Crimson Mist tells the story of the end of a long and lonely quest, under coercion from a powerful force.

1.
The storm swirls and rages around you. Lightning and thunder block your senses as the rain hammers to the ground. Vision impaired, you're going off the last landmark you saw hours before; a gigantic bell tower. An odd sight this high up, but you're relieved to be following it.
You stumble several times, being careful not to drop the bag lashed to your back. The object inside must be protected at all cost.
After several more hours of downfall and drudgery, you begin to hear a dark tolling that can only be the bell tower. Who is ringing the bells? Could you be near the end of your quest?
The bells stop ringing well before you find it but, soon enough, the tower leaps into view as lightning tears open the sky and night sweeps over the mountain range.
Crawling into the tower from fatigue, you rest inside the sanctuary of the stone walls. You hear the bells start to ring again, but distant, as before.

2.
You wake up groggy in a strange room with a dirt floor. Above you is a spiral staircase that hugs the circular stone wall with no evidence of a visible end. You feel something strange pulling at your feet. You look down to see rats nibbling the leather and laces of your worn boots. You kick them away and they screech and run, except for the biggest one who sets himself on his hind legs and seems to stare you down before chasing after his brothers. Looking around, you see the doorway you crawled through the night before and remember; you're in the bell tower. It's a blur how you made it here, and how long you slept for, but it's lighter outside so you decide to get moving. There's a table with half a mildewed loaf on it so you pick that up. Scooping up your bag, you confirm the shiny object inside is still safe, throw in the bread and throw it all on your back. You step outside into the now setting sun. Blinking and covering your face, you look up at the sky. The storm has lasted weeks so your eyes take a moment to adjust to normal light.
You realise that the bell tower was the last landmark you had to follow. Beyond that, you know you are close to coming down off the mountain but the way is uncertain. It's getting dark again already as you set off into the oncoming gloom.

3.
Leaving the bells behind, you soon notice trees appearing to swoop out of the dusk until you finally lose sight of the sky. The trees tower above your head within moments of entering the shade of cover the canopy of trees provide. The chances of getting lost and turned around have increased ten fold. The only option is to climb. Selecting an ancient tree with some low hanging branches, you begin an ascent.
It is slow going and, several times, a branch will release a crack under your weight. The small amount of light from above is fading quickly so you pick a suitable forked branch and rest.
Your wake in a light breeze. Looking up, you glance something soar over the leaves of the tree. You realise you are nearly at the top so quickly scramble up the remaining branches.
At the very top of the tree, you break through the leaves and the world opens up around you. You can see for miles; the bell tower is still close so you can see part of the route beyond that you took to get there. Sheer edges and glacial ground remind you how close you came to falling as the storm led you blindly forward. Turning away from there, you see the castle of l'Acondrial in the far distance where you last spoke to another person, but closer are trails of fire leading into mist. Oil and sticks light up to a path beyond the forest and having heard that this is the way, you note the direction and begin your descent into darkness.

4.
Leaving the woods behind, you approach the fiery cairns and follow their trail. The mist soon envelopes you, robbing you of a distant view.

5.
The fires flicker close to your head and reveal secrets as you pass. Rusted armour, half buried, jut out of the ground. Stones to mark the long dead sit at odd, crooked angles. Names and dates pass in a smoky blur. Through tear-streaked eyes, you see a body turn out of view. Something with no face steps out in front of you and is gone again. You hear a clash of swords and a distant yell. The ancient battlefield still holds many of its souls close by. You come upon a large rock that you collapse under and sleep for hours.

6.
You wake to a clearer surrounding, the mist having departed during the night. Turning your head to look for your bag you hear a growl. You stay perfectly still as a Darqine walks into your line of sight. You'd hoped to avoid these dog-like creatures who hunt in packs for whatever they can find. With no head, the growl erupts again from the hole at the front of the animal through rows of sharpened teeth. With the rock you slept under behind you, three Darqines stand in front of you. Slowly, you move only your arm to reach for your long handled hammer. As the first Darqine lunges, you swing your hammer up and catch it under its open maw. The other two spring forward, teeth glistening. One grabs your hand and you feel the teeth sink in. The other tries to avoid your hammer swinging a second time. You manage to stun it so you turn to the third and smash its body against the large rock behind you. After a couple of hits, it goes slack and drops off your hand, taking three fingers with it. The stunned Darqine, recovered, jumps for your leg and takes hold, leaving it open for a final hammer hit. Three dead and you survived, but your hand is a mess and the leg wound is deep and won't help the final stage of your journey. Packing some Darqine meat into your bag, you set off, with a limp.

7.
Mist has descended once again as you reach a river. A crossing awaits by means of a boat. You approach the boatman and give him a coin. He doesn't speak, but turns and steps onto the boat, placing an oil lamp at his feet. He turns to reveal ruined eyes as he waits for you to board. You step onto the boat and he begins pushing a bloodstained bronze handle that turns a mighty wheel, pulling the boat via a thick rope that stretches across the river. As the river's edge disappears behind you, the other side is still held in mist and gloom. The only sounds are creaks from the boat, that bounce off the mountains behind you, and the rope being slowly wound onto the wheel. Looking over the side, you see a large shape pass beneath the boat. It takes several moments to pass and you wonder how deep the water is. Strange noises slowly become apparent, but you cannot see what makes them. You sit down and tend to your wounds, wrapping them in what material you have left in your bag. The boat creaks forward, pulled along on old, wet rope, and finally reaches the other side. The silent boatman picks up the lamp and steps off the boat. You catch glances and quick shadows of others waiting to go to the other side. They look tired and dishevelled and silently stare at you until you are off the boat. Squeezing through the others, you take a few more steps and get to a long rope bridge. You can just make out a final cairn burning in the distance to mark the edge of the mountain range, at last. You limp across the rope bridge, as it lurches in the wind until it is dark, unable to see the ground far below.

8.
Beyond the cairn lies a mighty stone step, carved into the side of the mountain and worn by many who have walked here before. Beyond the step lies another and another. This way leads you off the mountain, which you have been on for many years. Mist still lingers heavy in the air, so seeing anything distant is difficult. Damp and solemn figures emerge, travelling up and into the mountains. No-one speaks, plenty stare. Your leg burns with every lurching, jolting movement down and you use your hammer as a crutch for the final few hundred steps. Your worn clothes cling to your skin and there's a heaviness rising in you. Your head starts to spin. You seem to have left the mist behind as you reach the base of the mountain.

9.
You haven't felt the ground so soft under your feet for years. It feels spongy and unsteady. This makes you feel like you're falling. You hit the ground in a daze. You're being watched, observed. By what is unclear, but your arrival has not gone unnoticed.

10.
The heaviness inside has not left you and the air seems thick to breath. You lie back on the soft ground with a dreadful sinking feeling. A monstrous crack rattles across the entire valley and you see the landscape shift as something moves and turns towards you.
Something speaks.
A voice that set you on this quest, with little choice.
The voice is both inside your head and all around you echoing off every stone surface, inescapable. You cover your ears with little effect. It declares that you have taken too long even though you have brought the object to the requested place. You stand, with difficulty, and place the shiny, brass tunic button on the stone altar and step away, your mission completed. But the voice concludes with news of your imminent departure, and, once spoken, you explode in a crimson mist.

11.
A red spray lightly tarnishes the brass button lying on the altar, in the dark. The mountain turns away.