The Nightmare Stag

Five dark mages of the Nightmare Stag did meet atop the rockface long ago. They had congress with an ancient being that offered access to the arcane arts in exchange for allowing each of them to house a piece of itself within them. With a piece of the old being within them, they would not need to eat and would not age like mortals. However, they were not invulnerable and could die. Upon their death, their parting souls would travel to the being and bestow the wealth of knowledge, power, and experience they had to itself.

Once they agreed, the being broke off pieces of itself and buried each piece into the five mages that agreed.

The mages became a powerful and feared cult with unpredictable magic that seemed to outclass even experienced spellslingers. They pillaged and took what they wanted while destroying anything that tried to stop them.

Then a small party of adventurers challenged them, and won. Having learned of the origins of their power, they knew that by killing the mages, they would feed the being that gave them power, making it even more formidable. Instead of killing the five mages, they buried them deep in a cave with an ever-boiling cauldron and never-dying fire that filled the room with a magical essence that suppressed their magical abilities. Then the adventurers destroyed the entrance, leaving the mages locked in an inescapable room.

Over time, the power of the cauldron faded, and the five mages were able to use their otherworldly power to cast simple spells again. They chipped away at the solid stone walls with small splashes of acid. As they made a path to the outside, the essence from the cauldron spread thin, allowing the mages to cast more powerful spells. When they breached the wall to the outside, the magic of the cauldron was all but gone. It’s only remaining power was keeping anyone within the cave from detecting or altering magic.

The only enchantment that did not fade was the chains themselves. The chains cannot be broken, but they will unlock when someone who is not chained tries to set them free. Thus, the mages cannot escape without tricking someone into letting them go.