Arhalas hurried along a cobblestone street. He approached a large building, unlocked the door, and entered. He looked around, enjoying the familiar sight of the council room. He had arrived early, so he sat down to wait for the others who would be coming soon.

  While he rested there, he thought back over the past few years of his life. He remembered all the quests he had done and the adventures he had taken part in. He had become somewhat well known in that area of the nation of Rylar, so he decided to start an adventurers' guild in the capital city of Sylnos. Now he was awaiting the arrival of its members for a guild meeting.

  Soon his friend Trethan arrived. One of the first to join the guild, Trethan had become a very skilled archer and had played an important part in many of the guild's quests. The two friends greeted each other, and they talked for a few minutes.

  "So what are we going to discuss at the meeting today?" Trethan asked.

  "Well, I've been thinking some about doing some exploration," Arhalas replied.

  "Where specifically are you thinking to do that?"

  Arhalas looked out a window. "Looks like the others are arriving. You'll find out soon enough."

  Once everyone arrived, the council began. Counting Arhalas and Trethan, there were twelve guild members. Arhalas stood up and began to speak.

  "Greetings, fellow adventurers. Welcome. I know that adventures and quests have been fewer of late, but I have a suggestion of what we can do. Some of you have no doubt heard about my first quest. For those of you who have not, I was able, with the help of Trethan and some of the city guards, to defeat a large group of phantoms. These phantoms were living in a large ruined building near the ocean. To get there, one must follow the north road for a while, until a river (which, by the way, is the same one that can be seen out the front windows of our guild) crosses it. From there, a person should follow the river until it reaches the ocean."

  "Lately I have been thinking about my adventure, and I have become somewhat curious about the ruins that I saw. The phantoms were in the largest building, but there were other ruins too. Having come for the purpose of battling the phantoms, we did not explore any of the buildings in detail. But it seems that there might be something of interest to find there. Would any of you be interested in going to the ruins and seeing what we can find?"

  As it turned out, everyone was curious to know what secrets the ruins held. So they all prepared for the journey and set out the next day.

  After two days, they arrived at the seashore. They approached the buildings cautiously, but found that no enemies, whether phantoms or other kinds, were living there.

  As the adventurers explored, they came across several written books. At the end of the day, they gathered together and shared their findings.

  Arhalas read through the books he found. They appeared to be records of various transactions, such as a shopkeeper might have. From what he could tell, the people who had once lived there were prosperous and skilled at making useful and beautiful objects.

  Trethan also had found some books. "These might explain some of what happened here." He began to read one of them aloud.

  "This morning ships were seen approaching the harbor, bearing strange flags that we had never seen before. When they were near the shore, they began to fire arrows at the people in the city. Our archers returned fire, and soon the ships reached the shore.

  "The enemies entered the city, and fighting broke out everywhere. Thankfully those unable to fight were evacuated as soon as the arrows were fired and we knew that the ships came from an enemy. Our fastest horsemen were also sent out to request help from Sylnos and the other major cities of Rylar. We seem to be outnumbered, but we will not surrender."

  Trethan started the next entry in the book:

  "We have been fighting for three days now. On the third day, help finally arrived from the others, and we drove back the enemies. I never knew the horrors that war could bring until now. Now it is the morning of the fourth day."

  "The enemies have fled back on to their ships. Now they are sailing away. One of the commanders shouted out as they left, "You may have won this battle, but you can never triumph over Thurzoth!" So that is the name of the enemy nation: Thurzoth. I am glad that the enemies were driven off."

  Trethan closed the book. "That's all from this book."

  Arhalas said, "I see. Now I know what these ruins are. Long ago, there was a great war between Thurzoth and Rylar. They say that the first battle of the war took place at the port city of Kyrnos. So these must be the ruins of Kyrnos."

  One of the other adventurers, whose name was Lethisan, spoke up. "I also found a book that sheds some light on the mysteries of this place."

  "Read it, then," Arhalas said.

  Lethisan read: "A few days after the battle against Thurzoth, the level of the ocean began to rise. It rose slowly enough that we could escape, but most of the city's buildings, along with what was in them, were lost underwater."

  He added, "There's another entry here. It says: "Later on, prisoners were taken from the armies of Thurzoth. When questioned, they said that the rising ocean was "the revenge of Thurzoth" against Kyrnos. From what we can tell, the leaders of our enemies found a way to melt the ice from the great frozen continent to the north. How they were able to melt so much of it, I cannot understand. Perhaps they had fire dragons? But how they did it is not important. The tide of the war is turning, and I believe Rylar will win the victory." "

  As the record ended, Arhalas spoke. "I had heard already some about the war and the sinking of the city. We have found the ruins of Kyrnos, lost through the years due to no one living nearby to know of them. Well, now that that mystery is solved, we should be able to find and explore the rest of the ruined city, where it lies underwater. What do you say to that?"

  The adventurers decided that they would definitely explore the underwater ruins. They headed back to the city, where they resupplied and prepared several potions of water breathing to use in their searching. Having done all this to prepare, they returned to the ruins.