And yet, there are other qualities that wizards are known to the world by. Many a magical disaster has occurred due to the actions or negligence of those who wield powerful magic, and wizards especially have a bit of a reputation for causing catastrophic accidents or leaving behind dangerous locations. The ruins left behind by a powerful wizard are often classified as dungeons.

They fell through an empty sea of black water. The liquid itself seemed to taunt them as their limbs thrashed, finding little purchase or resistance, as if it was naught but air. And yet, the sea seemed as thick as tar, cloying, suffocating. It pulled downwards, grasping at clothing and skin with a thousand miniscule hands of void and ice. There was nothing to breathe, no resistance to be offered. They reached for mana and magic and found nothing to grasp in that realm as well as they sank further and further into the darkness. 

 It was difficult to tell how far they fell, until as abruptly as they had been seized, the world rotated and the wizards found themselves tumbling forwards and upwards. A membrane parted and with it, air and light flooded back into being. The two were unceremoniously thrown out onto smooth white stone. They lay next to each other, gasping for breath. 

They stayed like that for a minute, wordlessly panting. Jacedi was the first to get to his feet. He offered his hand to Hadrian and helped him to stand as well. Behind them lay a circular pool of black liquid, set into the same white stone. A single short step lay around the edge, between the surface of the water and the surrounding floor. The stone was smooth like marble, but with a surface that was too matte, with little gloss. It was the color of bone, in an even tone that revealed no cracks or discolorations. The platform around the pool extended several feet in all directions, forming a wide disc. Past the edges of the disc, there was nothing but a sharp drop into an abyss that swirled like ink. 

As the wizards looked around they saw that they stood at the end of a long bridge. It was wide enough that a carriage pulled by two horses could have crossed comfortably. The floor of the walkway was a single uninterrupted smooth expanse, like the rest of the platform, with a gentle arc along its length. It possessed waist-high railings on each of its sides, made up of a strange lattice of the same material in a chaotic pattern. It was a tangled web of round edges, reminiscent of a holed cheese, an irregular honeycomb. 

At the far end, the bridge terminated at an island, a craggy thing of dark earth and rock, suspended amidst the void. Broken fragments of stone floated around it, either having splintered off, or brought with the island from wherever it had been plucked. The detritus ranged from small clusters of rock to chunks large enough for several people to stand upon. 

And finally, atop the island lay a palace. That was the best word the two wizards could describe it by. A massive structure of sandy brick, its form straddling the island with multiple rectangular wings. It was capped by a huge burnished dome, gilt with a copperish metallic sheen.  

“Jacedi.”

“My friend.” Jacedi let out a deep breath punctuated with the slight laughter of disbelief.  

Hadrian’s neck swiveled about madly, taking in the impossible sight.

 “Look at the sky. I can’t believe it.” 

Above them lay an unbroken dome of hazy gray. Where the horizon should have been, the gray instead blended into the blackness that lay below in an uneven gradient, like clouds of paint swirling about each other in a bucket of water. The diffuse lighting of an overcast day emanated from the gray sky, casting the world in a tone that seemed slightly too even, with little in the way of shadows.

“Hadrian, this is old magic. Impossible magic. They would eat their hats at Aedura seeing this.”

“Is it dimensional magic? I mean, the Scholarium loves to argue about this stuff, but it’s either theoretical or them arguing about lost magics and which ancient Wizard was better or contributed more to modern wizardry.”

“And we are seeing it with our own eyes.”

“Incredible. I should record this–”

Hadrian began reaching over his shoulder for his bag. 

“Ah. I wasn’t carrying anything with me when we attempted the ritual.”

“That, presumably, is the way back out.” Jacedi pointed to the circular pool, its surface still like black glass. 

“We don’t have any equipment with us, do we? Should we consider attempting to leave?”

“It might be the less risky option. However, if we cannot enter again…”

“That would be a disappointment.” 

They turned back to look at the palace. A second of silence passed between them as they stared in awe. It was eventually broken as Hadrian cleared his throat.

“I can tell there is mana present here. It feels a bit strange, but still usable? I feel like I could cast fine here though.” 

“Likewise. Although it is probably prudent to avoid casting unnecessary spells. We do not know what may happen, or what may be waiting for us there.”

A small flame leapt into being on Hadrian’s fingertip before he extinguished it. 

“So, we’re doing this then?”

“How could we leave after seeing this?” 

Jacedi’s grin was wide as he looked at his friend. Their trepidation faded, painted over by a growing sense of excitement and adventure. The pair took their first few steps onto the bridge, and began walking towards the palace.

Their steps clicked quietly against the bridge’s surface. 

“What do you think it’s made of?” Hadrian wondered as he brushed one of the irregularly shaped railings with his hand.

“It has the smoothness of polished stone, but the texture and color is wrong. It reminds me most of bone or ivory in some ways, but I see no seams or joinery, as if this is all one single unbroken piece…” Jacedi trailed off. How a massive structure could be composed of such materials was a disquieting thought. 

“It seems odd too, the island and palace don’t seem to be made of the same material, at least from this distance, they look an entirely different color.”

As they got closer, they began to see other thin lines of white extending from the central island. Like threads of a spiderweb, they radiated out into the gray sky. The pair strained to make out the details of the other pathways, but it was difficult to see much. Jacedi shaded his eyes and squinted slightly as he looked. 

“Are those–”

“Other bridges?”

“They do not seem to be near this one.”

“Yeah, it looks like this bridge is rather alone. The others look like they’re mostly on the other side of the island?”

They continued to walk towards the island with swift strides. Hadrian coughed. 

“So, do you think this is the palace the tablet described? Or did a structure exist in reality by the lake at some point?”

“If something did exist outside of this place, no trace of it remains. Perhaps it has been buried entirely?”

“I feel that the author did not adequately describe the situation. Did they visit this place and only write vague descriptions?”

“Perhaps they deliberately did not provide all the details. Many wizards would keep knowledge of such a place secret.”

As their approach continued, the state of the palace became clearer. It was composed of wide rectangular blocks, many of which had bands of pillars circling their midsections. The pillars were orange in color, standing out against the sandy color the rest had been constructed from. The central dome was metallic and capped by a twisting spire of the same metal. 

Overall, it appeared to be in a state of disrepair, mostly intact, but with traces of creeping ruin showing themselves in the cracks. A chunk was missing from the dome on one side, and one of the smaller wings appeared partially collapsed. 

“What do you think was the purpose of all this? Was it actually the residence of someone?”

Jacedi was now craning his neck to look upwards at the highest points of the palace. They had closed much of the distance, and were nearing the island itself. 

“I’m not sure. I can’t imagine it would be very convenient, but you know what they say about reclusive wizards and such.” 

“Where do you think the other bridges lead? Other entry points maybe? For travel to different nations or regions?”

“That would make sense, I’m sure a place as isolated as this would need various resources from the outside world at some point.”

“Look, they have different designs than this one as well.” 

The bridge they had just crossed was quite wide compared to the others. Standing where the bridge met the island, there was still quite some distance between the one they had just crossed and the others, but they seemed smaller in stature, even from afar. Some had different designs, one carved to resemble entwined vines and floral designs, another punctuated with archways of stone blocks at regular intervals. One even looked like it might be a rope bridge of sorts. 

“Perhaps we should mark that this is the path we arrived from, just in case.”

“Good idea.”

A dagger appeared in Jacedi’s hand, which he used to cut a strip of cloth off of his tunic. He sighed.

“The sacrifices I make.”

“Stop, please. Besides, my robes are enchanted.”

“As is my jacket. I would not expect you to understand fashion anyways.”

A wry smile looked back at Hadrian while the elf threaded the strip through one of the holes in the bridge’s railing and tied it off. The dyed black cloth hung limply. It did not flutter. 

“There’s no wind here.”

“Eerie.” 

They turned to look again at the impossible edifice they had come all this way for. A towering gateway stood before them up a set of wide stairs. Massive double doors were set into a rectangular frame. They were stone, with bands of metal around the edges. Their surface was flat, with nothing in the way of indentations or handles to be seen. 

Hadrian took in a deep breath before speaking. 

“We could still go back now, you know. Record our findings and return to Aedura with the knowledge of this. We don’t know what we’ll find within, and if we don’t return, this place may never be found again.”

“Few would believe us. We would spend years attempting to gather the wealth and favor to put together a proper research expedition.”

“And we’d have to be careful in terms of what we explain when trying to get people on board, if someone found out about this and had the resources to make their own venture… What an exhausting thought.” 

“Then we have only one option remaining.”

“For the record, this is incredibly dangerous, what we’re doing.”

“Is it much worse than fighting giant rats or slimes? It is much more exciting, is it not? It may not even be dangerous. Not all ancient ruins are dungeons, after all.”

Hadrian couldn’t help but smile back at his friend.

“I suppose so. Alright, let’s find out what could be in a place like this.”

They strode up the stairs to the looming doors. Hadrian took the left one, Jacedi the right. They placed their palms against each door, and exchanged a brief nod before pushing. The ancient doors of stone groaned with the eons that lay upon them, feeling a mortal touch for the first time in untold years and–nothing happened. The doors refused to budge.

Hadrian looked at the doors quizzically. 

“Is it sealed? Maybe there’s another ritual spell required.” 

“Hm.”

Jacedi stared at them for a moment with his hand on his chin. Then, he reached out towards the doors and made a grasping motion. With a tug, the doors swung smoothly outwards all but silently, with only the slightest sound of stone grating against stone. 

“I hate it–it’s a pull.”

The young wizard adjusted his hat as he grumbled and they stepped into the yawning darkness that lay within the forgone palace.