A lone snail wandered the dungeon at the center of Victoria Island, not knowing what was going on around it. A Drake snuck up behind it, grabbed it in its claws, and crushed its shell. It popped it into its mouth and chewed for a few seconds before swallowing. It sighed heavily, and turned to a nearby Wild Cargo.
"Its getting kind of dull down here," said the Drake, sighing heavily.
"I know what you mean," responded the Wild Cargo, "We've been eating nothing but snails and cold eyes for the past two months, and we don't have anything to entertain ourselves except watching the Tauromacis and Taurospears argue over whose weapon is more attractive."
Tauromacis and Taurospears were massive creatures with the head of a bull and the body of a man, similar to the Minotaur from Greek mythology. Tauromacis had a long spear-like weapon with a crescent moon shape at the end, and Taurospears had regular spears. They guarded the cursed sanctuary where the dreaded Jr. Barlog lived.
Very few travelers made it that far, and those that did make it past the Tauromacis/spears had the honor of being killed by the Jr. Barlog. Most of the monsters were perplexed as to why travelers would want to travel so far into the dungeon, just to meet a gruesome fate.
"We need something exciting to happen around here," said the drake, looking around for more snails.
"I know," agreed the Cargo, "But what?" They pondered this for quite a while, the silence being broken only by the periodic crunch of a snail being eaten, and the hissing of the ice geysers, which went off at regular intervals. Suddenly, a deep booming voice echoed through the dungeon, much like an intercom would echo through a gymnasium.
"All monsters are to report to the Cursed Sanctuary for an emergency announcement!" it echoed.
"I wonder what he wants," asked the Cargo, slowly proceeding to the Cursed Sanctuary.
"I dunno," responded the Drake, "It must be important if he's calling us himself." They continued to talk about this all the way to the Cursed Sanctuary, where the Jr. Barlog waited, flanked by two Crimson Barlogs. All the monsters gasped, and started to mutter amongst themselves.
"Silence!" roared one of the Crimson Barlogs, and the dungeon immediately quieted down. The Jr. Barlog began to walk back and forth in front of the monsters.
"As you know," began the Jr. Barlog, "You are the strongest monsters in the dungeon, and you should be proud of that. However, travelers coming here in search of a challenge have managed to kill my brother." The monsters started to murmur for a few seconds before quieting down again. "Whoever has done this must pay!"
"But we don't know who did it," shouted a Wild Cargo, "If we can't find who did it, they may come back and cause another catastrophe. We'll never be safe again!"
"Calm down everyone," assured the Jr. Barlog, "Nothing to worry about, just a minor complication. Besides, I have a plan to get revenge on the humans."
"You do?" questioned another Wild Cargo.
"We're not going to let them come to us," responded the Jr. Barlog, "We're going to go to them." Several of the monsters roared in agreement. "We have been beaten, burned, slashed, stabbed, frozen, poisoned, shocked, and blinded. But we have been abused for the last time. The time is right, and nothing will interfere with our plans!" The monsters all roared in agreement. "We attack tomorrow!"
In the Perion Department Store…
"…and your total comes to 37,460 mesos." said the shopkeeper. The warrior handed over a bag filled with coins, and the shopkeeper handed over a bag containing various potions.
"Thank you," said the warrior, taking the bag of potions.
"No, thank You," responded the shopkeeper. The warrior walked out of the potion store and emerged into the cliff top town of Perion.
Perion was a warrior town where soon-to-be warriors could get training from Dances with Barlog. The warrior looked around, as though searching for something.
"Come on, Knuckx!" shouted a cleric from about fifteen feet away, "The Burnt Land looks relatively empty."
"Coming, Meg," responded Knuckx, hurrying over to her. "I want to find a good spot just as much as you do." They both hurried to the bottom of the town, where they found a doorway with an inscription running along the top of it. It read To the Dungeon. After passing through it, they started to make their way down the series of cliffs and platforms, slaying any monsters that got in their way.
The entrance to the dungeon was so high up, that looking down from the top would give you a sense of vertigo. They were about halfway to the burnt land when Knuckx held out his hand, making Megan stop as well. "Shhh… listen. Do you hear it?"
They both put their hands to their ears, trying to find some interruption among the tranquility. Then they heard it. The faint, but unmistakable sound of claws scratching at a wooden door. Then a few thundering footsteps rumbled through the ground.
"Move out of the way," growled a fiendish voice, "Let me handle this!" All was quiet for a few seconds, then the door to the dungeon exploded into a thousand pieces, showering everything with wooden shrapnel.
The security guard was woken up by this loud racket. As he readied his studded pole-arm, the Crimson Barlog emerged from the remnants of the doorway. The security guard looked up at the nightmarish creature that stood in front of him, and slowly began to back up, quaking in fear.
"Oh my god…" gasped Megan, "It's the Crimson Barlog,"
"It is?" asked Knuckx, a slight hint of fear in his voice. He peered over the edge, and saw the Crimson Barlog standing in front of the now terrified security guard, who had dropped his weapon.
"Where can I find the town of Henesys?" growled the Crimson Barlog.
"K-k-keep going south," stammered the security guard, "A-a-a-and you'll f-f-f-find Henesys."
"Thanks," responded the Barlog. "Listen up everyone! We're going to split up! I'll take half of the Cargos and take Perion. The other half of the Cargos will go with some Tauromacis and invade Sleepywood. My brother will go with the Jr. Barlog and the Drakes to go torment Kerning City. Everyone else gets Ellinia and Henesys. If anyone tries to interfere, don't allow them to live."
He surveyed his minions with his beady eyes. "We will not allow anymore of these pathetic humans to abuse us any longer!" Above them, Knuckx and Megan watched in horror.
"We have to warn everyone!" whisper Megan, "Otherwise we won't have enough time to gather the power needed to defend the towns against this kind of power."
"There is a way," responded Knuckx, a determined look on his face, "We'll each warn two of the towns." He reached into his bag, and rummaged around for something. He eventually pulled out a vial containing red liquid. "I'll warn Perion and Kerning, and you warn Ellinia and Henesys." Knuckx opened the vial and drank the contents on one gulp.
"This speed potion should give me enough speed to make it to Kerning City in time. Do whatever it takes to beat the monsters there. If they manage to get to Henesys before we do, we're screwed." The two then ran off to their destinations.