Expanded Horizons: Beyond the Blue

Secrets of Old

Cathareen wiped the sweat from her brow as she swung her pickaxe up onto her shoulder. The sweltering heat of the Barrier Canyons made it difficult to excavate here for even skilled archaeologists, so much so that few dared try coming here. It also wasn't helpful how many Ripper nests dotted the canyons. It did all help keep the chaos of Hase at bay, though.

Cathareen and her team had gotten word of potential Mohrnighan ruins in the area from rumors originating from a Hasean traveler escaping Covenant forces across the accepted border. While no official border existed, really, shortly after the river on the Freelands side, Lakesville and Crossroads worked together to create an understood line of differentiation with Althausen. In exchange for them not contesting the line, Lakesville and Crossroads provided necessary aid to Althausen citizens returning home and sent aid for the fight against the Covenant.

That was of little concern to scholars, though, so long as it did not interfere with their studies. The lack of warring cities helped them, so the League was all about it.

"Find anything?" Cathareen shouted out to anyone who could hear.

A chorus of "Nothing yet!"s rang out and she sighed her disappointment, dropped her axe, and trudged off to her tent. It was increasingly looking like the excavation would turn out to be a dead end at this point, with no sign of any Mohrnighan ruins anywhere. If they uncovered a cave, it would probably just be rippers that would kill them all.

She sipped her water and looked over their supplies. They still had still plenty left for another month of actual work, and then enough to head home on, but they were hoping to make better progress. Two months, wasted on finding nothing. At least she got back into working out, in a way.

"Cathy!"

Cathareen popped her head up and looked to the entrance to her tent as her close friend Regis ran in, panting and excited. Cathareen felt he heart start to race as he wheezed to catch his breath.

"We found something!"

"What? What is it?"

"An entranceway, pillars, come see!"

Regis led Cathareen out of her tent and down a long, winding path to the bottom of the dig site. At the bottom, she saw a distinct hole leading into the darkness of some caves below, but as she approached, she could clearly see glowing blue pillars in the dark cave hallway.

"By the Creator," she said breathlessly.

"We've got the gear ready," Regis said, pointing to several men gearing up to enter. "Ready to make history?"

"I was born for it."

Cathareen and her team geared up and rappelled into the cave before the entrance, looking around carefully with powerful flashlights before hitting the ground to check for monsters. They brought spell scrolls and weapons for it, but now that they were underground in ancient ruins, they had more than just Rippers to worry about.

Pales, Golems, Wiedergängers, and many more horrors awaited the unsuspecting adventurer seeking Mohrnighan ruins in remote areas of the world. Many of these ruins were discovered and documented, but were so dangerous they had yet to be explored. The league had tried to get the Eradicators in on it, but they knew better than to attack such places, and no military was willing to go instigating a fight with anything that related to essence magic unless for self-preservation.

The team touched down and established a perimeter, then advanced on the archway, checking for traps or alarms. Hidden ruins like these rarely had traps rigged up in any way like that, relying on staying hidden or natural hazards to keep intruders out. Given the area, Cathareen figured it must be free of any traps.