First, I needed to get outside, so I outlined a route via passageways, caves, and chambers. There were only a few exits, the nearest being a good distance from my current location. I probably wouldn’t be able to reach it in a single hour.
I ventured through the hole in the wall and into the passageways. It didn’t take long to learn that the caverns of Shadow Crag weren’t all naturally formed; its passageways, corridors, and chambers had been hewn into the mountain, and dusty remnants of an ancient civilization lay scattered throughout the area.
I would have grabbed items as I passed, but they were all damaged and completely useless for either weapons or armor. I tended to grab as many as I could carry whenever clearing starter zones in games; amassing as much equipment as possible was easy currency at the nearest merchant, but in my current state, I didn’t have a magical inventory that could store my unequipped finds like Mary Poppins’ handbag.
I stuck to the course for the next thirty minutes until my avatar timer showed less than three minutes. The caverns slowly started to show more signs of past inhabitants, but I found none of their owners. I couldn’t smell or hear them. Most of the items were dusty, broken, or half-submerged in the rock face—nothing viable, nothing useful. I figured this mountain had undergone some kind of magical calamity causing the entire edifice to shift and change like goo. It was the only explanation for the objects I passed.
I still had a way to go before leaving Shadow Crag’s caverns, so I scanned the map for some safe place to stash my jewel. There were no labels to any of the caverns, chambers, passageways, or other landmarks inside the mountain complex, so I had to decide based only on the size of the rooms.
A small chamber on the map looked appropriate, and I made for it while keeping constant watch over my surroundings. Inside, I found cooked meat beside a blackened campfire. I held my breath and scanned the room for any sign of its inhabitant. My stomach groaned a little as I looked at the roasted morsel. It wasn’t quite a feeling of hunger pangs, but almost a nostalgia for the taste of food. I had to grab energy while I could since I wasn’t sure whether Von Dominus would be sustained while within my jewel; if he needed food, then I could stock up now on the creature’s roasted meat.
I ventured toward it and tore off a strip with my new fangs.
“Fuck!” I spat the roasted flesh onto the ground and rubbed my tongue against my palm.
The meat I had just chewed tasted like ash, and I wondered whether it was an inedible creature, or whether my Tainted Elf race had a penchant for bloodier meat. Probably the latter. I wouldn’t have to worry about cooking food for my avatar, making survival a whole lot easier.
Footsteps drew my attention, and I removed the jewel from its sling before quickly stuffing it into a cavity inside the wall. I grabbed a nearby stone and plugged the hole with it. The footsteps were growing closer, and a light humming noise joined them. I concentrated on my jewel until my consciousness broke away from my avatar.
Then I was back inside the dungeon’s heart, shrouded by complete blackness. I sucked the avatar back inside me, his body dissolving into a cloud of black dust and merging with my jewel. I felt more whole now that I’d absorbed Von Dominus.
For the first few hours, I listened to the creature inside the small chamber amusing itself with an incredibly annoying tune. The humming stopped, replaced by a nasal snoring. The hours ticked by while I waited for the creature to wake and then go about its business.
A peculiar sensation emanated from the minerals, as though they were calling, whispering, brushing against my jewelled edges. Tempting as it was, I didn’t entertain it. I couldn’t afford for the thing in the chamber to notice anything. So, I ignored it and made a mental note to investigate later.
The creature stirred from its slumber, and then I heard its footsteps as it left its lair. I waited a few more minutes to ensure it wouldn’t return and then commanded my avatar to appear. Black mist siphoned out from my jewel and collected itself into an outline of Von Dominus. The substance took on color as my elvish avatar materialized in its completed form.
I half-expected Von Dominus to be wearing a fresh tunic with both sleeves, but he had the same torn clothing from the day before. The sling hung around his shoulders, and a deadly gleam marked his dark eyes. He waited in stillness for my consciousness to fuse with his body.
I inserted my consciousness into the avatar, and suddenly I was peering through the elf’s eyes. The chamber became completely clear to me again as the darkness lifted from my senses. I flexed my hands and rolled my shoulders. It felt good to be outside my jewel, and I was ready for a hard day’s work. I removed the rock from the cavity in the wall and fished out the jewel. Once it was safely inside the sling, I scoured the room for some kind of weapon.
There was a small table behind the fireplace and a pile of what looked like discarded refuse. Half-chewed bones were stacked in a neat pile in front of a filthy blanket. The bones were too thin and brittle to use as a makeshift weapon, but the table’s legs could probably be broken down and used as clubs.
I lined the table up against a wall before slamming my foot onto
