The chamber did not announce its purpose.
That was the first thing Arios noticed as they stepped forward from the lowered platform, the absence of guidance more unsettling than any overt threat. There were no runes etched into the stone, no glowing sigils or floating prompts to frame what was expected of them. No visible mechanisms stirred to life at their arrival, and no immediate danger revealed itself to test their reflexes. The floor stretched outward in a wide oval, its surface composed of layered stone plates fitted together with an almost surgical precision, each seam so exact it felt less constructed and more grown. The walls curved upward and inward, forming a vast dome that vanished into dim, unreachable light, swallowing depth and distance alike. There were no entrances beyond the one they had come through, and no exits presented themselves—no doors, no arches, no illusions pretending to be hope.
