Round 97

The air grew thick with malevolence as Jeane's Detect Magic revealed dark power seeping from the walls. The central rune pulsed hungrily, drawing them in despite every instinct screaming retreat. When Varrika's footing failed on the rotten stairs, Halie moved forward to Merrin's twisted form, holy symbol raised against the clinging darkness that wanted to claim them all.

The magic in the stones screamed at their presence, but the quest demanded they persist. Each step was a gamble on stability and sanity, the wood groaning beneath their weight as if alive with malice. The pool showed their reflections warped by the corruption—yet unbroken, still human despite the encroaching evil that wanted to twist them into something else.

They had to move past this cursed chamber before its hunger consumed them completely. Together they descended deeper into the tower's guts, each step carrying the weight of Merrin's need and their own desperate hope for survival against impossible odds.