These are dark times.
Nobody says it outright, but if you look and listen carefully enough you can hear it in the voices of the people of 'the Delve.' It's in the bearing of the refugees who fled the keep of Baron Dol'Shan while he and his warband bought time with their blood, the voices of the gnomes who ceded land amidst the ruins of Cendril's Delve to those same refugees, or the tales of the stragglers and rare travelers who braved the hostile wilds.
Travel is no longer safe; monsters roam the roads and countryside even during the day, and what comes out at night is even worse. Most cities and many of the towns have fallen to the hordes of gralloc and other fell creatures that swarmed the lands. The temples have fallen, and while the servants of the Light live, their strongholds are broken. Of the various martial orders there has been no word, though it is whispered that every last one of the Oathsworn was with High Queen Marithen when she fell in battle against the maelkin. There are even rumors that there are settlements being built where various 'people' openly worship and serve the Dark!
"The Delve is protected," the council states in response to the rumors
and news, "Dama Theris' sacrifice saw to that." But even if the priestess's
dying blessing does shelter the Delve, how long can it hold out if the
rest of the land is under the sway of the gralloc? "No sense in stirring
up fear in folks" is the hearth circle's terse response to the troubles
outside. And as for the gnomes, who live in the hills around the
Delve, they are a helpful, cheerful, but largely private people; who knows
what they really think about anything? Maybe Cendril's Delve really is
safe, but for how long? While few are willing to admit it, everyone
holds the same question in their hearts, and fears the answer.
Who will stand against the tide of darkness?
