Eliard Roundstone lived with his father where the Ancient Forest and the Witheren Wastelands met. The land there was riddled with caves, affording Eliard the opportunity to practice his father’s craft of pathfinding. His father, Carver, was renowned for his skills. His exploits in the Cavern of Aug, where he scaled the Glass Precipice, became immortalized in the Citadel of the Hallowed Plains by bards and historians.
They lived a meager existence. The caves around their home had long since been plundered. They survived off the few broken gemstones he could collect on his travels. Pathfinding was hard work but as the years past he became quite adept at it. If he stood in a cavern and closed his eyes he could feel even the slightest of breezes indicating an exit. He could taste the salty sweetness of minerals or the bland chalk of bedrock. By the vibration of the earth beneath his feet he could tell how far underground he was. He felt at one with the rocks and soil around him.
Returning from one of his journeys, with a small pouch of halfway decent stones, he saw his father being dragged towards three horses by men from Lord Bathor’s legion. There was a third man out of sight but he could hear him yelling.
“I don’t think you’re telling me the truth, Carver Roundstone. I think you know the way through the Hidden Path and you’re going to show me.”
Eliard hid behind a small shed while the henchmen hoisted his father onto one of the horses. The man with the bellowing voice stepped forward. It was Lord Bathor himself.
“That treasure is mine and I’ll do anything to get it.”
All three men mounted their horses and rode off with his father bound and gagged. The Dungeon of the Hidden Path, the home of Lisastat! Eliard ran inside, replenished his rations and supplies. It would take him two weeks to walk to the Burning Lands and entrance of the dungeon. Maybe he could find a ride on a merchant’s card. He would get his father back. He would find him in the shifting maze known as Hidden Path. It would be safer with numbers, maybe he could find help in one of the towns. Regardless, with or without help, he’d save his father and ensure Lord Bathor never finds Lisastat’s treasure.
