The Basement...and the Second Basement

Certain areas of Bluestone are less traveled than others, particularly because of the history around those areas. When Reginald Penbreaker had control of Bluestone, he did a number of terrible things, and practiced magic he should not have been practicing, something that left a evil stain in the veins of Bluestone that will perhaps never fully be removed.

One of those areas we often avoid is 2nd level basement. That is where Penbreaker did many of his experiments. Even being near the door to the second basement level is uncomfortable. You almost feel as though the ghosts of Penbreaker's victims are watching you, or even at times Penbreaker himself. It sounds crazy to say out loud, but when you're down there, it doesn't feel that way at all. It feels as sane as anything you can think of. I can only imagine the things that were done there. The manipulation of energy that was never meant to be done, that corrupted it and created unnatural magic that still hangs somewhere just beneath the surface of what we can see.

The corruption down there has led to a series of things that would be amazing to study, such as a room that doesn't seem to have walls, and a hallway that never ends. We are working on hopefully getting Esra specialists to study it at some point, but for the time being the door is kept locked and shackled, because it is unclear still the power that looms down there, and if there could be danger. Over the decades, Bluestone was cleansed of much of the damage done during Penbreaker's reign. But to this day, it is not fully understood the depths he went and if there are damages that may never be repaired or dangers that lurk beyond what we can handle.

In my research of Penbreaker, one of the most concerning things I ever found was in one of his assistant's records, in which he noted that Penbreaker "came up with fear in his eyes, and a dread" he'd never seen before. He mentioned that Penbreaker "would not return to those depths again," and the notion of something that scared Penbreaker terrified the assistant. I agree and can't imagine how far Penbreaker pushed the limits of magic, or what he corrupted that shouldn't have been corrupted so that even he was frightened.

To think whatever that was could still be here...