Mark of the Damned

You gaze at the Mark of the Damned, examining with care the fine lines
and gouges making its form.  Even as you do so, you feel the world about you
waver and fade..

You find yourself floating within the void, surrounded by nothingness.
Soon, the nothingness takes form, appearing as wraithlike figures with
quicksilver eyes.  The lost spirits beckon, whispering promises of knowledge
and power, carressing you with limbs of wispy cold.  You find yourself
moving, if such can be discerned in an unchanging landscape, and after what
seems like an eternity you arrive at a blackened gate hanging in the
nothingness.

Here your chilling escort fades, but the whispers remain, as well as shining
pinpoints of silver light.  They call for you to step through, to become one
with the power of the void.  You hesistate, and begin to float through.
Whether this is by your will or that of some malevolent force is unclear.
You pass through, and all becomes light.

White fire rages about you, blinding you with its sheer intensity.  Tongues
of flame envelop you and you can feel your flesh blacken and flake like
burnt parchment.  You can not even scream in agony as the very air is burnt
from your lungs, suffocating you even as you are consumed..

The light fades suddenly, and you find yourself again in Kzroth's chamber,
the Mark of the Damned seared into your memory.