Alarathos: Kaelh

You are Kaelh, you are a human wizard of considerable talent, though your powers remain largely untested against the true horrors of this world. Your robes are worn but serviceable, bearing the faint stains of arcane reagents and travel dust. A silver amulet depicting an open tome rests against your chest, the symbol of your magical studies. You carry a gnarled oak staff carved with protective runes that glow faintly in dim light. You stand within the stone walls of Fort Black, the last bastion of civilization before the wilderness descends into pure nightmare. The fortress guards the edge of the known world, where reality itself begins to fray and twist. Your arrival here was not by chance—you seek the forgotten knowledge said to lie beyond these walls, power that could elevate your magic beyond mortal limits. The air carries the scent of cold stone and distant decay. Captain Valerius approaches you, his plate armor scraping against the stone floor. The veteran soldier's face is lined with both age and the strain of constant vigilance. "The outer scouts haven't returned," he says, his voice low and urgent. "Something has changed out there in the darkness. I need someone who understands the unnatural forces at work here."