they were known as a mage of unprecedented power, capable of facing off against a country alone and winning. From the surviving records we have, most suspected that they had sold their soul in some kind of deal for power, but we know better now. Then, as now, there are really only a few ways for a person to get more powerful; acquiring some manner of relic, or directly taking in vast amounts of mana.”
Annette looked thoughtful. “So… You’re saying that the Demon Lord… Went to the Abyss?”
He nodded. “Indeed I am.”
“But… How?” Annette asked. “I know that there are entrances to get there all over the world now, with the Ruptures, but how could they have gotten there before? If the Abyss was where they got their power, surely they wouldn’t have had the strength to just punch through the fabric of our world to get there in the first place.”
“Oh, definitely not. No, there were already a few openings to the Abyss long before then, though they were barely more than rumors, from what we can tell. Tales from miners or explorers gone too deep underground, hellish sounds and sights, stories of nightmares spotted passing out at sea, monstrous eyes peering back out of a storm swell. Our best guess is that they found one of these places, soaked up as much power as they could, and then stepped on the world stage one day. Then, boom- Rupturing.”
Annette let out a long breath, shaking her head. “I… Don’t know if it was best to hear all this right before we’re set to step into a Domain. That is a lot to process.”
Will tilted his head, hand on his chin. “It is, it definitely is… On the other hand,” he said, starting to smirk, “It gives me some ideas,” he turned, looking off towards the center of the city. At the Rupture. “Do you think-”
“NO”
He didn’t even have time to finish his thought before the group cut him off. He looked at them sheepishly. “Aw, come on, guys, I was joking. I mean, it would be nice to get that kind of power, but it sounds like people have tried that before. Besides,” he said, “We’ve already got a challenging mission ahead of us.”
He turned serious, looking at the sky. “Speaking of, we should probably start heading out. We don’t want to spend too long dallying near so many Domains.”
Annette pointed at him. “Now that is a sensible idea, Mr. Party Leader,” she said, with a joking lilt on the title.
He rolled his eyes, pulling out the map they got from the guild. He looked at it, comparing landmarks around them to identify their location. “Alright, so from here, we should head… This way.”
-=-<^>-=-
A little later, they stood in a plaza, cracked and weathered flagstones under their feet, a pattern of gradated stones now barely visible with the passage of time. They stood in the center of the plaza, with a streets leading off behind them and to either side. Most of the damage they could see from where they stood was confined to buildings on the left, many of them looking like something had fallen on them, caving the roofs in and collapsing walls wholesale. To their right, any damage was more limited in scope, scratches and chunks out of walls, scorches and remains of combatants littered about. Ahead of them was the Domain.
They were taking a moment before heading in, looking around, and double checking they all had their kits in order. Gerald was pointing out buildings to Nina. “Look at that one there, with those shattered wood poles out front. I bet that used to be a cafe or a restaurant, outdoor seating, awnings to keep the sun off, the works.” He turned, pointing at a building near that one, “This one might have been an inn. It’s got more stories than the neighbors, and you see that alley next to it? I’d bet dinner there used to be a stable down there. And,” he said, looking down one of the main streets, “I can see the remains of some stalls down this street. Looks like it would have been an open air market, maybe some grocers in the buildings on the side.” He nodded as he looked around, hands on hips. “This place must have been packed when people lived here.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Nina looked on with eyes wide, awestruck. “Are there places like this now? I haven’t been anywhere like this before!”
He nodded. “Oh, there sure are, kid. When we’re done with Gran, I’ll take you to see some cities. This used to be a human city, so those will be the most similar, but we don’t have anything quite this big anymore.” He nodded toward the others. “But let’s focus on this for now. Come on.”
They walked back toward Will and Annette, both finished reviewing their packs and equipment. Will looked at the group, making eye contact with each member. “Is everyone set and ready?” Everyone nodded back to him. “Okay then.” He turned to face the remaining side of the plaza, where the Domain lay. “Let’s get moving.”
They started walking toward a private street, once gated off, the gates now long rusted, bent and beaten out of the way. At the end of this drive sat a massive building, a veritable mansion set within the greater city. It was incongruous with its surroundings, to say the least. In a city that had been wracked by magical anomalies and creatures centuries ago, with destruction and degradation clear, this lone mansion stood out from its peers intact. Intact and, indeed, nearly pristine. The facade of the building and the surrounding stones were still vibrant, the earthy tones favored in the region clear, hues of brown and red combining in the majority of the presentation, along with decorative stucco elements. They saw all this through a sheen, a thin membrane situated between them and the grounds of the mansion. The Domain.
They didn’t stop, and walked through the bubble, leaving a light rippling in the membrane behind them. As they walked up to the large double doors at the front of the building, Will ran through the pertinent information from the primer they had. “Most of the Abyssal creatures we’ll come across in here are either humanoid, or mimics in blending in with furniture or various household items. There is a ‘boss’ creature in the mansion, believed to be the original owner of the place, as all other creatures inside take orders from him. It is also believed that the Domain has largely inherited its’ intent from this boss. If we were intending to go through each of the rooms, you’d catch on pretty quick that the house likes to collect things. Luckily, we won’t need to go through most of those rooms. We have a fairly short list of rooms our destination could be.”
Nina looked up at the decorative facade, tilting her head quizzically. “‘It likes to collect things’? What does that mean? That we’ll find a lot of types of mimics in there?”
Will nodded. “Well, there’s that, sure. Apparently the Domain drops a higher than average amount of loot. Largely non-magical, but still plenty of interesting baubles that sell decently. The humanoids inside also tend to stop short of lethal damage, but…” He grimaced. “If you go down, they strip you of your items and take you into the basement, so that the Domain can absorb you when it closes.”
Annette turned to him, aghast. “That’s horrible!”
He nodded grimly. “I agree. The basement is its own challenge area. Fortunately, the guild usually mounts rescue operations before that can happen, so it still has a relatively low death count.” He shrugged, smirking, “though it sounds like some of the adventurers would have preferred that to losing all their stuff.”
They chuckled at that. “Alright. That’s all we know, and we don’t have to worry about most of that anyway. Let’s get moving.” With this, he pushed open the door, and they crossed the threshold together.
-=-<^>-=-
Some time later, they found themselves in a storage room, taking stock of their progress. Will and Gerald sitting on the floor, bent over a map, with Annette sitting nearby and Nina wandering the room, poking about.
Gerald pointed at the map. “...and this is where we are now. It looks like we’ve only got a few more rooms to check on this wing.” Will crossed out the room they were in on the map.
Annette peeked at the map from their small camp set, setting a steaming mug of tea beside her to steep. “I’ve been meaning to ask, why are we taking the time to search all of the extra rooms? I thought the tip we had said we’re looking for a bedroom?”
Gerald glanced over at her, an eyebrow slightly raised. “I take it you haven’t been in many Domains?”
She blushed a bit. “No. In my service to the church, I was never near a Domain. Also, leaders of the faith had… opinions about those who would delve in Domains.”
Will frowned, and Gerald just gave an understanding nod. “Well, can’t say I’m too surprised. It’s nothing to be ashamed about; just means we have to teach you some things. For example, in the tip we have, the party that originally came across the mirror found it in a bedroom, yes. However, something you have to keep in mind is that Domains aren’t static things. They shift around, and take on slightly different configurations over time. This is how you get ‘rare’ encounters in some places. One constant, though, is that the mirror was found in a side room, a so-called ‘extra room’. There aren’t any creatures here, but you can find some items or encounters if you’re lucky.”
She nodded. “Oh, I see. So, since it was found in an extra room once, it will always be in one.” Gerald nodded. “But what if this mirror is a rare encounter?”
Will spoke up, still looking at the map. “If it is, it is, and we can just run it again.” He glanced up at Nina, still putzing about, pulling sheets off furniture and looking in everything. “Not like we’ll have trouble with the damage she does.”
Annette leaned forward suddenly, talking in a hushed voice. “Right?! I mean, what’s up with that? She’s practically a kid still, and she moves like a professional, just swish swoosh around the enemies and then she stabs ‘em right in the back!” She said this with accompanying pantomime, jerking left and right, before thrusting with her teaspoon. “Gerald, you’ve known her for a while, right? How did she get so strong?”
Gerald just sighed, shaking his head. “It’s not my story to tell. Suffice it to say, she has an unfortunate amount of experience fighting humanoids.” He turned to look at her, gazing fondly as she peered intently at various knick-knacks before tossing them over her shoulder. “I just want her to have some time for other things in life.”
The others turned to look as well, considering. Nina moved along the row of cloth covered furniture, trailing her hand along them, until she suddenly stopped. Annette looked up, mixing honey into her tea. “Find something?” She just nodded, gripping the sheet in front of her and violently ripping it off of what it concealed.
In front of her was an ornate mirror. Easily five feet tall, the mirror was framed symmetrically, dark wood carved like waves or wind, curling around and crashing against each other along the centerline. She looked back at the rest of her party, a slightly shocked expression on her face. She glanced back at the mirror. The surface was clear and unmarred, the reflection perfect – Except for the fact that she wasn’t in it.
Annette looked down at her tea, finally finished. “...We don’t have to go right away, do we?”