“Look at these Hezekiah! I have never seen ruins this old! And in such immaculate condition!” As he slowly lowers in through the maw of the cavern, dangling from an old and dusty length of rope the soft light filtering through the dust. Hezekiah cannot help but feel a sense of wonder for the room he has just entered is the most magnificent sight he has ever seen. The slight curvature of the walls as they lead up to a domed ceiling creating a simple egg shape that somehow perfectly captures the light coming in through the hole in the ceiling. Every inch covered with the scrolling lettering of some language he’s never seen before. Even though he is unable to read the words the lettering is incredibly beautiful and yet simple as if it is the purest essence of language itself. In the center of the room stands a simple pedestal with an old tome of a book lying on top of it. A tome is the only way to describe it; it’s massive and ancient with the same beautiful lettering carved into the leather surface. “Hezekiah!” his partner’s second call finally breaks Hezekiah from his trance her shill voice seeming unfit for this place. “yes, yes I see it, It’s amazing isn't it?” even his own voice feels wrong, foreign, there is something about this room that feels like it is real more real than he is. As he reaches the bottom and his foot lands softly against the carved stone Hezekiah suddenly loses the previous feeling of being false and it’s replaced by an extreme sense of belonging of existing even, as if coming into contact with this room has somehow made him real. “Alisha, what is this language? You’re the linguist.” His voice is just barely above a whisper and it takes a moment for his partner to respond. “I have no idea, I have never seen anything like it, it’s amazing.” As she says this Alisha begins to slowly extend her hand toward the carved text as if to caress it. “Wait!” Alisha pulls back at the sudden call, startled. “What?! You scared the crap out of me.” “Look around don’t you notice anything strange?” “Well of course this whole room is strange.“ “No, it’s more than that look closer.” After a slight pause Alisha’s eyes sparkle and she responds. “There’s no dust.” “Exactly, aside from the rubble where we broke through this entire room is clean, sterile even. How is that possible?” After looking around with growing amazement Alisha turns towards her partner. “I don’t know, it must mean that this room was perfectly sealed, air tight. But how can that be? it’s obviously ancient it’s probably older than Stonehenge. It definitely predates written language and yet.” “And yet this is obviously a language of some kind, there is even a book.” With that Hezekiah reaches out a gloved hand to open the strange tome but just as the very tip of his finger brushes the leather the center of the room erupts into a flash of light blinding both archaeologists whose eyes had grown used to the dim light. “What the hell was that?!” Alisha grumbles as she stands up after falling over in surprise. “Hezekiah...” she looks up to find Hezekiah staring in frozen wonderment at the pedestal where the book lies open a beam of light emanating from the pages. As her eyes adjust to the new bright light source she sees that it isn't a beam but a figure, the torso of a grizzled old man. The man is holding what looks to be the same book in one hand and a small pouch in the other. “Is it a hologram?” Alisha whispers. “I don’t know...” Hezekiah starts to answer when a booming voice enters the room seeming to come from every direction at once. “Listen well humans!, this is but an image, when you witness this I will be long dead.” Alisha leans towards Hezekiah and whispers in his ear. “Why is it speaking English?” Hezekiah shrugs still entranced by the vision before him. “I have configured this image to translate into your native language upon physical contact along with the glyphs and the tome so that whoever finds this place may utilize them." Startled at this news the two quickly glance around and sure enough the lettering on the wall is now entirely in English as well as the pages of the book in front of them. “You will need their instructions if you are to succeed. Rejoice for you are now the chosen heroes of mankind. By entering this room and touching the book you have been chosen to bring back what has been stolen… magic and all that comes with it.” “Did he just say magic?” Alisha is again whispering albeit a little more excitedly this time. Again Hezekiah is too entranced to respond. “Beneath the tome you will find these." the figure opens the small pouch and pulls out a ring that even made of light seems to glow with power. "If you wear these rings you will be granted magical power, you will need to learn to use this power to fight those who would oppose you. The tome will teach you everything you need to know and as for the lettering on the walls these are instructions and it is imperative that you follow them precisely. If you do so you will once again bring magic into your cursed world. But you must hurry for the opening of this chamber has awoken him who has stolen our magic he will undoubtedly be sending his minions to make sure it remains his alone. You must quickly take the book and the rings. Read and memorize the instructions then begin your journey. I recommend you destroy this place it will give you a head start against his minions.” Then as suddenly as it appeared the figure vanishes, the two archaeologist stare at each other dumbfounded “What should we do?” Alisha finally manages to ask. Hezekiah thinking quickly snatches up the tome and the pouch that was hidden beneath it. “Quick take pictures of everything on the walls make sure you don’t miss anything. We are going to do as the man says. When you finish come up and drop the whole bundle of mining explosives in through the top then I guess we better read our instructions.” Alisha still slightly dazed obliges anyways and starts meticulously photographing the writing on the walls. Hezekiah begins his ascent out of the cavern with a growing excitement. He was made for this day. At the same time in another sealed room, this one much darker and buried somewhere miles below the crust of the earth floating in the molten rock of the earth’s mantle, a voice stirs. “Master, Master.” A shape begins to rustle in the corner of the room with a crack and a hiss; tendrils of darkness itself begin to snake along the cracked obsidian floor that is glowing softly with the heat of the molten rock around it. As the shape slowly rises stretching to a height of almost nine feet, A much greater and more evil voice begins to speak. “What is it underling, why have you awoken me?” The voice reaches out as if to strangle the second more timid voice with its sound alone. “Th-th- the seal has been broken master, s-s-someone has found the wizards bastion.” “What did you say maggot?! How long I have been in slumber?” The sudden boom of the voice is almost knocking the timid goblin like creature off its feet. “O-over one full cycle m-m-master. “ When the timid creature starts to slowly slink away a gnarled clawed hand shoots out from the dark shape and grabs the miserable thing by the throat instantly snapping it’s spine. “One cycle!? I must say I am surprised it took them this long, but no matter I will slaughter them all just as I did that miserable pile of meat they once called a great wizard. I almost pity those wretched wizards, when will they learn?”