Rains of Life

[Khakana]

The sky may as well have been falling, as fat drops of water poured from the sky. Thunder roared as Thrax lead Kellayenasifarel through the jungle brush. It only took a few seconds after the rain started for them both to be thoroughly soaked and it didn't look like it would be letting up any time in the near future. The ground was getting muddy and difficult to walk in.

They had been on this trek for weeks, and their guide through the desert had set them up with a contact who had given them a map to what they were looking for. The Golden Temple. It had cost Kell a rather significant amount to get all the information he had been able to gather, most of it through less than over the table means, but things have never gone wrong before, and the payout was significant.

The Treeline broke, and the two found themselves standing atop a rather tall bluff, a muddy river swirling rapidly down below as the rains turned everything up. They could see further into the jungle,  scanning the treetops, but not a flicker of gold flashed in the distance.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax huffed from exertion; this ill-conceived expedition was going to be the death of him. He had never even been to the jungle before, and he told his employer as much. So what had possessed the two of them to go anyway and with nobody else?

"I'm beginning to think this temple of yours doesn't even exist," the big, wet gnoll complained with a grumpy frown. The combination made him look rather ridiculous, like a dog left out in a storm.

[Draconian]

"What the fuck is this!" Kell said after they broke through the trees and he looked at the scenery ahead, normally? Beautiful. Right now? A steep drop into a river was the last thing he wanted to see. His ears pinned down in his displeasure and he wiped his face of the rain before he cast a glance at Thrax, his tail waving before he looked away and back at the river, "I'm starting to think this thing doesn't exist either."

The wool pulled over his eyes. It sunk in that maps into unknown places were probably lies. "Think there's a way around...?" Kell said quietly, leaning to look over the edge and shaking his head, "I'm not keen on climbing down and then figuring a way back up."

[MadEmperor]

"If there is another way, we'll lose a day backtracking to find it. At least," the gnoll complained.

He was beginning to think that they should just slink back to civilization with their tails between their legs. He liked adventure, not pointless slogs through the wet, hot jungle. Gnolls weren't built for the jungle.

"We can't climb down that steep rise until the rain stops. Might as well squat here." He dropped to a seated position with a thud. "Unless you saw a cave on the way up."

[Khakana]

The world seemed to want the two to know that no one was listening as thunder roared out. Somehow the rain got worse as the sun seemed to be going down. At least, the sky was getting darker and darker the more they spoke. The river continued it's violent roiling down below. Thrax sat on the ground near the bluff in his own frustration, and a second later there was the unmistakable sound of stone cracking.

Before either could move the crack turned into a roar as a massive chunk of the bluff collapsed, massive stones tumbling off the sheer drop of the bluff. Anyone caught in it would have certainly died in the fall, if not from the sudden impact into the water and the proceeding drowning, or getting crushed by the stones.

Thrax's leg dangled off the new edge of the bluff and his eyes stared at where ground used to be. With the ground gone, an opening was revealed. A knowledgeable eye could tell the stone around the small gap was much different than the rest of the stone. Like it was placed there on purpose. The gap large enough for the both of them to fit rather nicely, if they were both willing to climb down.

[Draconian]

The thundering above echoed the thundering below and Kell was quick to grab his companions shoulder. Whether it was steady himself, his companion or make sure neither of them fell was unknown. His ears flattened down and he looked around, shifting ever so slightly and calmed once the rocks fell and nothing went with them.

"You okay?" His voice was low, like speaking loudly would make the rocks angry again. He peaked over the edge and frowned, not keen on wanting to follow them down to their new home.

It caught his eye then, and he blinked a few times to make sure it wasn't the rain. The darkening day did it's best to hide it, but he saw something. "Who the fuck puts an entrance on a cliff side," Kell complained to nothing, looking skyward like the clouds had an answer.

"Might be monsters in there but it seems dry. Not too far from the ledge so climbing up won't be too bad." He glanced at Thrax before he slung his bag off his shoulder and shimmied to the ledge on his belly, ready to toss it into the entrance.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax was wide-eyed, contemplating his near demise. It wasn't until Kell spoke that he came back to the moment. He nodded slowly before climbing down after him.

Once closer, he cracked a grinning smirk. "Monsters? Pssh! I once broke a cliff with my ass!"

[Draconian]

Fair.

Kell looked over his shoulder and smirked before looked back and second thought the whole 'toss backpacks' into the hole plan. Maybe that wasn't such a good idea. He stood and rolled his shoulders, flexed his toes and took a deep breath. "I thought we could toss our bags down there," He leaned to look, "But I don't trust my aim and we'd lose a lot of shit if I tossed it into the river."

And then he was gone. Scurried over the edge like the lizard he was. The climb was atrocious and he was terrified of falling but... His aim was true and his foot stepped on... Nothing. Which was terrifying.

Kell climbed into the hole and quickly scooted into it, sliding along the ground on his belly and taking a deep steadying breath. Maybe he'd try to find another way up when they finally left.

[MadEmperor]

The slightly larger Gnoll took the climb slowly and carefully. There had never been much of a use for climbing on the Serha Plains, so he didn't have much confidence in his footing. When he finally reached the hole, he breathed a sigh of relief.

That was, until he realized just how tight a fit it was going to be for his broad gnoll shoulders. He took a deep breath and crawled in after Kell.

I am the king of bad decisions.

[Khakana]

The two managed to crawl into the opening with relative ease, the darkness of the cave looming in until a faint blue light started to emanate from the pillars around the room. The walls looked old, worn in carvings on every surface. It was hard to make much of it out as time had taken it's toll, but it wasn't very difficult to see they had found themselves in a large rotunda of some kind, with a figure standing in the middle of the room.

The figure was stood on a pedestal, gold trinkets and gems piled at their feet, wearing a minimalist outfit of draped sheer cloth that would have been rather attractive had it not adorn a mummified corpse of a reptilian being of some kind. In it's hands was a book that it looked to be reading, but otherwise the room was empty.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax's eyes were first drawn to the pile of treasure, gazing upon it with desire. Then his attention drifted up to the mummy, which was... less appealing. His voice trembled a little nervously as he said, "Uhh... Kell? W-what is that?"

He drew his axe, just in case, as he stepped forward. 

[Draconian]

"Oh."

Kell said looking up and taking in the sight of... the dried corpse.

"A priestess or something maybe?" He looked her over again, taking note of the sheer cloth, "Maybe a beloved concubine?"

He set his pack down to take his lantern out, struck a match against the dried ground and lit it. Lantern bright and aflame, he held it up and looked at the adorn lizard-mummy with curiosity. Sure the gold and treasures were interesting but Kell was more interested in information and he greedily snapped the book away from the dried fingers, tail wagging in a smooth wave.

"Hm, I think I'll have to decipher this. Unless you can read this?" He held the book behind him towards Thrax while still examining the dried out lady.

[Khakana]

As the two looked over the body, the room seemed to grow slightly colder when the book was removed from the hands, and as Kell looked at the book, it was hard to believe. It was written in Thanati, and half of the page was blank. The top of the page read "Light Once Again" and it read:

After so long left in darkness with nothing more to watch and marvel for uncountable days, light returned. Khelena's story did not end in darkness, renewed as Onyx, Kellayenasifarel to the Thanati, and Thraxion Swordbreaker crawled through from the outside long forgotten. They explored, laying eyes on the body of the Avatar within these walls, unsure of what to make of her. Kellayenasifarel to the Thanati took the book, severing the Avatar's connection to it's cairn, plunging what remaining awareness she had into complete darkness.

More words continued to be written, describing each action taken by the two as if from the perspective of the body that stood right before them. The lights waivered, and there was an odd thrum of power settling from the book.

[MadEmperor]

"How can we be in this book?" he asked, in a near whisper, for some reason.

Then he felt the growing magic, and he snatched the book, slamming it shut. "Old magic, bad to keep reading. There's no knowing what it could do."

He just hoped that he noticed soon enough.

[Draconian]

Magic?

Kell made a face and let it be slammed shut. He frowned at the book. Who was Khelena? Taking the book from Thrax he kept it closed but looked at the front and back of it, his ears twitching in his discomfort before he moved closer.

A careful breath and he moved to put the book back. He didn't look at the pages, but he opened the book and placed it back in the naked lizard ladies hands. "Think we're cursed now?" He huffed out, taking a few steps back after balancing the book where he'd found it, "Also, should we go? I think we should go." the sound of outside echoed down in the tunnel and Kell glanced towards the woman and then back at Thrax, "after the rain? maybe?"

[Khakana]

Nothing happened immediately after the book was returned. The feel of power filling the air like a mild static never went away, until the hands moved. The sound of dried flesh ripping as the hands moved for the first time in gods only knew how long. Then the body jerked and started shaking as it's mouth opened in a soundless scream. Then the blue lights went out.

The body then illuminated the room itself with a similar blue light as it caught fire, collapsing off it's pedestal and tumbling down the gold and jewels piled around it. The fire moved across the body, leaving scaled flesh where it burned away the dried death. She writhed on the ground as her face was restored, and her clawed hands scratched at her neck as blue light emanated  from her mouth and she finally let out a loud moaning gasp.

She collapsed once again to her hands and knees, and the blue light from the pillars began to come back as she panted loudly. Magic crackled in the air like electricity, when she looked up at the two, her eyes wild and bloodshot.

"What have you done?" She asked, pushing herself up to her knees and staring at her hands. Her eyes shifted to the book, which was face down and smoking. "No..." She whispered, her shoulders dropping in resignation.

[MadEmperor]

Thrax watched as the mummy returned to life, torn between awe and fear. Conditioned by his primitive roots, fear won and he put the smaller Kell between him and the m-m-m-mummy. Then it spoke.

He gulped, but then he realized what it was she actually said and relaxed. He stepped out from behind Kell as if he hadn't just thrown his employer to the wolves and said, "A thousand apologies, great spirit. We meant no disrespect."

Wait, was she a lich? Were they about to die?

[Draconian]

Kell frowned, holding an arm out after Thrax moved behind him. He'd looked at the book, which meant that he could deal with the consequences of this slowly coming to life mummy.

His heart pounded in his ears and he took a step back, golden eyes wide when... She got meaty?

"Uh," was all he could manage out when asked what they'd done. "Are you... Alive?" Kell crouched down and he reached out to touch the rehydrated womans arm. The smoking book forgotten for the time being in favor of the newest distraction.

[Khakana]

"Am I Ali..." The woman asked, letting the question die as her face curled up with notable confusion despite the very reptilian features. She took up her book in her arms and stood up, brushing dust from her front and knees, her tail sweeping low to the ground before arcing up into a slight flick. "I am certainly not dead, am I?" She asked pointedly as she looked around the room. "Unless you are some new, pathetic deities that somehow replaced Xokagi."

The woman didn't wait for the question to be answered, taking a few steps towards the opening they had made, then turning back to the two. "With my book destroyed, I have no way of knowing how long I was an avatar for. Since you two seem to have something to do with that, I am going to ask you help me reorient myself and set myself back onto my proper story," She said, her voice not giving the impression she was even asking a question. "I am Grand Librarian Khelena Het'Ladaren..." She said, her eyes narrowing a little, "But you may refer to me as Grand Librarian."

[MadEmperor]

Thrax bowed a little too theatrically. He may not know what exactly was happening, but that was hardly an excuse to be boring. Besides, he was totally into his fellow animalistic non-human, even the scaley ones. This one even... no, bad Thrax.

"Stormsinger Thraxion Swordbreaker," the wet gnoll said with a smile, kissing her hand as if anyone would believe that he was a gentleman, "But you can call me Thrax."