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Chapter I
The Codex Awakens
She found the entrance where no entrance should have been. Beyond the last inhabited road, a passage descended into the earth and opened into a chamber of black stone, vast enough that its ceiling vanished into darkness. At its centre stood a circular form covered in markings older than language.
As she approached, the chamber changed. A low resonance stirred beneath the floor and distant voices gathered high above. One inscription began to glow. She reached toward it, and the stone answered.
In that moment, she understood something she could not yet name: she had not discovered this place. It had been waiting for her.
