Dear friends… I do not know if this message will get to you, but in the name of the Athasian Survey Project I have stolen a moment to send it, hoping it gets through. I am trapped, and unless I can find a way to escape my captor, my mission is compromised.

From what I was told before coming to the Dead Lands, the entire landscape had been completely covered in deep layerss of obsidian, but the natural topology of the land meant not every section of obsidian was going to be the same, and perhaps some sections would have deeper or shallower obsidian depending on what was there before. A large region at the base of the stairway-like cliffs I was scaling down looked far more cracked than any other section I could see, with a large number of criss-crossing ravines.

It was not long after I had finished sending my last missive to you that I detected movement near these cracks – a glowing figure levitating over the last stairs and heading towards one of the nearest ravines.

I moved quickly. As I made my way down towards the ravines, I became aware of a presence behind me, taking notice of mine and Margaba’s movements. It reminded me of the presence that spoke to me first near the Islands of the Sun and then later at Kalidnay - surely another undead mind. While I could feel their unfriendly territoriality, they did not seem to have any interest in attacking or even leaving their hidden lair. Or perhaps they noticed we were already leaving before they had stirred from their resting place. I will never know.

I followed Margaba deeper and deeper into the ravines, and then out onto the open obsidian. Margaba seemed to notice my pursuit as he redoubled his speed, leading me down under the blackglass into a series of increasingly dark and treacherous caverns - likely in an attempt to either trap me or shake me.

It must have been the focus on our chase that caused us to fail to notice the other presence permeating the windy and convoluted caverns we sped through. I do know that Margaba did not know the danger his mortal form faced until it was too late.

This presence… it was ancient, massive, and thoroughly inhuman. While it did seem to respond to telepathy, I could not tell if it had sentience or not. It seemed to worm its way through every crevasse and hole in these caverns.

My chase with Margaba ended abruptly when we reached a dead end. As I floated in, Margaba was being surrounded by a horridly crimson and viscous substance surging in from all three sides. It resembled nothing more than congealed blood.

Margaba reached out with his free hand, and the Crystals’ energy flared, unleashing lightning and cold upon the crimson slime. His magic hit hard, doing terrible damage to both the ooze and the cave walls themselves, but the blood-creature just kept coming.

I had my chance to steal the crystals, but I hesitated. Margaba was once my dear friend, and even after his selfish and destructive actions, I did not want to be the one to doom him.

As I watched, torn over what to do, I watched Margaba fight for his life. All while the blood creature crept inevitably through the magical and psionic barriers he erected. When it finally reached him, his scream shook me out of inaction, and I reached out with telekinesis to grab the crystals before they were consumed as well.

As they touched my hands, I felt a surge of power take over my body, and a voice rang loudly within my mind.

“I suppose a thank you is in order for disposing of that loose end. The Lurking Blood hasn’t eaten a mortal in millennia, so that should give us the distraction to carry you out of the Howling Caverns. Come.”

I could not exit the elf’s body. I could not use any powers. I was reduced to a passenger in this body as it moved with unnatural speed out of the caverns and back to the surface. There, a series of chariots with hooded warriors awaited me.

I send my message to you whilst being carried under guard on a chariot. We are heading west across the smooth and seemingly endless blackglass. I will send again when I can.

Until then, may the moons guide you.