Villains: Kurai Kaosu

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Yarborough District. Another soft target. Lorenor was becoming active, moving his army against the government of Corone. Death and destruction where ever he went. Lorenor had located the sleeping prison of the third Talisman of N'Jal he sought. It was a small farmstead named Hallisbury Ranch.

Currently, Lorenor stood in a carriage. There was a small attack force for that Raid at the time. Only twenty strong. Including the mercenary that had joined them. They were hitting soft targets, the army was not quite yet ready to invade any of Corone's hard targets. Lorenor looked at the farm that stood before him and his conquest of Corone. The Viceroys had destroyed freedom for the people of Radasanth, in exchange, Lorenor would destroy The Viceroys. Not because it was the right thing to do, but it was deemed by The Dark Lady that The Viceroys had to fall. And fall they would, by Lorenor's hands.

He was The Grand Primus now. Lorenor stood quiet and still as he took a deep breath. Concordia Forest was located far to the North of his current position. He was in Yarborough district. The farm had a handful of armed guards, they would be only a nuisance at most. Lorenor had his most elite warriors and magi with him. His Magi were busily preparing spells and rites that would be used against the farm. There would be no mercy for any of the gathered hands before the raiding party. Lorenor smiled at the thought of the bloodshed, but he had to keep his mind focused. They were there for a purpose and that was to retrieve something that had been stolen from N'Jal long ago.

The punishment for disrespecting N'Jal was severe. Lorenor knew the laws of The Undead by heart, after all, he was a High Priest. Lorenor preached The Word of N'Jal in his sermons. Lorenor clenched his fists tightly, they had prepared for that moment. Lorenor's eyes looked at the closest field in front of them. There were farmhands still in the field, even at that time of night. There were also units of livestock in the field as well. Lorenor felt his heart racing. He acknowledged Kurai Kaosu and smiled at the fellow. The time had come, only thing that remained was for Lorenor to give the signal.

[Kurai]

A few weeks ago Kurai had finished his training under the Elite Oni Brigade. He surpassed even its strongest generals, and quickly became a head of a small handpicked unit of his choosing. But even that did not satisfy him...

He knew of a place called the Citadel; residing in Corones' capital city of Radasanth where great fighters far and wide traveled to test their mettle. It was the one place Kurai could think of to quench his thirst for bloodshed and battle.

Or so he thought...

Leaving Muteki Fort, the small hidden headquarters of his mother, Kisaki Mesuinu, he left the Akashima area and headed for Radasanth.

Traveling through Concordia Forest, Kurai came upon a campsite where three men sat drinking ale and conversing around a makeshift fire. Hanging over the fire posted up on sticks was the remains of what looked to be a raccoon. Kurai silently moved closer and observed them from the bushes. The one that had his back to Kurai, from what he could tell, stood almost a foot taller than him and was built to match. The others were less muscular but didn't seem to be all that weak either.

One that had a crooked nose addressed the man sitting on his left, who bore a scar over his right eye.

"That was some take today!"

Scarface spoke back to crook nose, "This is nothing, we barely made enough to resupply ourselves. Come on! Looking at what we're eating! This isn't exactly fine Coronian cuisine you know. But look, I heard about this one guy trying to attempt a coup of some kind. Should be some good gold in it for us."

"Yeah, I've heard about it. You'd have to be crazy to put yourself against those odds. And you know what?" Crook nose retorted as he paused to take a small sip from his traveling mug. "I think we're just crazy enough!" He said this followed by a hearty laugh. The big man grunted in agreement.

Kurai stepped out from behind the bushes, startling all three men to their feet. The light from the fire danced across their faces as the look of surprise turned to one of anger.

Just who the fuck do you think you are?, said scarface as he stepped forward, unsheathing his scimitar from its scabbard on his hip.

Kurai moved forward unafraid, his hands placed in the pockets of his pants as he said casually, "I'm here to get in on this scheme you speak of. Where might I find this man?"

The man with the crooked nose yelled, "As if we'd tell you! More men means less payout! Sparks started to flicker and dance along his fingertips as he tented them and began an incantation.

Without a word, the huge man began to charge towards Kurai. He had been completely silent up until this point, and if he did have something to say he wasn't going to get a chance. For as soon as he got two paces from his starting point an arrow screamed through the air and impaled the giant in his throat. He instantly fell to the drop, and few gurgled, bloody attempts to breathe later he was dead.

Both remaining men looked up to where the arrow originated and saw a shadowy figure perched high on a tree branch to Kurai's right.

"Oh shi--" Crook nosed started when he was cut short. Blood formed on the front of his tunic in two spots, then from them burst forth two blades. He attempted to finish his spell, muttering between coughing up blood until a black gloved hand reached up and snapped his neck. The crooked nosed mage was tossed aside and behind him stood a beautiful dark-skinned woman holding a two-pronged sword. She was clad in a form fitting black cloth garment with crimson colored plate armor covering her midsection. Her straight hair hung down in front of her right eye. The other glowed an almost ethereal red. She wore weapons on her side, her boots, and a matching two-pronged sword on her back.

The remaining mercenary dropped his sword and fell backward to the ground in disbelief. He tried scooting backwards debating on whether or not to flee, but met with resistance. The fear that flashed upon his face brought a huge smile to Kurai's. He man looked up to the business end of an arrow with a black V-shaped head. The man holding the arrow was wrapped in a midnight blue cloak with a hood that covered most of his head. From beneath it, the merc can see the same blood red glow and a demented smile peering down on him.

Kurai waved his hand and the archer un-notched the arrow from his bow, stepped back, and put the arrow back in his quiver. Kurai knelt down in from of the stunned man. A sharp smell filled the air around him. Kurai then noticed that the man had soiled himself out of fear.

"Pathetic. And you call yourself a man." He laughed then brushed back a few stray hairs that moved on his face. "Now I want all the information you know. Depending on your answer, this can be quick and painless--" He then placed his hand on the meat slowly roasting over the fire and placed it in front of the man. The animal started releasing more steam as the meat blackened and charred until it burst into burnt ash. "--or...well you get the picture."

__________________________________________________ ________

And this way how Kurai found himself teaming up with "Lord" Lorenor. Kurai respected the man's ambition. It reminded him of himself, and like-minded people tend to form up. Even if just temporarily. Kurai sat in the carriage with his two associates and others picked by the Undead man for the fun ahead.

"Lorenor, I believe I forgot to introduce you to a couple of my best. Ite--"

The hooded archer gave a quick wave before going back to the maintenance of his arrows.

"--and Keiko."

She winked at Lorenor. Kurai shot her a look and she put up her hands as if to say "what" then went back to tending to her blades.

Kurai bent his head and cracked his neck letting out a relieved grunt. He then turned to Lorenor. "So...what's the plan boss man?" He said with a crooked smile. His blood was boiling, he couldn't wait until the crimson started to flow.

He could almost taste it.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

The latest set of servants of N'Jal came as a group. Lorenor looked at the resourceful trio for a few moments and nodded. He pointed towards the ranch ahead of them. It was an insignificant ranch, one of many placed all over Corone. However, this ranch's fate was sealed when The Corone government placed a Vault containing Thayne Relics long ago. The presence of The Vault sealed the ranch's fate. As Lorenor pointed at the ranch, his face seemed to tense up from what was coming. Blood was coming. It would stain the streets crimson. Lorenor's fate was decided.

"We will make it burn." Lorenor said calmly to Kurai and his companions. "Only the dead will be of interest to us." Lorenor continued. "Somewhere within that property is a Vault. I can feel it. N'Jal tells me it is so. The plan is to storm the ranch and retrieve the contents of The Vault. I have no interest in the rest of The Thayne. I am only after key artifacts for myself. You can keep whatever interests you and yours. That shall be my payment to you."

[Kurai]

"And a good payment as any if you ask me." Ite said. Kurai gave him an agreeing nod.

Kurai looked to their destination, laughing inwardly, but smiling on the outside about the fact that they had no idea was about to happen to them.

"They're just sitting there, living out their feeble, insignificant lives. Little do they know how upside down everything is going to be once we're done." Kurai said.

Keiko chimed in. "And burning is one thing we do--" She produces a small flame and begins to walk it across her fingers as if it were a coin. "--quite well." She was getting excited and the killing hadn't yet begun. Kurai reached up grabbed Keiko's hand, extinguishing the flame. He then grasped her chin and pulled her into quick kiss. She seemed to melt at the touch of his lips.

"Feeling better now?" Kurai asked her with a devilish grin on his face. She nodded in response, clearly speechless. Ite, still wore his hood, but the smile on his face was impossible to hide. He said nothing but his composure basically said "There they go again."

Kurai continued after seeing Keiko's body language. "Good, shall have to take care of you later, but save that enthusiasm for the massacre." He then stood and turned to Lorenor. "Ready whenever you are."

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Seeing the dynamics of the mercenaries he'd acquired, Lorenor smiled to himself. He concluded that they would be a positive addition to his dark schemes. Then, he turned his attention to the ranch. Lorenor gave a hand signal to his people. They started to work like a well-oiled machine. Magi prepared their spells with vindictive cruelty in mind. Lorenor was immediately joined by a small group of three warriors, and two Priests. One was a man and one was a woman. They would be very useful to his advancing party. He then looked to Kurai and his people.

"We move. The people here are meaningless. Destroy them at will, loot what you wish." Lorenor commanded quite simply. His mind was burning with the schemes he was conjuring. Turning his attention to the ranch once again, Lorenor began to march forward. Even at the hour that they were marching on, folk still worked the fields. They would be ample fodder for his army. Not a single dead body would be wasted. Lorenor started the process as soon as he was well within striking distance. Summoning a potent energy of The Living Dark, Lorenor looked at the nearest of farmers. He wasn't yet noticed. When he summoned up his old move, The Plague Grenade, darkness cascaded from his forearm down to his hand and formed into a powerful sphere.

When the sphere solidified, Lorenor smiled wider. The hour had come. He launched The Plague Grenade at the closest set of farmers. The sphere traveled quickly through the air with murderous intent. When it reached a certain distance, it followed Lorenor's command and burst into a series of shards that spread out in every direction. Against The Undead, it would be harmless, but against the living it would have vile effect.

The closest of the farmers noticed the darkness heading his way and attempted to defend himself. "What the hell....!?" Was the last thing he could say until The Living Darkness touched him. Immediately, the dark pierced the man's flesh and began to work foul magics on the man. A moment or two later, the man began to rot and convert into an Undead. The newly formed creature howled in the night and shocked his closest allies. It immediately ran on a single impulse: the need to feed. Of course, his former allies were watching the event occur with terror on their faces.

As the newly formed Undead, there were four new additions to Lorenor's army, began to slaughter their former allies, Lorenor was on the move. Traveling at best speed, seventy miles per hour, Lorenor ran with cheetah speed on foot. One of the nearby farmers prepared a pitchfork as he saw The High Priest's approach. Lorenor took his prevalida longsword and launched it through the air in a flawless maneuver. When the man saw the sword coming in his general direction, he attempted to intercept it. But the speed, weight, and movement of the attack made the interception maneuver futile. Lorenor moved in a arch behind the man as the sword struck him somewhere in his upper body. On the left side of his chest. He screamed when Lorenor grabbed him...

[Kurai]

The feral howl was all the starting signal Kurai needed. He and his two companions moved as soon as Lorenor did.

Ite said with a grin, "He moves pretty fast for a zombie."

"Then we can't have him out showing now can we?" says Kurai as they suddenly speed along after the undead man.

He watched as Lorenor drew and tossed his sword at the closest farmer, moving with such speed that he met up with the man at the same time with his sword. Lorenor then grabbed him as his sword stuck out of the man's chest. Kurai was amazed by the maneuver, able to follow it, but not too sure about executing it himself.

Kurai noticed another farmer approaching behind Lorenor with a pitchfork, poised to strike at his back.

"Ite!" He yelled out.

"On it boss!" Ite replied. He took to the air drawing one of his arrows and takes aim at the farmers head. The arrow screamed through the air, sailed straight over Lorenor's head and found its mark--catching the man right through the eye. His body stiffened and jerked back before falling on his face. "Bulls eye." He says to himself.

About this time, other men started pouring out of the huts in the area, some coming out with knives, pitchforks, hatchets, and some with bows from a larger one off to the side--their armory of sorts. They seemed to be a little more prepared for battle than originally anticipated.

Ite landed smoothly called out. "Keiko, bring the heat."

She nodded as Ite drew two more arrows notching one and holding the other in place at the ready with telekinesis. She arched the first shot into the air toward the larger hut. Keiko, flung her hand outward, releasing a small black flame igniting the arrow head at it coursed its way through the sky.

Upon hitting the roof of the structure the wood went up in an instant. Fire as dark as night engulfed the building, sending men spilling out of the exits patting their clothes and rolling on the ground only to find that it spread the dark flame more.

Kurai looked pleased with the work, but he knew that they had to be somewhat conservative. "Keiko..." He says with authority. "Cut out the heavy spells." She started to say something but Kurai threw her a look that made the words dry up in her throat. He then pulled out his staff and met up with the new arrivals. The first two, wielding an axe and a spade respectively, rushed towards Kurai with yelling, rage in their eyes.

Kurai smirked with amusement. "Yes! Run to your deaths like lambs to the slaughter!"

He thrust his weapon between the two men; both moving their heads away from it far too slow to dodge it had he actually tried to hit one of them. With two sharp movements he smashed his staff against their temples with all his demonic strength. He could hear a loud crack as their skulls shattered. Another came from his side, scythe raised. Kurai merely thrust out his right hand grabbing the man's face. Through Kurai's palm the man screamed as the smell of cooked flesh filled the air. He released the seared man who fell to the ground motionless.

Maniacal laughter escaped Kurai's lips as he mowed through the farmers; swirling and swinging his staff in a dizzying dance of death. Weapons and bodies flew to and fro; blood stained Kurai's clothes as he switched to his sword. Kurai sensed something and dodged to the left in time to see an arrow graze his shoulder. A thin line of blood formed in the rip in his clothes. He looked up to the roof of one of the huts to see a fierce looking woman reaching for her next arrow.

Before he could move to approach the archer he witnessed a pitchfork fly up and pierce her in the midsection. The woman spewed up a mouthful of blood before falling to the feet of someone. Kurai glanced down and saw Keiko standing under the archer's previous position smiling at Kurai. The woman reached up weakly and grasped Keiko's leg. Without breaking her gaze from Kurai she thrusts down her sword into the woman's heart. She withdrew the sword and licked the blood at the end of her sword.

"I could almost love that woman." Kurai said to himself.

He looked past Keiko and saw another woman. No bow was in her hand but she was hovered above the ground, her eyes focused and her mouth mouthing rapidly. The air around Kurai seemed to chill and he noticed shards of ice begin to form around the woman as her auburn hair flailed in the wind.

"Well that can't be good" Kurai said nonchalantly. "Lorenor!" He yelled back to Lorenor and his squad. "We got us a mage!"

Ite jumps to Kurai's side with Keiko, who quickly healed the small wound Kurai received.

"You two stay sharp, things just got interesting." Kurai said with a devilish grin.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

As the arrow whistled past the top of his head, The Grand Primus ignored it. He'd encountered death so many times before that he was rather intimate with her embrace. Lorenor held the body of the dying man underneath him in place as he plunged the sword deep into the man's heart. Lorenor removed his weapon a few moments later as helter skelter broke loose. Several Forsaken began the charge and started to launch all manner of weaponry at the ranchers. Screams coursed through the night. Lorenor was deeply pleased by the sound. Then, a sudden surge of power and a yell of warning touched the mutant's auspex sphere. It was Kurai. The fellow and his lackeys had been well worth the price of gold that they'd asked for.

Lorenor turned to see a Magus suddenly preparing some sort of spell that would be launch at the offending undead. The magus's foul words touched the wind and Lorenor could hear them well. Lorenor saw a powerful halo surround The Magus as he studied her. Standing up, he pulled the prevalida long sword from his last victim and began to swagger towards The Magus. He was unafraid. Even though The Grand Primus knew his weaknesses, he also knew his own strengths. He was not going to hold back. Lorenor quickly covered the distance between himself and The Mage. His eyes locked upon the woman, The High Priest stared at her great bosom greedily.

As he stared, the woman turned her attention towards The Grand Primus.

"Bastard Child of N'Jal! You will not obtain the prize you seek!" She called mightily.

Lorenor only smiled wider as he ran towards her at full speed.

"By the might of N'Jal! She is a sacrifice to the dark lady!" Lorenor called out to his companions. No other would interfere with the battle between Lorenor and The Mage. He readied his weapon anew as he ran and prepared a combative stance. It was aggressive, hate poured through every fiber of his being. Lorenor licked his lips as he thought of the pain he would bring to her. He was also smiling at the thought of the love she would put into the pain she would inflict on him. Running forward, without fear, The Grand Primus would pull her fucking beating heart from her very chest. As he ran he could see the steady glow around her body and the look of concentration on her face. Lorenor continued to focus. His plan could not fail, he only had one shot.

He chanted as well as he ran, preparing one of the deadly relics in his possession. Glowing with his own dark power, a glowing purple halo surrounded the mutant that burned the grass he ran upon. As he studied the woman, he prepared his plan. Focusing, he knew the incantation well, each syllable and each verse. He uttered the spell well and the ring he wore began to glow. Slowly, the device began to open open the eye that was concentrated on the dark core of it's vessel. As the eye opened up, evil began to emerge from the vessel. The vessel was a ring that Lorenor had acquired long ago. The Ring of All-Shadows. As evil began to pour out from the vessel, Lorenor was upon the woman. However, she had also readied her own spell.

Releasing a duality of power, the woman and The Grand Primus assaulted each other. Lorenor could hear the sudden booming voice of The Magus as she released the elemental power at her command. Her hands glowed with potent energies, spheres of power, and she released a blade of lightning upon The Griand Primus. At the same time, the vessel attached to Lorenor's finger unleashed a flood of evil. Darkness flowed from from the ring with the screams and yells of thousands of terrible demons. From The Pyre the demons came, traveling through the air in a stream of deadly dark. Lorenor aimed the vessel at the woman, and the evil did the rest. Lorenor did not scream when the blade struck him on the side. It cleanly cut through his body, causing tremendous pain to The Grand Primus.

Lorenor licked his lips with pleasure as the woman suddenly screamed with horror. Thousands of demons, each one more terrible than one before it, began to tear and claw at the beautiful magi. First, the blouse of her dress was torn open and the flesh of her bosom was gashed to shreds. Many cuts appeared upon her body as blood suddenly sprayed through the air. The demons ran through her, cutting her to pieces. They grabbed, ripped, pulled and tore through the magus. Her screams were a howl of agony and The Grand Primus felt great pleasure course through his body. A recent event, at the hands of the mage known as Ashiakin, toughed The Grand Primus.

When the lightning blade touched the mutant's body, coils of electricity coursed through him. The pitiful vlince robe that Lorenor wore was easily torn asunder as the blade cut through his right shoulder region. Lorenor took the hit dead on. There was love in that hit. He licked his lips even as his right arm was completely torn off his body and burned to purple coloured ashes. Coils of electricity burned his body darkening his flesh. Only his endurance had saved. Lorenor was a sadomasochist by nature, and thus, had grown power. Though his weakness still tormented him, he was able to last for much longer than at earlier points of his life. As he growled in pleasure, the woman before was cut to shreds and taken back to the vessel vanishing forever.

Lorenor fell to his knees as the eyes of the vessel closed containing the demons within. He was missing an arm now and was in tremendous amounts of sweet pain. He grabbed his sword off the ground even as several of his Forsaken began to surround The Grand Primus.

"My lord! Your hurt!" One of his Forsaken suddenly declared. "Do you require a heal?" He asked.

"N-no medics." The tough son of a bitch said. Steam flowed from the torn off arm. "We must proceed to The Vault. Use extreme caution." He turned towards Kurai's position. "He has earned his pay and saved my life. Treat him like royalty amongst our people." Lorenor suddenly stood up, still holding his weapon. The pain made him focus. "Let us finish this." Lorenor commanded and began to make his way towards Kurai. Nothing was left of the magus he had killed, not even a droplet of blood.

[Kurai]

Kurai watched in awe at the clash between the two fighters. Lorenor rushed head first to what any normal being would believe to be certain death--chanting what Kurai believed to be a counter spell. Lorenor seemed to glow with the very essence of evil itself as he moved, burning the very earth he ran on with each step. The beautiful mage glowed almost angelic like herself as she collected magic essence of her own.

Ite notched an arrow into his bow, but before he could send it the woman mage's way Kurai held up his hand.

"No. Let's see how this plays out. I want to see the extent of the power of the man I am to call "Leader"."

A flash of light cut through the air towards Lorenor as he released his own spell. A portal of some sort opened up and out exploded a wave of demon entities. Along with them came the feelings of depression, utter despair, and depravity as they devoured everything in their path on the way to their target. The woman barely had enough time to utter a syllable for a defensive spell before she was overcome by the creatures. Her screams filled the air of the battlefield promptly dropping the morale of the few remaining farmers left.

The demons tore at and devoured the woman like a hungry swarm of locusts on a fresh crop. Her screams were soon drowned out by the ravenous sounds of the hell spawns' attacks. Then almost quickly as they appeared, they vanished back from whence they'd come. Kurai turned away from the scene where nothing even remained of the mage. For the danger she was supposed to be she went down without much effort.

Or so Kurai thought until he looked at Lorenor--minus one limb.

The trio ran over to the downed undead. Keiko retrieved his arm and handed it to him while Kurai dropped to his side. He gave him a once over and smirked.

"Well you're looking a little worse for wear now aren't you?" Kurai said.

"Damn he's fucked up, and he's supposed to be at level 10?!" Ite exclaimed incredulously.

Kurai looked back at him confused. "What the hell are you talking about?" Ite just shrugs his shoulders as if he never said anything. "Never mind..." He turned his attention back to Lorenor. "Since you're still conscious I assume you're still good to go. Might want to seek some medical attention though tough guy. Can't have you holding me back." Kurai smiled at that last statement knowing that if anything it would get the undead riled up.

Kurai stood up and addressed all that could hear him. "Somewhere among this fucked up mess of a village lies the entrance to this vault we're here to find. Spread out and get to it."
__________________________________________________ __

Kurai, his companions, Lorenor's squadron, and other hired help searched the burnt remains of the farmers living quarters. Any stragglers still alive were swiftly taken care of with extreme prejudice.

"Pitiful beings these men were." Keiko said while she slashed a prone man's throat who was reaching out. Deliverance from his suffering was the only help he would receive.

Kurai laughed, placing his palm on his face. "Well what did you expect? They're trained in cutting down stalks, and we're trained to cut down them. It's like the food chain! They were destined to meet their doom."

Kurai sifted through the smoldering wreckage of what was once the biggest hut in the village. He pushed back a big section of roof and he noticed a small metal ring in the ground. He took it into his hand and pulled with all his might. The heavy panel lifted up with a metallic groan as the rusty hinges of the door moved for what seemed like the first time in many years. Inside Kurai could see stone steps leading down into the darkness. Unlit torches lined the walls all the way down. Though even his low light vision could only look help but so much as a few meters down everything faded into darkness. Only one torch burned at the top of the staircase, glowing an unnatural reddish color--obviously magical in origin.

"I think I got something here!" Kurai yelled out, calling the attention of all present.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

After the ranch's mage had fallen, the rest of the farmers were easily cut down. Only a few had proved to be any further resistance. Lorenor was actually quite surprised at that revelation, he'd expected a more dangerous challenge. Despite that, he was no fool, the mage had deeply wounded the mutant and he knew that could have been his head that was sliced off. Lorenor assisted with the search using his enhanced senses to help locate the whole reason they were there. As they dispatched the last few remaining farmers, buildings were set ablaze so as to leave no survivors and no witnesses. No help would come.

Lorenor turned his attention to Kurai when the man uttered the words he was waiting for. One of them had found something. Walking towards Kurai's position, the injured high priest closed his eyes for a brief moment to concentrate on the area underneath them. An expansive staircase that lead down several yards immediately filled Lorenor's vision. When he expanded his senses to their fullest capacity, the mutant suddenly discovered a barrier that prevented him from pushes his auspex sphere any further. At last, they'd found the vault! Lorenor turned his attention towards Kurai once again.

"You have done well. This is the location of The Vault, I am certain of it."

He turned his attention towards a nearby magi. "You there. Ready your runes. The gate is warded like all the others we have found. I cannot see past the gate so I have no idea what lies beyond that." The grand primus decreed. Then, he turned his attention to the stairs and began to descend them. "We move." Lorenor said. He motioned to several able-bodied men to stay behind in order to secure their escape route.

Lorenor did not need light to see in the dark. So when the stair well began to light up magically, the sharp light hurt his eyes briefly. The torches were not warded, so Lorenor was thankful for that fact. The farmers had been fools. (Sorry for small bunny) Roughly an hour later, they had made it to the bottom of the stair case and ended up on a well sized platform. Lorenor spread out the books of The Necronomicon in front of his magi so they could read the symbols upon the pages that only they could see. There were three magi. Each one sat down in a lotus position and began to enter trance like states.

They started to chant in the tongue of the spider magi, and as Lorenor suspected it would, the wards on the gate began to light up one by one. The high priest looked at the wards for a moment as they glowed brilliantly, it was scripts written by the followers of The All-Thayne. Lorenor did not know what they mean, he was a follower of N'Jal. The grand primus folded his single arm across his chest and looked at Kurai and his companions. The magi read from the three fell books. Their bodies were glowing with ethereal energies that began to counter act the symbols in front of them. Lorenor observed the unfolding event as he kept his eyes locked on Kurai and his companions.

"Be on your guard. Anything could be behind this door. Followers of The All-Thayne are an eccentric lot."

[Kurai]

They descended the stairs for what seemed like an eternity. The climb back up was going to be a bitch to do, but it would after serving a better purpose. So Kurai felt in the end it would definitely be worth it. The lighted path darkened once more as they exited the staircase as if each flame were being snuffed out by an unseen source one after another.

The room they entered blocked their progress with a large gate. The walls were marked with intricate designs and bearing a language Kurai couldn't read. The gate itself looked unremarkable, but Kurai could tell just from standing close to it that it bore great magical weaves.

Lorenor started his mages on the seals blocking the gate. They worked quickly as the seals lit up like candles flickering to life. Lorenor stood nearby with his arm folded as if he were trying to cross his arms with only one limb. To Kurai it was near comical , though he hoped it wouldn't hurt the undead's performance. As he said, there could be any number of things on the other side of this entrance and death was nowhere near on Kurai's mind anytime soon.

"Keiko, dear?" Kurai said without taking his eyes off the gate as it slowly creaked open.

"Yes Lord Kurai." She replied.

"I'm going to need you to stay on this side with Lorenor's mages. We may need a quick escape and I need you to protect our little keys here. Also if need be, you can assist the team above ground in securing the exit if we meet any resistance from our flank."

"I understand. Come back in one piece if you can help it. I'd hate to have to find a new lover high up in the demon ranks." She said with a sly smile.

Kurai smirked as the gate came to a halt. Kurai was the first to step forward, but as he did a blinding light flashed brilliantly causing Kurai to hold his arm up in front of his face. He strained his eyes to try and see the newly felt presence in the grand room ahead of them.