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From within the darkened chamber ahead, you hear the low, thunderous growl of an enormous beast. Its eyes pierce the darkness, carefully watching as you approach. <pb>The moment you step into the antechamber, a great serpent pulls himself forward atop glistening mounds of gold coins, sticking his head through the chamber threshold. "What have we here?" the great beast asks in a voice that shakes the stone walls around you. "A visitor? A thief? State your intention, human."
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Karamiklan sits upon a huge pile of gold.
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"I am in search of a prisoner here in the dungeon. His name is Karamiklan. Would this be you?"
The creature extends his head forward a bit more, bringing his snout within an arm's reach of you. As he inhales deeply, the air around you is quickly drawn away which nearly sweeps you from your feet. He smacks his tongue inside his mouth to taste the air, and then seemingly satisfied with the results, he finally responds: "Yes, I am called Karamiklan the Silver, last remaining Dragon of the West Winds. I know why you have come to see me, but tell me with your own words. I so rarely get to talk with outsiders."
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"By the gods, a dragon! On this day I will smite you, oh vile serpent of the underworld!"
"Is that so?" he sneers. <pb>The great serpent draws in a large volume of air...
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sound (kam_inhale)
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"An acquaintance of yours named Erubor has sent me. We seek your guidance."
"Erubor. I haven't heard that name in a half century. How is that old codger these days? He is still playing around with those ridiculous crystals, I see."
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"Well, yes, we need to know what insights you have with the Crux crystals and the Orakur. Eschalon faces a horrible cataclysm soon if we do nothing to prevent it."
Karamiklan grunts. "Yes, I know what is happening out there among the world of men and dwarves. I can see it all from here. We are coming to the end of this age, and this game of stones you've been playing demands that its final conditions be met." <pb>"So, human, ask of me what you want. My role in this is to share my knowledge before I am gone, and so all my knowledge is yours to have."
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"What can you tell me of this approaching cataclysm?"
"The cataclysm that approaches is a natural event. Great pressure builds inside of Eschalon which must be vented from time to time. Normally this occurs with little fanfare; perhaps as a distant volcano which smolders for a day or two. However, what is about to happen is far bigger than anything before it. An ancient rift to the east has cracked the bedrock clear to Eschalon's core. The unfathomable pressure of the core is driving magma up through the bedrock and a great volcanic cone now swells high above the rim of the chasm. The explosion is imminent, and the magma boiling within is rich with toxic Candecium. Yes, you know the element of which I speak- the Crux crystals themselves are made of this material."
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"What do you know about the creatures we call the Orakur?"
"Ah, the Orakur. Those mysterious little beings of myth and lore. Their origin is far less mystical than you might imagine." <pb>"Know this: in our timeline, this cataclysm will occur. When it does, all life will perish except for a few creatures who dwell deep underground. Yes, even a few isolated groups of Dwarves will live through the cataclysm whilst they mine deep in the darkness of the mountains. Those few Dwarves will likely not even be aware that such a horrible cataclysm has occurred at the surface."
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"Why is Malkur so intent on preventing the other Orakur from averting this cataclysm?"
"In the distant future when the Orakur emerge from the underground, they discover that Eschalon is a new and unknown world. The Orakur are a people with no future and no past, stuck in a world they cannot survive in." <pb>"What remains of their historical texts spoke of the cataclysm which originally trapped their ancestors underground. With no future ahead of them, they decided to travel into the past to stop this cataclysmic event from occurring, hoping to undo the curse that they believe nature wrought unto them. Gathering four powerful Candecium stones that they mined during their centuries underground, they devised a machine to travel back in time. However, they overshot their arrival date by more than two-hundred years, and their craft suffered critical damage which needed to be fixed to complete their mission."
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"And this toxic Candecium will somehow pollute the world?"
"That is correct. When the eruption occurs, the ejection of molten rock will rip the firmament apart and it will rain fire, ash, and stone upon every inch of Eschalon. All life will end under the dark cloak of a smoldering sky and the radiant glow of Candecium dust."
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"Are you telling me that the Orakur are Dwarves?"
"No. Not anymore than a butterfly can still be called a caterpillar. After this event passes, contaminated water trickles down from the surface to the underworld and slowly affects these Dwarves. Unable to return to the surface, they will mutate as the centuries pass them by. Their eyes will grow large from the darkness and their bodies become frail." <pb>"During these years, they will toil away on their machines and become even greater masters of engineering. Generation after generation, they will craft new technology and learn to utilize the energy of Candecium in ways unknown to us now. When they finally emerge from the underworld a millennium later, they will be ghostly, small beings who no longer remember their Dwarvish heritage. They will truly be out-of-place in this strange new world."
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"And this is when they divided the Crux stones apart, to keep them safe, while they worked to fix their craft?"
"Precisely. They knew it was far too dangerous to keep these stones in close proximity to each other where they might easily be misused, and so the four Crux stones were each hidden in different corners of the world. Even then whispers of dissension rattled the Orakur, and the long process of fixing their craft lay ahead of them." <pb>"And so it was that during this time, Malkur had a change of mind. He discovered that the Orakur's plan was flawed and it was foolish for them to attempt to alter the existing timeline. He insisted that they return to their era and live their lives out as fate intended. He even presented evidence to the other Orakur that what they were doing would cause far more harm then the cataclysm itself, but he was rejected as a traitor to their mission. They cast him out."
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"But if Malkur succeeds in returning to his future, we will all die!"
"We will all die anyway; such is the curse of life. The cataclysm will only hasten what the passing years will inevitably succeed in. But Malkur knows that Eschalon must be allowed to vent this pressure or the sphere will crack apart, utterly ending this world forever. More so, he fears that by creating a timeline loop, the other Orakur have likely begun a paradox cascade that could shatter the entire plane of existence in which Eschalon resides."
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"Then why didn't he just let me destroy the two Crux stones that I had back in Talushorn Tower? That would have prevented the other Orakur from proceeding with their plans."
"Malkur needs all four Crux stones to generate enough energy for him to return to his future. His intention is to arrive precisely as the original Orakur party leaves, crashing his machine into theirs and fusing the broken timelines back together. He will valiantly sacrifice his life to ensure that a paradox does not collapse all of reality as we know it."
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"I have two Crux stones. Perhaps I should pull them out now and smash them together?"
"I would reduce you to cinders before you could pull them from your bag. It is not your place, little human, to make a decision that could affect the entire known plane of existence. Korren didn't have this authority either, and Erubor is just another pawn in this game. The fate of these Crux stones is not yours to decide; this decision will fall to the Orakur who brought them here."
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"How is it that you became Alundar's prisoner?"
The dragon chuckles. The sound is deep and low, making the golden coins around him rattle. "I am no more Alundar's prisoner than the sun in the sky is. I remain here because of our symbiotic partnership." <pb>"You see, Alundar simply wants the bragging rights of saying he has a dragon chained up in his dungeon, and I have happily obliged this desire of his."
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"I have no other questions of my own. Erubor sent me here to seek your advice."
"My advice? Of all my expansive knowledge, what insight of mine would you like me to share with you?"
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"And how does this benefit you?"
"Look at me- I sleep atop an untold fortune of gold coins. The gold makes for such comfortable accommodations, and the mere threat of a dragon protecting Alundar's wealth means I never have to worry about someone trying to steal it. For that matter, if Alundar himself ever tries to take the gold away from me, I would simply vaporize him. All of this really became 'my' gold the day he brought me here." <pb>"Did I mention the food? I get a fresh sheep brought to me twice a week. I don't have to go out and hunt for my dinner where every would-be-hero in Eschalon would try to slay me for a fleeting moment of fame and glory. Yes, believe me little human, this little arrangement between Alundar and myself has worked out exceptionally well for the both of us."
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"Perhaps, most importantly, we must locate the fourth Crux stone. I have located two, and we know Malkur has a third stone. Where is the fourth Crux crystal?"
Karamiklan huffs, his breath scattering gold coins as if they were nothing more than grains of sand. "Ah, the fourth Crux stone. The missing link. The puzzle piece that everyone seems to be killing each other for." <pb>The beast reaches down into the pile of gold just below his chin, dragging his claws back-and-forth through the shimmering coins. After a few seemingly random passes, he pinches his claws together and pulls from the coins a gleaming, blue gemstone. "This is what you seek. It is called 'Ubiquity', but you may refer to it as 'The Crux of Wisdom'. I have had it all along."
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"You have it?! Erubor will be relieved to know the final Crux has been safe with you this entire time!"
"The stone of Ubiquity has passed from one warlord to another since it was first gifted to the clans of Barrea. When Alundar plundered it years ago, I convinced him that it should be held under my supervision, to which he obliged. I've kept it close to me all this time, buried under gold to keep it out of sight and prevent it from poisoning me. I believe Alundar has likely forgotten that he even possesses this gemstone, and he certainly never knew the significance of it."
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"I will summon for Erubor to come here. He would be pleased to see you and the two of you can discuss what we shall do with the Crux stones."
"Would he be pleased to see me? I am sure Erubor had hoped to enlist the help of a dragon in his endeavor to secure the Crux stones from Malkur, but to what end? To simply hand the stones over to the Orakur so they can continue with their foolish plan? I think not." <pb>Karamiklan's gaze has not left you since you stepped into this antechamber, and you find it difficult to be aware of anything else while this great beast is focused upon you. However, you notice that the reflection in his eye has given away a figure approaching from behind. Before you can turn to see who it is, Karamiklan speaks again: "I hope you don't mind. I anticipated your arrival and invited an old friend to join us..."
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"Perhaps you are right, but you've also grown too large to leave."
"You've noticed, have you? Yes, you are correct about that. I've lived a very long life and I am the last of my kind. This grand dungeon will eventually become my tomb; and thereafter a shrine to the last and greatest dragon that has ever lived."
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