The temple was once lavish and proud, towering over the lands just over a hundred years ago. Gargantuanatia was a Divine Being who loved enormous buildings and statues built in their honor. Everything had to be, well, gargantuan. The armor the God's warriors suited up in were ridiculous, far-too-heavy chunks of steel. Their blades were greatswords that only the strongest people of the land could carry, and even then they were still horribly made and not at all easy to use.

It wasn't until the city ruled by Gargantuanatia was buried by an enemy's army of wizards that the God learned how quickly the people of the mortal realm could think for themselves.

The God simply reveled in those who would worship them blindly and wear ridiculous outfits and do ridiculous things if it meant a promise for glory in the afterlife. One of many — one of all — Divine creatures who ruined lives and deserved to be taken down to a realm even below that of a mortal's.

Tyna Janar was going to send every God to the realm below the Underland, even below the nothingness that existed beneath that.

The halls were painted with the blood of dark beasts and mindless creatures who had lost themselves in the dark depths of the buried temple. The threats Tyna had faced through these halls only required one sword, which meant this was a breeze so far. Bony Goblins that tried to swarm her in teams of threes or fours were cut down in mere moments. Inky slime monsters crawling upon the walls were slain in a single slice. The ease of travel and combat certainly helped her ego, but she knew these beasts were weak and wild from malnourishment. Pity lingered for only moments. But she knew if she did nothing, they would gladly feast upon her without a second thought.

With her other hand, she held out her map of the area, squinting at its contents. It was, of course, an unfinished layout of the upper layers of this buried temple. Only the foolish and the brave were the ones to go any deeper. Tyna liked to think of herself as different — determined was a good way to put it, she thought.

She sat down for a moment, munching on a hunk of bread as she tried to position herself beneath sections displayed on the map. The more she traveled north, the closer she would get to the corner furthest away from what was once the entrance to this place. From what she had read and heard, that was where the throne room would be, the place where followers worshiped their strange God. In this Divine Temple, that room was rumored to be stacked with tomes that were penned by the God himself, teaching mortals how to worship it.

Her only wish was to not stumble upon the other rumored location here — the hoard of treasure guarded by the last living Redsmoke Dangerbear. Of course that was ridiculous to consider. But stranger things have happened to her.

As she pushed forward, the halls become quieter. Torches that were previously lit by humanoid creatures that retained some knowledge of fire and its warmth ceased to be and Tyna pulled a sconce from the wall at the end of a dark hall and lit it with a simple "setting things on fire" spell. She never knew how to pronounce Wizardspeak. The torch was hot and bright and she moved into the next room and from there down an ice-cold stairwell, even deeper beneath the dirt.

As she winded down, only seeing what was a good five feet in front of her, she found herself thinking of that Orc man from earlier. What his story was. Why he was there and what he needed to steal for. She wondered if he would beg for his life when she found him, or if he would be a confident thief who owned what he did unapologetically. Perhaps he would react violently and give her a good challenge.

At the very least, she would grab a drink with him, whether she wound up pummeling him for her stuff back or not.

Her thoughts were interrupted at the base of the stairs. A sudden sense of expanse made her shudder and the torchlight flickered from the dense chill. She extended her arm fully and walked a few steps forward, quickly realizing this was a wide open area. Pillars came into view as she walked. The vastness was sensitive to even the smallest of breaths and she stood tall, taking a loud, deep breath in opposition to it. Her breath hissed outward, bouncing off distant, unseen walls.

"Hello?" Tyna called out into the dark. She certainly couldn't hear anything alive down here. Perhaps everything above, still lingering and alive was too afraid to come down this way. Perhaps because it was too cold? Or maybe there was something else down here even more lost and violent than they were.

"Hey, Gargantuanatia, can you hear me? Any advice you can give me on finding this library of yours? Would love to be converted."

She played with fire every time she reached out to the Gods, even if they were long gone. Their presence still lingered the tiniest bit within the mortal realm, waiting for a spark to ignite it further. Tyna loved playing with fire, however. She got in trouble with it quite often as a kid. Some things just never change.

No answer from the lonely, abandoned God. "Hey, Gargantuanatia, are you just shy? Come on, you can talk to me." She had definitely gotten responses from Gods before. Many of them barely pay her any mind. Which was good, of course. Tyna loved it when people doubted her. "Give me a hint. A sign. A miracle perhaps?"

Her steps echoed and she saw a faint glimmer in the distance. The flame crackled and she could see her breath before it. "Can you tell me why your name is the dumbest of all the Gods? Like, none of them are as on the nose as yours is. We have Xestar. Artos. Kezotl. Ivenar, Soaldin, Xemella — I really like the ones that start with 'X' by the way, it's just so unique. Some pretty solid names. And then yours is just... ugh. So long. So hard to say and a pain to spell out."

She extended her arm and squinted to see what was glimmering.

"Can we just call you Garg for short? Pretty close to "Gag", isn't it? Isn't that funny, Garg?"

And then a whisper came to her, as if it slipped right off her ear and vanished as soon as it was spoken.

"You Are... A Most... Irritating Mortal..."

Tyna stopped and stared at the piles of gold coins at her feet. She held the torch out even further, gaping, scanning the mountain of gold. Gems. Chests spilling with treasure.

"Oh."

The whisper chuckled just a bit, irritating her ears with how gentle it was.

"Now You... Die..."

Hot air gusted in, striking her entire body, comforting for the briefest of moments in the cavernous cold. Fear struck her next and she whirled around to find the dark face meeting her within her torchlight.

Then, the beast rose to its hind legs, revealing its full height, its massive size, its material yet immaterial body becoming alight with bright red color. Its nostrils steamed and its eyes were like fire. The Redsmoke Dangerbear was real after all. She had found the treasure, though, which was nice.