Temple of the Iron Codex

The legend of the Iron Codex is told only when the winter is the thickest, and snow has covered all the roads of the land. A book of steel pages and wrought-iron bindings, the Iron Codex is said to destroy any who dare read from its cursed pages. It is said to have the power to summon strange magic, and if disturbed from its sacred resting place, its power could destroy the world. Long ago, ancient heroes placed it upon an altar, guarded and ensorceled to keep the Codex undisturbed. So long as it is not disturbed, the Iron Codex will sleep... forever. It is an artifact of immeasurable power and arcane dangers... but, after all, only a legend. Then, within the city where you make your home, a tragic earthquake struck, and a deep crevice split the city in two. Shortly after the earthquake, a fine ash began to fall over the city. Day and night for three days, the ash pours slowly down upon the inhabitants. As it does, a strange sickness strikes the residents of your home. The innocent are dying. Clerics struggle to find the cause, sending you to the edge of the chasm to discover the source of this strange plague. It is there that you find the impossible. Deep beneath the city's southern gate, nearly a hundred feet into a crevice that did not exist, you find a pair of great iron doors, once sealed with molten silver, built into the side of the granite wall. The earth has shifted away, and the earthquake has unsealed the doors, disturbing the sleep of those within. The thick rain of ash seeps out from the tomb, seeming to whisper and claw at you as you peer into an unfathomable darkness. And carved into the iron of the massive portal gates and the words: "Behold the Temple of the Iron Codex."