Lioneye's Watch (Act 1)
Having caught my breath at last, I climb the rough stairs into the beach encampment, and for the first time I see something resembling "civilization". I use that term with caution though, because inside I find only a few desperate souls, obviously starving and destitute. The camp serves as an apparent bulwark against an unknown foe, its walls are lined with great sharp wooden stakes, facing outward. Wounded, emaciated men lie about, paying no heed to the flies buzzing around their filthy bodies. As I wander near them, a woman beckons me over, and begins to thank me over and over for killing something called "Hillock". She rummages in her pocket, and produces a handful of sparkling gemstones, saying "Use these wisely, for they are no mere trinkets." I take them with gratitude, though I don't know yet what they're for. I press the other inhabitants for information about where I am, but am met mostly with vacant stares and silence. Something has ruined these people, I must find out.
Finally, in a far corner of the place, slumped up against the wall, I find another wounded man. Through heavily lidded eyes, and a grimace of pain, he tells me that far away, up many winding cliff terraces and past countless enemies, there waits an ancient fortress called "The Prison". He tells me he is sure that safety and comfort lie beyond the upper reaches of the structure. He also tells me that a great evil prowls inside, some horrid abomination wrought of dark experimentation. I press him for details, as this ominous entity likely waits somewhere in my future. He produces only a name: Brutus.
Finding nothing else of interest in the encampment, I catch a short rest, and then descend the stone stairs on its far side onto another broad expanse of beach. My journey continues.