บท 180: The Five Elders

A grand gate rose before the group, partially hidden by a mantle of moving clouds, as if they were nearing the entrance to the realm of the dead, where their ancestors resided. The sheer size of the structure loomed against the pallid sky, its dark stone walls etched with the marks of countless winters that had come and gone. A few of the barbarians glanced at each other, their eyes wide with unease, shivering in the swirling wind. They were not afraid of dying in battle, for that was a cornerstone of their pride, but they were deeply superstitious and feared angering their ancestors and being unable to dine at their table in the afterlife. The notion that this gate might be the threshold between the living and the dead unsettled them more than the threat of any mortal foe.