As the unearthly intonation reverberated through its entire form, not quite spreading from the mind as much as seeping in from without through loose ends and edges, the figure froze in place as though spellbound. One of its legs being bent in mid-stride, it appeared as though it might be about to kneel, yet it neither completed its intended movement nor sank down. Instead, it turned its concealed features upwards, as though beckoned by an unseen force, and thrust its arms toward the heavens, fingers poised as though it would clutch the black fabric of the benighted sky. In this position it remained long after the voice's final cryptic command had faded into the void whence it had been issued.

Finally, a stirring of its bag shook it from its stasis. Lowering its arms and plunging its right hand into the uninhabited satchel, the figure at once began to mutter in a whisper so strangely hollow as to convey an impression of being uttered by a disembodied shade, or some creature lurking in distant subterranean halls. [color=008B8B]"To the east... I have sought far and wide in all the corners of these lands, and naught was there in any of them that would lead to that which I am to find. Nor yet have I encountered any land of rot, or anything which might be worthy of such an epithet..."[/color] By the time it had completed this sentence, it had produced from the bag a folded parchment, grown yellow with age and wear and bearing some conspicuous stains of dubious nature. Once unraveled, it was revealed to be a somewhat crudely drawn map of the world as far as it was known to the Kingdom's cartographers, with a number of symbols having been added to  it by a foreign hand, presumably that of its owner. The figure threw a glance at the stars, gauging its position by the constellations above it, then thrust a finger in one spot of the map, as though to pinpoint its current whereabouts. It then slowly shifted its gaze toward the right edge, until it reached what seemed to be a blotched black stain upon the parchment; upon closer inspection, however, it could be seen that it was merely a feature of the chart, depicting, with some graphic extravagances, a vast swampy territory.

[color=008B8B]"The dragon's grave..."[/color] the figure muttered. [color=008B8B]"What I seek cannot be there. Yet there are to be answers... What answers could there lie in such a place, where there are neither living to tell nor dead to show?"[/color] It remained silent for a few moments. [color=008B8B]"It is said it lies at the core of this world, and the roads departing from it are all of equal length. Mayhap it shall be known to me which one I must take."[/color] With these words, the figure folded the map and, returning it to the satchel, resumed its march, headed in the direction whence that which had spoken to him had last let itself be heard.