Mountain of the Fire King

No man can go there.  Even taking one step into that cursed land would doom any with the courage.  The air there is poisonous.  The cursed ground itself would burn the stoutest reinforced boot, and lead vapors that peal the very skin away to dust.

It is a most dangerous place, and the master of that land is said to bear skin of molten earth.  He is a foul beast, and he is cruel beyond measure.  He commands evil spirits that take the bones of those who have fallen there, to themselves.

Then I saw the soldier himself.  As I fled this way, I saw him with my own eyes.

I saw him! As you must have, I saw him, or I should say, it.

So, I tell you, that the stories are true.  None in this world were worthy enough; not you, or I, or any else in this tavern.  None bore the faith and courage of heroes past, and so, that thing was chosen.

I was there when it fought the molten demons in the desert.  Yes, and I was burned for glimpsing the sight of it, and I turned away to feel the ashes on my face.  After, I heard stories of it's further exploits as it made it's way to the fiery mountain.

Many did not believe it, for they had not seen.

I was there.

And now, It was said that the thing had ventured forth within the very cursed lands of fire.  What is it, you ask? If not a man of flesh, then what is it that took up the sword? They say that it is a spirit.  They say that it is a spirit which has accepted and taken up the cause, and it was given a legendary sword.  It has taken up the cause to rid the world of the king of fire, and it was given a helmet of heroes past.

I say to you, I do not doubt it.  I do not doubt it, for what man can withstand the minions of the king of fire?

But I lament, for none of us, and none in this world were worthy of it.