Lighting your torch, you step into the passageway, which you can now see is more of a wide fissure, and guardedly make your way forward. You have not ventured far when the fissure abruptly and unexpectedly narrows ― almost to the point of you having to shimmy through sideways in order to even continue. This, however, is short-lived, with the passageway once again widening and allowing you to proceed in a normal and unrestricted fashion. Rounding a sharp bend, you can see daylight up ahead, and soon after, emerge from the fissure into the sunlight.
You are standing on a large outcropping of stone overlooking a dense, tropical forest of tangled vegetation and impenetrable undergrowth. To your left, a natural stairway of rock casually makes its descent to the jungle down below.
You quickly retrieve the spyglass from your satchel, but can see nothing that even remotely looks like a temple, much less any waypoints that might guide you.
Making your way down, you are surprised to discover a wide pathway that you were unable to see from above leading into the jungle’s interior, which is alive with the songs of carefree birds and the busy buzz of flying insects. Strangely enough, however, there is an almost calming serenity that surrounds you as you carry on.
You have gone maybe a couple hundred paces when the path ahead becomes obscured and heavily overgrown with the native flora. Pressing your way through it, you emerge from the vegetation and can only stare in disbelief at the astonishing sight that unexpectedly greets you on the other side. A perfectly manicured garden paradise awaits ― with a carpet of velvety green grass, neatly-trimmed symmetrical hedges, a menagerie of mind-blowing topiary, and masterfully-wrought statues throughout.
Suddenly, a man and a woman dressed in very strange clothing materialize out of nowhere right in front of you. They appear to be arguing and neither one seems to be even aware of your presence. The situation quickly escalates, with the woman slapping the man’s face, and, as she is turning to walk away, is grabbed roughly by her arm and spun around to face the man. You watch in horror as the man produces a knife and begins brutally stabbing the woman. Before you can react, however, both the man and the woman, as well as the utopian garden, are gone, leaving you standing alone in the jungle…