The subterranean cavern beneath the ruined administration fortress was no longer a mere geographical location; it had become an apocalyptic crucible of absolute, suffocating despair. The massive, hollowed-out geode, easily half a mile across, was illuminated entirely by the putrid, sickly green luminescence radiating from the colossal amethyst formations encrusting the walls. The air was a physical weight, thick with the metallic, coppery stench of vaporized blood and the ancient, cloying rot of stagnant marrow.
