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You make your way to a ring of boulders near the exit from the gully where patiently you wait for the storm to abate. When finally the wind drops and the air sheds its dust, you are able to see the vast forest of Helkona stretching away to the northern horizon. It is a forbidding sight, a lifeless expanse of petrified trees that have been destroyed by poisons leeched from the blighted soil of the Darklands. You climb atop a boulder, and when you magnify your vision, you are able to make out a crimson speck of light in the far distance. It emanates from the towers of Gazad Helkona, which you estimate to be no more than thirty miles away. This pinpoint glow of blood-red light tells you that the fortress is occupied.

It is dark and cloudy, yet even in the dead of night the skies above this region are dully illuminated by the reflection of volcanic fires that rage amidst the surrounding mountains. When you glance to the east you can see the lava streams of the Kagazitzaga Range; to the west, you see the fiery spouts of the Kokozritzaga. As you approach the twisted tree-line of Helkona, you can feel the constant tremor of their eruptions vibrating beneath your feet.

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