Hamsel had seen many things in his life serving as a soldier for Lord Bamnus. Some he wished he hadn't but what he was witnessing from his hiding spot behind a rock within Black-Top would be burned into his mind."I hope you remembered what I told you when we first met." The Robed figure stepped forward. Lord Bamnus' legs were shaking as he neared the edge of the valcano. He glanced behind him and saw the river of magma below him. There was no where to run. The robed figure spoke with a whisper as he stood face to face in front of the king but his voice was only thing the king could hear. "Learn to swim..." The figure placed a boot to Bamnus' chest and pushed him to the lava below.

"My lord!" Hamsel screamed, the figure turned and gazed at the hidden scout. Hamsel's heart nearly stopped from what he saw. The figure wore a blood red vest almost as dark as the black robes he wore. He wore a black mask, black voids where the eyes should be but the most striking features were the red lines coming from the eyes and mouth. As if the figure had drank and cried blood. In his hands, twin dark and gruesome blades. Hamsel's only reaction from the site was the most basic of human reactions. Fleeing. As he started running he thought he had heard the figure speak to him. "You will not escape."

Hamsel had never run so far or so hard in his life, he didn't slow down as he descended down Black-Top's slopes. He didn't stop running as he traveled through the vent fields that surrounded Black-Top and he didn't stop though he nearly fell twice into the cracks and crevices that cover the Ash Lands that would have sent him into the magma below. He didn't stop as he neared the great gate and passed by his comrades bodies who had succumbed to the poisonous winds.

Hamsel didn't stop until Arumin was in view. The reason he stopped was not to catch a breath but of horror. A great eye made of flame loomed over Arumin. The kingdom itself was set aflame.

Hamsel didn't hear the screams or the shouts. As people ran passed him, he walked towards the burning castle as if in a trance. He looked up at the great eye, which now seemed to be staring directly at him. The figures words were the last thing he would hear. "You will not escape"

Several centuries later...

Lensen cursed himself. Here he was in the dead of night working in his fields for sleeping in late. Work that he should have done early in the morning that he would have to do again in several hours. He was thankful that there was moonlight to help guide him. As he worked he suddenly noticed a shadow pass over him. He looked up thinking at first it was a cloud but the night sky was clear and the moon loomed over him. He looked out thinking it was a bird but then stared at the direction the shadow was traveling. Out towards the east, the Obelisk stood yet for centuries it had been dark, now a bright light shined from its top. Lensen ran into his house, locked the doors and shut the windows.

The shadow passed over the the mountains guarding the Ash Lands, it passed by the surprisingly quiet Black-Top and towards the Obelisk. Within center of the structure stood the light source, sand from an hourglass that now rested at its bottom. From the table where the hour glass rested were four obsidian pillars, each with an hourglass on them with different colored sand all resting at the bottom of them. The structures rested within a circle of runes that was now glowing. Four dark hallways stretched out from hour glasses.

The sound of soft footsteps could be heard from each of the hallways as Four Figures emerged and stood infront of each of their Hourglasses.

"So it begins again." The first one spoke.

"The Cycle of Judgment" Another replied, he wore a dark robe of the courts that had green fastenings. Green swirlying lines covered his mask that had an angry depiciton.

"A different beginning" the third one spoke, wearing dark robes depicting a nomads travel cloak, his mask depicting great hunger.

"But it ends the same" the final one spoke, he wore tattered dark blue robes. His mask depicted death, a single unblinking eye was the only opening of the mask.

"So it shall be..." The first one spoke again. When he finished they all reached out and turned their hour glasses. The hourglass then sank into the pillars and the sand of the central houglass was suddenly at the top, descending down. The bright room was dark and empty once again. The four figures had disappeared in the darkness.

Three weeks later...

The Vindrel township was bustling with activity which was surprising for most. The small town sat near the entrance to the marshlands and was close enough to be infected by the plague winds that blew in from time to time. Because of its location it was mainly a leper colony for the empire that had become deeply divided amongst the people living there. The lepers were shoved into one section of the town to prevent any disruption to the activity and those that traveled into the area were forced to completely cover their bodies in robes or whatever they could find.

In the center of the town sat a lone robed figure on a bench in front of a fountain. People passed by him without noticing. From his mask he stared at a chain watch as the seconds ticked away. "Late. As always... he spoke in a whisper. He closed the watch and slipped into a pocket in the robes and stood up. As he started to walk, an arm grabbed him on his shoulder. "Where are you going leper?" a voice called out to him. He turned to find two soldiers eying him. "I have no quarrel with you." He spoke in a whisper. "Now leave me be."

"You know you're not supposed to be out here leper." One of the soldiers replied. "Now we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way." As he spoke, the other soldier's hand was already on the hilt of his sword.

Are you threatening me? The robed figure spoke. the wind caused the robes to rustle around the hilt of a hidden blade...

Having been traveling for a long while through the marshlands, Yoru Kasai had finally come across the township of Vindrel. She had been looking for someone.. or something to help her remember.. She had something to do. But what that was.. She could not remember.

The presumingly young woman walked about, looking for somewhere to rest. She saw a fountain. It looked like it would be a nice place to sit, but saw that some trouble was going on. She didn't much care for violence and she treated all people equally. Unless they were solely after her. Then she'd take offense.

Hearing the word leper, She looked and saw that infact that man the two guards didn't resemble a normal one? She wondered why they thought so? he was wearing a peculiar mask after all. She thought Lepers only wore bandages over their body?

Yoru quickly went over and asked the guards what they were doing? and lyingly told them that the stranger was with her and they needed to get going to the next town. Grabbing his arm and tugging him away slightly. Stating that it'd be best to go. She turned and let go. turning her head slightly and clicked her fingers. a small spark rose up and sizzled out near the fountain. But that wasn't all. It started to become a fire display. Little sparks came and went, as the water began to steam on the one side. Making the guards look in that direction and go over to check it out.

They were puzzled and after a few civilians started to come by, they had to start crowd control. Yoru giggled to herself as she kept walking. Looking back to see if the man would infact follow her? She did help him out.. In a way that no blood shed occurred.

Yoru started to turn a corner and felt her head, She became dizzy... "Damn.. to much flame manipulation in this form..." Yoru said as she hugged a wall. She had gone for about five days without food and it had finally gotten to her. Using her powers seemed to drain what little energy she had.. She started to walk while still hugging the wall as she entered an empty and dark alleyway. She kept walking as she thought she could feel someone coming.

Whipping out her staff, She aimed it for a guys head. But wasn't able to back it up with force. The man caught it and pulled her near. "Ah, what's a sweet thing like you walking in these nasty alleys?" As the drunkard held her strongly. He wanted something and Yoru knew exactly what it was. She struggled to no avail when she felt herself getting dizzy again. She needed to rest.. but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon...

People started pushing past the robed figure to get a look at what was going on, yet the commotion wasn't what caught him, it wasn't the commotion that was causing a stir in the crowd but the storm clouds that suddenly started forming. He turned and walked towards the direction of the storm clouds, which he saw the strange girl head to.

He slowly strolled down the alleyway and saw the girl along with another person. He didn't look at the girl who seemed to be in distress but the man was in his way. He stopped and stared at the man and whispered. "Move." The man turned to him "Mind your own business and sod off!" The drunkard let out a fist but was caught by the robed man. who held it firmly. The figure pulled the man close to him and spoke to him. "It's not yet your time. But it will be soon." He squeezed the mans arm until the sounds of bones crunching were heard. He tossed the man aside as he screamed in agony, not paying attention to the girl and continued down the alley way.

He was out of the alleyway as it started to rain. The area street was deserted and a the sound of thunder was in the back round. He stood there and waited and soon the sounds of foot steps soon filled the street along with the sounds of someone laughing and a heavy object being dragged . A hooded figure limped out from the fog, he wore tattered robes and was dragging a large scythe. The only thing that was visible was his right eye.

"You're late" He called out to him. Pulling out his pocket watch.

"I was having fun" The second one replied. he brought the scythe up to reveal blood stains on the blade

"You're still late" The first one answered. "Did you do what was required"

The second figure didn't answer but instead with his free hand, reached inside his robes and pulled out a small black pouch and tossed it in the air. The first one caught it and put it into an inner pocket.

"Too afraid to go into the marshes yourself? hehehehehe... Now if your through... I smell plague in the air. And you know what plague brings..."

"Just go." The first one replied back

"Hehehehehe..." He started shaking with laughter. "I sense something... This could make things different."

"It always begins differently." The first one answered. "It is of no consequence and doesn't matter to us. It will end all the same"

The second one continued laughing and started to limp past him. "If you say so... Hehehehe..." and then disappeared into the alleyway. The first one stood there as the rain and laughing faded then whispered to himself. "Wretch..."

Yoru watched. she was amazed at the man's strength to honestly do that with one hand.. 'Definitely not a leper...' She thought as she shook her head. The man was cowering.. She didn't pay any heed to him.. other than taking what little money he had to pay for compensation in him grabbing her..

The sky had gone black and she could hear thunder.. Rain... Yoru quickly placed her hood over her head as another man came near.. But she moved out of his way as she heard and saw what seemed to be a Scythe being dragged behind her.. It may have been to narrow in this alley for him to swing it efficiently.. but she wouldn't put it past anyone that had the gall to carry something like that.. He also seemed familiar to the previous Man she had recently helped... If he was like the other.. She moved to a over even more and jumped onto a box and then a small balcony.. Looking down on the man in blue.. He was laughing? Weird... As she looked in the direction The 'Red' man had gone.

Yoru got back down, on the ground, after she deemed it safe and ran out of the alleyway.. seeing the man in red still in view.. She quickly sprinted towards him.. It was very quiet... Like Death had just walked through there.. She shivered at the thought... but it was only her human side reacting to the silence.. She didn't care about death.. She really couldn't die... it was only a momentary thing.. she could only remember a short period of time in utter darkness... then a blast of fire.. before waking and beginning her life over... She could remember everything from before she died.. well.. At least the last time she could.. She had died twice in the last two years.. the first time... well she really didn't know about her true self... but now that she knew.. Death wasn't really a fear she had anymore.

She caught up with the man and looked at him.. he seemed to be thinking about something in the middle of the street. Coming up from behind him and was about to say Hi and slap him nicely on the back before hearing the word "Wretch" come from him. She refrained from slapping and instead placed both her hands on her hips and said loudly. "WHO'RE YOU CALLING WRETCH?!?!?!" Looking at him to see if any response would come before going in front and looking straight into that masked face of his.

The robed figure didn't respond to the distraction behind him. He turned his head to the strange girl and paused as if about to speak before walking back to where the other had gone. As he passed by her he said something as if to talking to himself. "It is time to finish the first cycle."

He walked towards the center of town, where there was once a busy market was now all but silent. several bodies of soldiers, lepers and towns folk were scattered about. Four of them were aligned in a circle. "Atleast he did is job." He said to himself. He took the pouch from his robes and pulled out a still beating dragons' heart. The heart pulsed while he held it in his hand. He took the heart and drew runes in front of the heads of the bodies with the blood still in the beating heart. When he was finished drawing the runes, he made a circle of blood connecting them and stood within the circle. He placed the dragon's heart bag in the bag in his robes and held out his hands and spoke out loud.

"And the wretched shall come and fill the land with plague and where once was the home of life shall now be the hall of death."

As he spoke, the rain stopped falling and the thunder stopped as if suddenly to allow him to speak. His soft voice carried throughout the town. When he finished speaking, he began to sing a hymn in a long dead language. As he sang, the runes began to glow and a burst of red light spiraled around him and went up into the sky. As he sang, the mouth on his mask began to move as if becoming his face, the red marks on the mask began to glow and the black eyes became a glowing red. He began to levitate off the ground and his robes began to shift and form into black wings that began to flap softly as he levitated slightly higher off the ground. As he continued to sing, disembodied voices joined him in song and the sky opened up where the red light burst through the clouds.

When he finished singing, the light shined brightly in a red flash and he was back on the ground, his wings had disappeared and where the four bodies had been lying, now only a pile of ash that was blown away in a gust of wind. Still as if talking to himself he spoke "It is done."

He started to walk towards the exit of the town as a gust of wind picked up from behind him.

Half way across the continent, A robed figure stood on a hill facing a squadron of soldiers who were running towards him. He held out a set of scales with his right hand and spoke. "I judge you. Guilty..."

The two ends of the scales came back and locked in from where they hung and a torrent of wind picked up from behind the figure. He stood there unaffected by the increasing winds however the soldiers who were finding it impossible to rush up the hill. Some were finding themselves being pushed back while others were being picked up by the winds. The wind picked up even more and the soldiers who were being picked up soon were hurdled miles away.

Storming towards where the man had gone. Yoru had stopped and covered her face as a bright light came washing through the area. She quickly felt tremendous power but by the time the light disappeared and her eyesight went back to normal. She saw nothing. but the man was still there. the city was empty... literally.. She couldn't figure out what had happened. But this man had to know a thing or two. She decided to follow as best as she could. Knowing that this just might be a lead to finding her past all that much faster. She was getting weary of her travels and finding nothing. Maybe this man could be a key. She had never seen anyone with his strength. Perhaps it could also be entertaining.. just as long as he didn't refer her as a wretch again...

Yoru ran up and slowed when she got close. following in his footsteps silently as she watched him from behind. Not wondering if he had anything to do with the light that had nearly blinded her from before.

Obscured by the confines of a nearby bazaar, a young boy dropped to his knees at the sight of the spectacle that had just taken place. A leper, he knew he ought to stay inside to avoid detection in the part of Vindrel reserved for "normal people". However, Curiousity is a powerful force, and in this case, potent enough to risk indictment for being quartered in his father's household which happened to be connected to the bazaar.
Sweating, his hands seized the wooden counter for support; slowly, painfully, he was able to make it off the ground. The odor of dragon's blood was in the air: unpleasant and piercing, it conflicted with the sweet, delicate scent of the plant life his father kept in stock.
Such power...was this man a god? Questions plagued his mind. Just how does one go about this disappearing act through the use of dragon's blood? Were the people dead or relocated? Why hadn't he vanished with the rest of them?
But something else came with the questions. An overwhelming desire to follow the cloaked figure. His mind was hungry, and he had to know. He was aware of the street the man had took. Had there been a girl with him? He seemed to remember something of the sort, but this detail was a nuisance compared to the knowledge he was now seeking.
And so it was that this boy ripped his grip from the familiar counter, the counter he would sit at when nobody was watching and look out at places he would be able to go.
If only.
With a swift pace, he set off for the direction he had seen the man take, and wished that he had not made a turn since the figure had left his eager gaze.

((OOC: Just to let you know. We need a bio of your character and it needs approval from myself and the thread starter. Until then.. We can't acknowledge your post... Please read the rules so that something like this can be avoided in the future.))

((OOC. This rp is closed as is everything else. I am no longer the RP mod and all partisapants in this section are gone.Don't even bother posting in here.))