The Coursers were firmly back to back, battling the enchanted books with all their might. Ancient, brittle pages and dust filled the air. And the screams of the books themselves, reading whatever was on their pages at the highest pitch and volume. Fortune felt a bubble of panic rising within her. Each book she managed to knock down it seemed like three more pelted into her. She was beginning to feel more than a little battered, and didn't think her companions were fairing any better than she ...

The air got hotter and dried with each step Coronet took deeper into the the Earthen Furnace. Below his hooves the ground was shiny and reflective. Some sort of obsidian, or glass? His hound, who he'd taken to calling Faithful, trailed behind him, hesitant to place paws on the surface. Coronet frowned. He didn't want his pet to get hurt. He had hooves that protected him at least a little, but the dog didn't have any sort of insulation from the presumably hot floor. "Hold on, I'll figure somet...

Battered, but not destroyed, by the ghost fight in the colosseum, Sovereign led the party back into the stony, cold halls of the dungeon. Fetch chittered mindlessly behind him about floating and otherworlds, which he assumed had something to do with what they’d just faced, but it was all kinds...

Coronet's adventures in the Overgrown Caverns had been illuminating for the young Courser. He'd wandered freely, inspecting the ancient ruins. And had stumbled upon an unexpected companion, in the hound. He's sought what he'd always wanted, being in total control of his own life. Every choice relying only on his own desires. And he'd reveled in it. But eventually, he'd seen it was time to return to the surface. Back above, under the changing sky he'd rested. And made a few inquiries. And soug...

 Fortune firmly stepped on the graven tile with the strange loopy markings and the whirr of the machine picked up. Ancient gears ground against each other, and the wall in front of the party started to shake and vibrate. Flecks of decaying stone and dust were tossed airborne as the formerly flush stones parted. Terrence shouldered past ...

Coronet trotted down the passage, and the hound followed close beside him. Each time he glanced down, the dog's eyes were locked on him, and it wagged its tail. Coronet had been sure he'd be going on his adventure all alone, but he was beginning to consider the value this hound might add. And the hound wouldn't have any rules for him. It simply seemed interested in following him. Perhaps it would even defend him, if need be. He glanced at his furry companion again, and assured it. "Good hound...

At long last, the twisting plant filled path came to its conclusion. The thick air was still ever present, but at least now there was a little more space. Coronet ducked under a hanging frond and into the room beyond. It was relatively expansive, especially compared to the narrow passage he'd just been down. The plants here seemed less wild. The walls were cut stone, and once they'd likely fitted together snuggly. Now there were crack and fissures and dust. As Coronet walked forward he...

Coronet continued down the left path, and eased his way past the thick overgrowth. The air was thick and humid, and it struck the Coursers for the first time just how alone he was. He knew that others ventured below in groups, leaning on the strength of others to get by. But that simply wasn't his style. Needing others meant having to abide by their rules, their restraints. For Coronet, the underground offered a freedom unlike what was available above. And he had no interest in having that in...

Coronet clopped away from the strange smoking toad in its room, and continued on with his journey. Here and there he remarked on the vast variety of plants that forced themselves through the cracks in the wall, the floor, the ceiling. He pondered if their growth forced the cracks wider, and then let even more plants in. It seemed possible. Was it also possible that this journey was like a plant, forcing its way through his soul, seeking out the cracks, making room for something new? Hi...

All his life Coronet has been told to wait. He was too young, too inexperienced, too this, too that. It chafed against him. Waiting on others, even those who had been guardians over him, had built something inside of him. It burned and it earned to finally not have to listen to the elders, to those who oversaw things. He hungered for freedom. And on this day, he would finally get a taste of it. At long last, they'd decided he could head below, into the Overgrown Caverns. He was considered eno...