The ruin called Nas Vardeen lay about two and a half days’ journey northwest of Vedlin, a modest town bolstered by the caravans that passed through during the harvest season, bringing wheat from the northern plains to the port city of Darris on the southern sea.  It seemed that every few years it became home to some band of unsavory people or creatures, and then a band of adventurers would pass through and put an end to the problem, and then it would lay unused for a while until it attracted new residents.<br/><br/>What was curious, though, for a somewhat well-known ruin, was that no one seemed to know what it was originally.  Some claimed it was the base for a band of rebels long ago; others, a passage by which dark elves used to raid surface settlements, before an earthquake made it impassible; others still, a temple to a false god whose name has been lost to time; some even claim it was once the lair of a dragon, long since slain.  Nevertheless, as a sheltered place in the woods, it continued to attract residents, and as such it became known as something of a proving ground for young adventurers.<br/><br/>And so, when her travels brought her to Vedlin, the young wizard Otavia Middulberg decided to use it as a proving ground for herself--to seek challenges that would help her grow in experience and power, and to test the trio of mercenaries that she had met in town, to see if their skills matched their claims, if they would be worth her coin as bodyguards and traveling companions.<br/><br/>Merrick had taken the lead.  Nimbler and less burly than the other two, Merrick claimed to be adept at matters of stealth, picking locks, watching for traps, and the like.  His pale blue eyes did suggest a certain sharpness.  His long brown hair was unkempt in a way that seemed to fit his jumpy personality, as he constantly looked around, seeming always to suspect that he was missing something.  Three dagger holsters ran down each leg of his breeches, each filled with a small blade.<br/><br/>A few paces behind him, Aleric followed, his steps confident by comparison to Merrick’s jumpy gait.  He had a calm, playful nature, and his smiling face, with his short black beard and soft brown eyes, frequently looked back to check in with his employer for this little expedition.  His thick wooden shield was loosely strapped to his back, and he carried his heavy mace which his sword sat in its scabbard upon his belt.<br/><br/>At the rear walked Kent, a brawny man of few words.  His hard green eyes always seemed to carry a touch of a glare as he kept his careful watch, his great sword strapped to his back.<br/><br/>Their journey to Nas Vardeen had been fairly uneventful; they had happened across a pair of wolves that had apparently been hungry enough to attack, which were dispatched quickly enough, and a lone hobgoblin who had little of interest or of value upon him.  Merrick suggested that this might be a sign that another brood of monsters had moved into Nas Vardeen, but it was difficult to say.<br/><br/>At last, they came from the woods into a clearing.  Swirling walls of marble which were surely once beautiful stood in jagged, irregular patterns, in places nearly a story high, in others barely two feet, marking where larger structures had once stood.  “I told you I wasn’t getting us lost,” Merrick shot at Aleric as he jogged ahead, weaving amid the stone structures.  His traveling companions followed after, and soon all four stood before a tall stone arch, its mouth wide enough for two to pass through easily into a steep stairway leading beneath the ground.<br/><br/>“Well, milady, what do you say?”  Aleric asked, the smile audible in his deep voice as he checked his shield’s straps and mounted it on his arm.  “Shall we plow ahead and see what we can find?”  Merrick busied himself with fishing a lantern from his pack, while Kent simply pulled the great sword from his back and leaned forward, his eyes straining to see what the darkness might hide from the bright afternoon sun.