292

The morning sky is filled with brooding clouds and the surrounding granite peaks appear hostile and unforgiving, but you draw some comfort from the fact that the rain has ceased and you are able to ride this ancient mountain trail with little difficulty. It is nearing midday when you catch your first glimpse of the wastelands that lie to the east, far beyond the Dammerdon Range. These are the Doomlands of Naaros and your heart fills with dread when you recall something of what you learned about this region during your teachings at the Kai Monastery.

This vast wasteland of dust and ash was formerly the seat of power of the greatest, most evil being who ever ruled Magnamund—Agarash the Damned. At its centre there once stood his mighty fortress-city of Naaros; now all that remains is a titanic chasm of molten lava and heat-fused rock. Ten millennia ago, the gods Ishir and Kai sent forth the magical Elder Magi to challenge the rule of Agarash, and they undertook a daring assault upon Naaros and its fell inhabitants, the Agarashi—the Creatures of Darkness. This attack precipitated a war which lasted a thousand years and culminated in the destruction of Agarash and his accursed empire. Once there were many cities and fortresses in the Doomlands; now there are none.

As you continue along the trail you pass several waystones that are set into the ground at regular intervals. They are not ancient stones for they each bear the symbol of Sejanoz, and your Kai senses detect that these carvings are no more than a decade old. Karvas suspects that Sejanoz has had them placed here as a form of homage to the memory of Agarash. Throughout Southern Magnamund it is rumoured that the spirit of Agarash lives on, imprisoned within the molten ruins of Naaros.

If you possess Grand Pathsmanship and have attained the rank of Kai Grand Sentinel, turn to 348.

If you do not possess this skill, or if you have yet to attain this level of Kai Mastery, turn to 238.