I created the
Vault of The ForgottenAtmospheric soundtrackDown in the bowels in the fortress, shortly before the underground cave, is an exaggeratedly ornate microcline door flanked by a peculiar arrangement of levers. Only a select few dwarves of the highest order are allowed past this point, and only in pairs. But, only one of them exists afterwards.
Opening the fancy door reveals a corridor in which the stone has been hastily smoothed, but the work was never finished. At the end is another door, made of schist, looking ordinary, bleak and run-down.
Past that point is a dark corridor stretching either way, completely devoid of torches, stretching into an impenetrable oblivion. Intrepid adventurers will find the narrow passages to lead nowhere, nothing but rough rock and some oddly smoothed parts... but from beyond the rock comes muted voices, sometimes moans, snarling, sometimes even screams.
Because, see, some of the population had become... afflicted. A vampire hidden in the ranks. A were-creature spreading his infection to the citizens. A supernatural syndrome that caused dangerous and deadly effect. We could not just murder them in cold blood; a revolt would arise almost instantly. So, we locked them away. We sealed them, leading them into those corridors of no return, throwing them in one of those isolation rooms and pulling the level, raising a drawbridge behind them and forever sealing them in this eternally dark place in which they shall live forever. They do not need food, water, or sleep. They will slowly go insane from the boredom, losing track of time, uncontrollably transforming each full moon and never coming to understand what afflicts them.
We tell the others they just left the fortress, went on to tackle new challenges elsewhere. We do not speak of them anymore.
Woe to whoever opens the door. Should they be caught sating their curiosity, we will have no choice but to seal them in too. There must be no witnesses. The dark secret of the fortress must forever remain a secret.
Woe to the adventurer who ventures too far long, long after the fortress has crumbled to ruins. Be too greedy and intrepid, and you shall find yourself confronted with the sight of a half-dozen very bored, very old, very naked, and
very angry were-creatures that you have foolishly let out into freedom.