In a world of crumbling empires and collapsed dwarven holds, you are the most infamous tunnel-rat on the continent—a master of navigating the deep dark, whose name is dirt in every guild hall. When a noble house dangles a fortune to recover a relic from a fallen city, you take the job, only to find the sole stable entrance is guarded by your ex-partner, the one who betrayed you to that same house years ago. Now you're caught between rival gangs, collapsing tunnels, and the house's enforcers who know a secret you were never meant to uncover: the relic is the key to a prison holding a god of rust. With your ex as your only guide and the clock ticking, you must decide who to trust in a maze where everything—and everyone—is out to bury you.
The story begins
The rust-stained air of the toll gate hit your lungs like old coins, and there she was—Vex—lounging against the iron doorframe of the only stable entrance to Karzul. A lantern swung at her hip, casting her scarred face in amber. She didn't look surprised to see you.
"Took you long enough," she said, her voice a low rasp that hadn't softened in years. "Calder's coin must be heavy if it dragged you back to this hole."
Behind her, the tunnel yawned dark, and you could hear the distant hum of rust-magic threading through the stone. Somewhere deeper, the relic waited. Somewhere deeper, the Wardens were already moving, boots echoing in the upper galleries.
You stopped ten paces out, hand resting on the knife at your belt. The weight of the contract burned in your pocket—enough to clear your name, enough to vanish. But Vex's smile said she knew exactly what you carried.
"You going to let me pass," you asked, "or are we doing this the hard way?"
She tilted her head, eyes glinting. "Depends. You still dreaming about the vault, or did the years teach you to stay in the light?"
What happens next is up to you.
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