Prompt: Your latest treasure is a beautiful amulet. Score! But you can’t help but notice something odd about it: the symbol engraved on it looks eerily similar to your own coat of arms. Huh.

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Ailin stood with Crispin upon the top of the crumbling tower with a full view of the Moor of Sleep below. Or most of it. There were tunnels that branched off leading to other parts of the buried city and battlefield. For some time the two stood in silence, imagining the story of the land below and the undead that now haunted this place long after they should have been laid to rest. Clearly the burying of the battlefield had not been enough to grant that final mercy upon their souls and so they remained to torment any living creature that dares to step foot within this land of ancient pain and loss of life.
They had climbed the perilous tower in order for Ailin to gain perspective about the dungeon and the vastness of the destruction that had occurred long before coursers roamed these dungeons, when sunlight still shone down upon these lands. It was a safe place to pause and reflect as the creatures below did not notice them and none were likely to get up the crumbling steps with their lumbering and clumsy movement.
“Where would you like to go from here?” Crispin asked.
“I’m not sure. Have any suggestions?” Ailin asked.
She turned to look at the gray courser, his red eyes looking into her light gray eyes.
“I know of some tunnels that lead into the old castle of this place. Would you like to see it?”
Ailin’s eyes widened and she barely managed to keep her composure as her excitement went through the roof. The stories of the palace, the things left behind by a time lost. Now that intrigued the collector of stories.
“I would love that,” she managed to say calmly.
They turned from the parapet and returned to the spiral staircase that had brought them up the tower. Heading downwards was far more perilous than their journey upwards. Gravity pulled them down, making every test of the steps a risky endeavor. Just because they held the coursers as they traveled to the top, that didn’t mean they would hold as they went down.
“Careful, this step is loose,” Crispin warned.
“Thank you,” Ailin replied, carefully stepping over the step that her guide had just warned her about.
It was slow going as they tried to be careful in the darkness of the tower until the door finally appeared around the corner. They were both pleased to be back on solid ground as they stepped out of the tower and into the meager light of the dungeon. They followed the old cobblestone, riddled with grass that somehow managed to grow between the cracks and nearly hide the roadways entirely if one did not look closely enough. It was a miracle anything at all grew down here, let alone grass. Ailin could not comment though after having seen the Overgrown Caverns and the lushious plant life that managed to thrive there.
They followed a wide road leading towards the cavern wall. At first Ailin could not see what the road led to, but as they drew closer to the wall she saw a small tunnel entrance dug into the cave wall. It did not look like it had been naturally made. Scrape marks and other indicators made it clear that someone or something had made the tunnel.
“This leads to a castle?” Ailin asked.
“It does. It was buried well, better than the battlefield itself. Not entirely certain how it was found or who made this tunnel but it is quite interesting to see,” Cripin replied.
They left the larger cavern behind and entered the tunnel. It was only large enough for them to travel on-by-one and so Ailin followed behind Crispin, the two using their lanterns to light the way. The natural stone walls eventually shifted into stacked stones, built by creatures of intelligence, before opening up into a large chamber. The roof was held up by stone pillars that managed to withstand the tests of time and appeared nearly unscathed.
“Wow!”
WOW Wow wow
Ailin’s exclamation echoed off the walls and down the various hallways extending from the large chamber. Looking around she could see what must have been the tatters of large banners or tapestries. A large seat sat on one end of the large room. A few remnants of broken pots and weapons sat around the room but it had largely been cleared out otherwise of anything valuable. They crossed the chamber and over into one of the hallways.
“We’ll probably have better luck finding you something to bring back with you down one of the hallways. There had been a number of weapons and valuables in the large chamber but they are gone now. Lots of nooks and crannies in this place though,” Crispin told her.
“I appreciate it,” Ailin responded.
They were quiet as they wandered through the halls. Ailin was in awe of the place. It was large and maze-like but had the remains of old paintings on the wall, scraps of fabric, bits and bobs. All could hold a potential story and Ailin’s imagination went wild at the very idea of it. They turned down another hallway that ended up being a dead end. It led to a small round space that at one point had a window on the other side that now only showed the wall of dirt and stone that the building had been buried under. In the center of this small round room was a stone pedestal with a small box on it.
Crispin stopped and looked over at Ailin.
“Would you like the honors?” he asked.
Ailing looked from the gray courser to the box and approached it. Opening the box she found a beautiful silver amulet. Getting a little closer she tried to better see the details. The details were stunning, very well crafted, but unnervingly familiar.
“Umm… this is the coat of arms I inherited from Jin…” she whispered.
Cripsin raised a brow and came up next to her, looking over her shoulder at the amulet.
“Wait, so that’s your coat of arms?”
“Yes, but how in the world could it end up here?”
“That… is a good question.”
“It’s beautiful, but I am certain that none before Jin had been down here.”
“So, what do you want to do with it?”
“I will leave it. Something is off about it and I do not wish to risk danger to you, myself, or even Jin.”
“I think that is a wise decision. That thing is most likely cursed.”
“And you didn’t mention that possibility before?”
“I wanted to see what you would think first. I would have warned you without a doubt, you hired me to help keep you safe down here after all.”
“Well, thank you,” Ailin chuckled.
The ether courser placed the silver amulet back in the box, before she closed the box another detail jumped out at her. If this thing had been down here for goodness knows how long, how was it so shiny and new? The thought sent a shiver down her spine and she quickly shut the box.
“Shall we continue our exploration?” Crispin asked.
“Lets,” Ailin replied.
They turned from the box and began to walk back down the hall.
Come back…
They froze, looking at the box one last time with wide and terrified eyes.
“Definitely cursed…” Crispin said.
“Yep.”
They picked up the pace, hurrying away from the shiny object that was nowhere near worth the risk it emitted.