Deathly night.

[Thanatos]

The air was cold, the sky was black and the moon was nearly full. Starts shimmered in the heavens, and their ambiance combined with that of the moon cast an eerie pale light on to the vast cemetery on the outskirts of the proud kingdom of Avaren. The pal light of the moon created may ominous shadows amongst the tombstones, and scattered trees.

Here the dead rest after their long lives. Everything was still and quiet. Well mostly any way, a raven was perched in a tree. It black feathers gleamed beautifully in the silvery light offered by the night sky. Its beady black eyes stared down something sitting at the foot of a large tombstone.

In the shadow of a rather large grave marker sat a man with pale hair and dark clothing. His eyes where closed, his hair was as white as bone and his Pale skin, seemed to be pulled tight against the man's skeletal structure. His eye lids where darkened, and baggy from long nights of over use. The man's features, gaunt as they where, made him like far older than he really was.

The man's name was unknown but he called himself Thanatos. Thanatos was the name of the God of Death in a forgotten religion of times past. He liked the name and thought it suited him, and so adopted it. And as fate would have it. He was a mage of one of the blackest arts known to the arcane and divine arts. Thanatos was a necromancer, true to his namesake he was indeed a lord of the dead.

At the moment the Dreaded spiritualists meditated. He listened to the many voices of the voiceless ones that rested 6 feet below him; none of the voices where happy. Having a necro in there midst was not their idea of fun. His very presence disturbed them all greatly. Well not all. There where some Spirits that wanted vengeance against their murderer's but where to week to manifest themselves, and haunt their enemies. These saw the necro as a means to get their way. They would gladly bend to his will in order to fulfill their own goals.

The Raven, who seemed to be watching and waiting for the dreadful looking man to just keel over, and going the others that rested her so that it could have it's beak in the dead flesh first, was the only other living creature in that Cemetery. Well at least for now.

[Aankin]

To put it simply, Aankin was pretty bummed. He had somehow lost his pouch of money, and had been unable to pay for his drink. He had had to basically write an 'I owe you', which he wasn't afraid of paying, of course, but it just would have been so much simpler if he had been able to pay them right there. He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out where he could have dropped it.

He mumbled to himself.

"Should have asked that girl to stay..."

As he wandered, avoiding going back to the center of the city to do some more [*gasp*] paperwork, he found himself going further and further into parts of town that looked a bit.. darker... more unsafe.. than where he had been. Ignoring this, he kept walking, only things on his mind being his lack of money on hand and the fact that he really did not want to sign his name anymore.

In this fashion, he arrived at the cemetary.

He didn't even realize it was a cemetary until he was halfway through it and he noticed odd looking rocks popping up all around him. He stopped and looked around, cringed as some old dirty looking bird sat in a tree above him. He glanced forward, saw that there was not much else to see, and turned around, facing where he came from.

"Probably should be getting home now anyway..."

[Thanatos]

the Raven looked up from it's fantisized prey and at the new comer as the sound of foot steps reached it's ears. And the pale figure sitting at the base of the headstone felt the presence the moments it entered the Hallowed ground. As the man walked passed the said grave marker Thanatos was able to discern his identity. It was the king of Avaren, Luckily for him, Thanatos was not in need of a corpse.

"Probably should be getting home now anyway..."

Thanatos grinned. Stretch his facial features to here his face almost did resemble a skull. He wouldn't harm the royal man though in this situation Thanatos had no fear of loosing to him anyway, but the bone-dancer wanted mess with his highness a bit. So he responded in a raspy, under used voice, "So soon, and without paying your respects to the diciest? How rude." He said in an almost mocking tone.

The raven let out a caw of excitement, as it realized that the man at the tombstone was well enough to speak. It had longer to wait than it thought. To bad for him, or her it was difficult to tell which.

[Aankin]

Aankin froze. His heart-beat increased dramatically, the drumming in his chest growing louder as the unrecognized voice from out of nowhere called out to him. It didn't help that the voice was followed by the crow's cawing. He shivered a bit. He turned a little and peeked behind him, but he couldn't see anything because it was dark. He had always been rather afraid of corpses after a tragic accident at a neighbor's funeral involving a candle, a dead grandmother, and a dozen angry relatives.

Now, for all he knew, a corpse was talking to him, calling him rude for not paying his respects. His skin crawled.

"Uhm...." He started, finding his mouth had gone dry. "Who... Who's there...?" His voice barely made the phrase into question form at the end. He was nervous, alright, and he was ready to run like hell if the need were to arise.

[Thanatos]

Thanatos Eyed the bird appraisingly. The bird seemed to have style. He liked it. Perhaps he would go research how to turn animals into familiars once had the gold, to afoor the text, or to afford having it done for him. Anyway his wicked grin returned.

The pale hand reached for something lying beside him on the ground. While his other hand pulled the hood of his black traveling cloak, the one he wore of the rest of his clothes, over his head. The Object h now grabbed looked at first like an oddly curved staff, however as the man lifted it to used as a means to pull himself up their was a reflection of moonlight on metal at a right angle form the top edge of the pole. It was a scythe the kind farmers used to harvest their crops.

He pulled himself up, and heard the Raven flutter to the side. The bird saw the blade, and hoped for the worst. Maybe one of them would fight, and he would have first dibs on the looser. It wasn't leaving. Thanatos grinned a toothy grin, And knew the impression thhat would be made on the other man the moment he saw the pale, almost skeletal figure, wearing a black cloak and wielding a scythe, the fact that it was dark would distort the Kings vision even more, leading rather frightening conclusions.

At the moment Thanatos was facing away, and with a smile on his face he turned slowly around. "I am one that is concerned with the dead." He said grimly. "It's a shame that a man such as yourself would not, at the very least, won't pay their respects." As he turned the moon light danced across his features and as the clock shadowed most of the light on his pale skin his had and face too a=on the appearance of being skinless. It was merely a trick of the light and shadows, but Thanatos loved adding to this man's fear. He raised his left hand, the one not holding the midevil weed trimmer, and pointed a thing bony finger at the man. "Especially when it is inevitable that one day you will join them. A king's immortality only lasts after death, if he is either feared or respected in life and during death." His voice was coming cold and even more solemn. Then he lowered his hand, and reveled in the effect it would have.

[Aankin]

Aankin thought he felt his heart stop. There, standing tall and proud in front of him, was none other than a figure who looked like Death itself. He audibly swallowed. He didn't ask how this... being... knew he was 'King', because it seemed obvious that Death would know who and what he was. "I... I'm.. terribly sorry..." He mumbled, lowering his eyes and head, avoiding eye contact with this... thing.

He fidgeted, nervous and terrified. That crow just perfected the horrid scene, and the raising of the finger... He was frozen to the spot. He awkwardly bent his knee a bit and lowered himself slowly towards the ground. "M-m-my ap-pologies to the.. the dearly departed... f-for my rudeness...."

[Thanatos]

The King was bowing to him! If that wasn't an ego boost for the already proud necromancer, then nothing was. It was his pride that kept Thanatos from bursting out laughing. He was being cruel and he knew it. The The subservient attitude that the king of Avaren was indeed amusing, to one how knew what was really going on.

The greater irony of it all was that Thanatos had not lied, not even once. Thanatos was one that was concerned with Death, in fact he dealt with it on a daily basis. Still one could not really blame his highness. There was not a being on earth that did not fear the visage of their ultimate fate.

Thanatos decided to add another double edged truths and lies. "Count yourself among the fortunate, mortal. Most mortals that exist in my presence for this long, have already reached the end of their thread. I have not comfort you, you have merely stumbled into Hallowed grown that I chose to make sure was well kept. It seems that With the respect, little as it may be, has saved you from some torment. May you bare in mind what you've seen and heard this day, for a time spent with death on any level should be honored, For its is the reaper that casts the final judgment on lost souls. If you fear your soul is not solidly headed in one direct or another, I suggest you honor your judge." He said a voice that was completely emotionless.

But on the inside, He was laughing maniacally at the old fool of a king. Now he decided to use some magic of his own. The magic of Darkness. What seemed like a living cloud of black smoke pooled silently at Thanatos's feet and began to rise covering his entire being, while at the same time spreading out towards the King. The moment it touch the other man the world would go dark to the man. and Thanatos would escape silently. If the exit went as planned the king's vision would return in seconds but to late to see the deathly visage make it's exit.

[Kina]

Well, this is unpleasant, Kina thought as he trudged through the Cemetary. An eerie creak shattered the courage of any soul, and the darkness wasn't helping. That stupid Therious, telling me that a wealthy man had just been buried with his numerous treasures...worth burglarizing...yeah, right!,he thought as he walked on. A twig snapped, sending him flying three feet into the air.

[Seth Roshan]

Seth had just arrived in Avaren, and he had not been these lands long when he suddenly felt the presence of another necromancer. He could feel the powers of darkness being summoned, with no regard to control or balance and he could sense the dead turning in their graves. There had been much abuse of necromantic magic of late in this area, he could sense it. Seth could not, as of yet, tell how many undead summonings had taken place, but the balance of negative energy in Avaren had shifted dramatically from the norm.

His red eyes revealed little of the concern he felt as he spoke to his shadow companion in a cold and emotionless voice, "I feel that we best look into this Leos. I sense a presence in the graveyard."

Once, however, he had reached the graveyard, Seth spotted a young man trudging, with little heed to stealth, near the entrance. He appeared to be a bandit or rogue of some sort, though it mattered little to the necromancer and he was, admittedly, not the best judge of the living. He directed the lion to take on the form of his shadow and to remain hidden for the remainder of the encounter.

Seth was almost directly behind the young man before his foot happened upon a chance twig and startled the rogue several feet into the air. The necromancer sighed and positioned himself so that he would be seen once the unfortunate youth had regained his wits. He, honestly, would not be surprised if the sight of him set this new aquaintance into the air again.

It would not be the first time, nor the last that he would feel out of place in Avaren. Not many people dressed entirely in black and other dark colors these days. People simply found it too depressing. Seth found it to be a necessity. If the color did not stand out, the design of the clothing did. He wore a toga like outfit made out of flowing black cloth that ended in a skirt like attachment that reached his knees, similar in a appearance to ceremonial robes that the mythical Egyptians of the lands of Earth wore. The left half of his chest and his entire left arm were bare, revealing the marble pale skin beneath the fabric. A purple sash stretched from his right shoulder, at a diagonal, across the covered portion of his chest and wrapped around his waist. The tassled ends hung almost to his knees. A separate black sleeve covered his entire right arm, beginning at his shoulder and attached there with a gold chain and brooch. A black glove on his right arm, black pants, and black boots completed the ensemble.

If his outfit did not startle the rogue, his physical appearance certainly would. Seth was a well built man, lean and thin, but strong. There was, however, a sickly air about the man that one could not shake. It could be attributed to the dark circles under his red eyes or the unnatural paleness of his skin. Or maybe it was his hair. The man's hair was beautiful at first glance. It was black as night and hung far down, past his torso. But at a second glance, one would see that it hung limp and straight; lifeless. And a huge portion that hung in his face, effectively covering the right half, was bleached white. It looked as if all the life had been drained right out of it.

"Not that it's any of my business," he spoke softly and without emotion, "But I would not suggest venturing any farther into the cemetary tonight. There may be a necromancer inside and a chance encounter with one could prove fatal."