Deific Strongholds
There are places in the earth far more ancient and terrifying than any which I have known. Their scope is indescribable, both unbelievably mammoth in scale and torturously intimate in detail. Their geometry is alien, twisted and knotted in ways one cannot stare closely at for long. And their heritage lies in a dark, eldritch past best left forgotten and undisturbed. But you will not have such luxuries, I think.
The Immortals once lived in these places, during the Age of Myth, before they learned that their presence was draining the world of its life. Strongholds, refuges and hermitages for the eternal ones, these places are most often found buried by sand in a desert, a reflection of the damage their masters did to the world before they retreated. Madness and death live there, alongside the Shadow, who can often be found haunting these cyclopean halls for reasons they do not choose to share.
I do not know what may be found within. I was not equal to the task of exploration in these places. It was in a place such as this that I found the Lens, and it was from there my madness first took hold, if madness it is.
There are now many days I can no longer recollect, days that I know I must have spent treading those antediluvian passages. I suspect the deepest secrets of the Shadow may be found within, but I cannot say for certain. All I know is that I cannot remember, and that my inability to recall those days may be all that keeps me sane to this day. I am sorry to leave you this task, but I have no choice. May the Immortals have mercy on their trespassers.
BACKSTORY
Deific Strongholds exist from the Age of Myth onward.