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At the edge of the icy Noa Kurok, you come upon a graveyard. Like a sleeping beast, it lies in a frozen valley, disturbed only by a few small hills. Hundreds of thousands of grave markers cover the ground, dusted with frost. You choke on the smell of rott that surrounds it.
You're cold, very cold. The sun is rising way off in the distance, but it's still so cold here. Off in the distance, past the grave markers, you see a light. It flickers and dances. Fire.
Without another thought, you head towards it. You begin to run, eager for warmth. As you get closer, you see the fire is actually at the mouth of some sort of cave. You cover more ground and find the fire is set in a strange stone basin.
You reach the cave and run up to the fire. Greedily you warm yourself by it for an hour without any other thoughts.
You notice behind you that the cave leads off into a slanting tunnel. Curious, you walk over and look into the deep shaft. It's dimly lit by torches weakly burning on the walls. But the warm air there is inviting and you go into it without caution.
The tunnel slants down for a distance you cannot gauge. Suddenly, it straightens out and branches. You explore these veins of the cave to find they're filled with door ways and heavy oak doors, as well as other halls. You're beginning to think that this might even be somebody's home...
Suddenly a ratteling from an unlit hallway tears away your thoughts. You turn and see a shadowy form lurking there. You exclaim, "Oh! I'm so sorry! I just came in to get out of the cold and--"
Your words fail you as they come out of the shadows. The light dances across his discolored and rotting face. His neck, covered in decaying flesh, creaks sickly as he looks at you. Half of his face appears to have been torn away.
You scream, terrifyed. Suddenly a warm hand on your shoulder cuts off your scream.
"Don't mind Rhodes. He's in no condition to speak, but really, he's harmless," says a voice behind you. The corpse nods with more sickening creaks.
You turn and look at the man behind you. He's pale and rather small. His hair is blonde, pulled back in a pony tail, and his eyes are a pecuiliar shade of red. His forehead has something carved into it...a symbol that's unfamilliar to you. He smiles in a way you're sure he means to be comforting, but it comes off a little creepy.
"I...it's cold out side," you say lamely.
"You don't say," he says and turns to the corpse. "Rhodes, go get a jacket for our...visitor..."
The corpse nods and walks back into the hallway. He turns back to you. "I'll show you back to the exit," he says coldly.
You nod meekly and follow him back through the elaborate corridors to the cave's mouth. The corpse is already waiting there with a heavy coat in his decaying arms. He offers it to you and, after a couple moments of hesitation, you put it on. The blonde man stands in the mouth of the cave and watches as you head back out into the wasteland. Out of the corner of your eye you see him turn back into his home. You could swear though, despite his manner, he seems...sad...
