The portal deposited them in a vast, desolate plain that stretched endlessly in all directions. The ground was cracked and barren, as if life itself had given up trying to exist here. The sky above was a swirling mass of dark clouds shot through with streaks of crimson lightning that never quite touched the ground.
But what dominated the landscape was the structure in the distance—or rather, the ruins of one.
Massive stone pillars jutted from the earth like the ribs of some colossal beast, each one easily a hundred feet tall. Between them, shattered platforms hung suspended in the air through some ancient magic, defying gravity even in their broken state. The whole area had an aura of age and significance, as if countless important events had transpired here over millennia.
