Yael

Ognit Eznertob, Dabner Drednever and

Dagda Icefury had spent the last several days spelunking in the Hole and the ruins of the old city of Paineel. The ruins were an eerie, dusty and dark place. Strange and terrifying sounds echoed throughout the once splendorous city, like wails of torment from souls suffering in eternal agony. Though Ognit seemed unfazed by the atmosphere, Dabner and Dagda were very skittish about their journey down into the Hole.

Dabner swore that the sounds were none other than the ghosts of Erudites slain during the Great War that destroyed the old city years ago. Ognit hypothesized that the strange noises were caused by undercurrents of wind wafting from the surface above and were nothing to be concerned about. Dagda knew not the cause of the sounds but she was sure that the three of them should not be in that place.

After spending some time exploring the ruins and wandering deeper into the cavern, the three came across the very thing for which Ognit had been searching. Before them stood The Hatch and the wall of Living Stone. The Living Stone is an artifact of great power created by

Brell Serilis the purpose of which was to stop the creatures from the Plane of the Underfoot from entering into the world. The residents of the old city once conducted experiments on the Living Stone, attempting to find a way to harness its power. The experiments damaged the wall of Living Stone and creatures began to breach the wall and threatened the city. The Erudites constructed The Hatch; a sort of life support system that kept the Living Stone strong after the earthen

Lord Yael escaped and threatened their destruction with his army of elementals.

Ognit sought to study both The Hatch and the wall of Living Stone. He felt that the Erudites were simply not qualified for that sort of study and indeed it would take the delicate and careful touch of a gnome to properly study the artifact and perhaps find a way to harness its power. History has a way of repeating itself.