The crater's slope was steeper than they had imagined. The four slowly slid down its walls, loose stones rolling beneath their feet and falling into the bottomless darkness below. The air smelled of ancient dust and cold, damp rock, as though a long-sealed tomb had finally been breached.
After descending about a hundred meters, they suddenly found level ground beneath their feet. They stood in an enormous stone passage.
Glowing blue ore studded the walls on either side, its dim light barely illuminating the way ahead. Intricate carvings covered the stone-stars, moons, strange geometric symbols, and countless humanoid beings in robes, carrying longswords. But many of the carvings had been damaged, worn indistinct by time.
"Is this..." Blaidd looked around, his wolf ears twitching slightly. "The Eternal City?"
"Just an entrance passage." Tarnished lifted his chin. "The actual city is farther down."
They continued onward. At the end of the passage, the view suddenly opened up. All four stopped, struck speechless by the sight before them.
An underground space stretched before them, so vast it made their heads spin. They stood on a jutting rock ledge, and below them-at the bottom of a ravine hundreds of meters deep-stood an entire city.
Nokron, the Eternal City.
Its architecture was unlike that of any civilization aboveground. Soaring spires were built from black stone, their surfaces smooth as mirrors, reflecting a faint blue glow even this far underground. Curving arched bridges linked the buildings, their spans impossibly slender, suspended like spider silk in the immense cavern.
Countless luminous crystals studded the rock overhead, as though the entire starry sky had been brought underground. They glittered brilliantly, casting shifting patches of light.
But a shadow of ruin hung over it all.
Many buildings had collapsed. Stone spires leaned at odd angles, some snapped clean