Factions Abound: Real Dungeon

The Old Quarter seemed dead. It was always quiet, there were rarely any passing cars or pedestrians, but today there was no one. Merrick walked alone up the hill toward the building his boss waited atop. The "Old Library with Clocktower" was all anyone had ever thought of the building. It had taken Merrick considerable research to uncover its real name and former purpose.

Though that knowledge had come with its own line of strange questions. His boss, Horace Abernathy, was the owner of the building and had been for far longer than humanly possible. Merrick's brain told him that logically his boss had to be a sort of "Dread Pirate Roberts". The name was shifted forward from heir to heir to keep the reputation alive

The only flaw in that plan was the photo of the grand reopening that Merrick had found were his boss was clearly pictured in the front. It was taken a hundred years ago but Mr. Abernathy looked exactly the same as he did the last time Merrick laid eyes on him.

Of all the things that Merrick had seen, it was an impossible thing that he could not ignore. Especially when he thought of the magical dagger that he could will into existence. The world was bigger than anyone knew. Merrick's collegiate experience taught him that. Each day he had learned new and interesting things that were forgotten to time. He was starting to believe that his boss was one of those things that the world forgot.

As he approached the building, Merrick stopped at the weathered sign that he now knew once read "The Hilltop Gallery and Atheneum". Once again, he thought of Mouseion and their connection to Horace Abernathy through his former Apprentice. Then there was Rat, or Rath depending on where they met. There were too many loose threads and not enough information. Merrick climbed the steps to the old front door and started to think about how he could get inside to find that information.

When he reached the top step, the front door swung inward slowly inviting him to continue. In the dim light he could see inside that no one had opened the door, there was no one to greet him except the old building itself. Merrick paused.

There was an overwhelming presence. If he were in a game, he would call it magic. It reminded him of the feeling of stepping into the dungeon for the first time in the Elemental Cage. He knew that the very ground in front of him was both ancient and powerful. Enough time had passed, the mystery outweighed the caution and Merrick walked through the threshold.