[POV – Cass]
The shrine glowed in the cavern's heart. Cass sat with his back to its warmth, fingers digging shallow lines in the dirt only to wipe them away.
Noise filled his head. The Forum. The broadcast. The word stamped on a blurry image of his face.
Ghost Lord.
He pressed his palms flat until the ache reached bone.
Footsteps echoed down the southern tunnel. Not Warble songs. Not glowshroom hum. Human voices.
Cass rose. His stomach sank.
Three Travelers appeared. Their armor mismatched, weapons dented. New blood. Curious more than cautious.
The Warble guards trilled, spears lowered. Cass lifted a hand and they froze.
The woman gasped too loud. "It's real."
One of the men smirked. "Simone wasn't lying. Mole people. And..." his finger jabbed toward Cass, "...their Lord."
Cass's jaw tightened. "You're far from your spawns."
The words echoed. Warbles murmured, uneasy.
The second man chuckled nervously. "So what do we call these things? Dirt goblins? Rock rats?"
A Warble hissed. Cass stepped forward before a spear flew.
"They are mine to protect," he said. "Not yours to name."
Silence pressed the cavern. The Travelers shifted. Not bold - just greedy for proof.
The woman swallowed. "We came because of the Forum. Half think it's a bug. Half think it's lore. We… wanted to see."
Cass's fingers curled. He remembered Simone's scream, cut short.
"You've seen," he said flatly.
The men traded glances. "What's the bonus? Hidden questline? You hiding some artifact? C'mon, man. Share the meta."
Cass shook his head. "Leave. Now."
Something in his voice made them obey.
They backed away, muttering, lanterns bobbing into the dark.
[Forum – Global Noise]
[IronFist88]: "Rivermere guild wars again. Traders losing their minds over burned bridges."
[GreenwardGrrl]: "Fungus farms rotted overnight, anyone got a fix?"
[SilverHuntress]: "Three randos claim they found mole NPCs underground. More blurry pics. Still no proof."
[Skeptik]: "Stop with the mole goblin hoax. Devs would've patched this ages ago."
[BloodPrinceTV]: "Streaming arena tonight. Forget fake news."
[Nocti]: "Simone's clip matches the shrine glow in the new screenshots. Look closer."
[GlassRush]: "Ashen furnaces exploding lmao."
[LoreSeeker]: "Propervy prophecy matches this. Connect the dots."
[ChefDeBuff]: "Stop spamming cult nonsense. Where are stew patch notes?"
Rumor moved, but it drowned in noise.
[POV – Cass]
By dusk, the Travelers had gone. He didn't stop them, didn't kill them. That would only spread faster. But he knew the screenshots would surface before nightfall.
He sat near the shrine, head bowed. The Warbles' eyes glowed with trust. They had no Forum. No streams. Only him.
Above, noise turned into rumor. Rumor into a name. Ghost Lord. A joke. A dare.
The elder sat beside him, staff laid across his knees.
"You are troubled," the elder said.
Cass let out a bitter laugh. "They think I'm a story."
"Stories move faster than men," the elder replied. "But without men to walk them, stories die."
Cass closed his eyes. His mother's smile filled the dark behind his lids. Fragile. Fading. Five years.
"Then I'll walk it," he whispered. "Whatever name they give me."
The shrine pulsed steady, like breath.
[Media – World's Dawn Chronicles, cut segment]
The anchor rattled headlines with a practiced smile.
"Rivermere lords fined after bridge sabotage disrupted trade."
"Greenward herbalists propose a cure for the blight. Controversial but promising."
"Ashen furnaces exploded, dozens respawned, costly resource losses."
Then the smile sharpened.
"And in our rumor corner - more blurry clips of strange mole-like creatures bowing to a shadowed player. Tagged across the Herald Forum as the 'Ghost Lord.' Hoax? Beta leftovers? Or the greatest secret in the game?"
The clip rolled again. The anchor moved on to caravan safety tips.
[POV – Cass]
That night Cass walked the southern tunnel. His lantern light caught the black smear of Simone's shattered lamp.
He crouched and placed a stone there. Not a grave. Just a marker.
"Sorry," he whispered.
The cavern stayed still.
When he returned, the Warbles sang. Their voices rose in faith he didn't share.
But he sat among them anyway.