text: ssel we captured from Mortimer before the Nakol War. And even then I'd still have my doubts."
  
  Elam glances at his rats again before continuing.
  
  "Well you don't actually think we'd be able to load one on an airship do you?" Elam asks.
  "No, of course not, but the airships could carry the portal underneath it with strong chains and hooks. Also saves the problem of dragging it across hostile territory since it could just be pulled straight up off the ground. I'm thinking maybe even TWO airships could carry it while flying abreast each other." You say.
  "Well, that would definitely stabilize and help distribute the weight, it also means the airships are going to have to be smaller so they can even share airspace so close together..." Elam exhales. "But...it's certainly doable. Like I said, I just hope you don't need these immediately. I'll need specific schematics of the portal as well, I mean exact size, dimensions and weight if possible."
  "I'm sending gnome engineers to Dokkrus, I'm sure after a suitable portal is found they will report such findings."
  "Okay. Good. Well I suppose my side experiments will have to wait a little longer. I'll get to work immediately on this my Emperor." Elam says.
  
  After a few more words with Elam, you leave New Dessel trying to feel positive about the plan you've set in motion. You know there is going to be something that will inevitably try to hamper your plans, but you just try to keep in mind that this is one more step closer to immortality.
  
  > Continue
  Year 62
  
  "The transport airships have made their test run to the outskirts of Dokkrus and returned. They're ready for the real mission now, my Emperor." Elam remarks.
  "Good, because we're sending them and a couple of the upgraded regular airships." You say.
  
  This is a major step closer to your goals. Cassandra, Galen and the rest have managed to locate and hold a fairly intact portal for you. The base around it has already been dug out for easier lifting and they haven't suffered many svelk attacks, well not many concentrated svelk attack at least. The svelk that are attacking are just the regular xenophobic type that doesn't want outsiders on their territory. They have no real grasp of the greater plans that are going on.
  
  Semra's actions have been surprisingly minimal though apparently she's been too busy defending her own territory (and portal and mines) from not just your sabotage attempts (Which unfortunately haven't been too successful), but from other svelk warbands. It would seem that Cassandra and your Eyes have at least successfully managed to keep up the ongoing chaos there.
  
  Won't be long now.
  
  "Emperor, may I accompany you on this mission?" Zana asks.
  "Huh?" you say being interrupted by your private thoughts.
  "May I accompany you on this mission, my Emperor? I know I sounded a little afraid the last time Dokkrus was mentioned, but I admit part of me still wanted to go. I'd like to join you on this mission. Besides, I did have a hand in building these airships, it might be best if someone with that knowledge came along."
  "I imagine Klemto might have some objections to that." You say.
  "I love him, but he's too over protective. Besides, you're the Emperor if you want me to come with you then he has no choice but to comply right?" Zana says almost in a flirtatious way. You're not exactly sure how to take that, but Elam definitely looks surprised. Maybe even a little jealous.
  
  "Well, that is correct...okay fine you can come with me."
  "This will be a great honor my Emperor! I'm looking forward to this!" Zana says.
  "You will be accompanying me aboard the Storm III." You say.
  "You're going to be on the Storm III?"
  "That was the plan given that it's the flagship, why where did you think I was going to be?" you ask.
  "Well I assumed that you'd want to be aboard one of the transport airships to better oversee the process as well as to better defend it from attack in case the svelk try something."
  "That's sort of why I have the Storm III and company going with them. They will be defending against possible svelk attacks, though barring Semra's meddling; I don't see any major threat to any of the airships themselves. The svelk are remarkably still stuck in the dark ages when it comes to weaponry."
  "True, but I know you have the ability to cast those large barriers for defense. I dunno I just don't see your own extra protection on a transport airship as such a bad idea. It would allow the escorts to focus a little more on protecting the other."
  "Hrm. Never hurts to be sure I guess. Duly noted, I'll think about it."
  
  With Zana's brief suggestion she excuses herself to get her things prepared for the mission, leaving you alone with Elam who realizes his glances of faint jealousy have caught your attention and he is now trying to not make eye contact.
  
  "Elam you're acting like a teenager. I'm not remotely interested in your woman so you can stop worrying that I'm going to start fucking her on the airship." You blurt out.
  "Uh...um...thank you my Emperor...I uh..." Elam stutters a bit at a lost for how to respond.
  "How long have you two been an item anyway? It doesn't really show much when you two are together."
  "We try to keep it professional my Emperor. Human women here aren't in big supply here in New Dessel and I can't identify with any of the Eyes, but Zana...she's something special...never have I encountered a woman with such a magnificent intellect for science!"
  "Mm, I'm sure that the only thing..." you smirk.
  "Well her physical attributes are nice as well.' Elam says.
  
  Elam goes on to ask if he can discuss his desire to work more in the medical and biology field when you return. You tell him that he may continue his experiments as usual, but you're going to need his help with the portal when it's brought back most likely.
  
  Your don't bother talking with Klemto about Zana. You figure she can tell him herself, assuming she even bothers and decides to just make it a surprise for him.
  
  You do take the opportunity to look at the new airships. It's odd, but as many times as you've seen them up close this will be the first time you'll actually be on one of these things. Even on your return trip from Nyttrus you went by boat rather than waiting for another airship.
  
  When the day arrives Klemto approaches you. You're guessing he must've heard the news by now. He comes to you hat in hand looking pitiful.
  
  "Emperor...I understand my daughter is going with you...I just beg of one thing and that's that you see that she's safe."
  "You make a lot of demands of your Emperor...(sigh) She'll be fine Klemto, you worry too much. I doubt if the svelk are even going to be able hit us if they even attack. Besides, she's going to be aboard the Storm III and given that it's the heaviest armed airship we have right now, she'll be one of the safest people there."
  "Well that's good to hear. At least she'll be close to you."
  "Not necessarily. I might be flying on one of the transports. Zana suggested that it might be best if I was aboard one to better defend it in case the unexpected should happen."
  
  As Klemto's mind fills with worry again, you wonder if you should take Zana's advice or not.
  
  > board the Storm III
  The transports are going to have enough protection with the escorts. Besides you'd rather be on the biggest, most well armed thing in the sky.
  
  Zana seems a little surprised to see you aboard the Storm III when you're about to lift off, but says that it'll be an honor to be so close to you on this mission. She then says she's going to be walking around the Storm III making sure everything is running smoothly. You see this as reasonable so you think nothing more of it and tell her to carry on.
  
  After about a half hour you finally get used to the idea of being so high in the air and less paranoid. You didn't think it possible for you to be, but somewhere in the back of your mind, you had the concern of this thing falling out of the sky which is probably why you haven't stayed in one place on the ship for very long and have felt the need to pace about it.
  
  You also have been bumping into Zana every so often. Not on purpose, but you seem to just be appearing in the same places she happens to be. This wouldn't be a problem, but each time you do, Zana seems increasingly agitated whenever she sees you and it's obvious that she attempts to leave the area as soon as possible.
  
  The next time you see her she's coming out of a door on the top deck of the ship wearing a heavy jacket with some sort of backpack on her back. Once again you completely surprise her.
  
  "Hey Zana, once again we meet again." you say.
  "Heh! Um yeah, my Emperor. Still following me I see." Zana replies.
  "Not on purpose, but should I be following you?"
  "No. I mean, there's no reason to of course, it's just what I've been doing is so boring and not very interesting."
  "Probably, but there isn't much to do on here anyway...so what's that on your back?"
  "Oh this? Uh, just a back pack full of stuff..."
  "Zana, why the hell are you so nervous? Every time we've bumped into each other you've run off like your ass is on fire."
  "Have I? My apologies then my Emperor. I suppose your presence is just a little unnerving at times. We all want to do our best in front of you, you know."
  
  You give a sideways glance at Zana. You've NEVER known Zana to ever be nervous around you. In fact she's always been very casual to the point that most rulers would probably find it disrespectful.
  
  "Okay...I understand...so what's in the backpack?"
  "Um...as I said nothing of important my Emperor, just tools..."
  "Okay so let me see inside."
  
  And it's at this point Zana goes silent for a moment and her nervous facial expression turns into one of complete desperation before she turns around to run from you.
  
  "STOP ZANA! STOP HER!" you shout and go after her.
  
  You have no idea where she thinks she can run to until you see her attempting to climb the railing of the Storm III in an attempt to jump off it. Fortunately you and another crew member grab her before she's able to. She then tries to fumble with something inside her jacket, but you wrestle it away from her. It's some sort of black rectangular device with a button on it.
  
  "What the hell is this Zana?" you say while your crewmembers keep her from getting up.
  "Why don't you press it and find out TYRANT!" Zana shouts and now her expression has changed again, but to one of complete hatred.
  
  You've never been the most technologically inclined, but if you had to guess, Zana has planted a bomb aboard this ship and this thing is going to detonate it. You immediately tell crewmembers in your vicinity to spread the word and to look for it while you hang on to the detonation device for safekeeping.
  
  You then tell your crew to take off Zana's backpack. It's odd as it really isn't a bkacpack at all so much as it's a large sheet of canvas with reinforced rope attached. You've never seen anything like it before, but you again if you had to guess, it was supposed to decrease the speed of Zana's fall.
  
  "Interesting invention. I'm guessing one of your own design? I'm just wondering though we're quite far from any land mass. Even had this invention worked, were you really planning on swimming all the way back to Evigrus?" you say.
  "I calculated the distance, maybe I would've made it, maybe not, but either way it would've been better than allowing your continued existence! Murderer! Tyrant!"
  "So who put you up to this? Semra?"
  "Nobody put me up to this tyrant! I have my OWN reasons as I'm sure countless people would have for wanting you dead! The only difference is that I had the guts to actually try to kill you. YOU MURDERED MY FAMILY! YOU STOLE MY LIFE!" Zana screams with her mouth spitting saliva in anger.
  
  "Zana you've lost me. You claim I murdered your family, but from what I know I wasn't even in the vicinity of the destroyed village of where Klemto found you."
  "I didn't grow up in a village! I was going to be a princess! I would've ruled a kingdom one day! YOU and YOUR I EMPIRE destroyed all that before I even had a chance to enjoy a taste of such a life! Klemto didn't just save a random Felkan baby, he saved a HEIR TO THE FELKAN FUCKING KINGDOM!" Zana shouts.
  
  It was a very long time ago. Almost a different life even, but you vaguely remember seeing a crib in the Felkan royal palace, yet no baby or even signs of a dead one. You never thought too much of it at the time, but apparently even though Zana was just an infant, Klemto must've told her about her real heritage. He probably lied to you thinking that you would've had her killed.
  
  "Because of YOU, I've had to live a miserable existence working on machinery surrounded by fucking GNOMES! You know what that's like? Being the only human in community of damn gnomes? It SUCKS! Then when some humans do fucking arrive, they're from the same nation that destroyed my birthright! It almost sickened me to even sleep with that crazy fool Elam!"
  
  How long must she have been waiting for the right time to strike? Was it always this way or did it slowly gnaw at her? A life that was stolen from her. Did Klemto or the gnomes put her up to this? Was this their plan in some weird way?
  
  "Okay, since you're in a talkative mood, did Klemto or any gnome put you up to this?" you ask.
  "What? So you'll have an excuse to round them all up and destroy their souls again? I heard about what you did to them. And maybe I might find them to be timid, tiresome unattractive little know it alls, I find it deplorable what the Empire did to them. I can't believe they allowed themselves to be dominated by a nation that systematically exterminated them from not just this life, but the next as well!"
  "So did they help or not?" you ask again.
  "No! No they did not! My father would've probably had me jailed if he knew what I was planning. Those cowards wouldn't dare stand against the Empire, but I fucking would! And did! Not that this will save them. After you're done killing me, you'll probably have them all killed as well for any excuse will serve a tyrant!"
  "It's amusing that you keep calling me that. What did you think your parents were? They were a KING and QUEEN. You think they ruled by popular decision? Do you think YOU would have if you became queen? My actions that day weren't even personal. I was just following orders like a soldier. Your actions however today are misguided and fatal. Such a waste. Even had I known your origins, I would not have had you killed if you had remained true to serving the Empire. You probably would've even replaced Elam as top engineer when such a time came. Your quest for vengeance was as pointless as your entire life."
  
  Zana says nothing else, she just continues to look at you with hatred in her eyes. At this point a few of your crew has come back saying that they found a bomb near the spare gunpowder barrels and another one near some vital machinery. They were disarmed and disposed of by dropping them over the side of the Storm.
  
  "Well, I guess there's only one more thing to dispose of." You say and then nod to your crew still restraining Zana.
  
  To her credit she doesn't beg for her life and continues to curse you even as she's falling over the side of the Storm to her death. Considering some of crew from the other nearby ships may be wondering what's going on if they've seen someone being thrown overboard, you make an announcement that you want the crew to signal the other ships to let them know everything is fine and that the mission is going to continue as expected.
  
  As for the mission, that goes off relatively quietly without much trouble. The portal is hooked and lifted up without any problems. There doesn't even to be any weight concerns, though given that you had two transport ships just in case it isn't too surprising.
  
  There aren't any svelk attacks either. When you bring Galen, Cassandra and the remaining Eyes aboard the Storm via rope ladder, Cassandra says if you'd arrived a few days before it might've been a different matter since they suffered a very large attack accompanied by mages. In fact Cassandra mentions that they were encountering a lot more mage types among the ranks of the svelk. She goes on to say that Semra's group has disappeared completely meaning they stopped working on the portal and abandoned all their mining operations.
  
  "Knowing Semra she's probably changed her plans slightly again." You say.
  "Did you want us to stay then? I mean we might need some reinforcements, but I think the remainder of us can survive on our own a little longer out here." Cassandra asks.
  "No. You're all needed back home. Dokkrus will be invaded properly at some point in the future, but for now I've got more important things on my mind and I need all the security that I can get on the homefront right now. If the svelk suddenly start teleporting an invasion force then so be it. We'll be prepared, I'm going to start calling the third gen Eternals back from Nyttrus anyway. Besides, we've got one of these portals now and if we get it working like how I want to get it working, then we'll be fine." You say and then turn to Galen.
  
  "I want to talk to you about your findings, I assume you studied this one and several others while on your vacation."
  "Vacation? Dokkrus was the worst assignment that..." Galen starts to say until you glare at him.
  "Uh, nevermind my Emperor. Yes, I'll speak with you about what I found. Of course."
  
  With your mission accomplished and all your people aboard, you return to Evigrus where the airships land in the fields near New Dessel. The portal itself is moved into the mountain city.
  
  From there you bump into Elam AND Klemto together. Good, this will save you time.
  
  "Where is my daughter?" Klemto asks.
  "Yeah, where is Zana my Emperor?" Elam says.
  
  You snort and shake your head at this question.
  
  "Well there's no easy way to tell either of you this, so here it is. Zana was a traitor that tried to kill me while she was aboard the Storm. So I had her thrown overboard where I assume she died."
  
  Klemto and Elam's jaws just about drop.
  
  "WHAT?!" the pair of them exclaim.
  "You heard me. She's dead and that's it."
  
  Klemto's face displays the first signs of tears, but also of anger. He's about to speak, but you stop him before he can do so.
  
  "Klemto. I'd advise you to think VERY carefully the next words you say to me, because there are only a few reasons why I'm not going to have New Dessel purged of every gnome in here. Number one, I still believe I'll need the help of gnomish engineers for this next project and two Zana made it very clear that her plans were all her own and not the result of some gnomish conspiracy. Given how passionate her hatred of me was, I have no reason to disbelieve her."
  
  Klemto says nothing.
  
  "That being said, I'm ALSO going to forget the fact that YOU lied to me and that she was the daughter of the ex-Felkan royalty. I understand the lie, but this might've been avoided had you not lied to me in the first place...or failing that you needed to lie to her about her true heritage. Either way, I'll let the knowledge of your OWN poor judgment be your punishment."
  
  Klemto continues to say nothing, the man is overcome with grief and can't even be in your prescence, he just leaves holding his head in hands. Elam is still a bit in shock.
  
  "Was...was there no other way?" he asks.
  "Are you kidding me Elam? (Sigh) No. There was no other way. If it's any consolation, she never loved or had any real affection for you. She even called you a fool that she only slept with due to the lack of other available humans that didn't completely disgust her. Well that and I imagine she probably saw a possible opportunity to get closer to assassinate me by being closer to you."
  
  Elam just listens on in silence.
  
  "And you, like Klemto, should count yourself lucky that I need you to work on this project because this incident wasn't the first time you mistakenly placed your trust in an assassin. Or have we forgotten the OTHER bomb attempt on the first Storm that Warrick managed to stop?"
  "Um, no your Emperor. Apologies. I...have no excuses and thank you for your mercy."
  "Hrm. Get that portal working and it will be a start."
  
  Elam leaves your presence and you're left to rethink the "independence" policies on New Dessel. That time has now passed.
  
  A few hours later during a discussion with Elam and Galen about how to get the portal working again, an emergency goes up throughout New Dessel. At first you think its some sort of sudden gnome uprising that Klemto has stirred up, but the event is much less urgent though perhaps a little tragic.
  
  Klemto apparently went home, drank a lot of ale and then calmly shot himself in the head. He wasn't always well liked by his people due to his decisions, but enough of them thought highly enough of him to immediately go into mourning due to his death. There is probably a fear of what will come next too since he was their leader for so long; in fact none of the gnomes of their little council even steps up to replace him.
  
  Hardly matter though, since as far as you're concerned this is as good as time as any to completely do away with the "era" of New Dessel "independence." It was a long time coming anyway. Maybe Klemto even realized that and with the death of his daughter he saw no more point in seeing the "bad times" again.
  
  In any event, things are starting to look up for you and you're one step closer to your ultimate goals.
  
  > Continue
  Year 65
  
  "It...it was horrible, my Emperor! The place was so dead. Like I could feel it everywhere...my...my hands...my skin...wrinkled with age! How could I have aged so quickly? It's an evil place! Don't send me back! I beg of you!" the test subject pleads while groveling at your boots, but all you do smile.
  
  "WE FOUND IT! WE'VE FINALLY FOUND IT!" you shout in glee.
  
  After Elam's tinkering with machinery to repair the portal, sacrificing several lesser mages to fuel the portal with magical energy again, you and Galen trying to channel the energy to get the right location and after sending in several "test subjects" with ropes tied around them, you've at last discovered the way to reach the Isle of Mortos.
  
  The Island of Mortos seems to be so heavily disguised by magic that it's impossible to actually find through normal means. Basically the necromancers only allow access if they want it to or in your case, meddling with a magic portal for so long that you eventually found it through trial and error.
  
  Now that you've found it, the current problem is that it's a one-way trip. Hence the ropes you tied to the test subjects so you could pull them back through. (Though that still didn't always ensure their return)
  
  There's also the fact that "dialing" the way to get to Mortos in the first place has been fairly taxing on you and Galen who isn't looking so great nowadays.
  
  "A testament to your persistence, my Emperor...can I go lay down? I feel sort of weak." Galen remarks.
  "Galen you're a wizard, you of all people besides myself should be happy to discover a new mystery of the arcane! I mean with magic apparently dying out, I'd think this would be fairly interesting to you."
  "Emperor, in all honesty I'd rather just be back home using charm spells on young girls."
  "That's your problem Galen, you have no true ambition!" you say.
  "Yes, you're right my Emperor. I'm a lowly worm before your greatness." Galen says.
  "I'll let that remark pass since I KNOW you're intelligent enough to NOT use sarcasm on me. And I'm not going to let your whining and depression annoy me today as this is a great break through."
  
  At this point Galen says nothing and just shuffles off to find some place to lie down. You also ignore the test subject who has already been taken away by nearby Eyes to who knows where.
  
  You continue to stare at the portal, which will now lead you to Mortos. You almost want to enter right now, but you know that it will still have to wait. You call Elam over who normally isn't a nervous sort, but is when he gets near the portal.
  
  "So...this is it then?" Elam asks.
  "This is it Elam. Have you finished building that other smaller portal for me?" you say.
  "It's almost finished, though it took a lot of mithril to build it. Good thing Nyttrus had several deposits, because it's not like we had much of it. Also it's going to need magical energy of course for it to be fully powered. I imagine you've still got mages left?"
  "Maybe a few still locked up, but I question if it'll be enough...well there's always Galen. Should work."
  "You're going to sacrifice Galen?"
  "He's served his purpose and he'll serve it one last time for the greater good of the Empire. He's getting old and weak anyway, how many years does he really have left? Wasn't aware that you held any fondness for him."
  "No, I don't really. Still though...what about your Eternal Project?"
  "What about it?"
  "Well without any more mages you won't be able to continue it correct?"
  "If this plan goes the way I hope it does, it won't matter, besides I thought you were coming up with an idea to take the Eternal Project in a new direction without the use of magic." You say.
  "I was, but then I had to focus my efforts on this project and as I know it was of great importance to you, I didn't want to divert my attention." Elam responds.
  "Probably was wise of you. Well, after we get the second portal up and running, you'll be able to pursue your desire for more biological experiments and find a new way of creating Eternals."
  
  Elam nods and excuses himself to go back to work on finishing the other portal. The smaller one is going to be the "return" portal back here after its power up, "calibrated" and dragged through the Mortos portal.
  
  The test subject didn't say anything about any ghoul creatures or other undead around, just a dead feeling everywhere so it looks like you go lucky as far as the location is concerned. Though you still have no idea where you'll be located on Mortos. After all you only visited the place once and that was thirty years ago. You were so different back then. The trusting, loyal, good soldier that never questioned anything.
  
  You've been thinking more about those last few days with Casimir recently, your trip to Mortos and the days immediately afterwards. The big lie that Casimir perpetrated just to secure his own immortality was still nothing compared to the one that nobody except Jacob and Semra knew about. It's still odd to think about how you were never truly meant to be an Eternal.
  
  Still, it's often been said the bigger the lie; the more people are willing to believe it. Maybe its because your entire life is a "lie" that you managed to achieve so much within it. Maybe that's why you managed to become a successful Emperor and maybe that's why you intend to succeed where your "father" failed.
  
  Nicodemus, the necromancer that you encountered during your last trip to Mortos, tried to convince you to not pursue the same path as Casimir. Semra has tried to do the same on several occasions. As far as you know, they're still the only two that are going to be your major obstacles between you and your goals. You aren't sure what Semra's been up to as there has been no sign of her or any indication of an attack from Dokkrus, but rest assured when she does pop up again, you have no doubt its going to be at the most inopportune time.
  
  As for Nicodemus, you imagine you'll have quite a fight on your hands with him and that's not even counting other necromancers that must live on the island and their undead. You haven't been idle though. You've been practicing and strengthening your own magic abilities.
  
  Eventually you stop your reminiscing and decide you need to get on with your plans, you aren't getting any younger.
  
  In another few weeks, Elam tells you that the second portal is ready, so you gather up Galen and the remaining mages to go about its activation. Galen repeatedly tells you that he doesn't think there's going to be enough energy within the captive mages power up the second portal, but you assure him that there will be. The fool doesn't even consider the possibility that HE is going to be joining them. Well not until the last moment when he's grabbed by Eyes and strapped down to the draining chair hooked up to the portal.
  
  "Emperor?! What is this?! No! I was loyal! You can't! You..." Galen shouts before you punch him in the face and have him gagged.
  "Stop whining Galen." You say motioning Elam to hit the switch and watch the last of your mages being drained of their energy and life.
  
  When the portal is powered and you finish your calibrations, you have the smaller portal ready to be dragged through the larger one. Several Eyes, several third gen Eternals and some very nervous engineers all prepare to enter, plus one.
  
  "Emperor, you're going with them?" Elam asks.
  "I'm confident that this is going to work and if not, well then I don't deserve to be Emperor any longer. Let's get going." You say.
  
  You enter the portal and you have that old familiar feeling...
  
  A deadness all around you. The land is still dead, everything is still drab and gray. Same way it was when you last were here. The others with you all begin to complain about not feelings quite right.
  
  "It'll pass if you keep your mind focused, the key is to not let this place cause you to spiral into a depression. Come on we need to get this portal into a good place...that large rock structure in the ground over there looks as good as any. I want the engineers to embed this portal in it, don't want it just standing out here in the open wasteland. Follow me and DON'T stray too far. There are magic areas or what are called negative zones. You step into one and you could be an old man or even a corpse before you knew what was going on. I'll be able to detect them, just follow me."
  
  Your small march to the rock destination is uneventful other than some of your people still saying how this all feels so hopeless. Unfortunately most of it is from the engineers who are less accustomed to this sort of thing.
  
  As you wait for the portal to be embedded in the rock, you begin to ponder if you still shouldn't wait awhile before marching an army into Mortos. It might be this place sapping your "enthusiasm" but the grim reality of how difficult this is really going to be is starting to set in the closer you get to your goals. It does occur to you that Nicodemus was powerful enough to destroy Casimir with barely any effort.
  
  > do some scouting now
  You decide that the best way to keep your mind off things is to keep yourself occupied. So you tell some of the Eyes to accompany you and tell the Eternals to keep a good watch over the engineers.
  
  You remind the Eyes to follow you, as the danger of stepping into a negative zone is great. They all acknowledge your order apathetically and follow.
  
  A few moments after the portals are both out of sight, you start to hear more complaining, bitching and overall whining. You'd swear you were travelling with Galen or several copies of him.
  
  "Damn it, what the hell is wrong with you all? You're supposed to be Eyes! Start acting like it before I have to make an example out of one you!"
  "Oh what's the point? We're all dead men anyway!" one of the Eyes exclaims.
  
  You travel a little longer and eventually you encounter a ruined structure. Probably not where the book is located, but no point in not checking it out since you're already here.
  
  You all approach the structure slowly. You because you're cautious, the rest well because they're all still suffering from the effects of the oppressive aura of Mortos.
  
  When you get close enough an ugly head pops out from around the corner of the ruins. When it sees you it makes an inhuman scream and comes loping at you.
  
  "Shit, ghoul. Quick, there will be a multitude of them!" you exclaim backing off and blasting the ghoul with a fireball.
  
  As more ghouls come pouring out of the ruin, you motion the Eyes to prepare themselves for combat, which they do so but only reluctantly.
  
  "COME ON! These fuckers are going to eat you!" you shout.
  
  There aren't as many ghouls like when you walked into that town of them last time, but there's enough to be dangerous. You fight the ghouls with blade and spell, but your Eyes are barely putting up a fight despite you yelling at them and the very real threat of death the ghouls pose.
  
  Pretty soon the ghouls begin to get the upper hand over your Eyes, some of whom have given up completely and practically laid down to die.
  
  Frustrated by this place altogether you begin flinging fireballs at the ghouls regardless if the Eyes are in the vicinity or not. If the weak willed fools wish to die then so be it. Eventually the only thing left is you and many charred bodies.
  
  You sit and rest for a moment from the battle. You realize that you're going to have to train your people to endure this place. It's obvious that this place is going to affect your people more than you realized...
  
  Then suddenly a panic wells up inside you and you make haste back to the portal.
  
  At first your major concern is that you'll find everyone not doing their job or at worst dead by their own hand, the reality is much worse however.
  
  The portal lies on the ground and partially broken, magic still powers it, but its highly unstable now and its changing different colors quickly. All the engineers are dead and some of your Eternals are too, but it doesn't look like everyone took their own life. It looks more like a slaughter.
  
  Two of the Eternals still live and have a deranged look in their eye; in fact they're eating one of the engineers. It would appear that the negative aura of Mortos may have another side effect other than severe depression.
  
  Upon seeing you, they both attack like a pair of ghouls. You easily put them down with a couple of magic bolts, but the damage is done.
  
  You look at the portal and you ponder if you should risk going through it or possibly continue searching Mortos for the book and hope that maybe you could find a way out of here that way.
  
  You also ponder if you just stayed put that maybe someone from Evigrus would try to send someone else with a rope tied to them through the portal and you could get home that way.
  
  You ultimately do decide to wait for what you think is a few days but nobody shows up. You're actually a little surprised, but then they might think that if going through killed you that what chance would any of them have?
  
  This doesn't have a good effect on your own morale which has been diminishing by the day due to the oppressive aura of Mortos and your current hopeless situation. You also haven't eaten or drank anything for quite some time, you're starting to feel those effects as well.
  
  Lacking any other options, you decide that you'll have to take a chance on the portal because you don't think you'll have the strength to find the book in your current condition, even if you had any idea where it might be located.
  
  You stare into the portal, which still changes different colors rapidly. You don't have a good feeling about this. You're fairly certain in fact that you'll wind up on the other side in pieces, but there is little choice in this matter.
  
  "Well better an unknown risk than a certain death." you say and you jump in...
  
  The good news is you do make it out of Mortos in one piece.
  
  The bad news is you reappear several miles under water in the middle of one of the oceans. Taken completely by surprise by this you gasp for air and your body cannot handle such crushing pressure.
  
  Your dead body falls to the bottom ocean where it provides nourishment for the creatures that live there.