Erruk
From Almeopedia
Erruk (the name means “south castle”, Caď. Aer kruȟ) was built in 1628 by the Caďinorian emperor Ervëa, as part of a chain of fortifications spanning Eretald. It commanded the strategic confluence of the Eärdur and the Svetla, the two great rivers of the Plain, and faced the ancient city of Toťios.
As Caďinorian power declined during the Dark Years, Erruk was occupied by generals turned warlords. Sometime around 2450, it was sacked by the Western barbarians, who massacred all of the defenders. Thereafter it was abandoned, considered cursed by the violence of its fall.
In the 2700s a band of wizards occupied the castle. As the wizards delved deep into the ruins, the castle aboveground fell slowly into ruin; dust and debris covered the still-visible skeletons and swords of its last defenders.
After the rise of Verduria, the lords and kings occupied the ruins more than once, but they never stayed long, nor penetrated far into its dungeons. It seemed of little importance, and there were always other castles to guard the realm. There was no sign of the wizards or of their fate, for good or ill.
Today Erruk lies in ruins, and Toťios as well. The ruins are picturesque, and the nearby village of Ďunseli does a brisque business in lodging, art supplies, blank ledgers for writing down poetic impressions, etc.
What lies in the dark cellars, dungeons, and caverns (many excavated by unknown hands or claws long after the ruin of the castle above) below Erruk? The treasure of the Caďinorian emperors, hid against the incursions of barbarians? Trinkets and coins lost through the centuries, or hidden away by treasure hunters, themselves perhaps now but skeletons adding to the subterranean gloom, their hoard availing them nought against the final despoiler, death? Monsters, nameless horrors, and the dread darkness of forgotten elder gods? Or is it, as some say, merely a pile of ruins, and the ruin of many an adventurer's reason?
- A shout out to Chris Vargas, whose dungeon— which became Erruk— was the start of the whole world of Almea.
You are standing at a half-buried entrance to the dungeons. What do you do?
