Talos looked at the empty chair while puffing contemplatively from his pipe as Rose told him that only four of the five he sensed had claimed their heritage. He grunted in acknowledgment that managed to convey a sense of disappointment behind it before shrugging off the notion.<strong>“Very well.”</strong>A puff of smoke exhaled from his mouth when he spoke. Of the two remarks that followed, it was only Rose’s that he actually recognized, though it would be clear from the brief sideways glance he cast at her that he was not at all approving of the way she carried herself.<br/><br/><strong>”In a manner of speaking, yes. Albeit several generations your forebear. Though that is not why I called you all hear and we’re deviating from matters at hand. Look here.”</strong>The elder man gestured towards the large map on the table before him before taking another draw from his pipe, urging them to look upon it. It was a match to the one back in your library, though this one shows a black smudge along the bottom most portions of the continent. At first glance one may think it was just an accident with an ink well, but closer inspection shows that it seems to correspond too closely with the contours and boarders of the land for pure coincidence. The darkest portions of the discoloration seems to be located in the approximate region of the Great Gateway that you may recall from looking upon your own map. Much of the lower expanses of the continent are entirely shrouded in absolute blackness, expanding to the waterline and a little beyond. From there the coloration gradually lightens to the natural color of the map as it reaches upward as if somebody had run their thumb through a puddle of black ink. The northern most expanses of the discoloration spreads as far as a few miles within the southern borders of Desh and your home nation of Averil. The very edge seeming to be encroaching within a few miles of Garados according to your estimations.<br/><br/>Once again a small plume of smoke seeps from his lips as Talos speaks once more, though any who had moved in close enough to the map to get a clear view notices the smell of brimstone rather than burning tobacco.<strong>”That discoloration represents the presence of what your kind calls the Blight and it has been spreading more rapidly over the past few months than it has in the entire years following the gate’s sealing. Tell me, what do you know of how your father managed to close the gate to the Abyssal plane?”</strong><br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide</div><div class="spoiler_body"> DC 20 perception check to notice that there is no burning embers in his pipe when he inhales from it, indicating that it is not lit. </div></div>