The Lost Girl's Story

As you walk along, the girl introduces herself as Ada.  You walk through the empty streets, the ancient buildings turning from glass and steel to brick, and then finally to wood, before it gives way to dense forest completely.  She heads towards the glade that you passed over.  As you walk, she speaks, and Ivan translates for the rest of the crew.

	"Yes, the story I was told. There is a curse on this land; an ancient evil. I have traveled to the mountain high twice and read the words of warning. I will tell you as I was told as a babe."
	"It began many centuries ago. A union between man and Heaven beget a golden age. This was the First Age, when gods held hands with Man. Women gave birth to angels, and these angels amongst men had a secret conduit straight to the powers of Heaven. They used this power to create the cities of light that the people of those days lived in, not just here, but countless cities in the sky and amongst the stars. Then the War in Heaven happened and the sky fell. The angels all died or became twisted, fallen caricatures of themselves--the demons. Our city of light managed to fight back the demons, and those we could not slay were sealed deep underground."
	"But without the angel power, the city of light was dying. So the people in those hard, fragile days made a pact with the forces of evil to give the city life again. A portal to Hell was opened, and from that portal, powerful fires came forth. They forged the fire into lightning and powered the city once again, but you can't make a pact with Hell without consequences, and that consequence was the curse that lays over this land, that makes all men mortal, that makes our bodies fail piece by piece. For a long time, the ancient people were able to suppress the curse, though. They locked it behind seven seals and buried it deep underneath the mountain high, where I have gone twice and read the words of warning. For a time, the people endured. Life was hard without the angel power, but they were surviving, getting through, and the curse was safely locked away. This was the Second Age.
	"But, as I said before, you cannot make a pact with Hell without consequences. One of the demons broke loose from its dark and unholy lair underground where it was locked many years before. Every living thing it looked up turned into a malicious, corrupt mockery of itself, a dumb beast hellbent on destroying all life. The demon broke the seven seals of the mountain high, where I have gone twice and read the words of warning, and unleashed the curse that was buried deep within."
	"For 200 years the demon reigned supreme from its black throne on the mountain high, spewing forth terrible monsters, and he closed the portal to hell, forever casting the city in darkness that it has never come out of since. This dark time was called the Third Age. Even then, Man fought back. In the twilight of that  age, the men-under-the-shadow mustered together seven crusades, one after another, led by seven generals, the Seven Heroes of Old. The First Crusade breached the perimeter of the first broken seal, before the Hero was slain in the field, and the army was routed, and the men fled back to the forests. The Second Crusade breached the perimeter of the second broken seal, before the Hero was slain in the field, and the army was routed, and the men fled back to the forests. And so on with the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Crusades, until in the Seventh Crusade, the Hero breached the perimeter of the seventh seal, and challenged the demon. He used a shield of mirrors to reflect the fell gaze back upon the demon, and the demon itself became simple and vicious and a stupid brute. Thus weakened, he slew the demon with a wand of lightning and steel, and Man entered the Fourth Age."
	She juts out her chest in pride. "I am the direct descendent of the Seventh Hero, the last of his line, and his blood flows in my veins. The mirror-shield was lost, but our family has kept the wand, passing it down to each generation. The magic was expended to slay the demon, but I keep the weapon in a sacred place."

She pauses.

	"Even though the demon was killed and the men-under-the-shadow were freed, though, I guess it didn't really matter. Life without the angels is hard and narrow, and the Crusades were very costly. There weren't... There weren't many of us left after that. The curse took its toll, as well, from its mountain redoubt. But I have been there. Twice, I have been to the mountain high, and read the words of warning: " She pauses, and takes a breath before reciting those words, "This place is not a place of honour..."