Dark Parasyte

Mist laden dawn saw Corvin step aboard a slender lugger at the bustling docks of Aurumport, the port city on Gilded Dominion’s eastern fringe. Four Umbral Synod operatives, two senior Magisters and two Adepts mustered elemental Water and Air magics to propel the vessel swiftly. Cloaked in shadow runes, their combined spells cut the voyage from Aurumport to Eldrithas to four days, evading Circle patrols across emerald waters.

By midday, they disembarked at the forest’s edge. Before them stretched the Verdant Shroud, its ancient trunks shrouded in mist. Faint sigils carved into mossy bark glowed with dark magic, marking the hidden Synod Channels. Corvin’s telepathy pulsed, mapping his companions’ whispered waypoints and detecting distant Elven scouts.

They pressed into the wood, each footstep swallowed by a thick carpet of fallen leaves. Moonlight filtered through the canopy, illuminating the Blackroot Passage, whose tunnels wound beneath gnarled roots. The head spy traced a silent ward that cloaked their passage, while Corvin melded into the forest’s shadows like one of the Synod’s own.

Hours passed until the path ascended a sheer cliff. The lead operative revealed a hidden archway carved into rocky entrance to the Web Hewn Ravine, its walls draped in silken strands spun by cavern dwelling arachnids.

Emerging onto a rocky plateau, they beheld the Obsidian Gate: twin spires of polished basalt encircled by living runes. One of the spies whispered the ancient invocation, and the towering doors carved with serpentine reliefs parted silently. Corvin inhaled the cool, stone laden air, his first step into the heart of Dark Elf dominion.

--

The Gate sealed behind him with a resonant thrum that echoed through Corvin’s bones. He entered a vaulted chamber carved into the stone. Four Magisters awaited on a raised dais: two hooded figures flanked Magus Seredai and Magus Kel’Mara. Above them, on a throne of voidstone, sat Archmagus Vaelorin the Black, his cloak absorbing all light.

Before words passed lips, Magus Seredai extended his hand, tracing a rune in the air that blazed with ghostly light. "Swear the soulbound rite of the caverns," he commanded, voice reverberating off stone. "Reveal these passages, and your body and soul shall be severed."

Corvin inclined his head, the vow heavy in his chest. "I swear it. My tongue and spirit shall guard this secret."

A moment of approving nods passed through the council. Shadows undulated as Vaelorin rose, his gaze sharp. "You have proven yourself by crossing the Web Hewn Ravine. Few outsiders earn this privilege. Now, is there anything you want to say before we decide your first assignment?"

Corvin met the Archmagus’s eyes with steady calm. "I require clarity on my service. Define the duration and terms. I do not wish to be bound endlessly to this council’s assignments"