Discovering a Red Portal dungeon set dead center of a small garden cloister within the Abbey of Twilight didn’t vex me as much as one might be led to believe it would. My self confidence had grown after my success in Goodlabor. I had tools at my disposal and the favor of many Gods. Discovering the second dungeon portal vexed me some. Then when I discovered the third Dungeon portal it solidified that I was in way over my head.

  Great Ord, my fate is to suffer. Either that or I am being punished for some transgression from my previous life.

  There had been no way to descend down to the Red Portal from the hallway, so I passed through it and found some steps leading down to a set of doors which opened into the library.

  What an impressive library it was, or it might have been had books not been scattered about and a large pile of tomes not been stacked into a mound atop which a Blue Portal floated. I stood and just stared at it for a minute, then silently approached it until a notification opened before me.

  The Revelations of Cel

  WARNING! This Dungeon requires a minimum of [1] to a maximum of [4] to complete.

  Lore: The flows of mana have been altered and a dark ritual works to unseal Forbidden Knowledge.

  Lore Sight has Advanced to Tier VI ! Additional Lore available!

  Advanced Lore: Dungeon Rank: INTERMEDIATE. This dungeon will be classified as Persistent until Dungeon Core is removed. WARNING! This dungeon in {6 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes} will begin to decay and Dungeon Core evolves!

  I read over each bit of information twice, only barely registering that my Lore Sight had finally leveled up again. I didn’t know what it meant by the Dungeon Core evolving. They could do that? I circled around the book mound and it took me another several minutes to find another exit. The Abbey of Twilight had clearly been a place devoted to study as reflected by the size of its library.

  What a shame. Whatever ritual is taking place inside that Dungeon I don’t want to do it alone. What am I to do about that?

  Leaving the library behind I was outside once more, this time onto a cobblestone path that led to a small shack set beside another dead garden, but this one formerly used for herbs and other alchemical needs. I recognized wilted stalks of Pyrbuds, Mirabells and other plants one used in potion making. The garden had been simple, but by its neat rows I reasoned it had been well cared for at one point.

  I peeked inside the shack and saw other alchemical implements set upon shelves and a table. A cold fireplace with a black cauldron waiting to be used. More wilted herbs hanging on drying racks. Books and scrolls waiting to be referenced, yet the shack was empty of any life. I entered anyway, for I saw a few things sitting upon one shelf I wanted a closer look at.

  You have discovered a Garfle’s Potion of Clarity!

  You have discovered a Garfle’s Potion of Insolence!

  You have discovered a Garfle’s Potion of Owl’s Sight!

  Eagerly I picked up each potion and stored them in my Inventory after checking the lore of each one.

  Garfle’s Potion of Clarity

  Effect: +25 Wisdom

  Duration: 5 Minutes

  Lore: This mixture is oftentimes used for one of two reasons. First, for an increased mana regeneration or Second, for remembering higher ranked alchemical recipes without looking in the reference books.

  Advanced Lore: Garfle created this recipe after being scolded by Prior Sandoval for, yet again, forgetting to add saffron to his cough medicine.

  Garfle’s Potion of Insolence

  Effect: -25 Wisdom

  Secondary Effect: Sour Belches

  Duration: 5 Minutes

  Lore: This mixture was accidentally created when Sulmik was added to a combination of Tekweed and Farrowbark Moss.

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  Advanced Lore: Garfle accidentally created this while working on his Potion of Clarity. He used it once upon Prior Sandoval, which resulted in the Prior being given a strict penance by the Abbott for belching out of control during Matins.

  Garfle’s Potion of Owl’s Sight

  Effect: Grants Darkvision

  Duration: 1 hour

  Lore: This mixture will increase night vision to 25 yards and allow the user to spot movement even in heavy shadow.

  Advanced Lore: Garfle’s improvement upon the Owl’s Sight potion increases duration and range.

  Whomever Brother Garfle was he was clearly a talented Alchemist, if a bit of a prankster. I left everything else in the shack where it lay and followed the cobblestone path to where it circled around towards the Abbey graveyard. I wanted to glean what information I could from the Red Dungeon portal there before I continued to search for Curmlough.

  What will I do if the Dungeon is too difficult to defeat alone? Should I try to do it anyway or do I return to the Satyrs? I’m not sure taking any of them into a Dungeon would be a good idea, Gor forgive me.

  “‘It was during the Feast of Tars Poro when Ord set his blade down and undid the straps of his breastplate to let it fall onto the dirt that he then turned to his most trusted companions and spoketh thus: Now do I feel strength! Now do I feel victory within our grasp! That which is Evil and seeks to dominate us forevermore shall tremble at our coming. We are One! No single blade, not even my own, can alone defeat that which we face. Nay, strength lies in a shieldwall! A phalanx! An unbreakable chain of individuals united by an ideal of freedom!’ Fourth Gospel of Ord, Verse 34, Paragraph 1.” I recited to myself. As always, Ord’s Gospels brought me comfort, clarity and insight. I couldn’t do this alone, but I would find help.

  There must be other monks here somewhere! Where did they all go? Surely they wouldn’t have entered the dungeons? Yet, if they were storing Dungeon Cores in their vault, how would they have activated?

  Dungeon Cores formed Dungeons, just as the Sun and the rain grew crops. They were tiny holes in subspace. Gateways to other places and as I had recently learned, even to other times. Yet, the Dungeon where I had met Amara had been Unique and hadn’t possessed a colored portal. I suspected the Shard of Ara may have had something to do with this. It was a similar situation with the Monk’s Cell Challenge I had located in Goodlabor. Had the Shards of Ara evolved into some form of Dungeon Core? Or was there some other connection between the shards and typical cores? It was disconcerting to think I had absorbed something that could potentially create a Dungeon inside of me.

  There was a Shard of Ara somewhere within the Abbey of Twilight, this I knew for a fact by the Quest I had been given. So, it stood to reason that I might find the Shard within one of the two Dungeons I had found. Correction, make that three Dungeons.

  I located the Green Portal when I found a burnt out building that still reeked of wood smoke and ashes. The stone foundations still stood, but when I poked my head in, my nose covered I saw that it was a destroyed Scriptorium. The portal sat dead center, still surrounded by glowing red coals as if the fire had only just burned itself out. Magic was causing the coals to still burn however. I could feel it in the air.

  The Haunted Scriptorium

  This Dungeon is for [1] to a maximum of [3].

  Lore: A forbidden book from pre-Ord times was translated and illuminated by a talented Illuminator. What he awoke began a chain reaction of events which led to the Abbey of Twilight’s current predicament.

  Advanced Lore: Dungeon Rank: NOVICE. This dungeon will be classified as Persistent until Dungeon Core is removed. WARNING! This dungeon in {6 days, 18 hours, 14 minutes} will begin to decay and Dungeon Core evolves! Current location of Purgos Server Script {Us4t3ks} for Sector AB67X is unknown. File Corrupted!

  I sat myself down just outside the shell of the building and sighed. I puzzled over the notifications about the Dungeon paying extra attention to the Advanced Lore that held words recognizable from my previous life. Whether it was from my advancements in Intelligence, Wisdom or just from my experiences so far, I deduced that what had happened to the Abbey of Twilight had something to do with the Purgatorium Mystics and their strange connections to my previous life and the Gods of Aramyr. Whatever this poor monk who had illuminated the book had done, I doubted he had done so purposely.

  Be that as it may, I can at least enter this portal on my own.

  The path to the Red Portal was simple to find from there. I kept to the path, passed through an unlocked gate and strode through the graveyard without examining any of the grave markers and approached the portal. It was just outside of an elaborate tomb, which I ignored for the moment so that I might examine the dungeon’s information.

  Hadaeon’s Descent

  This Dungeon is for a minimum of [2] to a maximum of [5].

  Lore: An Infernal Champion seeks the means to further his ambition.

  Advanced Lore: This dungeon will be classified as Persistent until Dungeon Core is removed. WARNING! This dungeon in {6 days, 18 hours, 8 minutes} will begin to decay and Dungeon Core evolves! {Lore Sight Tier Insufficient for further information}

  I felt my blood run cold over what my lore revealed. Infernals! I had faced them together with Amara, the Elven Warrior from another time. That this dungeon was meant for a full party amplified my frustration tenfold. That it was called ‘Hadaeon’ like the Fel Shard I had encountered pushed me to the edge. The connection could not be a coincidence.

  “What do I do now? Ord’s Mercy, I need help!” But where to find it?

  Okay, calm down. You have two choices. One, find Curmlough then ask the Satyrs for help. Or Two, enter the Green Dungeon and hope for the best. Or…wait a moment!

  There was another option. A risky one. One that I would not have considered possible until I had received the special Gold node as a reward. Divine Intervention. By locating the Abbey of Twilight I had received a large boost from both the Light and Shadow Pantheons. I should have enough Faction with some of the Gods to be in their Tier III and therefore able to summon one of the Gods for their aid. Oh, how I needed it now!

  I let out a breath and turned about to return to the Haunted Scriptorium and opened up my Faction tab under my Status.

  Faction

  Mir: 350

  Wik: 300

  Eui: 105

  Pyr: 25

  Una: 25

  Aqa: 25

  Qas: 275

  Sul: 300

  Tek: 305

  Hul: 235

  Gor: -125

  Cel: 285

  Ord: NA

  With the notable exception of Gor along with three of the Elemental Powers I was now in at least Tier II with most of the Gods. For Tier III, it was Mir, Wik, Sul and Tek. Two Gods of Light and two of Shadow.

  Alright then. So, whom do I ask for help?