Things that chill and frighten in the Corners of Khorvaire.
Imagine this if you will, dear readers. The Lightning Rail arrives in Irontown and you disembark. The sun hangs low in the sky as dusk begins to fall over the town. You make your way to an inn on the shore of Lake Dark as cold northern winds bite against your skin even in the middle of summer. Tense quietude hangs in the air as you take your dinner in your room.
The sun sets and night falls.
You gaze out of the window at the darkness of the waters as you try to write. A note to your parents? An affectionate letter to a friend? The words won't come out of the pen and onto the paper as you cannot banish the thought of that dark water lapping at the shore outside your window. So there you stand, staring out into the night trying to pin down precisely what is bothering you.
The fog rolls in across the lake.
Suddenly the dread and anxiety that you've worked so hard to keep at bay tingles up your spine as you remember that fateful day when the Mists appeared, changing the world...your world...forever.
A dozen rumors about this place fly through your head as your chest tightens. Is the darkness and fog outside your window just a night on a lake, or is it something more malevolent? You lean in close to the glass and your breath makes it fog up. Is there something out there? A presence? You close your eyes as your heart pounds and your ears ring as you try to hold back all those memories of that one day not so long ago. Your breathing becomes sharp, quick, and shallow as the darkness seems to creep into the room itself. Is it coming from outside, or is the Light you called into the room flickering because you're losing...your...concentration?
You awake with a start. It is dawn. Luckily, you fell backwards onto the bed and not the floor. Hurriedly, you gather your effects and dump a handful of coins on the side table as you rush from the room. Neither running nor walking, but some frantic pace in between, you make your way to the station and into a railcar. Silently, you wish you could urge the elemental to life yourself and quit this harrowing place.
Underway, the Lake shrinks in the distance and you breathe a sigh of relief as you return...
...to the Corners of Khorvaire.
Genbo Santor d'Sivis.
