The Temple...

Mudocoma Tuoresta sighed in the mid fall dry heat of the desert as he held his hand over his face obscuring his view of the sun. He looked back across the caravan that was currently heading towards the Kuro Suna temple and grinned, 'Soon we'll be richer than ever before...' thought he with a sinister chuckle. He had felt ever closer to the riches ever since they gained approval for a visit to the temple but this was the first time he had let his greedy side get the best of him.l

Mudocoma Tuoresta is a sickly man. For his entire life that he could accurately remember he's been sick, or tired. Not once in his life has he EVER felt good about anything, well at least that was before he had come to money. After he had met the beauty of money, his life damn near changed for the better. Now he had everything, a house, money, clothes, women, the whole nine and he felt with this trip it would all be complete. After all, all he knew that the temple was famous for was that it was the home of the Black Medallia.

He drooled on himself at the thought of the riches he would acquire and nearly slapped the horse he was riding to tell it to scurry on towards the temple faster. It didn't help that the temple was in sight, or the fact that the top portion seemed to be capped in gold since it was reflecting the light brilliantly, 'Oh baby...come to papa...'.

Ralphiele Lorenzo, archaeologist extraordinaire, and also a power hungry individual who well understand the effects of entering the Kuro Suna Temple of the Black Medallia, but he put those misgivings way back in his mind and focused entirely on the amount of power which he could obtain through the objects within that temple. Unlike his partner, Mudocoma Tuoresta, who only lusted after wealth, Lorenzo knew what to do with the money he possessed.

Lorenzo did not know how long he had this ambitious and slightly megalomaniac side to him, but it seemed like forever. He had always been driven to some goal which he did not know of; whether it would be this job as an archaeologist or as a leader of people. But that drive was still there and was clearly guiding Lorenzo to that unknown goal. Fate decided to keep this secret from him and frankly, Lorenzo might not have been as ambitious if he knew what its result would be.

Lorenzo looked at the temple which glinted with that precious metal called gold. The sun was high up in the sky, not a cloud in sight and the temperature was approaching 105 degrees, but to Lorenzo nothing could have bothered him from this momentous discovery and he felt that he was finally approaching the mysterious goal which had driven him since childhood.

The caravan reached the temple minutes later as other researchers and busy bodies poured out the back of the rather large carriage and began unloading the digging supplies. The sound of digging supplies and excavation tools clattering on the hardened sands woke Mudocoma from his self absorbed mental mutterings. He looked around briefly before staring up at the massive temple that loomed before him.

It seemed to be made of sand stone though it had the texture of granite. Its walls were smooth and sloped at a 65 degree angle to the golden peak at the top. There was a round hole in the gold cap that he could see now that seemed to lead into an unknown chamber near the peak. Just down the ways from where the caravan parked was the steps up to the temple door. He grinned deviously as he prepared himself mentally for the treasure that lay behind those massive carved doors, 'Soon...so soon...'

The magnificence of the temple before him, stunned Lorenzo. All of the possibilities which were once so important to him, vanished in that single reflection of the gold-capped peak of the temple. Something more grand, appeared in place. Emperor of the world. Lorenzo knew that it was cliché to think such things, but as the caravan came closer to the temple, such absurdities seemed irrelevant.

Lorenzo looked over at his companion and took in that greedy look that wanted to encompass the entire world. How can someone such as he be allowed to have any amount of the treasure which was held within that glorious temple? No, once we get inside I will end this fraud of a human being and take control of it all for the betterment of everyone else. They neared the bottom of the temple and the plan which formulated from the depths of Lorenzo’s mind was finalized.

The two explorers left their mounts at the base of the temple; neither of them cared whether the horses ran off for the object their obsessions was within reach. For one of them unimaginable wealth was in his grasp; the other, dreams of conquest and power, which he has always thought were rightfully his, were about to be made reality. What neither of them knew, despite the plans to the contrary, not one of them would come back with those dreams answered.

They ran up the side of the temple with a child’s glee, willfully ignoring the sinister aspect of the temple. Lorenzo knew what Black Medallia temples were built for and that was for keeping curses from escaping into the world. Even the name given to the temple by the lower classes in society gave ample warning for anyone who ventured in, Curse of the Undead. This nickname was due to rumors of sighting of sacrificial victims supposedly walking around as guardians of the temple. But neither of them knew or chose not to know, and so they entered the temple filled with hope of a dubious nature.

They entered the temple, their eyes shining with visions of mountains of gold, but what they saw was a vast emptiness. Their eyes traveled the length of the far side of the temple, till they reach the ground floor. In the middle of the temple was a giant circle of strange symbols which surrounded a sealed well that stood in the middle of the circle. More strange symbols from each of the four directions formed four lines to the well and on it to where the lines met in one large symbol on top of the seal covering the well.

The two explorers looked at each other for a moment and both thought the same thing at the same time. The gold was in the well! Right after that moment that moment they both rushed down the stairs to their right, which led to the ground floor. They both reached the floor at the same time, but Lorenzo’s longer stride quickly past his companion and reach the well first, panting with effort and excitement. Lorenzo waited for his companion to reach the well, and once again a look was sufficient for them to know what must be done.

Each man took hold of the stone slab which covered the well and began to push. A loud grating sound filled the chamber till a loud crash interrupted it. The seal was off, the temple seemed to take a breath and then a terrible scream of triumph rushed out the well, along with an invisible fog that continued upward and out of the temple and began to cover the entire continent. The two men were struck dead momentarily, then rose back off the ground, their flesh decaying and a lifeless look to their eyes. All hope was expunged with the revival of this dread creature. Who will survive or will everyone mimic the fate of these two men?