TW: Body Horror, Cannibalism
"I am writing this as we ride back for civilization. The story's about this place were true... To a extent. The moment I entered that place it was like I was under a fog that clung to my very soul, my very state of being. The moment I stared into that... Into IT I knew that this was something that should have been left to rot in story books and tall tales. I felt it beckon to me, I felt a draw to the blade that laid in front of it. When I finally regained my senses I was on top of my friend, rearing back to plunge it into his heart, needless to say we didn't explore deeper. I told the local miners to collapse the tunnel and never enter it again... I refuse to disclose its location here for this... evil is one I do not want to see be discovered again" - Scribes Logs
Location[]
The Ruins of the Blind are a series of tunnels and orifices located beneath New Yoake. It was discovered 2 years after New Yoake's founding, when a group of miners accidently dug into it. The entrance can be found in New Yoake's undercity, under the road.
Interior[]
The ruin's walls are mostly flesh and stone, most of it seeming organic and living. Eyes and mouths fill the many chambers, watching those who approach intently. The main hall holds a podium covered in dried blood with a ancient dagger holstered atop a sleek obsidian pillar. Under the podium lies a deep hole that leads to a tunnel, resembling a ribcage leading to a large flesh chamber.
The Creation[]
Long before Rathinir discovered Eldham there was a dying nation on the verge of collapse. Their King, Sygfrid knew that he and his nation were not destined to last much longer. His body was frail and dying, the stress of his nation slowly crushing him under the weight of kingship. Every night he prayed for a solution, prayed for sight into what he must do, a way to make him and his nation live forever. He spent hours on his cold bedroom floor praying in silence until it was broken by a raspy and deep voice from the darkness. It whispered into his ear and told him that if he truly wanted to gain sight and immortality he must first give up his mortal vision and speech, he tried to question the voice, tried to see into the darkness but just as quickly as it was there it had disappeared. He spent many nights trying to pull it back from the shadows to speak to the apparition that commanded him to do such horrible things but never got a response back, only the sound of his own voice painfully ringing back at him. He wanted so desperately to avoid the painful demise he saw so clearly on the horizon, he would do whatever it took. He took his family dagger slowly raking the blade across both of his eyes before severing his tongue from his mouth. He laid there in agony slowly drifting away from blood loss when the same voice drifted into his ear laughing wickedly and told him he would get what he required. He peered into a grand cosmos of shifting light, almost looking like a choppy sea with large masses moving beneath the waves. He saw into the Sea of Dirac. He truly saw despite the fact he was blind, and a calm wave of realization and determination came over him as he now knew exactly what to do.
He ordered his soldiers to each night, gather a group of prisoners and send them to his chambers, where he sliced their throats before cutting them up sadistically using the dagger, before he consumed their flesh and pulverized their bones which he also ate. It was said that he took particular enjoyment of the gouging and consumption of eyes, and the slicing and eating of the tongue as if they were some delicacy from a foreign land. When his nation ran out of prisoners to slaughter he moved onto the sick and old, taking them from the homes and dismembered and consumed them, with every person he murdered a voice inside of him told him he needed more, told him that this wasn't enough, and urged him to save his nation and himself. He finally ordered his soldiers to take two people out of each household and send them to him, he took sons, fathers, mothers, sisters and ripped them away from their family to feed on.
The nation started to realize what he did in his castle and gathered themselves to overthrow the king. They reached the King's throne, and a moment before a sword was plunged deep into his chest, ending his reign of terror, his body convulsed and seized. A voice boomed across the castle, shaking the very foundation they stood on, laughing wickedly and stating that it was finally enough. The King's body bloated and started to rupture, his skin peeling back, ears, mouth and nose bleeding. Eyes emerged from his body as if maggots burrowing out of his skin into the light, slits formed in his flesh growing teeth and tongue almost smiling wickedly as the people watched in abject terror as his flesh began to flood out, coating the walls. The people tried to run from the form that was once the king but all were engulfed by the wiggling mass, and before long the castle was a single mass of flesh, teeth, bones and eyes. The castle slowly submerged into the ground, as claws and teeth grasped it tightly. The rest of the city looked in terror as their King and most of its people were now one in the earth.
Rediscovery[]
"My adventurers through Eldham has led me to many strange places. My dear friend Snickee told me of a strange chamber she dug into while mining in the under city of New Yoake. Of course hungry for adventure I set off for New Yoake excited to see the wonders Eldham had... how naïve I was" - A quote from Garri
On a fine morning King Garri received a strange letter telling him about the ominous place. When he arrived he entered the mines, the air was still and dusty, smelling of sulfur. He entered the chamber with excitement, smiling as always, until he stared up into the eye. He lost himself within it, losing his smile, feeling it call to him, call to the dagger resting on the podium. He wrapped his stone fingers tightly around the handle, bringing the blade and placing it in front of his chest. He felt himself rear back and plunge the knife deep into his chest, collapsing to the ground. He opened his eyes and peered into the sea of light and shapes, seeing the wonderful and terrifying truth about the world and its people. He reached out for it, trying to pull himself closer before he opened his eyes, jolting up from the ground. The knife was tightly grasped in his hand but the wound was sealed, blood staining his clothes. He get up staring into the eye and he swear he heard a voice telling him to give this gift to others. He gripped the knife tightly in his hand and set off out of the tunnel, determined and smiling.