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Prologue

A chill breeze blew over the night shrouded Nalli desert. Small pockets of fine apricot sand blew into the air, forming a faint particulate mist. Three inquisitors of the Grand Temple of the Builders sat in a circle at the base of a dune. The bright moonlight reflecting off their beautifully adorned masks and robes. They sat in near silence as they cared for their equipment, polishing and cleaning their assortment of weapons.

Ythe looked to the sky; It was perfectly clear, had been for years now. She gazed upon the stars and the moons, gently tracing a gloved hand across the crescent moon amulet of Q'alay that hung from her belt. She began to recall when Mount Kalostrin last erupted. That had been nearly six years ago. She was an initiate then; just as Calus is now. Though, then there was no inquisition yet. She was just a young devout soldier of the Grand Temple of the Builders who served the Keeper of Celestial Bodies, Q'alay.

She remembered when the smoke began to pour out of the great volcano. How ash choked the sky and blotted the sun. The people of the continent of Felaya lived in darkness for nearly a full year; darkness, and war.

Mount Kalostrin had not erupted on it's own. The nomadic tribes of the obsidian wastelands, which lay around the mountain, worship the fire elemental servants of the dead god Alphoris the Ever-Burning former ruler of the plane of fire.

"These elemental creatures from the plane of fire are not deities; They are naught but violent power hungry beings of destruction." Ythe thought to herself.

The Kalofali tribe of the obsidian wastes had summoned one of these beings to the mortal plane within the heart of Mount Kalostrin. This being's name was Suldurr. Suldurr was a great and powerful lord within the plane of fire and they caused the volcano to erupt. They sought to destroy all of Felaya, and to consume all of the planet of Gorshareh in flame. So they might create a new plane of fire in which they were sole ruler.

Ythe shook her head gently, looking down at the amulet of Q'alay in her hand. It's silver, intricately engraved form bore numerous tiny inscriptions detailing ancient rites and rituals of the Keeper of Stars. It gave her comfort. Her mask bore the mark of Q'alay as well, and had similar intricate engravings. Though, the engravings on her mask were something entirely different. Spells and incantations which have the sole purpose of terrible destruction which only the power of the stars themselves could wreak.

The Temple had gone to war with the Kalofali tribe, and all those who dwell within the obsidian wastes. Ythe was on the front lines for the entirety of it. She learned much during that time. She, however, also destroyed many, many lives. It was genocide.

Suldurr and the Kalofali were defeated. Mount Kalostrin calmed down after a few months, and the skies cleared. The obsidian tribes were left to their own devices to re-establish some sort of existence within the calamity which the Temple had wrought upon them. They continued to worship their destructive, power hungry "gods". So several months later the Temple formed an inquisition against the obsidian tribes to prevent them from bringing another threat like Suldurr into the mortal plane.

Ythe slowly traced a finger along the deeply engraved crescent on her mask. A tightness began to grow in her chest. These were _bad_memories.

"Ythe." "Ythe! You there?" A small bunch of tightly packed sand collided with Ythe's mask.

Calus was sitting across from her looking at her expectantly.

"I asked, How many do you think there will be?" Calus said, the slightest hint of irritation in their voice.

Ythe wiped the sand off her mask, looking towards the initiate with slight disdain.

"I don't know Calus." She replied. "There will probably be multiple of them. As there usually is." Ythe did nothing to hide the growing annoyance in her voice.

"So we're just supposed to go in to some cave out here in the middle of the desert without knowing how many cultists are waiting for us?"

Ythe let out an exasperated sigh. "That's the job Calus. We'll be fine, I assure you."

Calus' masked gaze lingered for a while before they slowly shook their head and returned to cleaning their pistol. Their mask was still unadorned. It was a blank, black, metal surface. This was Calus' first hunt. They had not yet earned the right to an identity in battle.

A long silence fell over their camp. The chill desert wind seemed to grow stronger the longer the silence continued.

Lefalline's soft voice cut through the silence. "Fear not Calus for the gods are with us. You will remain safe so long as they are watching." Warmth radiated from her words.

Ythe looked to Lefalline, and simply nodded.

Lefalline was an Oracle. A high ranking member of the inquisition with the ability to see short distances into the future. She was fully adorned in red and gold.

Calus sighed, sliding their pistol into the black leather holster at their waist; taking a moment to smooth out their black linen robes. "When shall we go then, Night or Day?" Calus asked.

Both Ythe and Calus turned their heads towards Lefalline as she looked up at the sky. The Oracle was motionless, her intricately and beautifully decorated red robed form beginning to radiate heat. After a few moments passed runes along the horns of her mask slowly began to appear. Bright orange marks of fire that seemed to destroy all darkness around them. The runes slowly began to fade and Lefalline lowered her head.

With an air of piety and righteousness Lefalline's voice once again broke the silence.

"We will attack during the day. With the strength of the sun and by the guidance of Feyn we shall find absolute victory." Ythe slowly nodded, gazing down at her glaive. It was a beautiful weapon which she had hand crafted herself; as tradition of the inquisition requires. She had finished polishing the long curved blade and gently traced her fingers along the intricate runes she had carved along the shaft before gently resting it on the ground. "Let us rest then." Ythe said. "I've a feeling what awaits us will not be an easy battle." She kneeled down into the desert sand, leaning back against her pack as she prepared to sleep. The others did the same.

Ythe drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them as she let out a shaky sigh. She was still uneasy from her earlier memories.

Ythe could feel Lefalline's warm gaze upon her as she slowly fell asleep. It gave her no comfort.

Ythe was woken by a sharp kick in the side. She jolted awake, gripping her glaive tightly just about to jump up and begin battle as she looked up and saw Lefalline standing over her. Ythe began to relax as she met Lefalline's masked gaze. Lefalline's mask was red and had six waved horns on it, like rays of sun. One for each death she had faced. Her mask also bore intricate spell runes upon it's face, circling a deeply carved sun to symbolise her worship of Feyn the Judicator. Lefalline's presence was always intimidating yet comforting.

"It's time." She simply said.

Ythe gave a nod and rose, gathering her pack and dusting off her silken cobalt and silver robes. She looked to the horizon to check the time. The sun was just beginning to rise.

She gave a quick glance around and saw no signs of Calus.

"Where's Calus?" Ythe asked.

"They went ahead to begin moving while the air is still cool. We should catch them up quickly." Lefalline replied.

Ythe nodded, lifting her mask slightly to take a drink of water from her skin; quickly fastening her mask back in place before marching east towards the direction of the cave they had come to cleanse of cultists. Lefalline followed close behind her.

It took about ten minutes for Ythe and Lefalline to catch up to Calus. The black linen robes of an initiate make traversing the desert difficult, but that is their purpose; to test the fortitude and strength of all initiates. Should this hunt be successful Calus will have completed their rites of initiation and become a full fledged inquisitor.

The cave was about a mile out still, but they should be there soon, and hopefully finish their business before noon. The three walked in silence save for the soft crunch of sand beneath their boots and the light jangling of the multitude of amulets and holy symbols which adorned their robes. Of course, Calus' robes were unadorned.

The group reached their destination within an hour.

"It's a hole." Calus blurted out. "It's a small gaping hole within the sand. I thought this was supposed to be a cave?"

Ythe sighed and sat on the edge of the cave entrance, dangling her legs in holding her glaive to her chest. "Not all caves have large grand entrances against a mountainside Calus." she replied before pushing off the side and sliding down.

Calus just gave a small groan in return.

Ythe's feet hit rock fairly hard. She wasn't injured but her legs will definitely be sore later. The smell of sweat and sulphur filled her nostrils; the distant sound of chanting filled the air. Ythe scowled in disgust beneath her mask. Before her was a long crudely dug stone tunnel which seemed to turn off the to left in the distance. She could see the faint glow of torch light from around the corner.

Ythe began quietly reciting an incantation to herself, tracing her fingers along some runes wrapped around the shaft of her glaive just beneath the blade, beginning to walk forward as she did. She felt power well up inside of her, the power of the astral plane, something she was deeply familiar with and found great comfort in. A slight smile crossed her lips as she finished the incantation and expelled the power into the blade of her glaive. The blade and the runes she used for the incantation began to brightly glow with the purest moonlight. She entered a battle stance and began charging down the hall. She heard the sound of Calus landing into the cave behind her as she turned the corner.

As Ythe rushed deeper into the cave the chanting grew louder and louder. It wasnt long until she burst into a large circular room. The chanting was deafening. Before her were eight pale figures sat in a circle around another. Their skin was covered in ash, with large pieces of obsidian embedded in various parts of them. The one in the center was covered in intricate black tattoos forming swirls and detailed geometric patterns. The tattoos seemed to move like smoke. This one was clearly a powerful elder.

The smell of sulphur was particularly thick in here. The chanting had reached its tumultuous climax as Ythe burst into the room. The elder stared at Ythe. Those surrounding him stopped the chanting. As he continued.

The elders eyes felt as if they were boring into Ythes very core. As if they were digging into and eating away at her soul, and even her own life essence. The elder's chanting was a deafening and deep rumble that felt as if it would shake the entire cosmos. He began to raise his hand.

Ythe raised her glowing glaive and charged, letting out a battle scream which was much more carnal than she thought possible.

The elders chanting stopped and he threw his arm forward hard. There was a loud crack in the air as a ball of black and purple energy was flung across the room.

It hit Ythe directly in the chest. Everything began to fade. The last thing she could remember was embedding the blade of her glaive in the elder's skull before it burst in an explosion of moonlight and gore.

Everything went black.

A faint whisper enveloped her entire mind. "You shall see the truth. You will become it."

Nothing.

As Ythe woke she felt drained. Her muscles ached. Her mind felt cloudy. She groggily looked around as she was slowly regaining her senses. She was still in the cave. She was surrounded by the corpses of all the cultists. The air was still heavy of sulphur, and now also with iron and the reek of death. Ythe struggled to stand, she felt like she'd been fighting for a century. Ythe gripped tight on her glaive and used it to support herself as she began to further survey the carnage that surrounded her. Among the bodies was Lefalline. A hole straight through her chest.

Ythe slowly walked over to the corpse of Lefalline, and fell to her knees. Ythe gently rolled the Oracle onto her back, pausing as loss began to set in.

Ythe took Lefalline's water skin and fastened it to her own belt before shakily guiding her hand's to the Oracle's mask, unfastening and removing it with great care and reverence. She gently cradled the beautiful horned mask as she looked down at Lefalline's face. Lefalline was an elf. A dark skinned elf with long well taken care of white hair.

Ythe had only seen the elf's face once before. A fighting member of the temple removing their mask in the presence of others was highly looked down upon. Lefalline was one of the most beautiful people Ythe had ever seen and she loved her.

Ythe looked around the room. She found Calus. The top half of Calus.

They had been cut cleanly in two above the waist.

There was no blood.

Ythe began to sob as she struggled back onto her feet and walked over to Calus' body.

She kneeled down next to them. She took their water skin, and their mask. Calus was young. Still a teenager. Human. Short black hair.

Soft unblemished features.

Ythe began to openly weep.

It felt like hours had passed before Ythe finally managed to get herself out of the cave.

It was late afternoon.

Ythe delicately placed the masks of her fallen companions in the sand next to the cave entrance. Travelers would find them and take them north to Alsan, where the Grand Temple sat.

Ythe began to walk east.

Something called her to the wastes.

She had to go.