<strong>In the far east, beyond the forbidding Demonspine Mountains lies the land of Eden, said to be the source of all life and the place from which mortal races and monsters originally sprang. For the past two years a strange delirium has gripped all the lands west of Eden, and many people have been driven made by the dark dreams which urge those afflicted to travel east, seeking something they cannot name but know that they must acquire. At the same time, monsters have flowed out of this forbidding eastern land to ravage the other countries, seeming to spread a foul taint of madness in their wake that affects all living things and even warps the land itself. Noone knows what causes this terrifying curse, and even the gods have ceased to speak to their faithful, but everyone knows that the answer to this curse lies in Eden, and so like many others you have been drawn to that land, braving the dangers of the monster-infested lands along the way and crossing the Demonspines to reach the bed of life. Now you have arrived in the forest-shrouded town of Antioch, where a few other brave travelers, and the usual residents of the forest town, have gathered. You know that you cannot go back west, for there is only chaos and death to be found there, and now as you sit in Engla's Hearth, the towns sole tavern with other sullen wanderers drawn by the curse, you must decide: What will you do next?</strong><br/><br/>As always, Englas Hearth was busy. Being the more popular of the towns two taverns and the one most welcoming to adventurers and other non-locals, it did a brisk business, and today the proprietor - an older human woman and a retired adventurer herself, Engla was behind the bar, serving patrons their drinks and looking worried whilst her bouncer and assistant, a huge and rather handsome half-orc named Aengus sat on a barstool, trying to cheer her up.<br/><br/>"He'll turn up before long, Engla. August knows his way around th' forest better'n anyone. He's probably just gone t' brood like he always does, or more likely knowin' him he's found himself an elf maid an' isnae in a hurry t' come back anytime soon."<br/><br/>That did nothing to improve the old adventurers mood. Engla's son had gone into the duskwood three days ago to see why the nearby elven village had gone silent, and had yet to return, nor had any of the elves been seen since - not that anyone dared walked the forests. It took everyone in town being on a constant vigil to keep the old adventurer from going to look for her son herself, and everyone who set foot in her tavern was immediately asked if they'd seen him.<br/><br/><strong>A bard is playing, and the low murmur of conversation fills the room while the drink flows. make your entrances, pc's</strong>