Camelot

The legendary seat of Arthur’s court now resides in perpetual twilight, its
once-proud towers and walls reduced to crumbling stone embraced by the earth.
The caverns housing Camelot’s remains are perpetually filled with mist that
swirls and eddies as though stirred by phantom breezes, occasionally forming
shapes that resemble armored knights or ladies in flowing gowns before
dissolving back into formlessness.

The Round Table Chamber remains partially intact, though the famous table
itself has collapsed into the center where the floor gave way centuries ago.
What remains is a circular room with stone seating for fifty knights, each
position marked with a barely-legible Norman French inscription naming its
occupant. The ceiling above has partially fallen in, creating a shaft through
which pale light filters down, illuminating motes of dust that dance like
falling stars. Delvers report that on certain days, particularly those
associated with Arthurian legend, the dust arranges itself into maps
of battles or scenes from the king’s life.

Camelot’s courtyard, once the site of tournaments and celebrations, now hosts
a grove of gnarled oak trees whose bark bears patterns resembling faces in
torment. These trees have somehow adapted to grow without sunlight, their
leaves a pale silver that reflects even the faintest illumination. The roots
of these trees have penetrated deep into the foundations of surrounding
structures, simultaneously supporting and disrupting the ancient stonework.
Botanists examining samples from these trees have discovered cellular
structures unlike any known plant species, suggesting they may not be trees at
all, but rather something merely adopting their form.

Throughout the ruins, the sound of metal striking metal echoes at irregular
intervals, the phantom clash of swords from duels and melees long concluded.
These
sounds intensify near what appears to have been an armory, now collapsed into
a heap of rusted weapons and armor fragments. Occasionally, pieces of this
ancient arsenal levitate briefly before clattering back to the ground, as
though being inspected by invisible hands. The few intact weapons recovered
from this site exhibit metallurgical properties that defy modern analysis,
with compositions that include elements not found on the periodic table.

Beneath the main structure of Camelot lies a network of tunnels that appears
to have been constructed as an escape route but was never completed. These
passages terminate abruptly in smooth stone walls carved with prophecies in a
mixture of Latin, Old English, and symbols that linguists have tentatively
identified as Proto-Celtic. These texts speak of Arthur’s promised return and
contain descriptions of events throughout history with disturbing accuracy,
including some that have not yet occurred.

The wisps that float through Camelot’s mists avoid direct contact with
intruders but seem to observe them with intelligence. These ethereal lights
occasionally form complex patterns that correspond to constellations not
visible from Earth’s surface, suggesting either astronomical knowledge beyond
medieval capability or communication with entities beyond our world. Delvers
who have spent more than three consecutive days in the ruins report dreaming
of these wisps speaking to them in voices they recognize from their waking
lives, though they cannot recall the content of these conversations upon
waking.

Valuable treasures remain scattered throughout Camelot’s ruins: ceremonial
daggers with blades that never dull, chalices whose water never stagnates, and
tapestries whose colors remain vibrant despite centuries of darkness and damp.
However, removing these items often triggers collapse of nearby structures, as
if the ruins themselves resist being plundered.