Open to Rogue, Mr Fox, Gum and anyone who wants to join via the recruitment thread
Fallien.

The name itself demanded respect. It was a vast island nation, known for its harsh deserts and xenophobic citizens. The history books would show that its contribution to the world was a culture dominated by religion and a proud matriarchal dynasty, with a history flecked with strife and disaster not unlike Lornius. For anyone wishing to visit the island, a long and perilous voyage from the Tular Wastes would help temper their spirits and expectations but yet the brave and curious travelled with increasing frequency to trade in rare goods, explore ancient ruins, or to even glimpse mythical creatures.

Irrakam, Fallien’s capital city and the centrifuge of religious activity on the island, was the most attractive city for adventurers and tourists alike - with a wonderful view across the Attireyi river and the sands beyond to the grand temple of Suravani. Yet, even with its four thousand years of history, Fallien’s truest beauty laid buried beneath the southwestern glassy sands of Nirrakal along with a mystery spanning as many years as its own existence; one that even the Jya and her Matriarchy could not be aware of.

Fallien’s most important secret was the Temple of Ea.

There had been many deities reigning over the island;. Suravani, the moon goddess. Mitra, the sun god. Each of them had spawned their respective cults and divided the adoration of the people. But, all the while nestling among these legendary names and the factions that worshipped them, was the mythical home of the long forgotten king of kings; the mortal god-king Eiyuu Ou.

It was mythical no longer.

The beauty of the Blight, another name for the Nirrakal deserts, was wasted on Thomas Moorcroft. The heat of the sun beating down upon his face and the shimmering fragments of glass around him should have been a nice memory for him to take away after the treacherous voyage across the sea to Fallien, yet somehow the archaeologist couldn’t absorb it at all.

His mind instead wandered like a lost child back and forth between the significance of the entrance to the structure he had uncovered three hours ago, and the sickly anticipation of what this meant. Thomas’s eyes surveyed the front of the entrance pylon of the sandstone temple, where someone had carved the story of Eiyuu Ou and Enum Elish’s great battle in the Twilight Mountains against the Trinoxx, and remembered the tale of how the raging conflict between god-king and beast would eventually anger the gods and send Eiyuu Ou into exile.

An exile, it seemed, that ended here in Nirrakal.

Six huge statues of the mighty Eiyuu Ou constructed in front of the pylon seemed to further confirm this, along with two great obelisks - one of which was damaged.

This newly discovered temple was a strange bedfellow. For as long as he could remember, Thomas had always felt he had some sort of divine power driving his actions up to this point in his life. He had always known what to do, and known, rightly or wrongly, what he wanted. It didn’t matter whether it was exploring the ruins of Fallien, or investigating Raiaera in the aftermath of the Corpse War. Yet now, faced with a gaping maw leading to a chamber of answers that had eluded mankind for eons, Thomas was unsure of what to do, of what the implications of his discovery would be. Would he approach the temple’s entrance and hope to study the riches that had lay there for years, or would he seal the chamber forever and let the secret go with him to the grave? The risk of being branded a heretic was like a proverbial noose around his neck and he could feel the rope tighten with every breath.

Moorcroft found for the first time ever he was lacking answers, but the curiosity was unbearable. As he paced up and down the sands pouring over years of knowledge contained in his books, Thomas slowly came to the realisation that being the first to reveal the secrets of the Temple of Ea and Eiyuu Ou’s fate was the only thing that mattered to him now and everything else in his life failed miserably in comparison.

He moved slowly but smoothly along the wind carved banks of the dunes to the entrance below, proceeding with careful steps. Being an explorer, Thomas was used to travel in desert conditions and his legs and chassis were strong enough to cope with the searing heat rising from the sands and the scorching sunlight bearing down on him from above. Even if he felt ravaged at that moment, Moorcroft knew the day wouldn’t claim him before he reached the temple’s innards.

Thomas Moorcroft took his first step from sand to stone and felt relief at the having the solid surface of the temple’s floor firmly beneath his heels.

***

The temple seemed to be alive.

As Thomas proceeded deeper into the intestines of the legendary Ea, the wood and oil torches that flanked him spontaneously burst into flames and illuminated the path in front of the explorer. The hallway smelt musty and with the torches came the scent of burning dry wood, one that filled Thomas’s nostrils until he could no longer smell anything else. Though the flames were hardly adequate enough to eat into the cool darkness, His well trained eyes would ensure light wouldn’t be a problem for him.

Besides, Moorcroft felt he wouldn’t need to rely on his keen navigation skills to get to where he needed to be. He could feel the temple leading him, guiding him, almost as if there was life hewn into the rock of the temple that pulled him on spiritual rails towards his destination. The energy resonating all around him hit Thomas quickly, sharpening his focus and calming his nerves. He extended his own torch before him, a bright orange glow shining ahead. Though the majority of the ancient sandstone masonry was intact, dangerous footfalls and dangling vines emerged from the shadows to put an immediate end to his feeling of security. Thomas’s journey from then on involved treading lightly and darting over the pitfalls and traps protecting what he believed was the inner sanctum; the place likely to be Eiyuu Ou’s very burial chamber.

Keep going! Nearly there!

As the passageway opened up into a larger, elaborate and more ornate room, a stone rolled beneath Moorcroft’s eager heels which forced his balance to fail. There was a mighty crash moments later as the adventurer jarred his knees and hit the floor. As he spread his hands out to try and support his weight, Moorcroft realised he felt something smoother than the eroding sandstone of the prior corridor.

It was polished glass; ocean blue, smooth to the touch and covering every inch of the room's floor, save for a pedestal in the centre which was dwarfed by the sheer expanse of the chamber. Carvings in the ceiling sailing high above him seemed to depict the goddess Dryx sentencing a defiant Eiyuu Ou to death. The askew lid of the golden sarcophagus in the middle was decorated with runes which looked as if they were meant to serve as guardians over the body, keeping it sealed forever.

It appeared, though, that their duties had fallen short. The tomb was empty.

Thomas Moorcroft of Radasanth, Corone, had been on his feet four seconds before he felt it; the cold sensation of a blade tearing between his shoulder blades and punching through his chest horribly. The adventurer, caught so suddenly within death’s icy grasp, had not heard the footsteps tap lightly behind him as he had fallen. Thomas had not seen, from the corner of his eye, the flash of a golden pauldron reflecting the burial chamber’s light as its bearer moved with the stealth of a desert viper behind him. The hoarse voice that followed came too late and yet confirmed the fleeting fear of the events that had just transpired.

“...A mortal, daring to stand on the same level as me, on his own two feet? What blasphemy. You will kneel in my presence, mongrel.”

If the reaper had been kind to him, it would have perhaps allowed Moorcroft to look deep into the crimson irises of history itself. He would have been permitted to admire the golden blonde hair and boyish features of that which he had sought his whole life, that which had eluded even the greatest scientific minds and scholars for generations. As the bronze blade Mydisa retracted from the wound, there was no such respite from death’s agent; the cruel deliverer of fate it was.

Moorcroft would die alone without ever having laid eyes on Eiyuu Ou and would never know the honour his discovery would bestow upon his family name for future generations.