Quoth the Raven

Arrival at the Tower

I find no exhileration of the flight northward, though I should count my blessings considering the fact that I recovered the use of my wings but days ago. They still feel stiff and disjointed, but suit my purposes... I no longer have the leisure to wait longer for answers. My shadow is cast hauntingly below me, trailing in wraithed flight across the valleys and peaks of the Veprezili range, scattering the skittish mountain goats at my passage. My thoughts are focused upon the forthcoming confrontation, oblivious to the devastation of the southern pole that my recent release of power formed.

Like a beacon, the dark Tower, draws me onward. A boil on the festering hinterlands of the realms, the abysmal spire lies nestled deep in the fetid corruption that is now Mindar Llyie. Once proud and powerful, the city of magic is now nothing more than ruins filled with assorted creatures of abomination. All owing to the ruination of Tower. Evil seeps from the roots of that dim place, befouling the land, contorting the natural, defying order... mocking me.

Hours pass as I traverse the length of Miden'nir, the night sky concealing my passage. The torches of the city of Kjeldoran greet me, yet I have no time, nor inclination to stop, I move on. Skirting the city walls I fly onward, to the northeast and my target.

It is midnight by the time I draw near the ruins, the worst of possible times to come, assuredly, considering who I am dealing with. Across the wreckage of Mindar I fly, the wind foul and caustic, licking at my face as I come within sight of the Undead Lord's Tower.

I alight in the courtyard, near a drinking well, the blood moon peering down upon me accusingly. I cautiously survey my surroundings, marking the locations of the garrison, the slave quarters, the piles of detritus and decay. The lunar light reveals an impression in the cobblestones, several strides wide and long. Curiously, I lean down to investigate, scratching at the rock with my talon. Someone was... crushed here, by something... humongous. I stand again, taking in the totality of the titanic boot impression at my feet.

Suddenly the light disappears. Not from the whole of the compound, but just directly about me... as if... as if something were casting a shadow over me from the light of the...

Swiftly I turn, talons extended and teeth grit, to come face to shin with the Dark Governess. "Typical." I berate myself.