[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/240111/5a2b7d72477b19034754cebb16f63c06.png[/img]
[hr]
[@Kazemitsu][@shadowsaint007][@Zeroth][@Eviledd1984]
[hr]
[img]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/e4/98/83/e49883713201caa455a50d25796a9261.jpg[/img]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUPN2bSBOOc[/center]
[hr]

	[i]Despite the disheveled roads and the eerie atmosphere surrounding you, the trip through the forest was going rather smoothly. 

	You take a deep breath, momentarily letting your guard down.  You still feel a sense of dread in the air, yet you see no signs of danger.  For once, your mind is at ease.  You decided whether or not you wished to partake in [color=8493ca][b]Chance's[/b][/color] little card game.  What could it hurt, you thought, or possibly you declined because of your religious obligations or simply because you had a mistrust of the dashing rogue and everyone around you.  

	The hulking thug Bert didn't make it much easier, scowling at you with ill contempt as the old carriage bumped along, the driver humming a rather upbeat folk song, perhaps to keep everyone's spirits lifted, including his.  After all, he too was in the throes of this hostile land.

	Alas, just as the game was getting good, the carriage suddenly stopped.

	[b]"Whoa!  Easy there!"[/b]  The driver calls to his two beasts of burden, the mules undoubtedly spooked by what lay before them.  Curious, you peeked your head out the window to see what the commotion was all about.  That was when your eyes beheld the village of Barille.

	Twas as if no one had lived in this village for ages, the shambled shacks and cottages withering away, the musky odor of rotten wood hanging upon the breeze.  Boards creaked and moaned, loose shutters banging in cold, howling winds that were akin...to the laments of the dead.  In the distance, the cracked and rusted bell of an abandoned chapel tolled mournfully along with the woeful cackles of a few passing ravens.

	The old man, from him you sensed his crippling fear ever growing...unmistakable terror towards whatever awaited four unlucky adventurers who dared to tread upon a land forever corrupted by the wicked and restless.  Slowly, he turned towards you, his voice trembling with hesitation, [b]"This is as far as I go, I'm afraid.  Ye'll just 'ave to travel on foot from here.  The next village isn't too far away, but be warned...old Barille is haunted.  The spirits do not take kindly to trespassers."[/b]

	[b]"Bah!"[/b]  Grumbled Bert with a hearty laugh and a slap on his knee.  [b]"Yer full of it, old man!  There's no such thing as ghosts!"[/b]  Crudely, the brute shoved his way past you and the others, unfortunately dragging poor [b][color=8493ca]Chance[/color][/b] along, [b]"C'mon ye wiley bastard!  Let's get a move on!  The sooner we get this over, the better!"[/b]

	Gradually, albeit with a hint of apprehension, you departed from the carriage as well, taking your first steps on the unhallowed grounds of the Dead Kingdom.  The realization had set in quick as a creeping chill inches up your spine, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand erect.  The old carriage driver issued a nod of farewell, and with a crack of his riding whip, ushered his mules to hastily turn the carriage around, thundering away down the winding forest trail until his carriage vanished into the fog.

	You were alone now, the four of you, left in a derelict hollow that was said to be haunted.

	This was the beginning of your journey...and quite possibly...

	...it could be your end.

	As you followed behind Bert trundling carelessly along, you noticed a stain on the ground.  The same stain was also spattered across the fronts of the dilapidated huts and market stalls...[color=ed1c24]blood[/color], dried patches of it everywhere.  Something incredibly awful had befallen this place.[/i]