"Four gold in one day!" yelled the new adventurer, his grin going from ear to ear as he walked with his friends; they have had a great first day.

"I can see why so many people become adventurers. I made more gold today than I would have in a year of tending shop."

The day had been wonderful for the young adventuring party. Coming across a group of resting goblins, they took them easily. To their surprise, the goblins had a small bag of loot with them; each boy getting a respectable amount of gold. It was safe to say they would not be going back to civilian life.

Hunger was getting the best of them as night fell, and the game trail they found was far to tempting to pass up. It wasn't long before they found themselves in a large field. A feeling of dread washed over them all. They looked out to a circle of land that had no life on it. The dead edge butted up to healthy grass and plant life. Just past the dead grass was one of the largest deer they had ever seen. The creature looked so out of place standing in the circle of death, not moving, just staring back at them.

The group's archer fitted an arrow and let it fly, striking the deer right between the eyes and watching it collapse to the ground. There was no celebrating as the group just wanted to get out of there. As they ran out to get the deer and knelt beside its body, their hearts froze; the deer was not what it seemed. Flesh had been stitched over the body of the once living deer, the body underneath being almost completely eaten away by maggots.

The young adventuring party immediately turned back towards the living grass, but found their way blocked by five creatures swirling with void. Their black bodies stood directly between the adventures and the living grass. One of the creatures channeled a portion of void and hurled it at the adventurers, knocking him to the ground without effort. The group's healer quickly incanted a healing spell but was shocked when the magic didn't come, the dead land seeming to eat up his earth magic.

The battle was swift, with all of the young adventurers falling before the creatures of void. Only one was still alive, playing possum on the ground. Peering through slitted eyes, the adventurer was able to see a man in black robes, his face covered in black shadow. The robed man knelt over one of the fallen adventurers and reached into his chest, extracting a small white pearl. The man placed the pearl amonst others in an urn that he was holding, then moved to the next body.

Fear is a powerful motivator. The boy lept up and ran for the edge of the clearing, not looking back as he crashed back thru the game trail, not stopping until it felt like his lungs were going to burst. He chanced a glance back, seeing nothing but the game trail behind him. His heart was racing as he turned back around. He only had a moment to feel the pain of the claw slipping past his armor. The touch was enough to bring him death's embrace.

"Don't fear young one. Now you may adventure with your friends forever," Daris said as he extracted the young man's sprit.

A woman stands before the blighted land, staring straight ahead with old, wise eyes that do not match the youth of her body. The terrible emptiness that seeps from the land in front of her brings a cold sweat to her brow and locks her muscles rigid. Hands clenched at her sides, she wills her trembling legs to take another step. Like a terrified rabbit, she is unable to move.

She grits her teeth, trying to muster the nerve to conquer her body's natural aversion. She forces herself to remember why she is here. For a moment, it is almost like she is there once more. The woman remembers weeping over the crumbled ruins of the place she had called home. Grief for her children floods her eyes with sudden tears. It is they she will miss the most. To her, they were innocent, guilty of nothing other than being of her creation. Foremost in her mind, however, are the faces of her aggressors. She will avenge the lives of her children and her pride, of that she is sure.

It is a mixture of grief, love, pride, and hate that drives her forward.