In the heart of a dense and ancient jungle—far from the reach of any kingdom's patrol routes—stood a cragged rise of stone that looked no different than any other forgotten hill. Moss and vines clung to its jagged face, hiding the shadowed mouths of caves that burrowed deep beneath its surface. But within those winding tunnels, carved by time and dark purpose, there lay something far from natural.
A stronghold. Hidden and veiled by the wilds. Its towering doors were iron-wrought and rune-marked, wedged within the stone as though the mountain itself had been bent to form a fortress around them. Its eerie architecture bore no banners, no markings of allegiance, save for the unsettling lack of light that clung to its corners even where torches burned.
