The Gist, The Hook, The Ad

[Ruess]

Welcome to Sandpyke, friends.

The gateway to the scorching sands of the South, home to the great catacombs of Undermountain and a vast metropolis that stands proud on its peninsula. Her reach spans the horizon and the fields are verdant. Her eyes are sharp and her garrison strong. Your presence is a good omen.

As it happens you are here because of the visions. You either had one or heard of them, and wanted to know more. That, and you have a few other question that ever so curiously are wound into this thread of fate.

Three days ago the world shook and the ground tore apart. In that time every person with even the slightest touch of magic about them has suffered through nightmarish visions. Every vision begins the same and ends the same. The content varies...mostly between degrees of nightmarisly horrible and horribly nightmarish.  Inevitably, the conclusion one draws is always the same.

Something horrible is at work in the darkest depths of Undermountain. It was that very Something which unraveled the Undermountain's master, a madman of legends. And if no one dares venture down there? Bad Things will happen.

So what is it that you are up to, in the middle of all this, while the wise and the learned wrestle with chaos?

Right now, you are standing on a street corner with your eyes set upon a very particular building. It's the Yawning Abyss (or was it Gaping Abyss?) or something like that. You have business there involving the owner and, provided he is willing to talk, asking him some questions since he is is famous for plundering Undermountain repeatedly, and in so doing also making a fortune from the treasures he found in that death trap. The traffic on the street is about to clear except for one last obstacle.

If that large group of greyhide goblins and their cart shaped smithy would kindly get moving, that would be splendid.

Edited February 7, 2023 by Ruess (see edit history)