{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\nouicompat\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Constantia;}{\f1\fnil Constantia;}} {\colortbl ;\red215\green215\blue215;} {\*\generator Riched20 6.3.9600}\viewkind4\uc1 \pard\sa150\sl0\slmult0\cf1\f0\fs24\tab The expansive dark engulfs you whole. Only two sensations hint at your surroundings - the coarseness of stone brick underfoot and bitter cold. Your first step echoes far ahead. You're inside a hall. Waiting for some sign of life, nothing reaches your ear. Silence even in this reverberant hall. As your eyes adjust, you gradually gain a sense of orientation and meet fingertips to the wall. Deciding arbitrarily to continue in the direction you were facing, you move forward, the wall your only compass. \par \tab Step after step, you fill the hall with your faint presence. Suspicion and fear wanes and shifts to feelings of isolation. Something is terrible, ominous about this structure long abandoned by humans to the snowy waste. Nothing interrupted the bleak stretch. No rooms or doors, no wall hangings, nothing. Still, you continue your solitary exploration. \par \tab Lines emerge and you realize light is filtering in ahead. The further you walk, the more certain you become that the hall joins a chamber up ahead. Behind you, the hall extends infinitely. It is as though the entire structure is a river emptying at its mouth. You draw closer. The opening is the size of a standard door. Beyond, it's too dark to make out details about the room. As you reach the boundary, you pause and scan the chamber. It is large, the size of a ballroom in a fancy hotel, and the room is shaped like a circle. The ceiling is fantastically tall and broken, letting in starlight and snow flurries. You enter. \par \tab "Welcome to the Estbale Hall."\par \tab You jump up \par \tab\f1\par }