A Dream

You are in a small grove, isolated by the thick forest encircling it. There is a feeling of peace here, but also of a looming danger. There is a figure at the other end of the grove, dressed in tattered clothing. Its back is turned to you, but not for long as your approach is noticed. The figure turns, it is a woman with pale skin and silver horns similar to a ram’s protruding from her temples. She is tall, over 6 feet and her eyes are like pools of mercury - no iris or pupils visible. She looks surprised.

“You,” she says in a voice that sounds rough from disuse, “How did you come to be here?”

Before you can voice a reply, though, her head tilts to one side and she seems to notice something. Suddenly the spear is in your hand.

“Karavic. It has come to you. I do not smell the stench of murder upon you. My guardians have chosen then. I am glad. I do not have much time or power left. It is getting harder for me to reach even this place.”

A pool appears at your feet, or perhaps it was always there and you hadn’t noticed it. The water swirls and coalesces into a picture. A ruined building, though even when it was whole it probably was never beautiful. Crumbling statues glare their odious intent at the world, and even the angles of the walls seem somehow malicious.. The ground around the place is barren, cracked and desolate. Nothing has grown there in centuries.

“It is here you must go. There is more at stake than you know…”

She tries to go on, but suddenly doubles over in pain. Her eyes flash from silver to red and her teeth grow into long needle-like fangs. She hisses at something in the distance, and forces out a few choked words before disappearing completely.

“Passage… of Dzurac…”

You wake up in a cold sweat. The spear has somehow found its way into your hand.