Trapped five days in a cave we were not supposed to be in with bad air, poor lighting, and diminishing food and water supplies is something I hope I never experience again. Unable to determine what time of day it was, we continued following the winding tunnel deep underground, when sometime this morning, we stepped into a large cavernous chamber. Well, all of us except Elendra’Tel stepped into the chamber. She muttered something about the Lunari and certain doom, and turned to run back the way we’d come. She did not go far.
A bright light suddenly appeared in the tunnel behind us. We all dropped to our knees and bowed, for only a Lunari could shine with such intensity. The Lunari picked up Elendra’Tel from where she fell trembling on the tunnel floor, and brought her back into the cavern. Four more Lunari suddenly appeared in the cavern, stepping right out of the walls. The light was blinding. Each Lunari picked up one of us. I cannot explain how they did it, but moments later, all five of us were standing on the shore of Lake Icavor, with only one Lunari remaining in sight.
His name was Nethozokh, and he came to remove us from the forbidden cave we so inadvertently entered. It was in that cave a mere sixty-eight years after the Dark Magicians made known their existence to the world, that Great King Markaris the First, cursed forever be the name, rejected the offered assistance of the Lunari. Years later, when Great King Markaris the Second, cursed forever be the name, reaffirmed the rejection of Lunari assistance against the Dark Magicians, the Lunari increased the water level of Lake Icavor before he could leave the cave. Unable to escape the cave beneath the deep waters of the lake, Great King Markaris the Second, cursed forever be the name, spent his last days of his life regretting his rejection of the Lunari.
With these details, I hereby explain the curse on the name Markaris. As for the record of his dying in battle, such is the result of his leaderless army continuing unsuccessfully their mission to battle the Dark Magicians. There were no survivors.