XII: Farinfoor slowly ascended the innumerable ivory steps in defiance of his body’s protests. As he climbed higher, strange sounds began to echo through the stairwell. A rhythmic pounding, like some dense, buried heartbeat assaulted his ears. It grew increasingly unnerving as he turned the final corner and beheld the entryway to the lair of his world’s oppressor. Through that thin mahogany portal waited the monstrous, unseen font of all maladies. Through that door lay The Impetus.