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An old, haggard woman teleports into this atrium and promptly addresses you with a gritty voice: "What are you doing here? This place is not for you!"
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The old woman seems to be busy checking on her experiments.
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"Who are you and what is this cursed place?"
"Oh, you've never heard of the great <en>, caretaker of Ulgolek and the forest of Elderoak? You must be new to the area, so I will forgive your ignorance and disrespect." <pb>"This 'cursed place', as you've called it, is my asylum where I practice nature magicks. You are not welcome here, and under other circumstances I would gladly have you stay for a while and...help me with my experiments, but not today. Today, I let you go with only a warning." <pb>"A great cataclysm is approaching and this age is coming to a close soon. I am preparing, as should you be, for the end of all things." 
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"I am the slayer of evil and you are going to die this day, vile witch!"
The old hag chuckles. "Your foolish bravery and misguided sense of honor has overwhelmed your better judgment. The sooner I deal with you, the quicker I can get on with my business..."
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"What do you know of this cataclysm?"
The old hag chuckles. "More than you do!" she says as she gazes at you with deep, black eyes that seems to pierce your thoughts. "This cataclysm will destroy everything on this sphere. It will end one age and begin another." <en> pauses. "You are trying to stop this event from happening, aren't you? There is a great war going on and you, my friend, are on the wrong side."
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"You know nothing of 'the side' I am on. There are others who are trying to save Eschalon from this cataclysm, and I have been asked to help them."
"You damn fool. This event must come to pass. It is the way of nature. Every epoch begins and ends with a great cataclysm that cleanses Eschalon. This event returns balance to nature; it reduces the populous who deplete the resources of this sphere, who take from it without giving back. This event must happen or all of Eschalon is doomed."
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"Wait, you said Eschalon is doomed if this event doesn't happen, but you also said the event will destroy everything. You do not make any sense, old woman."
<en> sighs. "You do not understand because you are as ignorant as you are blind. The cataclysm is a cleansing event. When it comes to pass, everything on the surface will perish. But afterward the rains will return. The buried seeds will sprout and dormant insects will emerge. Creatures of the abyss will return to the surface and bask in the sunlight like their ancestors did. Eschalon will be renewed and recycled. However, if you prevent this event by sealing the volcano, the pressure deep below ground will grow. Our sphere will shake and crack, and eventually the inner force will blow Eschalon into a billion pieces. The largest tree and the smallest spore will be catapulted into the cold darkness of the ether, and thus will be the end of Eschalon. There will be no recovery from that fate."
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"I guess what you are saying makes sense."
"Of course it does! I am a wise woman. I am making a necrosleep potion for myself. I will use it to put myself to sleep for many years, deep underground. When the apocalypse is over, I will emerge and continue my job as caretaker of the natural world. I will help rebuild what is lost; I will even replant the offspring of Ulgolek." <pb>"Unfortunately, I do not have enough potion for anyone else so begone and let the cataclysm happen as it should, oh virtuous savior-of-the-world! And if you try to stop me, I will simply destroy you."
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"It is you who is ignorant! Your thoughts have been poisoned and you are aiding the enemy!"
"Please, run along before you say something that you'll regret. I have work to do, and apparently so do you. Begone!"
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"What is this 'nature magick' you practice?"
<en>'s eyes light up. "Oh, you are curious about nature magick? I find this field, specifically dark nature magick, to be quite thrilling- animating the dead, necrosleeping the living, even extending life to unnatural length. It is a field of magick many mages refuse to explore, but I am fascinated by it." <pb>"Right now I am brewing a potion for myself from the waters of the sacred pool. There is a great cataclysm approaching, and I will use this potion to put myself in a deep necrosleep for many, many years. When I awaken, the worst will be over and I will emerge from the underground alive and well."
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"What do you know of this cataclysm?"

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"Tell me about this cataclysm."
The old lady squints her eyes at you. "You already know that it is coming. People have been telling you this for a while, but you've been running around collecting trinkets and not listening. You think you know right from wrong- good from evil- but you don't. You've wasted many years not understanding the truth of the matter. So go on then, run off and pursue your fool's errand. Leave me to my work and I'll leave you to yours. Perhaps at the end of all things, we'll meet again." <pb>The old lady turns away. She has clearly decided to stop talking with you.
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"I have important business to attend to. I really don't care what you do as long as you do not get in my way."
"The feeling is mutual. Now begone from my laboratory!"
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"I have heard enough. You are a perverter of magick and I shall put an end to your witchcraft!"
The old hag chuckles. "Your foolish bravery and misguided sense of honor has overwhelmed your better judgment. The sooner I deal with you, the quicker I can get on with my business..."
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