“The Shrouded Vale”
Episode 1: Into the Shrouded Vale
March 16, 2025
The wind shifts through the Elderwood, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and something else—something unnatural. Tavi Falconheart moves carefully, his steps silent over the moss-covered ground. The Shrouded Vale is quieter than it should be. Too quiet.
His fingers brush over the bark of a Sentinel Tree, once vibrant, now blackened and cracked like an old wound. He frowns. This isn’t natural decay. This is corruption.
Something moves in the undergrowth.
Tavi stills, listening. The usual sounds of the forest—birds, insects, the rustle of leaves—are absent. Instead, he hears a low clicking sound, like stones grinding together. His grip tightens on his longbow.
The footprints he’s been following end abruptly in the mud ahead. Whatever passed through here… left nothing behind.
A shadow shifts between the trees.
Tavi raises an arrow, but hesitates. Whatever it is, it’s waiting for him to make the first move.
Does he step forward and investigate? Retreat and report what he’s found? Or does he hold his ground and let whatever lurks in the darkness make the first mistake?
Whatever he chooses, he won’t be alone much longer.