Shadows of Aethelburg

The chipped, obsidian shard felt cold in your sweaty palm. Above, the crimson sky bled into a bruised purple, the swirling clouds mimicking the chaos blooming in your gut. You cough, a rattling, phlegmy sound that echoes strangely in the oppressive silence. The air tastes like burnt copper and regret. This isn't the homecoming you envisioned. Just hours ago, you were Lieutenant Aris Thorne, celebrated hero of the Northern Expedition. You'd finally returned to the city of Aethelburg after years of relentless fighting against the encroaching Grimkin hordes. Flags flew, ale flowed, and the cheers… oh, the cheers still ring faintly in your ears. Then the earth buckled. The sky ripped open. And *they* came. Not Grimkin. Something… worse. Something older. Entities of pure shadow and distorted thought, hungry for the very fabric of reality. Aethelburg, your proud bastion of civilization, crumbled in minutes. Its shining towers warped into grotesque parodies of architecture. Its people… twisted. You remember snippets: the Captain's face melting into a screaming void, your best friend, Lyra, dissolving into dust with a whispered curse. You remember running. You remember the shard. Now, you stand on the precipice of oblivion. The last flickering embers of hope are threatening to extinguish in the face of overwhelming despair. Your orders were clear, given by a dying Archmage moments before his arcane defenses failed: Find the Nexus. Stop the Bleeding. Save what's left. The Nexus… a place of unimaginable power, hidden somewhere within the ruins of Aethelburg. It's the only thing that can close the rift and banish the entities back to whatever nightmare realm they crawled from. But the city is a labyrinth now, a shifting landscape of broken dreams and monstrous horrors. Every step could be your last. You clutch the shard tighter. It hums faintly, a subtle vibration against your skin. It's your guide, your protector, your last, desperate chance. Welcome, Lieutenant Thorne, to the end of the world. May your luck last longer than Aethelburg's defenses. Your journey begins now.