An Adventure of Unorthodox Proportions [Invite only]

[Halide]

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."

-JRR Tolkien, WW1 veteran

If there is one thing that is consistent in every society, it is that three things spread as quickly as they can be carried - fear, rumours, and spectacular stories. For weeks, the outpost village of Lunae had gone from a quiet town of commerce and study to a locked, enclosed fortress of desolate silence. Fear and rumours spread amongst travellers like a plague - the town was quiet, the stone walls and wooden gates offering no trespass to those visitors on foot, while an inky black cloud hovered rather ominously over the town, blocking any Pegasus or gryphon from attempting to enter for fear of the hovering pitch. Some said it was cursed. In fact, a great many believed it was cursed - in the minds of those who had heard of it, there had been nothing like it before.

The sister township, Port Dawn, had heard most, of course. Being the closest town to the now-enshrouded outpost, and being directly connected to the city by way of the inland main highway, there was news and speculation from almost every tradesman, traveller, and courier that came from inland to port.

To make matters worse, spectacles began to unfold about the enshrouded town. Some of those that passed made claims of unnatural lightning striking between the inky clouds, even striking the path towards the town's barred wooden gate. Gryphons made claims of hearing murmurs, chanting and even thunderous laughter sometimes escaped the walls and reached their sensitive ears. A few bold enough to approach the gate all agreed that the air near the town had become slightly putrid, and that from time to time the scraping of hooves against wood or stone sent chills up and down their spines.

As ominous as it all was, did not stop a small party of the very bold from trying to enter from above. Two unicorns, a mule, a Pegasus and a unicorn attempted to gain entry. The Pegasus, lost entirely. The gryphon, refusing to fly for days after. That was the truth - the story that escaped grew in exaggeration - by the time the news was travelling over Equestria, those that spread it swore that the cloud had become as a beast of smog, and gobbled up an entire caravan of Pegasi, leaving only a single gryphon to escape to tell the tale.

It is here that the story begins, in Port Dawn. The port itself is a wealthy enough one, serving as one of the more popular trade and immigration centre for Equestria. All species are treated with reasonably equal respect, though sea-ponies and Pegasi dominate the docks themselves, having little fear of water. Earthponies are most common within the township itself, while the other species are less-prominent but nevertheless visibly part of the population. As one might expect, a full range of services are available here, though none rank as particularly noteworthy in comparison to the larger cities in Equestria.

The Court has made order that all are to take extra caution when passing by the now-dreaded town of Lunae. Those that claim to have come from the town, most of them liars or madmen, spread tales of no conclusion - all of them conflicting in spectacular fashions. But, there is a single lead - An old unicorn, a wizard of some respect, has called for those that would venture within, claiming that he has fashioned a set of pendants that will allow the wearer to venture into the cloud. There are notices everywhere in Equestria, as well as some of the neighbouring continents. for as spectacular as the problem has become, so too is the promise of glory for those that overcome it.

A Unicorn, Valius the Unerring, will hold audience to the boldest and most trustworthy ponies that arrive at his tower in Port Dawn. Seeing as the unicorn is both lauded and rich, his tower is not difficult to miss, as it is the tallest building in the Port, aside from the coast's lighthouse. A great stone pinnacle, peaked with a pointed blue tile cap and painted in silver all along the sides, with two mighty redwood doors and ever-burning blue torches marking the entrance.

Who will answer the call? What shall their story be amidst all this?