Virges Hascavir was assigned to the retrieval team of a recently discovered tapestry. This tapestry allegedly undoes a century of Deep Dweller history and could shake up the political landscape of the Shattered Sky. As an agent of house Hascavir, he was tasked to use his magic to make the tapestry disappear, causing further harm to house Bloodbeard. What Virges wasn’t prepared for was Typhus Bloodbeard. Typhus somehow managed to get the guild master of the Tower to enchant sixteen scroll cases that obscure magical inspection.

It took him several weeks of volunteering for night watch and casting sleep spells on his allies to search through the scroll cases finding rocks in some and molasses in others. Several times he’s had to bury the cases he’s opened to not be discovered. Using magic to gain access instead of his own hands, helped to keep the trapped contents off of him. Virges even went as far as to wake some of those that he put to sleep to gain their trust. Then blackmailing them into helping him. Once Daskus Bloodbeard split from the group taking several scroll cases with him, he felt the difficulty of this task skyrocket. Virges thought he may never find the damn tapestry. Then one day Typhus realized he’d lost another scroll case and picked a specific one up. Virges’s heart leapt. That had to be the one. He kept his face impassive, giving nothing away.

Now Virges was closer than ever to the Shattered Sky with nothing to show for his efforts. In the chaos of the Black Weaver attack, he snuck away to send a message to his patron via crystal. The orders he received were not to his liking.

“Virges, have you found and destroyed that tapestry yet?” asked Atlanta Hascavir house scion.

“No, my lady. Typhus now carries one of the scroll cases with him at all times. It will be tricky to retrieve it without exposing myself. We are currently a few hours away from the pass that leads to the lowlands. He is constantly surrounded by his guild members. I may not be able to complete this mission without bloodshed,” answered Virges.

“Do you have others you can lean on to help you? Offer them some pittance from my mother. That tapestry cannot be presented to the Stone Council. Now, I have an additional mission for you. Kill the champion of Chimera. It is secondary but if you have the opportunity, we’d very much like him dead. You will be handsomely rewarded,” enticed Atlanta as she dipped her paint brush on a board.

“My lady, that is easier said than done. He spends most of his time in his carriage and whenever he does emerge something insane happens. Like right now he’s fighting off some Black Weaver spiders on the behest of a will-o-wisp. The stories I’ll have when I return. He seems to be able to walk through walls like a ghost. I’ve never seen a power set like it. There was a battle in a village recently and the only time I saw him dodge was when an enchanted shield was coming for him. Not once was he concerned with regular weapons. It’s bizarre,” replied Virges rubbing his chin in deep thought.

“Good to know. We have a new partner that’s going to help us turn this tragedy into triumph. If an opportunity presents itself, I suggest you take it. Should he make it to the city, it’ll be the last place the champion will ever see. Return before your absence is noticed. You have your orders. See to it,” Atlanta said before cutting off the connection.

“What could she have meant by new partner?” Virges wondered aloud as he turned back to join the rest of the caravan.

Daskus Bloodbeard awoke groggy and in pain. He’d been chained to this table for days surviving only on bloody water force fed to him. The torture has been intense, but he’d given these bastards nothing. They cut off his ear before they ever asked any questions. Still he gave them nothing. Then one day a tall Goblin showed up with a staff. It had a rams head on top and the eye sockets were filled with a swirling reddish-black light. He prodded at his left leg with a large fork before slamming it into his calf muscle. Daskus suppressed a scream of pain. These bastards would get nothing from him, he thought to himself.

“My master is coming here today. You should rejoice. He may even make you feel more comfortable, Dwarf. I bet you haven’t seen one of your own in quite some time. Unfortunately some of my troops are hungry and there is nothing left of your compatriots. I’ve promised them a stew tonight for all their hard work. Don’t worry, I have ways of keeping you conscious through all of it,” Pumus the Goblin Witch Doctor said before black light from his staff coated Daskus’s left leg.

That was when Daskus began to scream.

“Increased reputation with the Fae?” Deacon asked aloud reading the notification.

“That’s not a bad reward. Do we all get that?” asked Tantus in return.

“Not sure, did you get the quest?” Deacon asked back.

“Can you all stop asking questions?” Ignis queried in response.

“No please, no. Not another one,” Amanda said sitting on a nearby rock.

“What’s your problem?” asked Ignis as it zipped over to Amanda and bobbed around in front of her.

“We don’t need anymore quirky companions. Thank you,” Amanda said attempting to swat Ignis away.

“Enough. Deacon, can you take the regulators to clear out the dungeon? It shouldn’t take you too long like I said earlier. The horses need a good rest, and the civilians are riled up. I’ll stay here and watch over the camp. Considering I sent my shadow self to scout the pass earlier, if its full of goblins, I’d like to be here and ready for them. Sophie will most likely stay with me. Pick from anyone else,” Typhus said as he took control of the post-fight logistics.

“Let’s see, Ralph, Tantus, Amanda, and Hani. Hani was slicing through the bugs like a knife through butter,” Deacon said as he picked his squad.

“It’s nice to be appreciated,” Hani responded puffing out his chest.

“I’m not going. All that poison takes it out of my stamina. Also I feel better the closer we get to the Shattered Sky. I don’t want to go south,” said Amanda from the rock.

“I am going as well. With me to guide you, we can get there in no time,” chimed in Ignis.

“That’s all well and good but I’d really like a fifth that can actually fight. No offense,” Deacon said to Ignis.

“None taken,” Ignis replied zipping over and nestling itself into Deacon’s braids giving him a weird glowing hairline. As Deacon began to swat the wisp out of his hair another Deep Dweller walked up.

“I’ll go. You’ll need someone with knowledge of the Black Weavers with you. They have some troublesome variants you’ll need to be mindful of. I’m almost available for specialization from this trip so I guess I owe you this much,” volunteered Virges Hascavir.

“Fine. Deacon keep them all in your party and that perk of yours should keep everyone healthy. Make it quick,” Typhus said as he turned back to the campsite.

The newly forged group began heading south following the wisp. Every now and then they came across a few spiders that were quickly dispatched by Ralph and Hani. After about an hour of travel they came to a cops of trees that were covered in black webbing.

“Wait their webs are black? How do you even see them underground?” Deacon asked as he inspected the webbing.

“Almost impossible. That’s why we clear them out whenever found. We lost a settlement to them once, long ago. Managed to birth an empress variant that took a full platoon to take down. We lost the whole settlement in the battle. Heavy casualties,” Virges explained.

“Empress variant? How big was it?” Deacon asked.

“Don’t ask that,” Tantus responded, “You are guaranteeing we find one in there.”

“Come on buddy, don’t be so glum. If we handle this rampant dungeon quickly, we’ll be back before breakfast,” Ralph commented.

“We’re here! We’re here!” Ignis said excitedly bobbing up and down in front of a large tree with black webbing strands on all sides. There was a dark alcove that led into the tree.

“I’ll go first,” Deacon said checking the party interface as he stepped up to the opening.

Warning Rampant Dungeon

Inverted Tower: Challenge level- Average. There are dungeon exits on every second floor. If you succeed in killing the dungeon boss, you will be granted the Tower Faller title. Would you like to challenge this dungeon? Yes/No

“Everyone ready?” Deacon asked meeting each of their gazes.

“If we are all going at together, we need to be touching,” said Virges putting a hand on Hani’s arm while everyone reached out to each other.

Hani looked down at Virges and frowned after he touched him. His eyebrows furrowed and he started to say something as they all dematerialized from the mortal plane.