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At one point in the history of Lakia, the Tomb of Giovanni was a popular pilgrimage location. As the taint of the Zereca bubbled up from the land surrounding the Basilica, the resulting lava flows and noxious gasses cut off the Tomb from most mortal access. The Order of Thelatar erected a barrier around the basilica to protect the entombed body of Giovanni from the encroaching corruption. Soon after, the Lord Marshal realized that the isolated crypt would make a perfect prison to hold dangerous criminals and those captured in the ongoing rift wars. Thus Prison Despero was created from the once sacred tomb of Giovanni. Ornate antechambers were converted into cramped prison cells, soon to be occupied with humans whose hearts would know the true meaning of despair.

While the barrier seemed strong on the surface, the hatred and despair from the prisoners allowed evil to gain a foothold. Thus in one of the most sacred and pure places in Lakia, the seeds of corruption were sown. The spider queen Azu breached the weakened barrier in the deepest levels of the prison and began using the abandoned chambers as her new hatchery. No longer worried about Aitan thinning out her brood, the spider queen entrenched herself and focused on building her horde’s size until even the national army of the Lord Marshal would not stand a chance. She would be victorious this time; she would capture the Corpse of Giovanni, deliver it to the Zereca, and have her revenge on the Aitan. With the rise of Horma, the isolated contamination around the prison soon spread throughout the region. The focus of the guardians of the prison was turned outwards towards this new threat, unsuspecting of the evil growing beneath their own sanctuary.

As time went on, guards on periodic patrols of the lower levels of the prison started reporting strange occurrences. At first, the unnatural sounds were passed off as just the darkness playing tricks with their senses, until guards started to go missing. The warden shrugged off the first reports of missing patrols as just cases of inexperienced guards getting lost in the mazelike catacombs. Eventually the number of personnel who went missing was too large to ignore and the Veteran Watchmen, sentinels handpicked by the warden, were sent in to perform a search for the latest lost patrol. Just one member of this elite group returned. His body was shredded, his sword was snapped, his shield arm shattered. Before the final darkness took him he whispered one word, “Gagham“. The bloodthirsty spiders of legend were not extinct; they were here, the whole time hiding where they should not have been able to exist. Panic gripped the remaining guards of the prison. Their best unit was destroyed by creatures not seen for centuries. It was at this time that Azu chose to push with the full power of her brood. The demoralized guards were easily pushed out of the prison, the prisoners left behind in the confusion, a feast for Azu’s minions. The warlocks of the Sophion patrol were called in to contain the Gagham in the prison, preventing the terror of Azu from spreading across Lakia once more.

Message of the Prison takeover shortly thereafter reached the Lord Marshal. The call for Aitan to assemble soon went out across the land. Parties of Aitan who were in the area cleaning up the vile filth of the freshly risen Horma have begun to gather at the gates of the prison. Tasked with securing the entombed remains of Giovanni and purging evil from the prison, they set forth into the dark depths, unaware of the true evil that waits. Aika’s chosen warriors are now on the horizon of another fierce battle, a battle that will pit the hope of the Aitan against the true master of despair.