Exploration

"Easy, Igor. We're only here to scout for intelligence." Alger stroked the giant eagle's head soothingly. He then pulled out several spell scrolls and cast Conceal Form, Mask Aura, and Darkvision on both himself and Igor. "Let's go." Together, they slipped into the cavern, which was slick with viscous filth. Far from cramped, the place was remarkably vast. The entrance alone spanned nearly a hundred meters across, gaping like a dark, cavernous maw. Only because it was hidden by the surrounding, far grander peaks and buried in the deepest reaches of the Anstica Mountains had it remained unknown to the world. Centuries ago, it had actually been known as the "Mouth of Anstica," though records of it had been lost to the passage of time. Alger and the giant eagle flew inside, taking a full half hour just to navigate the winding, elongated tunnel before finally penetrating the cavern's depths. Deep within, the corruption of the Abyss was even more blatant. The rock walls were riddled with pitted erosion and lined with twisted, mangled corpses that no longer resembled anything human. Virulent spores drifted in the dark corners. The most chaotic brand of evil was on full display here; it had become an unmistakable den of demons. Demons dwelled within—incarnations of chaos and evil, or more accurately, fonts of destruction crammed into massive, grotesque forms. Incapable of pity, sympathy, or mercy, they existed solely to destroy. As extensions of its primal chaos, the Abyss spontaneously birthed these demons from filth and slaughter. Notorious breeds of demons such as barlguras, chasmes, and vrocks crowded the space. Some gnawed on the scattered corpses on the ground, while others brawled and tore at one another. A few were even arranging severed remains into bizarre configurations. Deep inside the cavern, seated upon a throne of pitted, jet-black stone, sat an enormous giant. Even seated, he stood nearly ten meters tall. Though he still retained the basic outline of a giant, his ebony, battered skin, muddy yellow tusks, and deep-set eyes flickering with chaotic flames unmistakably marked him as an abyssal-corrupted fiendish creature. As if catching sight of something, the corrupted giant flashed a savage grin and parted his jaws. "Who's there?" "The red dragon's lapdog?" His grin stretched from ear to ear, but boundless fury suddenly flared in his eyes, twisting his hideous face into a mask of rage. "Who permitted you to trespass on my domain?!" "I am no longer who I once was!" "Even that red dragon will have his neck snapped and be torn to shreds by my hands!" His agitation boiled over until he was practically roaring. The corrupted giant shot to his feet, shaking the very earth beneath him and dislodging loose stones from the cavern ceiling. As if spotting prey, the surrounding demons swarmed inward in unison, unleashing manic shrieks and howls. Alger's face drained of color. He leaped onto the giant eagle's back. "Not good—we've been spotted! "Get us out of here!" Fortunately, the cavern's interior was vast enough. Aided by Darkvision, Alger weaved and banked through the open space, dodging one demon attack after another as he dashed toward the long tunnel, flying almost flush against the ground the entire way. "Igor!" Relying on superb riding skills and more than a decade of unspoken coordination, Alger executed sharp turns, sudden shifts, and even barrel rolls barely inches off the stone floor. Behind them, a toad-like demon spat a stream of corrosive fluid. Without even turning his head, Alger leaned slightly aside on pure survival instinct, narrowly evading the lethal spray. A suffocating darkness expanded rapidly in their wake. If the power of the Abyss took hold of them, they would never make it out alive. "Go!" Alger gritted out. Tucking its wings tight, the giant eagle skimmed over the ground at blinding speed. The exit was dead ahead. A few dozen meters was a distance it could cross in the blink of an eye. At the final moment, just as the abyssal force eroded several of the giant eagle's tail feathers and reached out to entwine its body, Alger and the beast burst through the opening and escaped the horrific demon lair. Alger looked back at the gaping cavern, catching his breath with lingering dread. "That was close." "We need to report this back immediately." A clear, piercing screech rang out as the giant eagle spread its wings and soared high into the sky. ... Back within the Mouth of Anstica—now a den of demons—the corrupted giant walked to the deepest recess of the cave. The area was covered in intricate runes and saturated with vile miasma. In the air hung a hovering prism that pulsed with an eerie light. With a look of fanatical devotion, the giant bowed his head and whispered toward the prism. "Lord Jezralslak... this should lure out the red dragon, right?" He was not talking to himself. A deep, chaotic voice echoed from the prism, like tremors rising from the deepest bowels of the earth. "Yes, Koman. Do you feel it? As long as you continue to accept this grand power from the Abyss, your revenge will be yours." "Come, embrace my gift and achieve your life's ascension!" The voice dripped with undisguised contempt. A blinding, yellowish-black light erupted from the prism. The corrupted giant spread his arms wide, receiving the bizarre abyssal power like a pious zealot. He let out an agonized roar as an armor-like black exoskeleton formed across his skin and fiendish horns pushed out from the crown of his head. When the energy finally receded, the corrupted giant broke into a grotesque grin, trembling with manic ecstasy. "Revenge..." "My... my revenge will succeed..." "Wait for me, Cassius... I'll tear your body to shreds, trample your kingdom into flat earth, and butcher every last one of your subjects!" Clutching the eye sockets that now leaked dark mist, he muttered obsessively. The giant was named Koman Everfrost. He had once belonged to the Everfrost Tribe—the son of Kasa the Bonebreaker, and the giant whom Elder Nur had viewed as their final hope. During the Battle of the Glacier's Fall, when he was still a child, he had been hidden in the most secluded corner, forced to watch helplessly as the dragon wiped out his entire clan with cataclysmic might, trembling in the shadows. Later, disguised among human crowds using a Ring of Polymorph, Koman followed Elder Nur's dying wish and traveled south to the Anstica Mountains to seek Kostchtchie, the legendary frost giant demon lord, in hopes of obtaining great power to avenge himself upon the red dragon. Yet he never found the giant lord. Instead, he encountered a mysterious entity who called himself the "Demon of Vengeance"—Jezralslak. In what seemed like a cruel jest of fate, he had picked up the tragic script that was meant for the original Cassius of this world. This last surviving frost giant had signed a pact with a demon, lying low deep within the mountains to quietly amass power and perfect the abyssal rift, biding his time for a chance to strike down the red dragon in revenge.