Proof of old reunions (open)

[Wizo]

It was pitch dark by the time Wizo got into Underwood. The first thing that came to mind was not rest nor food, but a drink. The road coming here had to been one of the craziest paths he has ever taken. He was not sure to even consider it a road at all, more of a bushwhacked trail with a few signs hoping you don’t get lost. That cold drink was the only thing in Wizo's mind for the moment, despite the cuts and scrapes he got from coming to this place.

Easily passing the town entrance he looked around for any establishment that was still open at this time. It did not take him that long to hear cursing and what sounded like a few tables being broke. Looks like something is alive in this place. Wizo thought to himself as he walked towards the sounds. He soon saw lights and smelled cheap whiskey fill the air as he saw an old bar filled with lights and God knows what inhabiting it. He looked up and saw a half worn out sign saying "The Peaceful Promenade" Strange name for a bar He thought. As he thought of this, a man got thrown out the entrance and into the mud a good 20 feet away. The owner must have thought it may be ironic. He just adjusted his straw hat for a second and proceeded to go into, what he thought as, a 'fine' establishment.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor was exhausted. These days the ghoul was all over the place. When he wasn't helping out the Cathedral in Salvar, the ghoul ran errands for his Power Group, the Gol'Bron. Lorenor felt exhaustion a lot these nights. Eternity seemed to really be heating up for the ghoul. It was a challenge just keeping up with the changing times. Lorenor's current mission for the Gol'bron lead him to a pit stop at Underwood and the Peaceful Promenade. He was running packages.

On the way to Radasanth the ghoul saw the gates of Underwood approaching his person. He road atop a black stallion. The horse neighed as he arrived at the town and Lorenor rubbed the horse's flank gently. He felt the well kept fur of the horse upon his hand and smiled at that. Making his ways to the stables, one of the many stable-boys immediately attended to Lorenor's person. The lad was a red haired boy with freckles. He stared up at Lorenor with intense brown eyes.

"What can I do for you sir?" The boy asked seemingly not minding Lorenor's strange appearance. Apparently the youth was a stable boy for many strange apparitions that showed up in the night.

"Tend to my horse and there will be something extra for you." The ghoul handed him a few gold coins for his trouble. "Wow thanks I'll be sure to keep that stallion's coat nice and shiney!" He said in a sing-song sort of way. Lorenor nodded and dismounted from his travel companion. He petted the flank of his riding beast for a moment and whispered something inaudible into the horse's ears. Afterwards, his stallion was left in the care of the boy.

Lorenor went over to the Peaceful Promenade. This time of night, the rowdy customers were usually out. Waitresses dealt with the perverts and bouncers dealt with the upstarts. Somewhere in between the equation, Lorenor took his parcel with him and proceeded into the sordid establishment. The Peaceful Promenade by night took its own persona. Lorenor felt the bizarre vibration in the air as the gathered patrons moved within the bar/tavern area of the famous establishment.

A bounced approached the ghoul.

"State your business, derelict." The bouncer said with an angry sounding voice as he stared at Lorenor.

"I'm running a package for Miars." Lorenor replied almost half-bored.

[Wizo]

The bar seemed to emit a nice warmth threw its doors as Wizo came closer to it. He soon came near a bouncer which was already dealing with some type of Undead. Ugh, guess that’s why they have 'Bruno' for. To keep things like THAT out. Was the thought in his mind as he walked up to the bouncer.

The bouncer's attention was in focused in the ghoul in front of him and almost didn't notice Wizo waltzing towards him. "Hey kid. Get in line. I got enough freaks to deal with tonight ."He quickly gazed down at the ghoul after saying that. Wizo just sighed at the remark and put his right hand in his pocket and pulled out a thick, wooden card with writing on it. He then tossed it, like a skilled ninja, to the bouncer. The bouncer grabbed it with ease and read the contents rapidly. He just nodded, opened the door and said "She's working on table five, eight and ten, if you need to talk to her." Wizo replied said "My thanks." Walking past the bouncer and the undead, but giving the ghoul a second look before entering. It's going to be one of those nights. But why does that creature look familiar? Every time I look at it, I am reminded of puppets…. He thought to himself.

It may have been around midnight, but the entire bar was still active like it was high noon. Various drunks seemed to snore at the dark corner of the bar; the chefs apparently work late too as they keeps seeing the waitresses with fresh mutton and chicken out of the kitchen. A redheaded waitress with an average height and beauty walked up to Wizo with a fake smile and said "Good evening to you sir. Will anyone be joining you tonight" He shook his head replying "None that I expect so far. But I hope to change that." She was not taken back by it though, as she was used to passes like this all the time.

"One it is, sir. Did you have a specific table for the night” Wizo nodded and replied "Table five, eight or ten will be suitable." He replied. The waitress just gave him an odd look. "Ahh you want to see her is that it? I seen a lot of men flash out good gold and she still refuses. I highly doubt she will put out for you, even if you’re from her country."Once again, his brown skin made him noticeable before getting inside the freaking bar. She let out a small giggle, thinking at how futile his attempts will be. Wizo smirked "That may happen. But I do need to talk to her. So if I can get one of those tables..." She nodded and said "Yes sir, five should be free. Have a good evening." With that she left and proceeded to wait on the next customer coming in. That girl is a horrible flirt, no good amount of gold is worth sleeping with THAT, was his thoughts as he looked for a seat.

Wizo sat himself down on the wooden table as he waited for his lovely waitress to come over. I really need a beer. The road coming here has to be the most undeveloped place I ever walked threw. was the only thought the seemed to echo in his mind for the moment. Any other rational thought seemed to escape with the wind till that need was fulfilled. It did not take more than ten minutes when Wizo heard a young, feminized voice behind him say “And I thought it was going to be a good night. What brings you here Wizo? Come to see me after finding how unstable female girls are your needs? ” Wizo did not turn around only smirk. “I had been quite satisfied with my partners. The life spans that these humans are given makes them more ‘energetic’ when the time is needed. ” He let out a sigh and turned around “But enough small talk, why have you summoned me here Maria?”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

As the pair talked Lorenor faced the bouncer down. He saw that some kid managed to cut the line and get into the tavern before him. This irritated the ghoul greatly. The bouncer placed the newly acquired card in his possessions and returned his attention back to Lorenor. "You're here to see Miars huh? Let me see some proof of that and I'll let you in." The guy is dicking with me. That pompous prick. I had trouble with him before. "You want proof you jack ass, here it is." Lorenor reached for the documentation in his personal packages and pulled out the official Church of Ethereal Sway documents. All of the Agents were given proper identification papers. Lorenor kept the papers in his hands whilst the bouncer perused them. Once the bouncer was satisfied, the man grunted.

"All right kid, you're in. Don't cause any trouble while you're here though we're keeping an eye on you. The Cathedral sure does pick odd members these days." The bouncer said to Lorenor. Lorenor simply shrugged and replaced his documentation inside of his travel packs. Entering the Peaceful Promenade, the ghoul was treated to a strange atmosphere. The night crowd that gathered at the Peaceful Promenade was always a typically lively one, but tonight, the air in the room seemed somehow darker than normal.

A waitress wandered over to the ghoul with a frown on her face. She gave Lorenor a once over. "Miars is expecting you." She said and then quickly went to attend other clients. It was clear that Lorenor wasn't welcome in this fine establishment, but the ghoul didn't care. The air smelled of hormones, sex, smoke and booze. The ghoul saw several women dancing on top of tables to hollering customers. Some women danced in cages. Loud music played in the room causing the walls to shake. There was energy everywhere. Lorenor walked over to Miars' tables.

Miars was not a Coronian by birth right. He was a Salvarn. One of many Agents working for St. Denebriel's Cathedral, the Agent was tasked with keeping lower ranking disciples busy with small errands. Running packages, delivering messages, that sort of deal. Lorenor was one of his best Runners, able to follow directions and deliver the packages quickly. Lorenor approached Miars' table and observed the Salvarn calmly. Music played everywhere from the live band that currently worked various instruments with great skills. They were all bards of various degrees of knowledge. Lorenor eyed the band for a moment smiling for the first time this night, then returned his gaze back towards Miars.

Miars had deep brown eyes, a thick beard, and powerful Salvarn brow. His chin and jawline were well defined. His skin hinted at the harsh never ending winters of Salvar. He wore all white. "You're a day early. That's what I like about you kid. You're always on time. You're going to save me a buncha money." Lorenor nodded at the compliments. "Sit my friend. Sit. A devout member of the Cathedral is always welcome at my table." Lorenor sat down opposite Miars. Several other people were at his table. Two women and one other man. The man eyed Lorenor from the corners of his eyes, suspicion lurked within them. "My friends this is the man I was telling you about. Lorenor. The one whose been running for me. He's as skilled as they come."

"If you say so Miars. You have poor taste in people these days. If he looks as bad as he smells then I don't see how he can be as skilled as you claim he is." The man said.

Lorenor eyed the man for a moment and then turned his gaze to Miars. "I have the parcel. It was difficult bringing it back over because of all the refugees these days, but I managed to make it back here on time. I'll be expecting my cut." Lorenor said moving right to business. And with that, Miars laughed heartily. "Always right to the point Lorenor. Your cut is fine by me. You're a day early so you've earned a bonus." Miars took out a large sack filled with shiny gold coins and handed it towards Lorenors' person. "Six hundred gold, as you were promised."

Lorenor took the sack of gold and placed it in his pack. "Now then, do you have the next job for me? I don't like staying in one place for too long. I have people on my ass. I told you that already." Lorenor said keeping his voice level. Miars nodded. "You can stay here for a little bit my friend. You're good business. But yes, you're right. I have the next task set up for you. Are you ready? Let's get this man a drink!" Miars said with a gleeful smile and another jovial laughter. A waitress came from out of nowhere surprising the ghoul. "Get him whatever he wants." Miars asked of the waitress.

"What will it be?" She asked with music in her voice and a twinkle in her eyes.

"Some Berry Cider will be fine. I'm on the clock."

That solicited more laughter from Lorenor's companion. "You're an amusing guy Lorenor, I'm glad that the church hired you. You're not like most of these stiffs running around."

"What can I say? Once I find a purpose I'm about that."

The waitress quickly brought Lorenor's drink in a pitcher, placed a goblet on the table before him and poured the ghoul a drink. She winked at Lorenor afterwards, but the ghoul knew it was for show. None of the ladies in this high-end establishment would bother with the ghoul no matter how lavishly dressed he was. Lorenor wore all black, an outfit he'd acquired from the Gol'Bron's supply stores. He'd ditched his rags long ago. He was starting to look like a proper mutant should. The ghoul took a long pull of the berry cider and sighed with pleasure. Warmth tingled in his stomach. It was a time for business. Lorenor stared at Miars with a confident expression on his face.

"So what do you have for me?" Lorenor asked. He already wanted to be on his way.

[Wizo]

(Bunnying of Miars has been Ok by Lorenor)



Before Wizo stood a beautiful, mid twenties, brown skin woman with an average height and build. She had long, black, braided hair and wore a semi provocative uniform for the customers, much to her wishes not to do so. But Wizo knew that she was not human, Maria is one of a handful of Otano that managed to survive during God's Massacre in Otana. This caused the remaining Otano (around 500 or so.) to live in the coastal areas of Otana. Maria could not stay, as she was ordered by the oracle herself to leave the island and gain intel of the ancient ruins left by their ancestors over 3,000 years and find what can be used to restore Otana.

Wizo understood that she would not have called him unless it was important. He did walk all the way from Radasanth threw South Pass to get here, so it better be something. "Would you like something to drink before we begin? I have a break coming up so I should be fine talking to you." Maria said in a confident tone. Wizo nodded and replied "Some HARD beer. South Pass has not been kind on me." Maria let a small laugh as she just walked away to get him a fresh brew.

Wizo spied over his neighbors, seeing saw various acts of debauchery and lust all over the establishment. In one scene he saw 2 dwarves and a human flashing gold in front of, what seemed a dancing half-elf. He looked a little to the left of that and noticed that the same ghoul as before sitting down with members of the St. Denebriel's Cathedral. I would have never thought to see day the church would sit with the undead. Guess I’m wrong to think that ghoul would have been on the end of a fire pole rather than a table.
Wizo was disgusted at the sight; he was still trying to figure out what was going on over there. Before his curiosity got the better of him, Maria came back out of nowhere and slammed a pint sized cup in front of him. “Pele’s Fire” she said “It’s a special mix I made and is quite popular with the dwarves. Seems they have the same taste as Otanos have. ” Wizo looked at the brew began the chug it down. It was disgusting and the proof was way too low for his standards. “This would kill half the elves I know, Maria. Still….it’s going to take 5 of these for me to get a buzz. ” Maria just rolled her eye at him “Men and your beer.”

“Alright, I now have my drink and you should be on break, right?” She nodded “A good 20 minutes, then I have to get back.” She took a seat next to Wizo, making sure her dress was not crumpled up. “So why is it you needed me down here so quickly?” He pulled out a large opened envelope from his vest and put it on the table. “A letter and one time only pass for this bar. I expect that’s not something you get many of.” She nodded “I get about one every month, and even then it has to be approved by the bass. I can’t tell you how much of a hassle it was for me to get something like that done.” Wizo sipped his beer again and said “Alright, you managed to find me and get me a pass in to this 'bar'. Why is it so important that I needed to be down here by TONIGHT?” He tapped his right indedx on the envelope while saying this.

“Miars of St. Denebriel's Cathedral told me he may know one of our ancient temples.” Wizo eyes opened with interest “How would he be able to tell?” Maria replied “He doesn’t know its Otano. He just said he found a temple that was completely unknown to him. The notes he showed me proved to me that atleast some of the writing is in Otano. So, I told him you can read the glyphs. ”
“And Miars said he would lead me to the ruins?” Wizo asked

“Well, he had a few conditions. But he won’t tell me. He wants to tell you personally.” Wizo just raised an eye brow as he lowered his glass. “Maria. How much did you tell him about us?”

“Enough. I told him you learned an old language on your travels, and that you taught me some it. I also told him you were my older brother,of course.” Half truths, to say the least. Using Wizo as her brother was a perfect front. He would not have to bother explain how he knows her. “Acting as your brother should be easy with these people. Should I know anything else?” She nodded “Tell that bastard to keep his hands off me! I am not one of THOSE girls. His keeps flashing a lot of gold to sleep with me.” Wizo began to laugh hard at that. “I don’t really blame him. But I will tell him to leave my ‘sister’ alone.” Maria let out a sigh as a form of saying thank you.

While the mood was still good, a waitress with brown hair came over with a blue cocktail on her tray and placed it down in front of Wizo. He looked at her cute smile and said to her “I didn’t order this. Take it back.” She showed a concern faced to him and said “Miars bought it for you. He said you would like it.” Wizo nodded, waved her off and looked at her drink. It was not a very fancy drink, with only the dark blue liquid being the only decoration. He did not think much about the contents and quickly swallowed what was there into his throat. A smooth taste but with little strength, if this was how Miars was going to treat him a drink, it’s going to be one of those cruddy contracts. “Guess it’s time for work. Maybe we can talk later if I am given any time.” She just nodded “Just what do you need to do ‘big brother’.” She tossed him a room key with a small star attached to it. “My spare room key, 203.” With that Maria gave him wink, sat up and left to go back to dealing with angry drunks at the other tables.

Without a minute to spare, Wizo got up from his table and decided to greet this man of the church to see exactly what he wants. Looking at the table he noticed a few others with him including that same ghoul he can’t get his eyes off. “My thanks for the drink.” He began to say to Miars “My sister said you wanted me to do something. What is it you want from me?” He just stood there waiting for Miars to answer.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor saw that Miars ordered a drink for a lad sitting at another table. It was the same fellow that passed right by him earlier. What the heck is going on here? The ghoul thought to himself and then saw the same fellow come up to their table a few moments later. Lorenor eyed Miars for a moment and then eyed the stranger. I hope this isn't going where I think its going. Lorenor saw that Miars greeted the lad warmly.

"I've seen you around before." Miars began. "You seem like a capable lad. Pull up a seat and we'll begin this. I have a business proposition that might suit a fellow of your apparent skill level." Lorenor saw that Miars immediately put on a professional facade. The quickness by which this happened impressed Lorenor greatly. Miars pulled out a package and placed it upon the table deliberately slowly. Its contents were known only to Miars for the time being.

Lorenor sat back against his seat and took a deep pull of the cider drink he had in his goblet. The ghoul remained quiet for a moment whilst Miars talked to them about the business proposal. This was what the ghoul was here for after all. This better be good. I'll have to scrounge up the other contacts in this area if he doesn't offer me good work. Either way I'm a low ranking Agent with no real authority yet. I'll have to do something big to get noticed by the higher ups. These small jobs are just a stepping stone in my path to greatness.

"Here is the deal. About 48 hours ago this legion of strange creatures attacked a town in Underwood called Sharsen. About a month earlier, an expedition team from Underwood was sent to excavate a ruins that was found near Sharsen. Many regions in Concordia Forest remain unexplored due to both physical and astral barriers. It is impossible to tell how large the Forest actually is. This temple we excavated is completely unlike everything we've ever seen. The team of diggers located these mysterious symbols and made etchings of them for interpreters to study." Miars pulled out a graph containing the strange Otano symbols. Lorenor had never seen anything like them before, they made absolutely no sense to his eyes.

Lorenor saw that Miars handed Wizo the documents. "We believe that the attackers want something that's stored within the Temple that we haven't gotten at yet. This is where you two come in." Miars looked at Lorenor and the ghoul nodded. "You want us to finish exploring the Temple for you?" Lorenor asked. "You're a sharp one despite your ghoulish demeanor. Explore the temple, find anything of importance and return it to us. Keep anything you like. The important thing is to clear the area of those strange monsters. They look like this." Miars pulled out another series of documents. Lorenor whistled. They reminded him of some sort of Golem type creature. They were puppets. Reanimated puppets with deadly weapons attached to their various limbs. They were bipedal in nature all though some of them had multiple legs. Lorenor observed the photographs of the individual puppets carefully to get a good grip on what their new enemy looked like. "Do you want us to work together? If that's the case this has to be a contracted job. I expect to be well paid for this." The ghoul said suddenly.

He didn't mind the prospect of working with Wizo but he wanted to make sure that he was going to get his cut from the job. "We've done this before you and I. I know all about the type of funds you expect. Very well. I'll double your pay if you do a good job. That's 2K for you on TOP of anything you find in the Temple that you'll willing to keep. All I want are Artifacts from the culture that built this temple. Your companion here should be able to spot these Artifacts to us. An entirely new culture on Althanas represents a huge historical find for the Archives. This opportunity is too vital to us explorers."

Lorenor nodded. "Very well. You have yourself a sword."

"Excellent. What do you say Sir?" Miars turned and looked at Wizo at that moment.

[Wizo]

It’s going to be one of those days. He KNEW it was going to be one of those days. Wizo had been sitting down halfway thru the conversation . Listening about the so called ‘unknown ruins’ found deep in the forest. This tongue is a bit old, Did my Grandfather write this? Let us see…. ‘For the unity of all humans in this land, may this temple forever be a union under the blessings of the Gods. ’ hmm….. seems to be some sort of gathering hall. The sketches they have proved its Otano architecture. Even with this information, he could not conclude if it was Coroné’s Temple or not. However, he knew enough of about Otano architecture that it always kept a library of some size away from public. He just nodded as he kept reading on while still keeping an ear out for what this priest may want.

“So what exactly are you hiring me for? My sword or my tongue? Because if you’re asking for both I require a higher price.” Miars looked at him with odd look “You certainly got some guts, talking about money. But tell me, Why should I hire you at all? I
have yet to see you translate even one of these scripts that my men have brought back.” Wizo grabbed, randomly, a note from the pile he was reading and began to mutter it out loud enough for the whole table to hear “And within this holy ground lays the stone of the forbidden. May it rest forever by the decree of Kāne Milohai. ” Stone of the Forbidden? I didn’t see this page in the report. How on earth could I have missed this!? Miars was not shocked at the translation, it just made him curious what this Stone of the Forbidden is.

Miars was happy that waitress was not letting him on about Wizo’s translating ability. That would mean that a true discovery will come into frustration, once those monsters were taken care of. However, the monsters were not thought that much for Wizo, or to be exact, he barley looked over the notes about them. The only thing on his mind was heading to the temple. “You will be paid the same as Lorenor. Don’t take this the wrong way lad, but your sword is not famous or respected yet. You will have to earn that from me. ” He closed his eyes while saying most of this and then pulled out a map underneath the table. It was a map of known Underwood, written on it was a line pointing to the direction of the village. “The journey is not that long, about a day’s worth by horse. I am aware that Lorenor has a steed, but we will loan you one for this trip.”

Wizo was too excited to care how he got to the village, only that he got there. The Stone of the Forbidden, I pray that its one of the five star orbs the gods want. He repeated this thought as he looked at Miars with a positive look and asked “When do we start?”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Feeling the weight of the table beneath him, Lorenor looked upon the physical documentation that was placed upon the table. It seemed that every time someone placed one of these folders before him, trouble was soon to follow close behind. Damn, I should have asked for more money. Lorenor looked at the strange glyphs that Miars produced and could make neither heads nor tails of it. The ghoul turned towards Wizo and watched him translating the runes, strange fellow that.

Adjusting his position against the seat around his person, the ghoul listened to the sounds of the tavern for a moment. There were various people engaged in all sorts of debauchery, plots of government conspiracies being hatched, and other sorts of sordid deals. Lorenor let his eavesdropping ways get the better of him for a moment before he returned his gaze back towards his companion.

He didn't find out anything juicy enough that would warrant the attention of his greedy heart. He turned his gaze back to the matters at hand, the scents of smoke filling the slits where his nose once was. The ghoul pulled up the hood around his head a bit tighter to prepare himself for the journey ahead. As a temperate zone, Corone was fairly warm compared to the colder Northern areas of Salvar and Berevar. The ghoul stood up and looked at Miars.

"Make sure his ride is readied immediately. I don't want to waist anytime with this trip. We gotta make a days' trip and hopefully there won't be any trouble with those damned bandits everywhere." Lorenor said, his raspy voice filling the air giving it a slightly colder edge. The ghoul stood up, moving his chair to the side. Miars' companions looked at Lorenor calmly and smirked. "You have a death wish friend. You're too eager to take up these Cathedral jobs." The man in the corner said. Lorenor simply shrugged.

"At least I get work done and I get paid. I'm earning a modest living for myself. I don't know about you, fool."

"You dare!?" The man stood up suddenly, preparing to draw his weapon. He immediately drew a reaction from Miars. "Alwart, sit down. I don't want any trouble coming our way. We got enough eyes on us already." The man named Alwart looked upon the ghoul with a fierce expression. "You will regret you ever said that." And sat back down. Lorenor kept his hand at his sword handle ready to draw his weapon at anytime should the need arise for him. Seeing that the threat was thwarted, at least for the time being, the ghoul bowed elegantly. "Then I shall take my leave. Good day gentlemen. When you are ready sir." Lorenor said and nodded towards Wizo.

Afterwards, he prepared himself to head towards the door. Miars called for one of the waitresses and spoke to her about getting Wizos' horse prepared at the local stables. The matter would take no more than half an hour or so for them to be ready to get on their way. Standing outside, Lorenor hoped that Wizo was a bright enough lad to follow him to the stables and not wait around for Miars to give orders of dismissal.

[Wizo]

It was already past one in the bar. The mugs seemed to be filled continously even more than it was before midnight. Despite the flow of alcohol, Wizo kept wondering why on earth Lorenor wanted to start this trip in the middle of the night. He traveled nonstop to get here, now Lorenor wants to move out at this deathly hour. He was given a little bit of time so he had to say goodbye to Maria. In the end the time became a drink fest for him. “I guess this means no sleep for the next few days. Not like that’s anything new.” Maria just nodded and gave a small laugh at the response. She was busy covering the bar after the main bartender seemed to have gotten knocked out by a drunken dwarf. It kinda made sense why this place paid well. “Well you’re not gonna die from sleep deprivation. But please don’t burn half a forest down, like last time.” Wizo gave out a smirk “I don’t know what you’re talking about?” She replied with a small mutter “Scrae Brae, you moron.” Wizo recalled that event, but rather not talk about it; he nearly made a ‘name’ for himself that time.

“Anyway, it won’t be that long before my horse is ready. To be honest, I rather go by foot with all these trees around.” Maria understood how Wizo felt, she preferred riding the winds when she had the chance. It would usually draw too much attention and only did only after Underwood got into a large celebration with the spirits. Seeing people fly is not unheard of, but she rather not draw that type attention. Despite the talks about what they wished to do, time still seemed to go slow in that bar.

The minutes marched on like hours. The more he waited, the more he kept to playing with his sword. It was as if he was calming his sword down. “Is your sword uneasy tonight?” Maria asked, as she grabbed Wizo’s empty mug and began to refill it. “Just the temple, it is all I think about for the moment. I only wish to get what belongs to us. After that, I see no use for rubble. ” Maria thought opposite of this; she was always a lover of classic lore and ruins. Seeing Wizo treat this as a grave robbing trip put her in disgust. “At least show some respect to it. It is WHY we are on this island. I rather be at home with Father, then work at this ‘bar’.” Wizo looked around as she said mentioned that all, sorts of sinful acts were taking place, the faces of thieves and rouges seemed to be the norm for this place.

Wizo put his left hand on Maria’s shoulder and said “My dear sister, we will head home once I retrieve the Star Orb. Just endure this place until then.” She looked at him with hopeful eyes and replied “I do hope your right brother; I wish to spread my wings from this place.” Wizo silently agreed. The events that happened to him in the last few years were the worst. His nation destroyed by their own foolishness, and he was ordered to restore it from the masters that took it away him. He sometimes wondered why the alcohol never seemed to make him forget this, no matter how drunk he was.

A few moments later Miar’s assistant ,Alwart, appeared and gently tapped on Wizo’s shoulder. “Your name is Wizo correct?” Wizo turned around looking at the man “Ahh, one of Miars hands. Alwart, correct?” He just nodded “I guess we don’t need to be introduced. May I have a word with you, alone?” Wizo gave him a strange look. Why would he need to talk to him? Miars is nowhere to be seen, as he is outside handling the horse keeper’s fees. “Alright, where do you wish to talk?” Wizo asked with a slight interest “Room 102, it is usually empty.” Wizo nodded and began to walk toward room 102.

The room was musky and foul, it did not have an air of activity around it. Wizo could see dust all over the place as he walked into the room. “This better be quick, I have a few moments before I depart.” Alwart nodded “Yes, of course. I just have a favor. no…. I have a job for you. ” Wizo looked at him closey “A job, I believe your church has already employed me?” He just nodded “I want you to kill that blasted ghoul for us.” Wizo gave a small chuckle “I see, jealous that an undead is doing a better job than you?” Alwart grunted at the thought “That bastard is so smug with himself, and Miars actually is relying on him for jobs! Do you know how much work I losing to that rotting piece of flesh?!?” Wizo shook his head “Killing him sounds interesting, that thing gives off a bad odor anyway. So, what are you offering?”

Alwart pulled out a small leather bag, and out of it a red gem. “These things sell pretty well. They are called Dragon Tears, said to have magical properties. I will give you this entire lot when I see his head in a bag.” He threw the stone to Wizo, which he caught with his right hand. “Consider it a sign of our contract. If you pull this job off, I guarantee that your sword will gain favor in the church.” Wizo gave a small chuckle as he played with his rock a few times by throwing it “I get paid to kill a talking corpse. Tell me how I this is considered work? Don’t expect it tonight, I still need him for my job.” Alwart took a smile and took his leave by the door, saying nothing more of Wizo’s ‘second’ contract.

As Wizo closed the door from room 102, a stable hand walked up to him that his steed was ready. He gently put the stone in his pocket. It was a strange stone and when he looked at his pocket for a moment, he thought he saw a faint red glow. Wizo nodded and waved to Maria at the bar as he passed by. She returned in kind and went back to work. As he closed the doors to the exit of the bar, Alwart was sitting near the bar with a large grin. “Heh, even if you don’t wish to kill Lorenor, Wizo, I made sure that stone to convince.” He ordered another round for himself in celebration for the sweet sight of a beheaded ghoul.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Standing outside for a few moments, the ghoul realized that Wizo wasn't coming right away. Damn, he's making me wait. Lorenor felt the wind moving his dreadlocks in a sort of primordial dance. Walking towards the stables, Lorenor pondered leaving Wizo behind for a second. I'll need him to translate the runes in that place and deactivate any traps that there might be within the ruins. I need him. Blast. The night wore on as Lorenor walked over to the stables and saw that several horses were ready, including his own.

As Lorenor walked, someone came up against his sensory grid. He smelled Miars' familiar scent as the man put a hand on his shoulder. The ghoul immediately stopped and turned towards Miars. Miars nodded to the small warrior for a moment. "St. Denebriel blesses us warrior. I have a favor to ask of you my friend." Lorenor frowned as he heard this decree. "This isn't a night for favors but you have my attention, I'm listening." Miars looked at the stable for a moment and then returned his gaze to Lorenor.

"You are gaining rapid notice with the Cathedral. Come, walk with me." Miars asked calmly. Lorenor nodded and followed the extravagantly dressed man. Miars kept looking at Lorenor from time to time. He walked with a casual step shooting a glance at the various passersby that frequented the streets of Underwood even by night. The Peaceful Promenade was one of many busy establishments that stayed open round the clock. Lorenor followed Miars until they were alone and the taller man looked over at him with a worried look on his face.

"Son, I'm afraid there's trouble in Salvar."

"What do you mean? I thought there's always something going on back home." The ghoul found himself saying quite naturally.

"That's just it. Things are serious this time. The Justice has declared the King an enemy of the state. People are taking sides. They are saying civil war is inevitable now. The Cathedral needs her loyal peons ready to serve the will of St. Denebriel. I fear that the Cathedral has lost her way. Even now there are corrupt members of the church plotting to take over Salvar proper herself." Miars said. This was news to Lorenor, he folded his arms before his chest as she thought about what was being said.

"St. Denebriel can depend on Lorenor. What is it that you would have me do?" Lorenor asked.

"Once you complete this task, come see me. I will have a special request ready for you. By the way, you shouldn't trust your friend Wizo. I've seen him around many times, he is a drunkard." Miars said with a sad look on his face.

"I only trust myself, don't worry about it. But as you say I'll come see you once the job is over. Do you want me to keep an eye for anything in the temple for you?"

"Find something precious and bring it back to me. I'll give you something extra if you do that. I don't like the sound of this Forbidden Stone, that Wizo spoke off when he translated the text. Prevent him from finding the stone if you can. I fear the worst if someone like that got such an object in their possession. It belongs in the hands of the cathedral."

"I'll do what I can." Lorenor said.

"His ride is ready, you two should be on your way in the cover of darkness."

"We shall make haste. By the will of St. Denebriel." Lorenor said calmly and nodded towards Miars. The two parted ways. Lorenor headed back towards the stables making his way to his horse. Well kept, the horse was already ready for the small warrior to use. Well rested, and well fed, the black stallion looked upon its master with a certain longing. Lorenor petted the flank of the beast of burden, sliding his hand across the thick layer of fur. With his saddle ready, Lorenor mounted himself up on top of the horse and took the reigns. He thanked the stable boy. "Here, for your troubles lad." After thanking him, he tossed the lad a few gold coins and prepared himself to travel into the night. He waited for Wizo to show up, eager to get on his way. I'll leave him if he makes me wait too long. Its probably for the best anyway. The ghoul leaned forward on his ride waiting for the boy to show up.

[Wizo]

It was cold, very cold to travel at this time of night. This entire trip seemed move too fast for the young Otano. Even if it was the will of Pele, he really wanted to rest. Now that he thought about it, he has not eaten since last mourning as well. The hunger pains did come to him in the bar, but that went away with all the drinking he did.

Wizo could not recall how many drinks he had that night, it really didn’t matter. His body metabolized it faster than humans, so he usually needed to drink something with a large proof or a great amount of booze to get a buzz. 10 drinks of cheap human beer, 2 glasses of elvish wine from ’56, and shot of something that tasted like a Menehune’s feet drenched in sweat was not enough for him to even get a buzz. He could not abuse his body as hard as he wanted to. Wizo felt more pathetic at the difficulty of getting a buzz rather than being able to drink every person in that bar under that table and then some. Walking out sober for a trip like this was not a blessing, more like a curse knowing how much he has to go before he can sleep.

Walking towards the stables, he was reminded how scared he was of the darkness. As a child he was told about the NightMarchers, ghost of old warriors that would return to their last battle grounds. He was also told ,should he go alone at night without his parents, that the NightMarchers would find him and kill him. This scared him so much that he had a large fear of the night until he grew into adult hood. Wizo saw the night as something he had conquered; he is no longer afraid of it and felt like he could take on anything that would come his way. Even when he has to face that ghoul one on one.

While a bit hasty on the decision, Wizo was not sure if taking a second contract on that undead was a good idea. Wizo may have been a firm believer in exterminating the undead from Althanas, but he felt a bit uneasy about it. Since when do mindless zombies begin to talk? He acts and speaks with better manners then some humans I know of. Something like that can’t be to any good. So what exactly is that corpse up to? He shook his head thinking about it That thing is cursed, creature that should been raised by forbidden magic. I will kill him in due time, I need him for this trip. But when the time comes, I will make sure I make him get the eternal rest he deserves. What kind of life is being a walking dead anyway?

The thoughts of backstabbing and turn coating will have to wait. As he neared the stable Wizo tried to block out the thought of killing his partner from his mind. Any trace of it could hinder the mission and could get both of them killed. He neared the stables and saw an impatient Lorenor sitting on his mount waiting for him. The stable hand that informed him in the bar came out of the stable with a light brown horse. The horse seemed to be young and strong, ready to take on this trip and more if the time comes. “My thanks; I will make sure to bring it back in one piece.” Wizo said as he took the reins from him and began to mount it. The hand just looked at him and walked away with a shiver, like he was about to lose a good stead to some berserker.

Riding horses was not his strong point, but he was good enough to stay on one for normal riding. He somehow managed to ride his horse next to Lorenor and stop right next to him. “My apologies, Lorenor. My sister has not seen me in ages and it was hard to break away from her.” He let out a half smile as he said that, making sure the lie was not over the top. “Anyway, I still have the map Miar’s gave us. But I am bad at directions when it comes to this forest. If you don’t mind, could you lead this trek? Otherwise, we may get there in a week’s time rather than a day.” He pulled out the map with his right hand, offering it to Lorenor with eagerness.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor watched Wizo manage to gain control of his horse, albeit barely, and ride up alongside his own stallion. The breeze was comforting all though it was a chilly November night. Somehow, the tropical region of Concordia Forest failed to add its eternal warmth to the rest of Corone. Pity. Lorenor listened whilst Wizo spoke and nodded when the boy was done talking. He reached out and took the parchment in his hand feeling the texture of the papyrus. It was a recently made document, so the texture was somewhat soft but sturdy.

Seeing the lines and subtle imperfections on the paper, along with the written portions of the map, the ghoul concentrated. He observed the map for a long moment memorizing each distinct stroke and line. Every line had a purpose. It was to guide the duo through an expedition within Concordia. Lorenor knew the forest very well but was not yet an expert guiding his way through it. However, this was a good a night as any to become more familiar with the Forest yet.

He studied the particular quadrant of the Forest that they were expected to navigate, it wasn't any of the deeper sections. It was fairly close to Underwood. Lorenor knew that the areas of the forest closer to the city of Underwood were less dangerous than the areas deeper within it. They were lucky they weren't heading too far in. Many threats, like the Spider Magi, lurked within the deeper areas of Concordia. Lorenor looked up for a moment from his study of the map to look at the fierce red star that denoted N'Jal's prison. Soon...very soon, we will all have our vengeance. But for now I must focus on gaining power.

Hopefully there is something in this temple for me to steal as well. The ghoul thought to himself, returning his gaze back to the map. Once he closed his eyes and could visualize the map in its entirety, he carefully rolled the document up and placed it within his many packs. He turned his attention towards Wizo.

"The trip won't be that hard. I've been through that area of Concordia before. We shouldn't encounter too many dangers, but I'm afraid that there might be a lot of bandits. Refugees escaping the war in Corone. We will probably encounter a lot of that on the way. We must use caution in those situation." They are just looking for a meal after all, but some of them are looking for trouble... He returned his eyes to the road in front of him and sighed. There was an influx of refugees in Underwood and the economy was having a hard time employing them. Too many mouths to feed. This is going to be a disaster.

He thought only one thing about Corone's Civil War. Corone was going to fall.

[Wizo]

Wizo recalled the rumors of a civil war breaking out. He did not want to believe it either. But those rumors came true for him, when his room at a local inn was on fire thanks to supporters of the church. In the name of a god you can justify anything. Being out here make him feel for a while. A lot of thieves about these days. Lorenor is right, we may not be going deep into the forest, but this trek will have its dangers. Wizo replied to Lorenor “I understand. This civil war is just too much. I can’t stand all that noise. ” Wizo didn’t really mind if people killed each other for politics. Humans do that, it was just going to happen. What he hated was that it was taking place in his back yard and it was giving him insomnia. “Alright, whenever you are ready.” He signaled to Lorenor for their departure.


It has been only twenty minutes in their trek; it was quit for the time being. The forest was deathly quit as he did not even hear an owl hoot or anything. It creped him out, it was like this when he came into the forest as well. The nights here had a
deathly evil to it; the energy to this place did not ‘fit’. Wizo had no ability to tell evil or good energy, this was just his gut telling him this. This forest has a bad energy. “I need a smoke, hope you don’t mind.” He pulled out his pipe and a small bag of nijaro grass. Wizo was riding his horse at a slow enough where he was able to use both his hands for a few moments. He took some of the grass out of the bag and tightly packed it into the pipe. He extended his right thumb out and used his magic to make a small fire on the tip of it; He lighted the pipe with his thumb. He breathed slowly into the pipe, as he waved his right hand to get rid of the flame. “Ahh, I needed that. This place just gives me the creeps at night. ” He let in another inhale out of his pipe, getting a good stimulant from the grass.

“That reminds me, I really don’t understand why we moved out in the middle of the night. Care to tell me why we needed to leave immediately rather than rest up in the morning?” He asked Lorenor with a curious face.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Wisps of smoke filled the air and touched Lorenor's sensory array. A strange mist flowed from Concordia's floor like espers in the night. The ghoul kept his eyes locked upon the road ahead, ever weary for hidden bandits or worse. Once, this place had become world-known for the Bandit Brotherhood's vile presence in the woods. Bunch of damned thieves the whole lot of them. But they were an organized group as well. Wizo's question hung in the air.

Lorenor could hear the clop-clop sound of horses' hooves against tightly packed earth. Underbrush covered every corner of the ground beneath them as they trotted forward. Lorenor seemed to be deep in thought as he guided his horse forward. He turned his attention back to Wizo.

"You're getting creeped out right now are you not? That's the advantage of traveling at night. We aren't as exposed as we are in the daylight hours. N'Jal provides us with the cover of darkness. The shadows shall be our shields. They will obscure the light so that bandits can't see us."

He spoke in a purposefully low voice. Just audibly enough so that his partner could hear him. Critters moved in the underbrush catching Lorenors' attention from time to time. The ghoul was ever paranoid when he traveled into Concordia. These were wild, untamed lands. Wild lands filled with many dark and dangerous secrets. Lorenor was visualizing the map in his head as he guided his horse forward. Turning his gaze back on the road afore him, the ghoul knew that they were not long for the temple's presence. It was just a few more turns in the road and they would make it to the site.

Hopefully, without incident.

[Wizo]

The darkness was now calm to Wizo’s eyes. His horse was moving steadily with Lorenor’s and it seemed that he was starting to get the handle of riding on his mount. Even with his new found easiness, he was still alert for anything that would come and attack them.

As the trail seemed to ease up, Wizo noticed a woman fallen in front of the trail. She appeared to be badly wounded and blood was all over her simple dress. A maiden from a nearby village? This does not look right. Why… “Lorenor let me take a look at her.” He pushed his horse ahead of him and stopped a few feet next to the woman. She was fairly skinned, possibly a wood cutters daughter by her appearance. Why she was out here was uncertain, but one thing was. She is dead. Multiple stab wounds were all over her torso; her dress was ripped, exposing parts of her skin. A mugging and rape?!? Such, demonized work…. These bandits have no soul. Before he could speak about the atrocity that was before him, a throwing knife came from a nearby bush and stabbed the corpse of the maiden in the chest.

The knife was a warning and a premonition. ‘Give us what we want or suffer like her.’ That’s what the knife’s message is. As he got up away from the corpse, several figures in green clothing came out of the woods. ugghh. Why did I not see this as a trap? Even if it was a mugging, why would they leave the body out here? I can’t believe I did something so stupid. “Better just give us your goods, luv. Can’t be killing too many people coming here.” Was the poor opening from one of the bandits. “I am to assume that you are the leader of these thugs?” He shook his head as a hand shoved him out the way and into the ground.

The leader, who pushed the greeter to the ground, was a female. A light skinned half-elf, she had slightly tanned skin. and short hair that was not even enough for a pony tail. She was well toned, and seemed to show a few scars from the heat of battle. “I am the one in charge of these, boys.” Wizo looked at her for a moment. Familiarity seemed to come to him and suddenly, as if a dam broke, he remembered. “I see you been busy killing the likes of women and random travelers Ni’sharia.”
Ni’sharia was confused and looked at him better. “YOU!!!” she shouted. It was so loud; half of the forest could have heard it. “I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. THAT I AM GIFTED SEEING YOUR FACE AGAIN!” Wizo sighed and responded “Hey, I told you I was busy, be glad I actually stayed the night.” She looked at him with rage, but slowly, she started to cry. “I thought... you would stay... I really thought that...” She started to go down on the ground crying. That’s it. Note to self: Never sleep with half-elves. Always weepy...

The men of Ni’sharia’s band was not too happy to see there leader go down in tears. “The little brown turd here thinks he can just play with our chief like that! I say we show him what Blood Daggers are made of!” All of the bandits let out a battle cry as they took out there weapons. A total of eight, including Ni’sharia, could be accounted for the bandits. All of them had various bladed weapons: worn out swords, daggers, and one with an axe. As Wizo prepared himself by drawing out The Sword of Ku, he thought once more. I will NEVER sleep with half-elves again!!

[Mutant_Lorenor]

"Wait Wizo! We don't have time for this."

Lorenor called out to his friend as he looked upon the broken down form of the Thieves' leader. He dismounted from his sword and drew his plynt longsword from its scabbard. The distinctive ring of plynt filled the night air as he walked past Wizo. He made an attempt to pat his friend on the shoulder as if to say; Step back friend, let me handle this. The ghoul was impatient and wanted to get to the temple before such a situation got in their way. He was annoyed that they'd stopped for the body in the first place. Turning to look at the beautiful corpse, the ghoul sighed. Ni'Sharia suddenly smelled Lorenor and looked up at his dark face.

"Wait!" She commanded of her bandits. The nearest bandit immediately stopped his movements. "But Boss, we can take them. They are just two low-lives!" She suddenly shook her head and wiped the tears from her face as if they were never there. She stood up gracefully and walked over to Lorenor recognizing the symbol on the man's cloak. It was a cloak made of Vlince. "That symbol. You are a member of the Red Hand are you not? I remember Lord Ithermoss from long ago. My men and I used to work for him until he vanished for the second or third time recently. The old loyalties still stay true. Ithermoss gave us some warehouses we could use as a base when the original workforce disbanded." She explained. She eyed Wizo with a look of disdain. "I really thought you were going to stay but no matter, you brought us a great boon indeed."

She looked upon the corpse of the girl for a moment and then turned her attention back to Lorenor. "I see by the weapon you carry that you could easily defeat us." The bandits heard that talk. "But boss I don't see how him carrying a Plynt weapon could mean anything! We could take it for ourselves and sell it at the Bazaar!" She suddenly back handed her fellow bandit and that shut him up but something fierce. "These two are not to be harmed in anyway whatsoever. Am I understood? Jumil, withdraw your men back to the hideout, I'll take care of this matter." One of the bandits sighed and sheathed his short sword. He immediately followed the order, and all seven of the crazy bandits retreated back into the woods. One of them shot Lorenor a cold stare before he left. Lorenor simply shrugged.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Your eyes are beautiful. I see a beauty about you. I could not bring myself to harm something so lovely." She suddenly said. "I am in this line of work because I am in love with death. You smell of death...It's so sweet." She said and suddenly leaned forward and kissed Lorenor deeply. Taken aback, the ghoul kissed her back and held the woman in his arms, embracing her tightly. When the woman was done kissing her she broke away from the small warrior and looked upon Wizo. "You made a mistake leaving me Wizo, I was going to teach you many secrets of the Elves. But I shall teach them to him instead." She said with a soft smile on her pout lips. Lorenor raised an eyebrow. "You are heading to that temple they just recently excavated are you not? I am willing to help you, for a price. I know a short cut there." She revealed.

Lorenor thought about it for a moment. "Name your price."

"One hundred gold." She replied.

"Done."

He reached into his personal stash and retrieved one hundred gold for the girl's payment. They would need a guide.

Lorenor hated needless loss of life. It was against his twisted code of morales. He looked upon the poor woman's corpse. "Do me a favor will you Ni'Sharia? Please make sure she is properly buried. I don't know why you guys had to do that to her, but I'm sure there was ample reason. Members of the Red Hand don't attack the innocent unless provoked to such actions. I hope your faction changes its way Ni'Sharia. The Red Hand has returned to Althanas and we are looking for our old allies." He said in a calm sort of tone. Ni'Sharia nodded. "I will take care of that, it's a small thing to ask for someone who follows Lord Ithermoss. If the Red Hand needs us we will gladly rejoin the workforce. I know someone who has the location to Pandemonium's Fist." Lorenor nodded upon hearing that. "My Lord Sorahn will be pleased. We have been unable to ascertain the location of Pandemonium's Fist for sometime now. Instead we are rebuilding the Red Hand's old town nearby to the site. We are going to name it Ithermoss in our former leader's name."

"I am sure he would like that." She smiled and removed the corpse from the side of the road. "I'll bury her later. Right now we need to get you to that temple, you have yourself a guide. What is your name mi'lord?" She asked suddenly. "My name is Lorenor. You already know my companion. He too, is a member of the Red Hand." She glared at Wizo but kept her emotions under control this time. "I will do well to remember that. There is much to talk about on the way to the Temple." She suddenly whistled and a brown colored mare trotted to her position from somewhere in the wilderness. She quickly mounted herself upon the horse. Lorenor walked back to his own stallion and mounted as well. "Wizo, let's get going."

"We managed to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed on this night and made a new ally. I hope you remember these lessons well Wizo. Sometimes diplomacy is the best course of action."

[Wizo]

Five minutes. It was five minutes that a gore fest, from a bad one night, stand became this. Diplomacy? If diplomacy is to get girls to become necrophiliacs then you must be a pro. Wizo shook his head and began walking back to his horse. It was not going to be one of those nights, but he already knew that when he took the job. The night sky was still a strong black; the sun was not even close to defeating it. It was going to be a long and difficult night.

Ni’sharia’s shortcut was not some hidden trail that was concealed by elf magic. It was heavily under kept path that barley made enough room for one horse to pass at a time. Making it come down to Ni’sharia in the front, Wizo behind her and Lorenor taking the rear. Looking at her, Wizo decided that he needed closure out of this. He did leave her without notice in the middle of the night and that was rude all together, he needed to close this tale. “Ni’sharia, a moment of your time.” Wizo said in softer tone then he would usual talk in. Ni’sharia did not turn her head, but only replied in a disgusted voice “I have a certain tolerance to the local humans here. But foreign humans, like you, are not even worth speaking to.” Wizo just smirked for a second “Ni’sharia, who on earth said I was human?” This got her attention and she turned around for a second to look at him.

The path became wider and Ni’sharia slowed down so she would match Wizo’s pace. She looked at him again, trying to figure out any markings or features that make him not human. His ears were not pointed, he had no horns coming from his head or gills on his neck. His deep brown skin was the only thing that made him different. But she had seen other tanned skinned humans; this made it puzzling for her. “You must be human; you show every feature of one. I think you need to stop playing games with me Anahandra.” She replied, adding his surname as a way to further distance herself from him. “I may look human, but I assure you, my people are different. We live just as long as you elves, maybe longer, and magick is easier then my human counterparts.” Wizo said as he let a few sparks out of his hand to showing a small fireworks show. Ni’sharia was still skeptical and asked “If you are not human, then what are you.” Wizo just smiled and said “That is not important right now. Just know that I am the only one to stop what’s inside that temple. ”

Ni’sharia was curious, still curious, about this man called Wizo. The night they spent was different, to say the least. The way he talks, acts and behaves was nothing she has ever seen. Her curiosities build faster every moment she thought of it. That would have to wait, for they just arrived at the temple before she could question him anymore. “Seems we are here.” Wizo said in a monotone voice “Anyway, I believe we should get some information the locals. To see if they know about the temple before going in. What do you think Lorenor?”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

"We have a guide with us right here."

Lorenor said and tossed Ni'Sharia some gold in a pouch. 200 Gold. Lorenor saw her catch the pouch out of the air and smiled at the ghoul. "You're a shrewd businessman Mister Lorenor. Unlike our friend here. Anyway, we're here, lets get ready to investigate this thing if that's what you want to do. I've gone inside myself a few times." She said politely as if to reassure the group that she had experience on the exploration front. She slid off the horse, and Lorenor dismounted off his own stallion a moment later. Ladies' first after all... The ghoul thought to himself as he felt the earth crunching beneath his boots. Things moved about in the underbrush of the Forest but these movements didn't unnerve the ghoul one bit.

Observing Wizo casually, he noticed how dark the area was. A large structure stood before them made in the classic Otano design. The building was an intricate building with several large staircases leading towards a structure on the top. Lorenor noticed that several spherical pieces of the building were attached on extending passageways and seemed to float without any sort of support. With his senses extended, the ghoul noticed that there seemed to be structures underneath the ground that weren't necessarily the Underdark.

All around this section of the forest, Lorenor noticed several statues that resembled totem poles. He sensed tremendous dangerous from the totems that were visible in this area. He realized that there were probably more totems around this field of Concordia. The structure looked immensely old and seemed to predate time immemorial. All around the structure, Lorenor could see archaic residue of some sort.

He guessed that there were many floors inside the structure and many rooms within it. There were Otano symbols all over the walls. Lorenor walked over to a nearby wall and examined the now familiar symbols. He was certain that Wizo could teach him the language once he knew the vowels. He looked at the symbols for a long moment and saw a few familiar characters.

Stepping away from his find, the ghoul looked at Wizo. "No choice to but to go up. We gotta find a way in." Lorenor looked at Ni'Sharia. "There is some sort of alter area at the top of the staircase. We go in from there all right? So let's get walking. We have a long trip ahead of us." She started walking forward and Lorenor couldn't help but smile when he noticed the strange, but seductive look she gave towards the ghoul. She walked with a switch of her hips. Lorenor quickly followed her and started to walk up the long staircase. "Let's go Wizo." He commanded.

[Wizo]

These scriptures, everything about the temple was different from what he has seen before. This temple was different from other Otano structures, he was certain that a Star Orb was sealed deep in the temple. Taking a quick glance, he looked at the inscriptions on the wall ‘To our great father, Kāne Milohai.’ Just as he thought, this temple was to the god of heavens and sky himself. He did not expect to go into a high god’s temple so fast in his journey. What a strange twist of fate. As he heard his name get barked around by that ragged undead corpse, he notice his dagger was starting to glow.

Pulling his dagger out, he saw a tinted green glow out of his dagger. “This confirms it, a Star Orb is here. Kāne Milohai’s orb is right here for the taking!!” He got excited for a moment; his first lead has brought him to one of the most sacred objects that he has been searching for months. He needed to watch what he said though. He still needed to pretend that he is just a researcher of the language; he cannot let these people know that these ruins belong to him.

“Ni’sharia, you said something about an entrance from the stairs?” Wizo asked. She nodded, pointing to a pair of stairs that were spiraling like a twister to the third floor. As expected, they built the entrance on the third floor. He never knew why Otanos did that, but it made it easy from him to know what to expect. The level of an entrance would usually mean the importance of the temple, being on ground floor meant that it was just a public building, but something as high as the third meant a very holy site. He looked down at his dagger that was given to him by Moaalii the shark god. It was unusual, since most of Pele’s brothers hated him, yet he was so close to Wizo that he received a beautiful dagger made from a large shark tooth. That’s what happened when you give shark gods large, black pigs.

As they approached the entrance to the temple, Wizo was curious and worried what has happened to this sacred ruin. The entrance was a white room filled with many ancient statues, too heavy to carry off by hand. A single passage could be seen at the left going deeper into the darkness of the already darkly lit room. Wizo noticed a few torch bowls and began to light one with his magic. The instance his engulfed hand lit the first one, a reaction occurred and all the other ones began to ignite, like a unified shout. With the entrance lit, he saw various inscriptions and pictures, detailing the history and birth of Otana. He took back what he said to Maria, he fell in love with this place. So much he could learn here, he needed to keep this place safe. As Wizo kept reading on his history, he heard a large, shriek come from down the hall way. “Something is here, everyone. Something that should not be here.” He got into a defense postion as he prepared for whatever was about to come out.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

The shriek came from further down the hallway. Upon hearing it, Lorenor first took a look at Ni'Sharia. She drew a longbow made of liviol and some dangerous looking liviol based arrows. They were tipped with green shining plynt arrowheads. Lorenor smiled at Ni'Sharia and she smiled back at the ghoul a moment later. It was clear that she was an experienced Ranger and a well armed one at that. Lorenor drew his own weapon and eyed the incoming opponent.

Quickly, he soon realized that their numbers were great. Spotting the incoming enemy forces Lorenor tensed himself for battle. Figment was standing nearby to the ghoul and awaiting battle as well. The little Endless was a dangerous enough creature on its own, but the kicker was when it got a host body! Its danger level soon increased.

Lorenor felt the familiar sensation of The Endless wrapping itself around his person with quick speed. Having increased his power recently, the ghoul was ready for battle. The first of the puppet like marionettes came walking down the hallway. They had emotionless faces with eyes that were painted upon the surface of their face. Eternally wearing the same expression, the puppets had many limbs. They were made of various materials, some were blue, hinting that they were made of liviol. Others were made of steel, and a few were made out of silver and plynt.

With his sword drawn, the small warrior prepared for imminent combat. The puppets each had four limbs, sometimes more, that were armed with all types of impliments of death. They were moving about with a series of strings that floated above their head. A shadowy portal pulled the strings of the mysterious creatures. Occasionally, there was a pull from the strings that held the puppets up and the creatures leaped forward with a sudden bound of supernatural speed. A mysterious laughter was in the air, presumably generated from the puppets.

They all wore strange feathered hats and jester uniforms that were flamboyant in nature. Ni'Sharia was already attacking the creatures with her longbow from the moment they arrived. She'd already picked off several of the creatures. Figment suddenly rolled ahead and began to attack several of the creatures that came too close. Following its instinctive calling, it went to go find itself a host. Lorenor grinned at that thought. Two of the puppets jumped towards Lorenor and the battle began.

Three managed to make their way towards Wizo...

[Wizo]

A swarm of puppets filled the lighted room with ease. They moved in what seemed to be a dance towards Wizo and his partners. Wizo knew that someone wanted in on untold treasures in this temple. Guessing from the attack of these puppets, the lower levels have not been breached and these puppets are trying to hold them off. Wizo saw three puppets come lunging at him. One of them had a humanoid appearance with the two arms and legs, the other two seemed to resemble a Shiva-like appearance with about four pairs of arms on each of them.

Wizo pulled out his Sword of Ku with ease and began to prepare for his first challenger. The humanoid puppet was armed with an axe and shield. It threw a vertical slice to Wizo’s head. Wizo dogged it with a side step to right and began to slice the abdomen of the puppet with a horizontal cut. The puppet began to gag for a moment and within moments fell, hanging by its own strings. The other two puppets took no second to morn for their ally; instead they attack the Otano with even more ferocity then the first. Both of them had an array of weapons: sickles, swords, daggers, axes, staves. This did not matter to Wizo, as he sheathed his sword and began to focus two fire balls into his hands. He focused his projectiles at his foes and fired without a moment to spare. The projectiles hit Wizo’s opponents and they both got blown back by the force of his spell. The two puppets were now burning from Wizo’s spell, but they still took time before they were engulfed in flame.

Seeing his first victory, he saw his allies taking harder resistance and soon jumped over a second wave coming after him. It was the first time in days that Wizo would jump so high, some of the puppets hissed at this. When he landed he saw a puppet trying to sneak up behind Ni’sharia and stab her. Wizo did not have enough time to summon another spell so soon; his sword would also be to slow to draw out in this situation. His only option was his dagger. He pulled it out and began to charge forward, aiming for the monsters neck. He landed the blow to the left side of the throat, but no blood came out. The only reaction that came from his attack was wild movement from the puppet, but it was enough to get the Ranger’s attention, making her sling two shots into the puppets chest before it would stop moving. “Thank me later; we got a second wave coming!” Wizo prepared another set of spells for his puppet guest. It would be rude not to entertain guest in his house.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Busy with the Puppets he was fighting, Lorenor couldn't prevent one of them from slipping past his person and approaching Ni'Sharia from behind. He wanted to help her, but couldn't. Instead, he focused upon the warriors he was currently dealing with. The sound of blades clanging immediately filled the air around them. Looking up at the mysterious strings flowing from the shadows above each of the puppets, Lorenor had an idea. Taking to the air, the light ghoul kicked off the ground and successfully evaded an incoming attack.

Once in mid-air he struck towards the strings that held the puppets up. About a moment later, he heard a satisfying snap as the cords were cut from the puppets and the thing fell lifelessly to the ground. "Go for the strings, don't waste your attacks on the puppets themselves!" Lorenor finished his forward dive, and rolled forward, standing up quickly. He countered an incoming attack. Looking at a nearby wall, he prepared to sever the strings of the other puppet that attacked him.

Ni'Sharia quickly caught on. She severed a few more of the puppet's strings and they fell down to the floor, useless, like the one that Lorenor felled in battle. Kicking off the wall, he leaped towards the strings of the nearest puppet. Swinging towards the target in mid-air, the ghoul slashed forward and waited a split second. The puppet attempted to react to the attack, but was too late.

Lorenor's sword severed the strings and killed off the puppet. The thing crumbled to the ground nothing more than a pile of salvageable stuff. The ghoul knew he would be taking the raw ore from the fallen. Landing on the ground once more, a second wave of puppets attacked the trio. They were slowly wearing the puppets down. Lorenor knew it would be useless to try to take the ones that were made of silver and materials stronger than silver, but that was knowledge gained from his trade. The ghoul worked to keep his enemy at bay.

[Wizo]

The strings? These puppets were attached to strings. Wizo did not give it any thought. Of course, he did not think at all with a horde of morbid puppets attacking them. Lucky for him, they were attached to very, very burnable ropes. “Ni’sharia, cover me! I got an idea.” Wizo shouted to her. She nodded and continued to shoot the oncoming enemy, wondering what he had planned.

This was a tricky move for Wizo. Holding back a certain amount of magic was not impossible for him. It did require a lot of focus and discipline that was usually trained by Otano masters at a certain age. Since he was never taught these techniques, he had to learn it the hard and painful way. In short, focusing his spells for so long will drain him more then he should. It was powerful but would also drain him. This situation called for such a card from his arsenal. He began to summon his fire magic, but he kept putting more energy into it. A lot of it. He could already feel his body aching, begging for him to stop. He kept pushing however, putting all he could into one massive spell. His hands focusing into one fireball until... “It’s ready…” He muttered.

He had to get a good shot, but he could barely stand. He needed to aim for the strings before his spell would back fire. He aimed for an opening and fired. The fireball flew through the strings, engulfing them in flames as it flew by the army of puppets. Its flight ended by slamming hard to the wall, but the damage has already been dealt. Already, the movement of the puppets began to squirm; they were losing control from their master and began to fall to the ground. Wizo wish he could enjoy the moment, but he was too busy breathing hard from his spell that he fell to the ground. “Are you... alright?” Ni’sharia began to ask him. “Give me a moment, that spell really drained me.” He lay down for a second, but he could not rest for long. As soon as he laid his head down, he heard a single pair of footsteps approaching, slowly.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Landing on his feet, the ghoul finally finished his acrobatic dance. This was done just in time to see Wizo launch a mighty blast of archaic wizard's fire from his hands. Immediately, Lorenor dived off to the side in a last-ditch effort to avoid getting touched by that wizard's fire. Diving into a quick roll, the ghoul hugged the wall for a moment and held onto his weapon tightly.

Immediately, the temperature in the altar chamber rose drastically. Lorenor felt his skin starting to get scorched and screamed in pain for a moment. The loud blast from the Otano gave off a sonic boom as it was launched forward rapidly. The blast vanquished anything in its path quickly and decisively. The ghoul felt the increased temperature in the room as the archaic energies danced around the air scarring the walls. Some of the Otano symbols on the chamber began to glow with their own light-blue hue. They were reacting to the archaic residue of a living Otano in the room.

Reacting to the magical energies now, the altar chamber began to change.

Walls started to move with a certain amount of speed as the very physical nature of the temple seemed to come alive. Walls parted, some were closed off, and the chamber seemed to become a breathing organism. Lorenor quickly moved out of the way as the wall behind him moved and revealed another passageway. A staircase descended into the areas below them.

The ghoul carefully scanned the area around him. Several new chambers were revealed. And suddenly, he heard the approaching foot steps of another individual. For a moment, the ghoul thought it was another puppet and prepared his weapon. Looking forward in the general direction of the newcomer, Lorenor saw something he hadn't expected. A survivor from their one of Miars' expeditions. Studying the man casually, Lorenor saw immediately that the lad was injured. He walked forward in a shuffle and finally collapsed near Lorenor.

The ghoul immediately moved forward and captured the man before he fell to the ground. Holding the man in his arm, the ghoul noticed that there was blood everywhere. "No time. You must get out. We found...s-strange objects that reacted to the touch. We...experimented...traps in the lower areas...more monsters...puppets just a trick...." The man coughed up blood and was critically injured. "There are things down there. Get out while you still can..." He spoke in a low whisper, blood dripping down his mouth. The man gripped Lorenor's shirt. "I'm done. Take these with you...back to Miars." The man handed Lorenor a series of documents. These, the ghoul placed in his travel packs. "Get out...please...before too late..." And then the man died in Lorenor's arms. The ghoul closed the man's eyes. I didn't expect to come across any survivors so soon. His injuries are not natural in nature. He is a bleeding everywhere. Not wanting the blood to get wasted, the ghoul felt his lower jaw open up. Hissing in pleasure he leaned down and feasted upon the flesh of the fallen explorer...

[Wizo]

The walls moved to Wizo’s call. As his enemies fell to his magic, the stones began to glow to its own movement, as if knowing an Otano was present. Wizo was still on the floor as he was exhausted from using so much of magic. Ni’sharia aided Wizo as she allowed him to rest on his lap. “I never have seen you do that Wizo.”
“There are a lot of things you never seen me do.” Wizo said to her in a low voice.
“I guess so.” She looked at him for a moment with a sorrowful look on her face. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“I was being an ass to you. I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”
“No, I should have apologized. I should have said something. I guess I put too much focus in my work. I need to change that.”
Ni’sharia looked at him and let out a smile “I’m still not telling you about my people’s secrets.”
“I didn’t really ask in the first place.” Wizo replied as his voice began to return to normal.
Wizo got up from the half elf’s lap and tried to get his bearings. As he looked over at Lorenor, he saw a man crawling out from the new passage way. He was barely alive and he could barely hear the mentions of other monsters hidden in the temple. “This is serious. Someone is really trying to get the secrets of this temple. ” Wizo murmured to himself. If they already in the lower levels, then it have to be someone with either a brilliant mind or a skilled magic thumb.

As Wizo walked up to the man to see what else he knew. He saw Lorenor eating the newest member of the dead.. “What... What you doing?!?” Wizo shouted to Lorenor. Ni’sharia rushed to Wizo, seeing the rage build from him. She held him back trying to calm him down. “Wizo, please. He's a ghoul. This is how he lives; he eats animals and his enemies. The man is dead, so Lorenor sees him as food. Just let it go, please.” Wizo tried, and even harder did he try to suppress his rage. He finally calmed himself down from the scene and walked past him into the new hallway. I’ll kill you Lorenor. I will make sure your body is fully dead. As he said this, the Dragon Tear he received for his job began to glow a crimson red.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Feeling re-energized from his meal, Lorenor stood up from the carcass. Much of the fleshy components were consumed completely leaving behind a vile, mutilated body. Part of the head was consumed, the neck was torn open, and much of the pectoral region, and abdomen region were eaten. Lorenor made sure to remove the man's valuables. The man was wearing a Vlince shirt that Lorenor salvaged for himself. He took the shirt and placed it in his own inventory, there was nothing else but a workable steel longsword. The ghoul took this, a scabbard, and placed it in his personal belongings. The man also had some gold, taking it, he taxed a total of three hundred gold pieces. Lorenor placed the scabbard's strap around his hip and attached it to his person looking at the corpse once more. The man had an interesting golden amulet that he took for himself and nothing else. Lorenor left the body there. Turning to take a look around the environs, the ghoul observed that the symbols in the walls were now glowing thanks to Wizo's magics. The symbols on the wall were now glowing with archaic forces.

Lorenor could see that magic flowed across the air. It rippled with a crackling light in such a way, that his flesh crawled with the power. Lorenor respected Wizo's understanding of the elemental forces. He was glad that the Otano as an ally, and not an enemy. The alter area around them was a fairly long hallway littered with the bodies of the puppets. Investigating the nearest puppet, the ghoul noticed that he could salvage some of the material that the creature was made of. A couple of the green puppets were looted for the raw material of plynt. Lorenor left the rest of it behind. He didn't want to weight himself down with useless steel ore or iron. The Golems back home could manufacture whatever ore he needed at the molecular level anyway.

Walking down the hallway, Lorenor felt the satisfying blood dripping down his chin. He rubbed his hand across his chin for a moment letting the blood soak into his clothing. Holding his newly acquired sword, the ghoul went back to the body for a moment. Kneeling down next to the corpse, Lorenor found one more item of interest. A satchel. The man was part of an expedition party and kept careful notes. He took the satchel off the remains and opened the leather pack carefully. Inside, several documents of interest caught his eye. Lorenor didn't want to proceed into the Otano temple without first having some idea of the interior's layout. The ghoul removed a series of letters. Most of them were exploration notes about the surrounding areas and useless documents to the ghoul.

However, upon further investigation of the notes, Lorenor did find the scribbled workings of a map. It was labeled "Temple Interior" in the common tongue. Lorenor stashed this map of the temple and nodded in Wizo's general direction. After he was done looting the bodies in the area, Lorenor obtained a sizeable collection of plynt, his new sword where once he was previously unarmed, the gold, and the map. Lorenor studied the map until he memorized it. Then he placed it carefully in his own packs. Walking down the lengthy hallway, Lorenor noticed an intricate set of double doors, with more of the Otano symbols etched upon them, were open. He wasn't sure if Wizo's magic caused them to open or if the dead boy had opened it. Or someone else. Lorenor walked to the double doors and paused a few paces away from them. He drew his sword.

"Hey Wizo. Come take a look at this, the door is already open." He said casually. "What do you think?"

[Wizo]

Wizo looked around the sacred temple of Kane Milohai. It was obvious to him that the temple will only open to him. Could it be the sword of Ku acting as the contract of trust, or was it just the fact he is of Otano blood? Wizo shook his head as he thought of this. Whether it was either or neither of them, His main concern for was the star orb. That was his highest priority and nothing else mattered. Even with a clear cut mission, his mind began to lust for hatred and death to his compatriot, Lorenor.

Undead, no matter what way you look at it, he was body that was raised and kept by magic. This eyeless creature put Wizo in disgust, he hated him. To him, Lorenor was nothing more than a tool to Wizo. Wizo heart to the creature showed no sympathy at all. He did not see him as human or anything worthy of respect for a being of intelligence. For the time being, he acted like it, he waited for his chance to strike.

As he looked over to the Lorenor, he did notice a new passage way and to go down to it. “I had a feeling that Kane Milohai was a prankster. He always likes to challenge the minds of those who take his trials. Wizo hated that about him, he never got to the point and it took about several tries for anyone to understand him. Wizo tried to shake his thoughts as he began to go down into the newly discovered room.

The room had various items about the room, mostly statues and holy symbols of the gods. Wizo did not touch any of them. He proceeded to walk to the center of the room and noticed a large green crystal. It was standing on a pedestal and it seemed to be glowing slightly. Wizo looked at it for a moment and proceeded to touch it. The crystal began to glow brightly and began to float in the air, spinning about like top.

As Wizo glazed at the crystal, he took a step to the side and one step back. The crystal then began to project an image of an old man. He had a long white beard, deep wrinkled face, and wearing a brown robe with a staff clasped to his right hand. “Young one….” The image spoke “You are aware of where your feet rest. This temple is tribute to the king of all gods, Kane Milohai. Your actions will reflect our people. The Star orb of the Crown lays buried in this Temple. Only an Otano of pure blood can touch it. We pray that you do not abuse it, nor show it to our cousins in this world.” The old man began to touch is beard a bit and continued “The humans, are still young. We left these relics in hopes to help our cousins grow to our level. It is sad to say, they may not be ready when you see this message. Whether or not you decide to use our arts and magick for the people of Althanas is up to you. We, the First elders, pray for you to consider this.” Wizo nodded and spoke “I understand First one, allow me to take the burden.”


The crystal flashed and a new message showed, responding to the words of Wizo “I see you accept the trials and responsibilities. The temple has trials from here on out, the trial of spirit, the trial of knowledge and the trial of sacrifice. You must pass them all, only then will the orb show itself to you.” The old man began to bow saying “May the road grow fruit on your path.” And just like that, the image disappeared and the crystal dropped to the ground, loosing its glow.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor listened as the apparition spoke. It had an energetic presence about itself. He stood next to the girl, staring at her for a moment and then back to the glowing old man. Wizo addressed the old man as the First One. His eyes looked around the room observing the various religious items and statues located therein. He wondered if these gods were somehow connected to the Thayne, or perhaps, older than the Thayne? Lorenor wondered just how N'Jal fit into this whole picture.

Possibly committing sacrilege, Lorenor suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable before his friend's Gods. The statues seemed to stare at the small warrior accusingly. It was faint, but the ghoul could detect the slightest hint of life flowing from the statues. Giving off the energy of a sentient being. Lorenor was capable of detecting hidden traps and switches on the ground and with that knowledge, he side stepped these imperfections in the temple's floor. He didn't want to accidentally trigger any crazy traps that might lurk within this hollowed place. The energy within the temple was ancient and old, but not purified.

If there were Priests within the temple, they were spirits long since. Lorenor looked carefully around the room to see if there was anything he could pilfer from the place. The crystal that projected the image was on the floor now, and he would take it later. It would possibly be valuable to the Golems of Dressed Fished Town. Any sort of advanced technology was key to the survival of the Golems.

Lorenor looked at the girl that was their companion, Ni'sharia. She nodded towards the ghoul as if understanding the very thing that he wanted to concentrate on. Wizo had his own objectives, that was clear to Lorenor and he would respect the boy's need to discover his religious roots. They'd stopped the puppets. Lorenor had gathered whatever was salvageable from the fallen remains. He'd noticed that Wizo wasn't interested in any of the raw materials or weapons that were part of the puppets.

Lorenor took one of the steel blades just in case he needed it. But the important thing was the raw liviol, plynt, and other ores that were necessary to his development as a blacksmith. He would talk to the Golems about coming up with a process for refining the ores and possibly duplicating them at the molecular level. Manufacturing those ores seemed like a wealthy endeavor to the ghoul. So was the other prospects of blacksmithing.

He turned towards Wizo and walked over to the small crystal. It might not be useful to Wizo, but it was certainly useful to Lorenor and his Golems. He knelt down, picked up the crystal, and placed it in his inventory. "I have a use for this and the other relics that are not of interest to you Wizo. I have a group of companions that are very interested in collecting artifacts of this nature. It would be a big help to me." Lorenor said casually as he watched Wizo for his reactions. The crystal seemed to give up a particularly strong vibration and this made the ghoul curious.

The curiosity within the ghoul was making him excited for all the possible relics he could find within this temple.

[Wizo]

Wizo looked at Lorenor, for a moment his eyes flared at the thought of an undead taking his people’s relics, but for the time being he saw no harm. He knew he would kill him later, so giving him what he wanted in the short run did not seem bad at all. “Take what you want Lorenor. Just make sure you don’t take something that will take your head off.” Although in hindsight, that would have been a good thing.
But besides his ally’s death, Wizo’s thoughts to went to the first trial. The first trial was the trial of spirit. Wizo knew that this was more of a show of mental power then anything. Wizo sighed at the thought of doing the entire thing. It was just going to be boring threw out the trial and he had no choice but to do it. Wizo just lowered his eye brow as he pushed the door to the next room.

In the room was four pillers with blue hexagon crystals on each one. The hovered slowly over the pillars with a slow hum to them and Wizo knew that his trial was about to start. As he walked to the center the room he saw a circle with ancient Otano runes written all over it. The young Otano stood in the center and did nothing but wait for the room to react. Indeed the slow turning crystals on each side of the room soon reacted to Wizo and began they began glow and rapidly spin. Beams of light came from each crystal and shot at Wizo in such force that he could not react to the spell.

Wizo body was in shock and soon was lifted up to the top of the room. Wizo was in a slight pain as he felt his spirit separate from his body. In the normal plane, Wizo looked unconscious floating by the support of the pillars. In the astral plane, Wizo was in room with three old men sitting in front of him. Wizo knew they were the spiritual keepers of the temple and he began to bow in respect to them. “Aslo akora Keepers. I am the Wizo Laka Anahandra, and I am here to claim the star orb of Kane Milohai.” The man in the middle nodded in acknowledgement of his presence and responded in kind. “Aslo akora Wizo. We have been inhabiting this temple for quite some time and we are in great joy to see a man of such pure blood to lay claim to our treasure. “ He paused for a moment playing with his beard.

“However, I am concerned with your guest. The one who does not seem to be that of the living.. He seems to have a little too much intrest in our ways.” The elder said to Wizo with curiosty. Wizo responded “ He is merely a tool, I plan to dispose of the ghoul once the star orb has been retrived. He will not walk out of these halls undead or in any form alive.” The elder nodded “ Very well, also keep an eye on the elf. They may be snobbish but also curious when it comes to magic.”

“You have my word as a messanger of the gods that I will protect our secrets.” Wizo said.

The elder just claped his hand and nodded to his brothers to pass him to then next trial. “Then by Kane Milohai, proceed to your next trial. Ikra asono!”

Wizo’s could feel his spirit return to his body as the vision of the elders soon dimed and then darkened. He soon looked up at the ceiling with his body on the ground. The crystal pillars returned to their slow, dim rotation he looked around to see if compatriots were around him.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor and Ni'sharia remained in the chamber when Wizo vanished. That strange feeling of discomfort touched the ghoul's gut as he waited for the Otano to emerge from the antechamber. Lorenor had a feeling that this was a rite of passage of Wizo's people, and thusly, did not want to disturb him. He turned towards Ni'sharia as he studied the crystal in his hand. "What do you think of the technology level of these people?" He asked to Ni'sharia. The Elf simply nodded her head as she was previously examining some a nearby wall with strange markings upon it. "These symbols are crude, but I believe I can translate them given some time. Did you think to take the documents that our contractor gave us?" Lorenor nodded and produced the symbol charts from his personal packs. "The markings match his documentation. This definitely could be a valuable find. From my own education, these symbols pre-date the Demon's War."

As a student training in the ways of the Thaynehood, Lorenor had some knowledge of history. All though not as impressive as a historian, he was no amateur. His training with the Monks of Ai'bron was a necessary step in refining his knowledge of history and philosophy. He turned his attention to the crystal in his hand. He recently acquired a batch of materials for his smith shop back home from the puppets. Lorenor knew that his friends, the Golems, could refine the raw materials and help him produce better equipment than he normally could produce on his own. Lorenor was curious about the properties of the crystal in his hand. There were other objects and artifacts in the chamber, and the ghoul wanted them all.

"The symbols match up the information we were given." Lorenor said casually handing the documents over to Ni'sharia so the attractive necrophiliac could begin the translation process. "I've already identified a few common symbols. It's a form of cuneiform. Though to my knowledge, the language is not native to ancient Althanians. This is something all together different." Lorenor folded his arms across his chest in deep thought.

"So he might be an off worlder? The same as these people?"

"It's possible."

"What do we do with him?"

"That's up to you. There are researchers who would pay big money for a chance to study an specimen like Wizo. It's the nature of their science. I personally don't trust it. But he's your friend. I personally could care less what you do to him." Ni'sharia said as a shadow seemed to pass across her face. Lorenor moved over to comfort her, but thought better of it. She was deep in thought as she was jotting down the Otano runes upon a series of papyrus papers she'd obtained as a researcher. Some of it was in a bound form, like a book. Lorenor wondered if that was a grimoire of her notes. He simply began to pace around the chamber. It was a large chamber, measuring at about two hundred feet across in every direction. The ceiling was high. Orbs hidden in various locations lit the chamber up with adequate lighting even across the ages. Lorenor felt the weight of the crystal in his possession and wanted to take other artifacts as he came across them.

These objects were foreign to the follower of N'Jal. However, he came across a series of figurines that were rendered in the shapes of various strange individuals. One of them was a humanoid shark. The others were various states of anthropromophs, figures that were partially humanoid and partially animal. As a work of artistic ingenuity, the figurines frightened the ghoul at the same time as they fascinated him. Each figure was a few inches in height and located upon what appeared to be an alter. He took the figures after examining the area, carefully as he could, for traps. There didn't seem to be any. Roughly, there were about twenty of these figures made of some sort of wood that the ghoul never encountered before. It wasn't blue, so it didn't match the characteristics common to liviol.

Placing the figurines in his packs, the ghoul would make it a point to have the Golems study the basic design of each of the statuettes. Then, he found something else. On a pedestal, there was a single book. The only book that Lorenor had encountered so far in the temple. Written in the language of the Otano, Lorenor noticed that the book was handsome and intricately manufactured. They are extremely advanced. They are probably like the humans of Dressed Fished Town. Lorenor thought to himself as he walked over to the intricate book. Just as he suspected, the book was written in the language of the Otano. However, there was something very interesting about the book. Carefully flipping the pages, Lorenor moved to the beginning works recorded in the tome and saw that there was something very curious located in those pages. Written in the early pages of the text was a codex that translated the language of the otano to the early version of common tongue as it existed pre the Demon War. Lorenor's eyes would've bulged right out of their eye sockets if he had any.

"Ni'sharia! Come quickly." Lorenor said casually as he picked the book up off its position on the stand. Quickly scanning the page, Lorenor observed a few common symbols and memorized some of the more prevalent vowels in their writing system. Giving him a headache, the symbols were tough to get around, but had some similarities to the Demon's languages back in Haidia. He wondered why that was. Turning towards Ni'sharia, he handed her the book. "Take a look at those pages. It is a translation guide. We lucked out. Nobody got here before us." Lorenor said. Ni'sharia nodded. "That must mean that those things we fought earlier were some sort of defense trap in the temple and there could be more of them around here, so be cautious." The ghoul nodded in agreement. She took the book. "I want that back when you're done. I want to add it to my collection of works." Lorenor said knowing that the book was far more valuable to himself and the golems. He turned his attention back to chamber and began to walk around once more seeing if there was anything else he could find of interest.

[Wizo]

As the room returned to it’s previous dim lighted state, Wizo looked around his surrounding to take a quick glance at his environment. He noticed that a few statues were misplaced and Lorenor’s bag was bulging a little bit more then the last time he saw it. He just shook his head. another reason to kill him He thought to himself. He needed the orb first however. He knew there were still magical sentries about in the lower levels of the temple.


Trying to remove himself of the thought of homicide, Wizo looked at the newly opened door and walked through it. This new room was not so decorated as it was now just floating red crystal surrounded by two rune circles on the bottom, one for each wall and three on the ceiling. Besides the interesting wallpaper and the floating uncut ruby, it was bare and cold. Wizo nodded and knew that this was the Trial of knowledge and gently walked to the center, touching the crystal with his left hand. The crystal showed no reaction to his touch. But the runes seemed to react and glowed brighter to the Otano’s presence. Each circle soon concentrated a beam to Wizo’s forehead, piercing right to his mind. Soon he felt like he was drugged and began to see a vision of a gentle grass meadow.



As he looked around the meadow, he saw the second First One. His beard was more silvery then grey, showed to have a few more wrinkles then the first one. He had no smile, only a monotone expression to show no remorse or happiness in the meeting. “Welcome young one. I see you are doing well. The Trial of Knowledge is not one of questions or asking. It is the mere action on what you do here that declares your intelligence.” He said this as he slowly moved closer to him. Wizo did not seem to care and soon began to sit down and remove his hat from his head. “So, I have to do something here? That’s pointless; there is nothing here but an endless field of grass. Am I too assume that taking a nap as a course of action? Because I see nothing here besides an outside bed for me to rest on.” The old man showed a fuss in his face and soon walked over the young Otano and replied “Maybe, Maybe Not. Remember well that you can either live with what you have or reject it. You may felt to take a nap, but you could have also burned this field to the ground, young one. I hope you learn something from this”


As the old man said those words, Wizo was already asleep from the talk. Hearing a faint snore, the elder was unsure whether he got the message or not. He just nodded to himself and soon broke the spell over the Otano. Wizo woke up from his mild illusion to see the faint crystal still glowing as it floated along in place. He just stood there for a second and looked around. The room had changed from a barren room, to a nicely decorated hall with lavish rugs and decorations. It was now a hallway with a large door at the end. Wizo just nodded knowing his final challenge awaited him.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Paying very little attention to Wizo's strange behavior inside the temple, Lorenor kept very close to Ni'Sharia. The texture of her sweat was tasted inside his mouth and he longed to steal another kiss from her. As she read the symbols on the wall, the language's secrets quickly become unraveled. There were questions that needed asking. Wizo contained some of those answers, but so did the temple itself. Lorenor it was best to leave the Otano alone while he underwent the trials of his people.

Standing closer to the halfbreed, Lorenor offered his protecting to the girl. He also offered the closeness of a comforting touch. His hand went to her waist and he kept it there, there was no objection from the girl's behalf. She simply paused for a moment, leaned in closer, and continued to decipher the Otano symbols at will.

Standing a few inches away from the wall, her hand lightly brushed the surface of the structure. Letting her fingers examine each crevice of the wall, acknowledge all of the mysterious symbols as she located them. "Very enlightening. Lorenor. Take a look at this. Are you familiar with the Demon War at all? This story seems to show a different point of view than what the history books teach us in the academy."

Hearing mention of the Demon War, Lorenor's interest was instantly piqued as he found out information regarding Old Haidia. (Translated from Old Otano) As she analyzed the symbols and wrote notes from the various languages that she knew, Ni'Sharia began to unlock the secrets of the ancient Otano. With the book as a codex, her quick eyes she quickly flipped pages to decipher the symbols that were present upon them. It was a challenge, but the linguistics expert was quickly able to unlock the riddle. On the particular section of wall that they were decoding, Ni'Sharia was reading about the Demon War's early origins.


"We traveled from the ancient lands to the land of mystery. Our Quest was long and arduous lasting for many generations. Following the orders of Peele, and the other Elders, we established centers of divine worship following the Elders' decree. Our buildings were few and far between. We met with the ancient denizens of the lands of Althanas. Teaching those savages linguistics and crafting skills, we planted the seeds that would become their educative process. The first lands in the lands of mystery were called Cronaia. Which would later evolve into Corone."



"It's talking about early Coronian history right here. The Otano gave us the gift of knowledge. They were advanced even before Radasanth was ever established. They could possibly be older than even the Elves!" Ni'Sharia said, a look of excitement on her face. "Do you realize what we've found Lorenor?"

"Answers. And more questions." Perplexed, the ghoul vaguely understood that there were answers for him within the temple walls. Clues to a mysterious past and an ancient history. The ghoul looked at the wall for a moment, and turned his attention to the strange statues all around him. He returned his gaze back to Ni'Sharia's well formed curves. His hand slithered back to her waist. She nodded, a gentle color of crimson on her darker toned flesh. "What does the rest of it say?" Lorenor wondered out loud. She turned to look at him calmly. "I haven't got to that part yet. Perhaps if you give me more time..." And Lorenor reached forward and impulsively kissed the girl before. He pulled her closer to him, letting the warmth of the moment consume him. Kissing back, she felt her tongue slide into the ghoul's mouth her skin shivering with pleasure. The halfbreed deeply kissed the mutant back for a long moment. Finally, Lorenor allowed himself to relax after the hungry union was broken. In the eyes of the ancient Otano spirits, the communion between halfbreed and ghoul seemed all the more perverse to Lorenor. He was desecrating a temple, and he knew it.

He didn't care.

Placing the Otano book back in her hands, the ghoul held her for a bit longer and then proceeded to let her get back to work. "I've got your back. Take all the time you need to translate as many of these symbols as you can. This history should be recorded. This is clearly a sacred place to us all. It no longer belongs to just one person."

Having his own goals, he thought of his current employer. He would make a killing with money for a job well done.

Lorenor felt the weight of his newly acquired resources. He had materials for the blacksmithy back home, and he had the figurines of the Otano statues in his possession as well. Hopefully they would have other secrets. The craftsmanship of the figurines was minute and made the Elven artists look frankly like amateurs compared to these works. There was a style about them that Lorenor admired. The Golems could replicate this craft. Lorenor knew that a return trip into this temple was necessary to further his own knowledge and power. There were secrets for him here. Secrets that blasphemed the bastard Thaynehood. His war against the Thaynehood took a sharper turn for the worse.

The chamber was large, and many mysteries lurked within it. Lorenor moved so that he could sit down on an empty plot of land and observe Ni'Sharia with great interest. Even watching her brought him great pleasure. That's when it hit him. Somewhere in the temple, nay, the temple itself, seemed to radiate an unwelcoming presence. It was almost as if the building was alive and didn't want the strangers within its bowels.

Lorenor took a serious look around and noticed that the energy in the room was a different ever since he took the crystal into his possession. It was a minor detail that he'd missed. There was movement within the energy field, and a presence began to manifest. "You are an intruder, bastard child. Follower of N'Jal! The All-Thayne is our hated enemy. And you bring his shadow with you! Came a powerful and angry voice that startled Ni'Sharia and woke Lorenor out of his concentration.

A spirit had manifested. An ancient spirit, angry and vengeful. The ghoul immediately drew one of the blades he'd taken from the fallen puppets to arm himself with.

Moving out of the energy field, the manifested form reached out for the ghoul and suddenly grabbed him with an appendage made of energy. Energy taken physical form. For the ghoul, it felt like a steel hand was grabbing a hand. An incorporeal form that squeezed the wind out of his throat. Gasping, the ghoul was suddenly slammed against a nearby wall. "Follower of N'Jal! You shall pay the price for desecrating an ancient Hall of the Otano!" Words. Names. Decrees. Lorenor's survival instincts immediately kicked in as he was slammed like a rag doll against the wall. "Ni'Sharia! Get out!" He vaguely managed to call out as the creature attacked him. Lorenor felt the thing squeezing like a vice. It had a formless form, air solidifying into a giant humanoid mass. It was like a blank canvas, like looking at an incomplete painting. There was a pair of eyes, the basic form of clothing and a raised hood, embroidery with mysterious glowing symbols upon it. And hate. Lorenor felt hate flowing from within the creature's core. It spun and tossed Lorenor to the ground, effectively knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"Ni'Sharia!"

The ghoul called. But it was already too late. He was seeing spots floating before him as the attack continued. With his current arsenal, he had no hope of taking on the ghostly apparition. Unless...he thought of the magical objects in his possession. A ring of power. The Aegis Bracer. The Endless. The steel masterwork sword in his possession would not be enough to block the attacks. But he had to try! Moving quickly into combat position, he evaded another lunge at his person. Roaring loudly, the creature moved against Lorenor attempting to finish the ghoul off. That's when Lorenor saw it! A glowing stone buried within the section of the creature where the rib cage might be. That was his target.

The bastard child prepared to kill the spirit of an Otano.

Ni'Sharia was nowhere to be found. He hoped she'd made it out of the temple alive with the artifacts in tow.

[Wizo]

As Wizo began to walk to the next room when he heard the screams go out. He soon saw the ghoul in pain from an unseen source and the half-elf was nowhere to be found. He looked and soon said in a normal tone “I told you I was going to kill him after the trials. Why are you so impatient first ones?” Despite is looking like he was talking to the wall he soon heard a whisper in his mind saying “He was about to access our tombs and secrets! This foul beast, we have tolerated him long enough!! Enough of the trials young one. You will learn those lessons later on your travels.” The first elder soon appeared in bluish ghost form and soon began to walk to the door.

“Let us hasten young one! While I know my compatriot is strong to hold off this beast, we must get you to the star orb. The sooner this is done the better, and then we can finally return to our homeland!” He yelled, and with that a warp in space formed and the door that went to the next trial room now led to a small room with a pedestal on it. On that pedestal was red orb that seemed to have a strange glow to it. The orb was clear and sparkled with its own shine. Wizo picked it up and soon smiled “The Star Orb of the God King, Kane Milohai. A fine prize.” After he said this, the orb began to float on its own, and soon his sword began to glow with it. Wizo pulled out his sword and soon saw the red orb begin to go into it. “The sword is forged from the god of war. He made sure that it could hold the orbs before it is time to use it. Remember, like the sword, you cannot use its power unless IT decides that you earn them.”

Listening to his words, he just nodded. Power to Otanos were always something that must be earned. Why he had to hear it again was frivolous. He got the first Star Orb and now all that was left was to get out of the temple and ensure a proper ‘clean up’ took place. “Elders your task is done. I am sure you may finally go back to Otana now.” The elders form nodded and smiled a bit “After so long, young one. We held our duty here. Now we may live again in our own bodies in the ruined island that we call home. By the will of Kane Milohai, we pray for your safe return!” With that, the Spirit formed itself into a ball of light and flew around Wizo as if to bless him on his trip. Wizo said a prayer to Pele for the battle he was about to face. He knew that the elder holding Lorenor down would soon leave and he could finally take on the ghoul in combat with his own skill. “At last, I shall burn that corpse to ash and spread it about the temple grounds as a curse to those who ever touch that is ours! The Otano will be reborn and he will soon learn not to deface our history.”

Wizo sighed for a second; he did not care much for his history before coming here. But when he saw the work that his ancestors put into a temple that was so far from home, He knew he had to protect it. Wizo grasped his sword with both hands and began to walk back into the other room where Lorenor was. A grin could be seen regularly on the young Otano, his excitement to fight and defend seemed to seep out. He has held his rage so much that a small bit of his fire magic was coming off him. Wizo then stepped into the next room and screamed to Lorenor “Well my dear friend, you have done a nice job getting me to my desired prize. However, if you think that I would allow you to defile my ancestors work…… Well I guess your brain has rotted more than I thought. You will die tonight ghoul! Your kind should never even exist in this world.” He caught his breath and soon walked closer “and the fact you’re a servant for that N’jal. Legends of my people have made her a demon, and seeing her servants, that seems to be true!” Wizo grasped his sword in a defensive position “Get up Lorenor! I don’t strike an opponent while he is down.”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

On the ground, Lorenor writhed in agony. The battle was rapidly turning southward and the only glimmer of hope was the fact that he'd spotted the core. Lorenor assumed that the crystal within the spirit was the weakness of the creature. Thinking for a moment, the endless within his vessel relayed back the information and confirmed what he'd discovered as the weakness. Now Lorenor simply had to exploit the weakness.

Another swipe from the creature. Lorenor noticed a lot of things were getting knocked down by the Otano spirit. Any of these objects could serve a purpose to the ghoul, but he decided that reaching for something was far too risky. So instead, he kept himself at a relatively low fighting stance and continued to evade the swings and attacks of the beast. How will Wizo react to this? Here I am acting the fool in a temple made by his people. I'd be pretty pissed off.

A second presence filled the room and Lorenor stole a glance to Wizo. By N'Jal, he's back! Thank the Thaynes for that. Suddenly, Wizo did the last thing that Lorneor expected him to do. Is he threatening me? The ghoul immediately went on the defense from the perceived dual threats. His eyes darted from Wizo and then returned to the specter. At the presence of the living Otano, the spirit became stationary but kept its eyes locked upon the ghoul for a moment. "Child of the Otano. This is part of the Trials as well. Defeat the bastard child of N'Jal for us. We shall be watching. Do not fail in this task." And the spirit of the Otano receded back into the darkness of the room to watch the unfolding events from afar.

Lorenor was grateful for that one momentary relief. But the idea of having to fight an ally was not sitting well with him at all. "Wizo! You don't have to do this! We're allies!" The ghoul tried to plead desperately. He somehow knew that Wizo was intent on defeating him. Damn. This is no good at all, I wasn't prepared for such an outcome. Knowing that he couldn't hold back at all, he took his sword and prepared to do battle against the Otano warrior. Lorenor took the initiative attack.

Bounding quickly across their chosen battleground, Lorenor covered the distance between himself and his opponent. "If this is what you want, I'll make you pay for betraying me!" Lorenor took a sudden, skilled strike at the man's shoulder with his sword. He made no other motions.

[Wizo]

The dark, damp hall was silent. There was very little sounds coming from the environment, with the exception of some water drops. THis gave Wizo time to think. The elders are acting strange. Could their isolaton be making them behave this way? It did not act up, Wizo wanted to kill Lorenor with all his might, but the entire scene did not added up. Elders of temples are known to be wise and patient. Yet they seemed to keep acting erratically. Rushing trials which would take days, asking pointless questions, even throwing him the orb and defaulting the last trial.

Despite Wizo thinking all of these things, his brain was overruled by the simple emotion of hatred. A powerful feeling that can rid the soul of common sense. He was unaware, sadly, that his bag began to glow slightly red. If he was in a norma state he would have noticed this, but his will to murder was too great. His mind soon became focused on one thought Kill the ghoul. Kill the ghoul. KILL THE GHOUL!!

Wizo recalled the legends about N'jal. Though vague, it was said N'jal was once a dark entity intending to reform the world into chaos. Her siblings put a stop to her and imprisoned her. Though it was said, that followers of her will were trying to free her. Otana's formation came with this warning, ingrained into society of the Spider Queen.

The Otano shifted his sword to his right hand and began to channel a quick fire spell in his left. As he began to focus his arcane, the crimson light in his bag grew brighter. It was if the something was reacting to Wizo's anger, feeding off it, or maybe worse, feeding it.

The spell began to form in the palm of Wizo's left hand. In very little time he began to fire the spell to his Lorenor. " Enjoy the roast, dear friend." He said with a smirk.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Lorenor had greatly underestimated Wizo's power and control of the elemental fires. Pulling manna from some unknown reservoir, the mutant had just enough time to see the fluctuation of red energy in the air around his new opponent. Wizo. The Otano bastard. Lorenor felt tremendous heat that was fueled by the destructive force of elemental fire. The wizard's fire burned from deep within the soul of his enemy. Lorenor could see the elemental fire power burning like an inferno. Lorenor could see some twisted vision of the great pyre. Blinding the mutant temporarily, his previous attack was thrown off balance and the mutant moved quickly to the side attempting to evade what was coming, but it was too late. Wizo's commanding of the elemental fire was far too potent and far too powerful for Lorenor to simply move out of the way. Forming a pin-point sphere of energy Lorenor could see the incoming attack even as it was launched. The hungry spell scorched the wind as thoroughly as hellfire might. Brimstone flew through the wind as it traveled towards Lorenor's position.

There was naught that the mutant could do. "Curse thee!" Lorenor cried as the spell chased the mutant down. No matter what movements the mutant attempted, the spell pursued. A voice laughed in the back of the small warrior's head taunting him further. Finally, Lorenor could do nothing but take the incoming hit. He brought his sword up to bare and held both ends of the weapon with either hand. Finely formed steel was crafted to perfection, a perfect instrument of death. Like some twisted serpent of energy, the fireball writhed hungrily as it pulsed with its own power. It burned through the air rapidly as the passing wind fed its strength fueling the elemental beast with even more power. The wizard's fire slammed hard against Lorenor. Several small sparks of light cascaded across the length of his blade, and then, turned into an erupting pillar of an explosion. The sound was loud as a thunder clap sending a ringing where the mutant's ears should be. Experiencing a sensory overload, the mutant could only stare on helplessly as the fire cascaded around him.

Lorenor's weapon split the blast into two even halves, lessening the speed of the incoming attack. Moving to protect its host, the endless slithered across the mutant's epidermis. But would even that be enough? The blast connected against Lorenor's chest and tremendous heat flowed through his person. Where the body of a cold, undead creature stood, a brilliant explosion engulfed him. Badly scarred and with smoke and steam flowing from his person, Lorenor was on his knees holding a now useless sword that was tossed to the side. The spell had burned through raw steel. Lorenor looked at Wizo with an angry expression as he clutched at his smoking chest. The blast was not strong enough to cause lethal damage, but the mutant had a racial weakness to the elemental fire. And so, it had done double damage, more than it normally would have against any other warrior. Lorenor gasped in agony, steam flowing with every breath. His lungs felt scarred from the horrendous assault. Lorenor felt heat flowing from his body.

Writhing in pain, the endless thrashed angrily about his person hurting the mutant even more. Then, the endless grew silent having directly absorbed much of the damage of the elemental spell. Lorenor coughed a few times, blood spilled out of his mouth. Lorenor was defenseless. With no weapon other than his claws and teeth, he knew he would have to improvise against the Otano warrior. Lorenor's eyes quickly darted around the room as he searched for something he could use as a weapon, anything. He was at a distinct disadvantage being unarmed. Coughing and wheezing, the mutant refused to accept his situation as it was. Betrayed, and deep within the heart of enemy territory, there was ill that the mutant could do without some help. Lorenor shook his head and managed to stand, knees shaking with agony. He coughed up more blood. Am I bleeding on the inside? Lorenor wasn't sure. "Thou art a fool for betraying me." The mutant had to think quickly. So he started to talk. "I was going to train thee, and initiate thee into the Red Hand. There thou would have made tremendous allies."

Lorenor came up with a quick plan...

[Wizo]

Wizo looked at Lorenor with hateful eyes. He heard the offer he gave him a laugh as a response. “The Red Hand? You jest me. Why would I need allies for what I seek?” He looked into his bag for a second, completely ignoring the giant glowing red crystal in it and pulled out the Star Orb. The orb was still pure, its star like core in the center still glowed with resolve and brimmed with hope that Wizo wish to bring back home. For one moment as he looked at the crystal, his mind was calm and tranquil. That moment left him however, as he began to look around he saw the catalyst to his rage.

The Otano began to laugh once again; his mind seemed to have warped as he looked as his battered foe. As he began to slowly walk to finish off the walking corpse, he notices a small panel in Otano writing reading ‘Temple Defense’. Once more the Otano smile and activated the panel. Within moments several parts o the wall rose up and secret chambers began to appear. The chambers each had a giant three fingered automaton that rose around 8 feet tall. There were sentries used for the temples defense and Wizo knew exactly how to handle them.

The sentries began to walk around; their oval head scanned the room and saw Wizo. There were five in total, and all of the began to proceed to Wizo with haste. They then stopped around 3 feet from him and one of them spoke “ Kala una popa kea noua orahe.” Translated from the Otano language it meant “Awaiting your command sir.” Wizo responded in kind“Nopuna ahoaona ishona ko aro. Sero puna kanos Lorenor. Iko!” Which mean “Stand around the undead intruder and put harm to him? Ensure that the one called Lorenor is alive. Initiate!” All 5 seemed to understand the order and responded “Ikoa” ‘initiating’

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Smoke from the fireball still flowed off his blasted vessel. Wisps of the steam touched the air around him. It was like chasing dragons, there was a beauty to it that the mutant appreciated when his death seemed so certain. At this point, most people would panic and become afraid, begging the oppressors not to end their lives. But not Lorenor. Thinking about the pain helped keep the small warrior focused as energy rippled through his person. And it was at that moment that he recalled the potent Aegis Bracer. Though he constantly felt pain from the very fusion of the artifact, the mutant had grown so used to its presence in his arm that he'd gotten used to that pain. And so, the pain helped Lorenor to deal with the pain of the wizard's fire. Under normal circumstances, the wizard's fire would have obliterated the ghoul. Due to the nature of his opponents current understanding with his power, he barely missed adding enough fuel to the energy to burn Lorenor to death. Still, Lorenor was touched by the licking flames. And thusly, a part of him was burnt asunder.

Feeling the intense fires of hell burning in his mind, the ghoul kept getting flashes of the exact impact point. It was then that he clenched his Aegis Bracer tightly feeling the pain coursing through his arm. That pain helped him focus clearly on the objective at hand: survival. Lorenor stared through the smoke at the distorted image of his companion turned foe. The mutant clenched his fist tightly as his hand began to shake. "There is no pain. Pain is only superficial. Mine foe is what should feel the pain. It is he who should feel the hurt. I WILL SHOW YE THE TRUE PAIN!" And so the mutant worked himself up. Preparing for the imminent battle against the much more skilled warrior. He'd worked himself up to face the impending doom when something happened, as he got closer to the Otano Warrior, a brilliant energy radiated from his person. Loernor's eyes went towards the Otano's pouch. A particularly unnatural glow flared up from an object in the warrior's pouch. There's a red glow coming from his pouch...maybe, just maybe it's the cause of all of this.

Lorenor immediately came up with a plan. Maybe if I take that thing away from him? "Crows to feast from thy eye sockets!" Lorenor suddenly called out, taunting the Otano. And then, the room came alive with several sentry warriors. The mutant counted at least two, but more could be hiding in the shadows. He saw his opponent conversing with the shadowy forms in a language that made little sense. It must be the native Otano language, but it sounds like complete gibberish. Despite the fact that the small warrior accepted the idea that he could very well die, the mutant pondered an escape plan. The way out was close by. Making no other movements, the apparition that previously attacked Lorenor simply observed the battle. Pondering what to do next, the mutant knew that he needed to get his hands on some sort of a weapon. And so, he retreated backwards from the Otano warrior and proceeded to move to the Elder Otano Spirit instead. Lorenor remembered where he'd seen the core of the Otano Spirit in it's chest and prepared to attack.

"What are you doing fiend? Fall back!" And the Spirit prepared for battle. But it was too late. Reaching with a lethal intent, the mutant threw his entire body directly at the Spirit's form. The thing attempted to smack Lorenor out of the way like so much trash. Instead, he reached underneath the incoming counterstrike and extended his claws as far as they could go. His digits stretched out to grasp what he was looking for. Phasing through the mist-like form of the spirit, the mutant reached deep inside the creature as he dove forward. He was able to see what he wanted. Writhing in agony, the creature began to turn and twist once the mutant's hand grasped the object. Slamming against the semi-physical form of the Spirit, the mutant felt the insides of the spectral creature. There was a moving elemental presence that attempting to burn the mutant alive. Feeling the energy pulsing across his arm, the mutant held onto the Spirit. His body being tossed about like a rag doll.

Lorenor pulled with all of the undead might his small, frail form could muster up. He suddenly yanked the orb out of the Spirit's orb which later filled the room with a high-pitched wail. The Spirit dispersed into the ether, and Lorenor fell a good several feet to the ground with prize in hand. Lorenor looked up at the orb in his hand and could see the elemental powers flowing within it. He took the orb, the heart of the spirit, and pondered what to do with it. Being a consumer of flesh, Lorenor came up with an immediate solution to his dilemma. He consumed the orb! Swallowing the thing took a bit of effort. But the orb soon went into his system. As soon as it touched his stomach, and the mutant's D.N.A. stream combined with the orb, the orb's crystalline surface began to dissolve. Lorenor felt more agony from his body than he had felt previously, and clutched his stomach in pain. He knelt down on the floor and screamed as suddenly, a burst of newly discovered energy flowed through his body. What...is...this? Lorenor thought to himself.

And then the visions came. Flashes. Images. Shards. Precious gems that were too numerous to count. He was seeing the memories of the Otano Spirit as it combined with Lorenor's mind settling within. Each new memory filled the mutant with the knowledge of Wizo's people. He now knew the location of their homeland where it was cleverly tucked away in the lands of Althanas. He knew about Wizo's past. He knew about the Shark God, he knew about Pele. He knew about the rest of the Otano deities. Lorenor felt the rush of energy fill him with a sense of being, and sense of purpose. The Spirit's orb began to commune with the nano-virus filled in Lorenor's blood stream. As the two substances communed, Lorenor understood what had happened to this once sacred ground. Blood trickled down the mutant's jaw as the orb dissolved into him. Each new memory filled the mutant with a knowledge he had never known. Suddenly, he had a newly found knowledge. The knowledge of what he, as a mutant, was. He felt the elemental darkness flowing through him. A certain object was hidden within the temple that could greatly amplify his elemental powers of the dark.

Lorenor grinned at that. "Thou art too late Wizo! I have learned the secrets that thou art trying to protect. The secrets of the Otano now course through mine very life essence! I have beaten thee!" And the mutant began to laugh. Intricate maps of the temple's layout, showing distinct passageways and distinct side chambers filled his head. Lorenor got up now, saving Wizo was no longer a concern. However, he knew it would be a benefit to keep the Otano around. He looked at the glow in the man's pouch and decided on what to do next. Suddenly running towards the man, Lorenor made a quick attempt to snatch the young man's pouch. If successful, the bag would now be in Lorenor's possession and he could take that pretty, glowing object away from Wizo. As Lorenor ran forward, another image ran through his head. He was seeing his ally undertaking the trials of the Otano. He saw the individual test that each guardian had for the warrior and felt a newly found understanding of his "friend." He knew what the Otano Spirit knew...and he found something interesting. They were a collective!

[Wizo]

Seeing the ghoul consume an orb of the elder was a shock to Wizo. He could not believe how Lorenor just consumed the orb and manage to retain so much information from its own soul. This was so unheard of and such a taboo that his mind could not wrap around it. To make matters even worse, Lorenor came rushing for his pouch. Lucky for him it was strapped across his chest and all it manage to do was spill the contents of his bag all over the floor.

As the bag spilled its contents over the floor, Wizo too kneeled to the ground as he tried to fend off the undead assault. He manages to pull his now empty bag away from Lorenor clutches. He manages to get a hold of himself as he searched for what he had been missing. “The star orb? Where is the star orb?” Peering so hard to find it, he began to get up and search for his orb.

Wizo began to pace back and forward around the room. His pace were in such a rush, and his vision was so limited to what he was looking at. The only thing in his mind was the orb. He soon looked around one of the pillars and managed to find this arced star orb from rolling away any further. He leaned down to pick it up. “By the gods, my neck would be chopped if I lost this.” Wizo said as he breathed a sigh a of relief .

While this all happened, the red crystal dimmed in power. His mid began to return to him, and soon he finally snapped out of the trance state he was in. “Wha? By the great tempest... am I in the temple? How did I get here?” He looked at Lorenor for a moment and saw his charred body on the floor along with many of his things. The sentries did not move as well, and were just sitting there, waiting for him. “Lorenor, it seems I can’t recall much of the last few moments. How did I get in the temple so soon?”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Clutching his chest tightly, Lorenor gasped for air. His hunch was correct, that strangely glowing jewel was what was driving his partner insane. Wizo seemed to slowly calm down and the mutant's eyes greedily spied the red stone. He snatched the object and quickly placed it in his possession so that Wizo could not see what he was doing. He did this whilst Wizo walked off to search for something. Lorenor sat on the ground gasping for air. His body was covered in sweat. Opening his mouth widely, Lorenor coughed a few times, blood was still flowing. The mutant wiped his chin carefully to ensure that his blood did not contact Wizo, infection would spread. Foreign thoughts coursed through his head as this happened. The pain in his stomach and all around his body was tremendous. Feeling his claws against his chest, the mutant felt his pectoral muscles rising and falling quickly as he attempted to regain his breath. The pain was dimmed now as he concentrated. Trickles of blood still touched the corners of his mouth. Lorenor could feel this flowing down his chin and dripping as droplets to the floor beneath.

He balanced himself with one hand as he sat. Wizo returned and there were questions. The mutant could not stand up, his legs had no strength left in them at the moment. Lorenor needed rest. He looked at the sentries' general position. In his constant state of dementia, they appeared as shadowy presences outside of his sensory array. These presences were clearly a threat to his very existence. They were awaited Wizo's commanding. Lorenor turned to face Wizo when he heard the questions that were flowing in his general direction. "Good. Thou art better. Thou art thyself again. I canst not tell thee what has just happened. Let's just say that ye weren't ye'self for a time." Another cough. More blood. Lorenor wasn't liking his odds this time. He was mentally preparing himself for a fall. A desparate rat corner was the most dangerous animal of all. His eyes darted from place to place as he was attempting to form an escape plan of sorts. Lorenor slowly found his strength returning, and managed to stand. A nearby book case granted the support that the mutant needed. He leaned against it, the thing was made of heavy blue liviol. It might've been valuable to someone.

"I am glad that thou art better Wizo. Thou art thyself again. Let us get what we came for and leave this accursed place. I have obtained more than I canst put mine claws around." Lorenor's eyes narrowed as he observed just how much blood was on his hand...

[Wizo]

It was still hazy and foggy. His mind was not all there, but he could feel it slowly coming back to him. He could barley hear Lorenor words, as he was still grabbing his belongings into his pouch.

Though he needed all of his possessions, the star orb was his only concern. Nothing else really mattered to him besides that. The glittering orb seemed to keep on shining despite all the events that has happened to it. This seemed to put Wizo at ease as he tried to answer two questions that seemed to enter his mind. Why did he loose his mind when he got into the temple and why are the elder guardians acting so erratic to killing Lorenor?

He sat down to think about this. The first issue was simple thought. What would cause him to go insane. Wizo quickly loooked in his bag and found the Dragon Tear that he was paid with was missing. That member of the church tricked him! Wizo grinned for a moment, he knew how to repay kindness to his most loyal customers. He was going to enjoy the end of this mission.

Thinkng about the second issue was bit harder then the first. The elders were guardians, but never would they launch so much of a preemptive strike with out right cause. THe spider demon was something to fear, but it did not seem right. In fact he felt it was too convient that he lost his mind and the elders as well. Something was not adding up and it would not be wise to stay here.

"Lorenor, something is off. THe elders are not supposed to act like this, neither is antyhing here. Somthing is wrong and we need to leave, NOW!"

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Gathering himself after a few moments, he saw that the strange newcomers were not going to attack. Wizo had called the guardian weapons forth, but probably had no memory of ever doing. The device in his possession seemed somehow capable of controlling people. He would have to attach it to the Aegis Bracer to increase his own power. For now, he felt the power radiating from the mysterious red crystal. His eyes were locked upon Wizo as the lad regained all of his previous composure. By the Thayne, 'tis a good thing I didn't kill ye. I still need thee to make it out of here in one piece. He thought to himself as he looked at Wizo calmly. Once he was standing without shaking knees he stretched a bit to get the blood flowing again. Wizo's fire attack had done tremendous damage, and the mutant had to try to avoid it the next time. Staring around the temple, he tried to gather his current position. Several bookcases were currently knocked down. Statues of Wizo's people, the Elders, were looking at Lorenor with a menacing glare.

Across his immediate peripheral vision, flashes burst forward. Memories of the guardian now at his command flowed with much more ease becoming a part of Lorenor's native memories. A particularly strong flash created a headache that nearly crippled the mutant. His mind cleared. And suddenly, a missing part of the mutant's life came to fruition. Once fractured memories laced and interlocked with one another at an alarming rate. The Otano orb had an interesting side-effect. Lorenor remembered his past. In his mind's eyes he saw several lives pass. In one life, he was a warrior in a land called Haidia. These art mine roots![ A strange group of people, faces, red eyes glowing in the darkness, were somehow his kin. Lorenor immediately grasped that these people were somehow related to him. And furthermore, the race of ancestors had a direct connection to his past. The important answers lay in Haidia! That was a word he came to understand as his home country, the country that would hold all the keys for the doors he needed to open.

Haidia was Lorenor's next stop. As the images came, so to did more memories. He foresaw a great battle from his past life. A battle between Haidian Immortals and a new Scourge. Lorenor was surprised to learn the origin of the Endless. He'd acquired it during that battle in his past, and also, there was another interesting fact revealed. With the Otano orb acting in his body, the mutant saw the act of betrayal. When he became attached to the Endless, the mutant went into a state of blood-thirst so intense, that he was no longer his once glorious self. Lorenor saw his past Lorenor through the eyes of the many victims he'd slaughtered on the battlefield. Both friend and foe alike. None were shown any mercy. So complete was his state of blood-lust that he even killed a lover on that same accursed battlefield. Lorenor's heart ached. Though he was inherently an evil creature, the mutant was still capable of compassion and had a self control that few others like him possessed.

Then Lorenor saw the final moment of his past life. When he was ready to destroy everything around him, a single warrior rose from the ranks of the mercenaries hired by the Immortal's kingdom. This warrior was a close ally to the mutant, and Lorenor could feel the bond of kinship. More memories flied through his head as he could see a drink being shared, stories being exchanged, and a laugh between old warrior-allies. The mutant's betrayal now complete, a fierce battle erupted. He could see his former self fighting the warrior on equal footing, with a hatred in the air. Where there was once friendship, only rancor existed. The hate became visible in every strike and counterstrike, making reality shake at the tremendous battle. Blades clashed violently in the night, as rain from Haidia's atmosphere began to fall.
Many battles took place between the Scourge and Haidia's defenders. But the powers that be focused on the battle between Lorenor and his companion. With each powerful thrust, the imminent outcome was drawing to a close.

Lorenor, in his rage, made a powerful swing towards his opponent. Who in turned, side stepped the attack, and countered. He blocked the mutant's sword strike. Then, in an unexpected maneuver slashed upward. Lorenor was caught completely off guard in his insanity. Slicing up across his face, the blade struck true. Lorenor screamed as he regained his sanity for but a few short moments. He uttered a single phrase to his opponent. "Kill me!" The mutant begged of his friend. And then, the warrior, tears in his eyes, slew the legendary Lorenor. From the caverns of Haidia, Lorenor fell from grace. His living atma, soul, fell across time and space and into the realms of the anti-firmanent. There, the mutant fell to the lands of the great Containment. With the fires of the forge awaiting him, many ancient masons and blacksmiths struck anvils as they worked with the spirits of judgment. A single entity arose from the gathered masses to approach Lorenor himself. Greatly marred, the mutant's face had developed a hideous scar.

"You do not belong here."

"Who are you?"

The being simply laughed. "I am your Judge." He shrugged in a matter of face sort of way. "All of the creatures in Althanas have a Judge. I am yours, and I am telling you that you do not belong here. It is not your time, nor shall it ever be. You are not written into any of my records." Lorenor shook his head, it was all too confusing for him. He was grabbing his hurting face, trying to stop the bleeding. "For you there is life everlasting. For you are not a being of the mortal coil." The things that were being explained confused Lorenor. The Judge of the Containment extended his hand casually towards the mutant. "Give me your Atma." Was all that was said quietly. Without fully understanding what was being said, the mutant agreed and took the Judges' hand. There was a brilliant flash of darkness. A contract appeared between the two men. "Sign." The Judge said. A pen appeared within Lorenor's hand. He looked down at the object, even as blood flowed down his face.

The crimson mask seemed like it would flow forever. And Lorenor signed the document. "Remember. You signed the document. You will accept responsibility for everything you do in this life or any other. Now go, return to that which is rightfully yours." The Judge waved his hand and a door appeared. "This is a connection to Phantaria. The land of doors. Someone will guide you on your way." And Lorenor signed the document, it vanished in a glowing purple flame. "Good. Now fulfill your destiny." Lorenor walked towards the door, with shaking legs and fell a few times. He was still very weak, a newly reborn soul. Other souls were constantly traveling to and from the Contaiment. It was a land of blacksmiths and masons. Where one worked their craft for all eternity. Lorenor walked through the door and fell once more, across time and space. The mutant ended up in the great land of doors. Phantaria. Just as his Judge had foreseen. However, a certain individual was already waiting for him. Lorenor felt a malevolent energy coming from the individual.

He was a shadowy presence, purple glowing eyes. The man had dreadlocks and wore a black robe the flowed with the dark. Lorenor could see many doors everywhere. There were platforms and staircases that lead to the doors and some of the combinations defied normal laws of physics. The mutant just wanted to get out of this nightmare. Some souls wandered across this land freely. The dark entity addressed Lorenor directly. "You signed a contract but are not bound to it. Do you wish to be free?" Lorenor simply nodded in his pain. "I can free you from your suffering." Lorenor looked up at the stranger. "I-I wish to be free." The other man laughed for a moment. "I will require your agreement. Nothing more than that." The stranger extended his hand and Lorenor took it. "Good. Come with me." And Lorenor followed the guide through one of the many doors of Phantaria.

***

Shaking his head, the mutant tried to understand what had just been revealed. It was all too much. He'd died. Passed on, and on the chosen life, he rose again. But what did it all mean? And who was the stranger in Phantaria? Try as he might, no further memories arose. Only questions. And his mind flashed back to the reality of the moment. For the outside world, he would have seemed to zone out for a moment or two. Mere minutes had passed in normal Althanas time. The mutant found that his strength had returned to him, though he was still in a state of confusion. He turned to look at Wizo just as the boy had yelled a command. "We do not run. We shalt stay and fight." Lorenor suddenly pointed towards Wizo. "Ye tried to kill me. Ye shalt do as I say!" The mutant snapped, anger in his voice. There were still rooms to explore and treasures to be won. The mutant was not going to leave good enough alone. He was compelled to explore the rest of this Otano temple. "Forgive me. I just want to take all the valuables out of this place before others arrive." The mutant began to walk towards one of the side chambers that Wizo did not pass through...

[Wizo]

The young Otano was taken back for a second as he heard the ghoul’s refusal to leave. Wizo did not know how to react to this. He could feel it, his sword could feel it, even the little magic in his shark dagger could feel what Wizo was feeling. The Void.

Wizo knew the basics of Otano magic before the great cataclysm. ‘Four magicks of world, one magic of all and one magic of none’ was a saying in school used to memorize the elements. What he knew was void magic, one magic of none. The chaotic form of the void was neither evil nor good, it lacked nothing, and many sects were infatuated in how easy the void was used to call forth. There was no need to use totems, runes, tiki pacts or even focusing. This also made it a double edge sword since the void lacked nothing to use, lacked nothing to restrict. It was an all consuming force that would turn the world to nothingness if it wished it. This force Wizo felt was not the void itself, but a controller of it.

Whoever wielded the void l had a strong mind in order to control the elders. This was serious since he knew the other temples have been infected with this taint. If it got worse than Althanas itself would suffer. If it ever got out… no… it did not need to leave. He knew what it was after.

Wizo knew it was foolish to even fight something this powerful. He did not care if his ally wanted to stay and pillage the temple. He needed to run, and find some way to contain this temple from the outside world. “Rot here for all I care” He said to Lorenor as he clutched the star orb and began to walk off to the stair case. Though that plan seemed to be stopped with a wall of flame in front of him.

The crimson wall did not seem to cease its intense heat blockade from Wiz’s escape. He thought for a moment and realized what was going on. “PELE!! You want me to die unprepared for the Void ?! I am no fool; this temple must be contained before the void consumes it!!” He shouted to what seemed to be no body. The moment after his shout, a woman appeared out of nothing. She wore a long skirt down to her feet which had no soles or shoes, her upper torso was covered her own long hair, and most of all she was on fire with no sign of charred skin. “Do not lecture me about magicks I have fought against more times than your own lifespan. I know full well what’s going on. This void user cannot be contained like in the past. You and your ally must go deeper and destroy it. “Was her reply to the Otano, her stern eyes showed a great amount of command and authority.

Stay. Stay and fight the very void, stay and fight chaos itself. Only a mad man would do such a thing, even if a goddess commanded it. Wizo seemed to be crazy enough for the job, it seemed. He nodded , not even trying to make an argument to Pele “ Are the other temples affected as well?” Pele shok her head “ I do not know, the anti magic fields are still working . I was only able to tell the issue with this one when you removed the star orb from its place. I’m sorry Anahandra, you are on your own for those. “

Wizo shrugged for a moment and looked around the for any other passages hidden by time. He began to feel the wall for a moment until he felt a small, spherical slot in the wall. The Otano grabbed the star tightly and placed it in the slot for a second. He thusly removed it from the space and soon saw blue light appear as a reaction to Wizo’s action. Another stair well showed up and Wizo smiled for a second. “Guess we are going to sight see more Lorenor, however, I advise you keep your blades close to your hands. This is no longer the plundering of knowledge and riches. We are fighting something that requires our all too even have a chance to defeat it. “

[Mutant_Lorenor]

The mutant had recovered his strength by then. Seeing that his companion was going to abandon him, Lorenor walked over to the Construct in his command. After swallowing the heart of the beast, he knew the exact layout of the temple, down to all of the hidden passages. He could no longer afford not to explore the rest of the sacred place of the Otano. He needed to learn all that he could. Standing before the Otano Construct, Lorenor's eyes narrowed briefly. A quick glance observed the silent construct as he waited for orders. "Your command?" The creature asked in a voice that was hallow and empty. "Show me where this enemy is." Lorenor asked of the creature and it slowly pointed towards one of the walls. Upon the wall was a specific set of symbols and characters that the mutant studied earlier. He'd even managed to jot some Otano notes in his journal. The mutant wished that the girl hadn't escaped before them. Now, it seemed, Lorenor was literally about to bite way more than he could chew upon.

Nodding towards the construct warrior, Lorenor walked over to the wall. He began to feel the wall for indentations and other such imperfections, when Wizo returned. He'd missed the entire confrontation between Peele and Wizo since he was so determined to go on alone. Lorenor stepped aside when his companion used the star orb as a key. Interesting objects those are. He needed a suitable weapon if he was to face something deeper within the temple. But he had no access to anything except for the endless. Lorenor realized how insane his sudden bravery had been. Shaking his head he followed Wizo into the passage but not before ordering the construct to follow them. He'd be damned if he wasn't going to have some help. Lorenor suddenly had an idea. He turned towards the construct and looked at it directly. "Can you make weapons?" He asked of the creature. "I possess rudimentary knowledge of such an art. I could fashion any weapon type for you out of elemental energy of the Otano." That was like music to his ears, if he would have had any.

"I need a dagger and a sword. Made of these materials." Lorenor handed the construct his helping of plynt that he'd acquired earlier. Taking the green material and doing a curious thing, Lorenor watched as the creature swallowed the raw ore. Within its stomach, the creature's bio-chemicals refined and purified the raw material so that it could become workable. A few moments passed, and the creature began to glow in a golden hue. The light was brilliant and Lorenor had to cover his eyes from the awesome glow. When the time had come, the construct regurgitated two weapons. One came a few seconds after the other. Made of masterwork quality, the construct spewed first the dagger. Then, it spewed the sword. Both weapons had native Otano symbols and he noticed that they were symbols of the Shark God. Lorenor took both weapons and sheathed them on his person. He knew he would need them. "Prepare yourself for battle." He said to the construct as he began to walk down the hallway again knowing that the construct would follow.

Lorenor let Wizo guide him through the darkness. As they walked, the red berserker stone was already gathering energy from the mutant's dark heart.

[Wizo]

Wizo's hand flowed with a warm orange flame. He used his hand torch to guide him threw the darkened tunnel, but he still did so with caution. Wizo could feel the chaotic energies emanate stronger with every step he took. He could never felt the force so strong since he fought those puppets in the entrance chamber.

Beyond the thoughts of his unknown foe, Wizo began to ponder how much the gods were aware of this. Why was he the only one doing this entire quest for the orbs? Indeed the Otano race was almost dead, but their still existed quite a few spell casters and warriors back home. Wizo did not fight any in any of the civil wars or the great nether conflict. He was just some boy from the boonies with a love magic.

The thoughts of nostalgia quickly left his mind as he finally entered a new chamber. It was dark and humid with the sound of a faint breathing that Wizo has never heard before. Wizo calmed himself for a second as he looked for a lighter fuse for the chamber. He quickly notice a small hole on the right side of the wall as he waved his hand around. He put the Star Orb into it for a moment, and a blue hue line began to vein out through the chamber. Line began to split and split again all over the room, lighting up blue light orbs along it's journey. Despite the calmness of the blue light, what it revealed shocked his soul to the core.

The light revealed much of the room to be covered in a red flesh wrapping around various objects and pillars. The center of the room revealed a dark creature that did not seem to keep much of a form. Connected to the red flesh, it hanged in the middle of the room around 3 feet. It had multiple eyes, and holes all over it's flesh. As the room finally filled with light, the eyes began to be fixed on Wizo and his party.

As the creature seemed to stare at Wizo with it's hundreds of eyes, a dark aura exploded from it. Crackling and sounds of strings were soon heard. Within less then a minute, deadly puppets appeared from the webbing's of flesh all over the room. However, unlike their cousins from the first encounter, these seemed to be pulsating with the dark blessing of their puppeteer.

Wizo took read his sword and began to stand in a defensive position. Knowing full well of the dangers that seemed to be in front of him.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Feeling more comfort from having the secured equipment in his possession, Lorenor gathered his newly acquired belongings. There was a dagger and a longsword fashioned in the images of the Shark God. So the blades were curved and intricate. Lorenor was already learning the common Otano symbology. Many of the more intricate symbols would require further study when he had time to ascertain the knowledge of the Orb he had swallowed. He stood roughly a few paces behind Wizo as they walked through the long hallway into the next chamber. Lorenor kept attempting to avoid triggers for various traps that were in the hallway, making sure to use his enhanced senses to avoid these dangerous contraptions. Following Lorenor was temporary pet. The Guardian was bonded to the mutant. Knowing that to be the truth, Lorenor felt a connection to the Guardian that was quite intimate. He wanted to protect the Guardian with his very life. After he'd eaten the Guardian's Orb, the mutant had gained an intricate knowledge of the Otano more than he could from Wizo's words alone. He'd already pissed off the Otano's Gods, he figured he might as well go all the way here.

Clutching the Shark-God dagger in his hand, the green plynt material seemed to shine with its masterwork quality. It was possible that both blades held some sort of inner potential within that the mutant was not yet aware of. He would have to discover that as he went. The blades vibrated with power. It made Lorenor feel much more confident even as he attempted to face his fears.

Walking down the hallway as carefully as he could, he wondered how it was that Wizo avoided setting off any of the temples' traps. Deciding that it was better not to question it, Lorenor continued forward. What he found next was a chamber that was filled with an deep fog-like mist that caused a tremendous humidity. Lorenor started to sweat within a few moments of being in the room. When he looked around, he saw an organism attached to the very fabric of the room. Tendrils and flesh hung everywhere, muscles pulsing with dark energy. A part of the mutant knew that this thing was somehow a ken. This, thing, might have roots in Haidia! Lorenor saw the creature pulsating with a certain palpable evil incarnate. He suddenly stared at his blades for a moment. What good will weapons be against something like that!? Then, he had a sudden plan. It was a crazy plan, a dangerous plan even, but one that could work. He'd shown tremendous luck and endurance so far. So when the new Puppet Army arose from the Living Dark, Lorenor knew he had no choice.

"Wizo, keep them busy I have one idea. We have one shot at this. If I fuck up, just get out of here okay!? There's no reason to risk your life on my account." Lorenor said.

He then prepared to make a mad dash through the horde of puppets. They were slow creatures and were limited based on the basic materials of their bodies. They were basically living weapons, but Lorenor was made of flesh and blood, and undeath. Grabbing his newly acquired sword in both hands, the mutant suddenly looked at the Guardian that stood behind them. He yelled to the Guardian a very specific order. "Attack them!" And the Otano organism began to charge its stored energy for elemental based attacks. Lorenor could see the thing focusing on the horde of Puppets that stood before them. And the first part of his plan was ready. The creature raised both of his hands, energy formed at a specific epicenter, and began to focus. In a few seconds a large beam of super charged energy was released from the Guardian's hands. It went cleanly through several of the Dark Puppets turning them to ash and giving Lorenor his opening. Slashing about madly, the mutant ran towards the grotesque thing in the center. Should his plan prevail, they would be the winners this day. Lorenor screamed loudly as he ran forward. "This is the end for you, fell Puppeteer!"

[Wizo]

The smell was one thing Wizo could not stand in this room. To make matters worse for him, the puppets seemed to have a bit of favoring to the young Otano. Never the less, Wizo continued to slice his foes with sword and spell. Hearing Lorenor warcry did not seem to ease Wizo’s mind. The ghouls plan could go south and both of them would be fall here, being more then carcasses waiting to be used carrion fodder.

Though he did not fully trust Lorenor, he respected the ghoul enough to do as he was told. If his life can still be saved, any plan is not too crazy. The issue for Wizo was getting through the legion of puppets in order to keep the beast distracted. He was already being pinned back to the wall as he saw more of the dreadful things come out of the creature. While the production of the marionettes continued, Wizo saw this as a good way to use his resources.

Wizo let out a large shout “Sentry! Create me a path to the spawn being!” In moments, the arcane sentry, which was handling its own in combat, began to push through crowd with several swings of its metallic arms. It took around a minute for it to evict everything in his way, but the sentry managed to do so. The sentry did not give a reply back to Wizo or even stare at him; it was only focused in its job to clear a path to the beast. As the sentry turned away from Wizo and toward the beast, a humming sound could be heard with a blue hue glow. In mere seconds the sentry unleashed a force blast from its right arm and toppled the puppet army to the side. The path was now clear for an assault.

The Otano gave a silent thanks to the sentry as he began to jump forward to the beast. It only took him two leaps before he stood at the base of the creature. Letting out a deep breath, Wizo leaped high into the air toward the beast. He did not go all the way up, but managed to latch on to the creature half way. The beast’s flesh did not seem to help Wizo gain a good grip; it was slippery, sticky and seemed to pulsate every other second. Wizo could feel that he was not going to get anywhere by climbing. He could feel his grip slipping as he tried to hold it even tighter. “Lorenor! You better do what you need to. This thing is disgusting!” Wizo said this as he pulled his shark dagger out with his right hand and gave a hard jab into the monster’s flesh. Green blood could be seen dripping out the beast along with a loud cry of pain.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Having formed one desperate plan, the mutant prepared himself to leap towards what he assumed was the mouth of the beast. A grotesque puppeteer, the creature had tentacles spreading from the apex of its main structure. The thing appeared like some plant-like creature gone horribly wrong. It had a bulging body that was several yards tall, dwarfing the two warriors and even the Sentry fighting off the Dark Puppets. Lorenor held his newly acquired treasure in his hand, the sword, and prepared to use it for leverage to jump into the mouth of the beast. Deep down, the mutant knew his plan was completely insane. He had no idea how the beast's anatomy worked. He only knew one thing. He possessed the nano-virus and that was his ace-in-the-hole.

Slashing away at a few of the puppets, Lorenor managed to decapitate and severely injure a few of them made of steel with the plynt sword he wielded. As he struck, the mutant's swordplay became more and more refined. He struck with increasing confidence at each hit he took. Granted, the foes were slow opponent, they were live opponents. The mutant was close to the beast now. He barely registered Wizo's actions because everything was a blur by then.

Finding the mouth of the beast he saw an ellipse-like structure located at the lower portion of the creature's mouth. It was a gigantic maw several wide and several feet tall. The thing opened up wide and gave off a terrible scent. Lorenor was almost knocked out by the horrible smell, the only thing that kept him from fainting was the mission at hand. Focus Lorenor. You can do this one thing right, for the sakes of your friend! Lorenor was not a righteous person by far. In fact, he was a rat bastard. However, one positive trait about him was that he was loyal to those he would call friend. Prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, Lorenor went over the plan in his head. Just as the mutant suspected, several large tentacles extended from the creature's mouth and reached out to the mutant. Lorenor slashed at a few of the tentacles causing green blood to spill everywhere on the ground. Some of it landed on his person. It was very sticky and smelled extremely rotten. A few of the tentacles grabbed Lorenor and the mutant did not resist.

You're in for a bad day fucker. And the thing swallowed Lorenor whole! A darkness consumed the mutant and he enacted his plan as fast as he could. He took the sword in his hand, slit his own wrist and allowed his mutant's blood to spill the infection freely into the bloodstream of the creature. Lorenor was still aware and sentient even as the beasts' internal organs were attempting to consume him. Once the chemical substances reacted, too late, to the fact that he was undead, the creature howled in agony. Lorenor's infected blood coalesced through the creature's chemical substances...

At the molecular level, all hell broke loose. The virus coursing through Lorenor's veins quickly worked to infect the larger host body. Millions of tiny machines laced and viciously attacked the organism at the microscopic level. Infection spread within a matter of microseconds as the nano-virus replicated itself exponentially. Lorenor saw a large structure up ahead that appeared to be a vital organ. He took a quick stab with his sword at the structure, and then the creature's internals began to writhe in complete agony. Lorenor saw the discoloration as infection passed quickly through the beast. And in a few moments, Lorenor was regurgitated from the bowels of the beast and sitting on the ground. Green chemicals were on his person making him look absolutely disgusting. Lorenor reacted quickly to a writhing tentacle that was coming his way. It slammed on the ground, but Lorenor had already moved with a slash of the plynt sword. The mutant managed to sever the tentacle into several pieces.

And after about a few minutes of infection running its course, something happened. The beast changed physically, and in one loud roar, suddenly gave up its struggle against infection. Unable to continue the battle against the invading micro-organism, the beast gave up when the stream touched its brain, or what passed for a brain. The nano-virus was visible on the epidermis of the beast. Patches of rotting tissue spread quickly around the beast as the thing became a carcass of rot. Lorenor turned towards the Sentry's position who was still fighting off the horde of Puppets. "Sentry, destroy it, now!" Several of the Dark Puppets went over to Lorenor's position and the mutant engaged them at will. He was tired, angry, and the severity of what he'd just done had not struck him until the largest lance of energy he'd ever seen scorched through the air. It went right into the infected creature's mouth. Since the fell puppeteer had lost its will to live, the creature lay there with its mouth agape turning into something far more twisted. Once the beam connected, the epidermis of the beast reacted with a tremendous glowing light, and suddenly, the creature exploded in a brilliant mess.

Hissing loudly, Lorenor saw that the Dark Puppets became nothing more than lifeless hunts of material. In the position where the fell puppeteer was just located sat an altar similar to all the other altars so far. Lorenor walked over to the altar, and took a large, black orb from the altar. "I'll be taking this. If it's okay with you Wizo." Lorenor said carefully as he looked at his companion...

[Wizo]

Wizo was still griping his dagger as he saw Lorenor jump into the beast mouth. Only something like an undead would do something so reckless. Still he did his part and gave an opening; all he had to do was watch. Though he would learn later, that idling on the monster would not be one of his smartest ideas for him.

For a moment, Wizo knew something was wrong with the beast. He could see the wound begin to spout out green blood faster and in greater force. To make matters worse the skin seemed to get tenderer and soon his knife began to drop down through the beast as if he was sliding down a sail. Wizo finally reached the ground with his knife drenched in the foul creature’s blood. He worried little of cleaning it as he noticed the thing itself to give out cries of pain. “By Pele’s fire... what is that ghoul doing?”
The puppeteer seemed to be infected with the plague itself. Its whole body seemed to react harshly to Lorenor. Whatever he did, it made the monster sick to death. He could see it roar as blisters, boils and puss began to appear all over its skin. Wizo just stood back as he saw the whole scene unfold; he did not even notice the erratic movements of the puppets. He simply watched the monster die from whatever Lorenor did. “This is just disgusting… simply disgusting.” Was the only thing that could come out of Wizo’s mouth at the time.

Much of the monsters flesh seemed to still be covered all over the room. Thankfully nothing seemed to be of any interest to the beast, so much of the relics, such as pots and tables were still in good condition. The only thing that he did notice was a black orb that Lorenor picked up. Wizo took a careful look at the orb and took a step back. His eyes opened wide and some drops of sweat could be seen on his for head, or what could be seen of his head. “By the gods… how… dear Kane! Lorenor... that thing is dark magick!”

Wizo turned to Lorenor with a mix of rage and fear. “Lorenor, you may know of Otano orbs, that is one of them. That one is different though. It is known as tapu, forbidden place, and named rightly so. Normal orbs simply connect with you and give you the power to use different magick. The tapu is different. It is powerful, I will give it that; however it also corrupts the mind. It makes the person see everything it knows and love as an enemy. Not only that, but it slowly eats way the life force should you ever keep it in your body long enough. I don’t want you to even romance the thought of taking it! I can’t even be sure how it got here.”
Wizo held his hand out “I don’t want an argument over this. That orb is evil and it must be disposed of.” He looked at Lorenor with vigor and passion as he awaited a reply.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Hearing the plea of his companion, the creature was defeated. Sentry had released a gigantic blast of energy to burn through the beast and it vanished in a discolored puff of smoke and energy. There were no remains. Except for the thick green substance that passed as blood that was splattered all over the room. Holding the orb in his hand, the words Wizo spoke barely registered in the mutant's mind. The orb of Tapu resided in Lorenor's possession with its promise of power. A powerful voice that shunned even the voices of the endless coursed through his mind. Able to see his own reflection within the darkness of the orb, the mutant's eyes shined brightly. One thing was clear, he wanted the orb. "But Wizo. It is a pretty thing." Lorenor said calmly, speaking in a far away voice. "It whispers things to me. It tells me I am the one meant to wield its power appropriately." Not truly realizing what he was saying, the mutant was determined to keep his hard-fought reward. He turned to look at Wizo for a long moment. "You should know that I myself am darkness."

Despite his strong desire to keep the orb, the mutant completely heard Wizo's arguments. They'd done enough in the day's events to acquire the things that they'd won. And despite that, Lorenor still had the red gem in his possession. "Why destroy such a thing when we can harness its power for our own purposes?" However, the mutant showed a great act of personal restraint by parting with the orb of Tapu power. He placed the orb in Wizo's possession and turned away, despite the fact that the voice from the orb called out to him. It continued to whisper with the promise of power. "Sentry. Let's used the materials from the rest of the puppets and get us the hell out of this place." The Sentry was still in his command, perhaps it was that fact that kept Lorenor in a state of reasoning after contacting the Otano Orb. Walking towards the Sentry, the mutant began to notice just how filthy he looked in appearance. Lorenor sighed visibly and knew he would need a bath, and soon. After all, he couldn't bed that girl in such a sorry state.

Sentry nodded and went right to work consuming the raw materials.

[Wizo]

Wizo could not rest his eyes on the blasphemous orb in his hand. He had to put it in his bag for now. If he destroyed the orb it would cause evil magic to dissapate around them. That would not bode well, especially with a ghoul and gods know what else in this place. Wizo seemed to sigh for a bit as moved ahead of Lorenor and the sentry.

The entire trip seemed to be draining him. The deeper he went in to Kane’s temple, the more he knew death could claim him. Yet he needed to move on. He needed to find out what has corrupted the elders in one of the most sacred places outside Otana.

The beast’s large frame did not block the exit. A small blessing , Wizo thought as he began to move forward. His enchanted hand seemed to barely hold the darkness at bay, as he went forward and began to look for the next room’s entrance. It was no easy feat, as the smell of mildew and rotting flesh seemed to waft into his nose and almost push him back. He was getting closer, and he knew it not only from the smell, but also from the evil magics that seemed to pulsate stronger with every step.

“Lorenor, I can feel it. The one who is behind the corruption of my temple is close.” He looked back at him and gave a silent nod. His right thumb pushed his sword slightly from the sheath and his left hand griped his shark bone dagger with his life. Whatever lay in the next room, he would be ready for it and slay it.

[Mutant_Lorenor]

Hearing what Wizo said, the mutant sighed. Why are we going deeper into this hell-hole? Haven't we already defeated enough enemies... The mutant waited for Sentry to finish his work. Then, Sentry handed him a shiny, new Plynt Masterwork sword. Suitable for fighting the enemies at hand. The green bladed weapon seemed to shine brightly with the particular coatings that Sentry gave it. Lorenor looked at Sentry for a long moment and nodded to him.

"Change that order. We're going further into this Temple. Sentry, lead the way."

As Lorenor held his sword in hand, he felt comfort in knowing that he was much more equipped now. He walked next to Wizo and Sentry headed out in front of them to scout ahead. The mutant wished he could be like Sentry and admired the being's bravery. Walking down the new passageway, the mutant paused to look back for a long moment. The rational side of him wanted to run and enjoy the new treasures that he'd acquired in this particular adventure. However, the orb in his stomach made him feel obligated to help Wizo out further. Feeling the energies of the Otano burning in his body now, the mutant was thankful for his discovery.

Memories of the Otano burned in his mind. The entire temple seemed alive with knowledge, wisdom, power. As he looked at the walls, symbols appeared to pop out in front of him. This time however, the symbols did not appear to be mindless markings. They had meaning, purpose, order. As the symbols flowed in front of him, the words seemed to become translated in his thoughts. Lorenor listened to the Otano orb carefully translating the symbols that he came across. It took him some time because Otano markings were quite complicated and he already had a migraine from staring at the symbols for so long.

Lorenor gripped the handle of his newly acquired weapon tightly as a nervous habit. He was tired, weak, and had the knowledge of the Otano in his body playing all kinds of havoc on him. His eyes narrowed as he walked, he could not ignore the symbols. Some of the symbols spoke of ancient prophecies, whilst other symbols spoke of the various traps and contraptions lurking within the temple. Still other symbols spoke of a very specific Otano prophecy, and revealed symbols that strangely looked like Lorenor and Wizo. Lorenor did not understand what any of the Otano prophecies actually meant, the syntax and wording was all so strange to him.

As he walked, he swung the weapon in a rotating fashion several times to get used to the weight of the sword. Sentry moved up ahead several paces, without pausing. Lorenor kept looking at the symbols as they popped out in front of him, and a few times, he attempted to touch some of the symbols before him. His hand went right through them creating ripples of energy in the air. When he removed his hand, the ripples reverted to whatever symbol it was he was looking at.

Finally, Lorenor spoke to Wizo.

"Wizo. I think I have stumbled upon an interesting idea. What if this temple is not a temple but, we're actually walking within some sort of complicated book or tome?" Lorenor couldn't help but think that his idea of the temple being a book or a storehouse of knowledge, seemed and adequate idea.

[Wizo]

Book? Lorenor was right, in a way. The temple held many secrets, much if it inscribed on the walls, but not just on the walls. It was contained in the very energy of the temple, whispers of power and knowledge could be heard if one just listened. Still, was the temple a tome? No. He shook his head at the thought. “This temple has many purposes. Remember, it was used in ancient time to ‘teach’ the population of my gods. However Kane Milohai was never one to give power and knowledge so easily. He is a trickster and a puzzler. Have you not noticed how we passed so many rooms and passage ways? Some of the dangers we faced have always existed in the temple, even before the evil took over. “


Wizo took a soft step into the next room. Nothing, at least for this room. He flashed his fire magic to ignite the floating pylons about the room and found it to be a library. It was not the only one here, Wizo knew, but just one that could provide the information they needed. “This place was used recently, I can smell fresh ink.” Wizo said, though one could easily see the tales littered with pages and books that made it seem like a mages den.
“Sentry, use a residual scan of this room. Find me the last book opened up and bring it to me.” The sentry flashed, acknowledging the Oatno’s request. A slight humming could be heard as the metal golem began to flash a blue light around the room. Several books flashed with a yellow light, some of the dimmed more than others. Finally one of them glowed like the sun to them and the sentry stopped its blue glow and stood down. It then went to the book, picked it up and returned to Wizo.

Wizo took the book with silent thanks and quickly went to the last page opened. Tapu….. Of course. The dangerous magic of the void was the last thing read in this room. Thinking about it, it made sense how some of these monsters began to form. They didn’t come outside the temple, they were created inside it! Whoever was here was crafty enough to use the void and form a monstrous defense from anyone who would dare enter. The only question is now who?

More questions than answers. The young Otano sighed as he closed the book and handed it over to Lorenor. “Void magic. Whoever is here knows of it and is wielding it quite well.”

[Mutant_Lorenor]

When Lorenor received the book, the book called out to the mutant. Going wide, his eyes glowed with potent energy. Before him, he saw the energy of the voidal properties flowing from within the pages of the book. Weighing him down, the voidal energies felt heavy against his black heart. Symbols popped out of the pages. Horrible symbols, symbols that were far too complex for his simpleton's mind to understand. Even with the augments he received from consuming the Otano Orb. Lorenor held onto the book for a few moments showing a great deal of personal will-power. However, the void magics were far too terrible a force.

Lorenor's mind cleared as he saw the symbols and runes flashing through his skull. Screaming out loud, the mutant finally pieced together the missing pieces of the Otano pantheon. In essence, Lorenor became one of the Otano himself. After the transformation took place, the mutant continued to hold onto the book. His skin no longer bore the markings and scars of old, but rather, flesh was mended by the powerful void magics. On his person, on his left shoulder-blade, the mutant was imbued with one of the void magic symbols. A symbol that stood for an apprentice of void magic.

Feeling the power burning through his body, Lorenor dropped the book. He knelt down on the ground, his body shaking from the raw energies he had just encountered. Voices filled his head too, voices of the ancient Otano spirits. Ken. Kindred of ages long gone. After shaking in place for a few moments, Lorenor suddenly realized something. We are not alone.

-Clap, clap, clap-. Came the sound that the strangers gave off. The mutant detect a foul aura from the individual that burned of a terrible power, a power that neither Wizo, nor, he could contend with as they were. Standing up, the mutant attempted to regain his composure when he noticed a small group of six individuals approaching them. Two were women, and the other four were men. The leader was a man. Wearing a particularly strange fashion of dress, the strangers were robed in the attire of the Otano. However, these men and women were not dressed like Otano commoners, warriors, or magi. Instead, they wore dark clothing with strange symbols remarkably similar to the void symbols that were just emblazoned into his brain.

"To think, a wretch like you could be the key to unlocking the void magic's power." One of the women said casually, venom in her voice. "We've tried for years to unlock the secret. Apparently we needed a living ghoul to unlock the missing runes." Suddenly, Lorenor realized what this whole adventure was. This was an elaborate trap!

"Wizo, get back!" The mutant yelled quickly to his companion. "They are the cause of the corruption in the temple!"

"You are a very quick-witted individual." The leader began. "However, you are both far too late. How rare to see an Otano working together with one of the Undead. What would your matroness think?"

He said. The magus wore the same coloured robes that the rest of the cultists wore. Lorenor, at once, recognized the symbols of Kane Milohai's followers. In the past, the mutant would never have been able to discern one Otano symbol from the next. The man had black coloured hair, tied back in an elegant series of braids, long and ending at waist-level. His eyebrows were thick and full. He had a round zygomatic arch, with a broad chin. His jawline was square in contrast with his cheekbone. A thin goatee was present at his chin that was well taken care of. He had light brown complexion. Lorenor noticed that he had honey-coloured eyes. Also, the nimbus cloud burning around the fellow was radiating powerful void magics. Along with the resonance of other Otano magics.

"We were waiting for your arrival Wizo. All of the contraptions and mechanizations within your precious temple were designed to lure you out of hiding." The man wore a grin on his face. "Kane Milohai has taught us about your people and we have worked to exterminate them one by one, all that we could find. We have succeeded. You are one of the few remaining Otano left on Althanas. Well you and your new fried."

Lorenor clenched his fists upon hearing that his fellows have been mass-slaughtered. Though he was evil by nature, the mutant had a code of honour. It was hard-won by the trials and tribulations he'd faced alongside Wizo and many others. Lorenor looked down at the book of Void Magic that rested on the floor. It's pages still glowing with powerful rune symbols. The mutant then looked at the magus for a long moment. Time that they did not have. Feeling a kinship to Wizo and the Otano's plight, the mutant understood had just happened. I've been played for a fool! The symbol of void magic on his shoulder burned with a certain weight. Lorenor felt anger swelling in his gut.

At the same time, he felt helpless.

"Tch. What are you going to do with...the void?!" Lorenor asked without ever realizing why. "You cretins do not deserve the power of the void!"

"That is no longer for you to decide. You were the missing key. The last piece of the puzzle. Our mission is complete here." Then, the magus extended his hand and his eyes went distant. Suddenly, the book at Lorenor's feet flapped, convulsed, and began to fly towards the man's awaiting hands. The magus clutched the book in his hand seeing the glowing symbols now etched on the pages. "The work was forbidden to us until the chosen avatar of N'Jal laid hands on it." The magus continued. "You have served us well, but now it is time that we part."

"They are too dangerous, Maestro. Destroy them at once." It was the same woman who spoke earlier. "I can do it if you would have me--" She stepped forward, but the magus placed a hand on her chest.

"No. Leave them be. They will serve their parts in the Grand Scheme." He said and looked right at Lorenor. "You especially are connected to one of our biggest enemies. The Prophet named Nenkulor Shima." The man tapped his chin, whilst tucking the book under one of his arms.

Lorenor cursed out loud. Who the hell is Nenkulor Shima?! The mutant thought to himself.

"So that's it, you win and this was all for nothing!?" Lorenor could not believe what he was hearing.

"No. This is but a smaller portion of the event that will come. Like I said, we are at war with your ally. However, there is a chance that we shall give you. Since you have become Otano, your wisdom will prove crucial in our extermination of them. Join us Lorenor. The Otano are remnants of the past, and are dying race. We shall repopulate their halls with a new people! Come with us if you want to live!" The magus extended his hand towards Lorenor.

Then, Lorenor turned to look at Wizo. His friend, his companion. Lorenor's eyes narrowed for a moment. Thinking about the newly acquired knowledge of the Otano put him at ease. A wayward soul, a solitary soul, the mutant had never been awarded with a place to call home. Journeying with Wizo, the mutant had been given just that. A home. Staring at Wizo for a moment longer, the mutant turned to look at the magus once more.

"I will never join you. My place is with the Otano!"

"Very well then Lorenor. Your place is with death." The magus extended his left hand, and glowing burst of void energy began to flow from across his arm towards a position in front of his hand. "Now you die." The magus said.

"Stop!" Came a suddenly interloper. As the magus began to launch the voidal energy orb, there was a sudden swelling of power. Lorenor sensed a presence that was somehow strangely familiar to him. A shadow blur manifested into the form of a single man. The man resonated power, and thrust his hand across in a smacking motion, the voidal energy burst was tossed aside and exploded in a further-off section of the library.

"You!" The magus called out to the interloper. "This...is not over." Signaling to his fellows, the magus began to walk away from Lorenor and Wizo.

"Stop him!" Lorenor yelled to Wizo, but felt powerless. The stranger before him placed his hand on Lorenor.

"Let them go. There will be another time." The man had long, flowing, silver coloured hair and gray eyes. He also had a silver coloured beard. The man known as Nenkulor Shima turned towards Lorenor. "Lorenor, we have much to discuss. The Promised Time is ahead of us all." Nenkulor turned towards Wizo. "My name is Nenkulor Shima." He said quietly. "We must pool our resources if we are to defeat them. The battle will come." Nenkulor said calmly. "We must prepare. Come now Lorenor, we must away from this place. It is not safe here."

A door manifested in front of Nenkulor. Lorenor had never seen such a door before. "Follow me, the both of you."

Having no real choice in the matter, Lorenor decided it best to follow Nenkulor.

To be continued...

-Spoils-

1-Consumed Otano Orb-One of the many Otano Orbs found within the Otano Temple. Lorenor consumed this Orb throughout his adventure with the young Otano named Wizo. The Orb simply contains expansive knowledge of the Otano and has boosted up Lorenor's intellect considerably. The Orb, is capable of exponentially increasing Lorneor's intellect over time. For now though, the bonus is Three Times the normal Intellectual capacity of the average Althanian. Lorenor can speak in native Otano language fluently after coming in contact with the Orb. Furthermore, Lorenor knows how to translate Otano Rune Symbols. The Orb will allow for further benefits and impart more knowledge over time and effective deciphering of the Otano lore.

2-Void Magic Symbol-Located on Lorenor's right shoulder blade region. This symbol is an intricate mark that displays the knowledge of basic Void Magic. The Symbol indicates Apprentice Level in Void Magic. For now, the Symbol is aesthetic in purpose and Lorenor cannot yet access -any- Void Magic. However, this will change someday.

3-Plynt Masterwork Sword-Made by a Sentry-Unit located within the Otano Temple, the Sword is made out of raw Plynt Ore. The Sentry combined various material components and used Otano technology, magic, and power to construct an appropriate weapon for Lorenor. The weapon features Otano Symbols, and it glows with stored powers currently locked away. The sword is a masterwork weapon with a scabbard. It is fashioned like a short-bladed kitana.

4-Red Madness Shard-A small jewel found within the Otano Temple. It is a small sliver of a much larger crystal piece. Radiating a unique power, the Shard has the power to send off Madness within a certain sphere. People that come in contact with the "panic aura" begin to turn into savages. It has the exact opposite effect on Lorenor who is already insane. The mutant becomes calm, logical, passive. Lorenor keeps this sliver of crystal on his person at all times.

5-Dual Steel Combat Claws Masterwork-A glove worn on Lorenor's left hand. The glove has a mechanism that operates a retractable pair of steel masterwork claws. The claws extend roughly six inches from the glove. The glove is made out of thick leather, and also tailored with masterwork craftsmanship. The lever is attached to the hand-portion of the glove.

[Wizo]

Nenkulor Shima opened the door to what seemed like the final room of the God King’s temple. The room was empty with only a floating crystal hovering in the middle. It had a blue hue to it and seemed to hum silently at the visitors approached. “ This…I assume you know what this is?” Nenkulor looked at Wizo with a questioning glance. Wizo was unsure at first and then touched the crystal with half sure ideas in his mind. It reacted to his touch and a bright flash erupted as Wizo pulled back his hand. His mind was now filled with memories and feelings that were not his own and in one motion he uttered “ Kane’s Pylon!”

He took a few steps to regain himself. His body seemed to sweat even harder than before. He took out his pipe and packed a few herbs into the bowl. After lighting and taking a few puffs he began to explain. “ My people, the Otano, began a campaign to convert the mainlanders into the ways of the Otano. It was seen one day that the gods of Otana would be dominate of all others. However that needed the support of the locals.

So in order to begin such a conversion, temples like these were built. They were packed with everything we accumulated as a race through the ages. It was slow but many seemed to like the powers that the Otano people gave. Yet we knew there would be resistance.

Other religions were formed and they took hold with the people better than our own. The Otana states knew our attempts to reason and convert our brothers were lost. Which are when these temples were sealed and the path to Otana is blocked off. “ Wizo inhaled deeply and continued, pointing to the crystal while he spoke.

“That is one of several Pylons that were built for the people of Alathanas. What you see right now is an activated pylon and that should not even have happened. It was supposed to be used only when a nation was willing to devout completely to Otana and its ways. Yet now it is activated….”


“What does that mean now that it is activated?” Nenkulor asked Wizo. Wizo shook his head and replied. “ Alone , nothing. If all of the pylons were to be activated, a great power would be unleashed. I am not sure exactly what that is, but I know that the pylons powers are connected to star orbs.” Wizo pulled out the red orb with a star inside it and continue. “As long as I have this, the pylons power will not be unleashed. Yet I fear this cult will figure that out soon enough. They somehow managed to get one activated, I fear for the rest.”

Wizo did not wait for a reply. He quickly left Lorenor and Nenkulor behind as he said “There is nothing left for me here. Your kind and loot this temple as you please. There is nothing sacred about this place anymore for my kind.”

Spoils

-Star Orb of Kane Milohai: This orb has a direct connection to the Pylon of Kane. Although it cannot be used by itself, it holds great power once the other Star Orbs are gathered.

-Improved Swordmanship: Wizo’s fights have improved his skill with the sword. He now has a better understanding of parry, block, and strikes.

-Dark Orb of Nika’a: This orb fires bolts of dark ( void) magic at a foe. It can be fired 3+1 times each battle. If the orb is used more than the given 3 charges it will go on standby, however it is possible to fire a fourth shot. If the user uses a fourth shot, the orb will quickly draw life from the host and kill it.

- Improved magic storage: Wizo’s continual use of fire magic has allowed him to fire more fireballs without recharging by 2 shots. This does not improve the strength of his shots.

[Atzar]

Quest Judging
Proof of Old Reunions

I thought the story, itself, was intriguing – there were several twists and the plot was involved without being overly convoluted. The general theme in this judgment, though, will be the necessity to clean your mechanics up. The thread was riddled with errors and awkward/unclear passages, and it harmed your score in nearly every category while making it fairly difficult for me to read.

STORY

Continuity ~ 7/10.
This was your strongest category. There were some aspects that I loved: for instance, Lorenor’s references to the Red Hand. This is the first time I’ve read anything from either of you, and at some points you helped me to understand what your characters have done in their time on Althanas.

Setting ~ 5/10.
I generally had a decent sense of where you were and what was around you, but this category was marred by the fact that I had to wade through blocks of unneeded information to get to the necessary stuff: you repeated yourselves often, and your delivery was frequently awkward or unclear. More on this in ‘Writing Style’.

Pacing ~ 3/10.
This quest took forever to get off the ground. You assail your reader with huge waves of backstory and information right from the start, and nothing actually happens until post #9 where Alwart slips the enchanted tear to Wizo.

The action was fairly constant later in the thread, but it was done in a way that took most of the suspense out of it. Don’t be afraid to bunny each other! It seemed like you each were afraid to touch the other’s character. Battle scenes consistently took longer than they needed to resolve, mostly because you insisted on keeping your actions separate. I found myself reading what amounted to two separate accounts of the same battle, and the jerking back and forth made it very hard to immerse myself in the story.

Overall, I felt like the thread was way too long (and it’s not finished; you left tons of loose ends!). I thought you could have cut down on the repetition and unnecessary info – it probably would have cut this quest and half, and then finishing the story in one thread wouldn’t have seemed so impossible.

CHARACTER

Dialogue ~ 5/10.

In general, the dialogue was meaningful and believable coming from your characters. Never have more than one character speak in any one paragraph, though! It was very hard for me to understand who was talking. Breaking your paragraphs when the next character speaks will keep the dialogue much easier to read, and it will go a long way towards breaking up the wall-of-text feeling that many of your posts had. Aside from that, I didn’t really understand why Lorenor suddenly began talking in Old English halfway through the quest – there didn’t seem to be any reason for it.

Action ~ 4/10.

Lorenor had made a point, from the beginning of the thread onward, to loot anything and everything he could carry. So he finally finds his prize, the dark orb, and as could be expected he…

…Gives it up.

Also, I thought there was a fair amount of powergaming where Wizo’s fire was concerned. His fire certainly isn’t supposed to be able to melt a steel weapon (and his profile explicitly states this), yet he ruined Lorenor’s pilfered sword with it. I couldn’t tell if Wizo intended for the fire to be this strong, or if Lorenor got carried away making the scene badass.

Persona ~ 4/10.

This category had potential but was marred by what I thought was some fairly clumsy writing. I didn’t understand, for example, why Wizo suddenly liked and trusted Lorenor as soon as the Dragon Tear’s influence was gone (I thought he disliked Lorry even without the stone’s influence, and Lorenor had been making an effort to desecrate the Otano temple at every turn), or why Lorenor suddenly trusted him in return – even though they had been trying to kill each other just seconds before. I don’t know about you, but if somebody is trying to turn me into some KFC Original Recipe, and then they turn around and ask me where they are, I’m taking the opportunity to stab them.

Aside from that, aside from Lorenor and Wizo the characters were generally flat, predictable and underdeveloped. Ni’Sharia could have been a good character, especially with her conflicting relationships with the main characters, but she… disappeared.

WRITING STYLE

Technique ~ 4/10.
Mechanics ~ 3/10.
Clarity ~ 3/10.

I’m going to lump the commentary for these categories into one, since it’s all related. I’ll be honest with you guys: from a mechanical standpoint, this thread was really lacking. There were tons of spelling errors, many of the variety that Word could catch. There were tons of grammatical errors, especially sentence fragments. You can get away with doing this occasionally, but not often. A good rule of thumb is: If you’re wondering if you can get away with using a sentence fragment, you can’t. Only use them if you’re sure they fit.

Wizo, make sure you stay in one tense. You switched from past to present and back to past all throughout the thread, and I think I even saw you get into the future tense once or twice.

Lorenor, the old English dialogue works, and so does the regular dialogue, but pick one. It doesn’t make sense to switch between them unless you have a valid IC reason for it.

As I said earlier, make sure to start a new paragraph when a new character speaks. Not only is that going to make your writing a lot easier to understand, but it’s also going to break up the big blocks of text and make your posts a bit less imposing.

Also, there were sentences that just didn’t make much sense. For instance, the end of post #9: “Heh, even if you don’t wish to kill Lorenor, Wizo, I made sure that stone to convince.” This was a very important line to get right, since it basically explained why Wizo would act the way he does for the rest of the quest. However, since I didn’t understand it at first, your actions later caught me completely by surprise – it wasn’t until I went back and reread this that I realized what you had tried to do.

MISCELLANEOUS

Wild Card ~ 4/10.
I gave you guys a bunch of things to work on. Try not to see them as a pile of things to be fixed at once; instead, take them one at a time and try to make consistent progress.

TOTAL ~ 42/100.

EXP Rewards

Wizo gains 670 EXP.
Mutant_Lorenor gains 3270 EXP.

GP Rewards

Wizo gains 340 GP.
Mutant_Lorenor gains 340 GP.

Other Rewards

All of Wizo’s requested spoils have been approved. You will have to clear the new abilities – specifically, the power of the void magic bolts – at level-up.

Lorenor, I couldn’t find any point in the quest where you gained the steel claws. Therefore, I can’t award them to you as spoils – you’ll have to do another quest or open a thread in the Bazaar to gain them.

The Plynt sword is not masterwork, but above average. I couldn’t understand why a machine with ‘rudimentary’ knowledge of making weapons could create a masterwork piece.

Your other spoils are approved as requested.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and GP added.

Wizo is now level 1 with a whole lot of 2's. :p Congrats!