A Story:
Sepulchery and those who work in the field are essentially the equivalent of assassins. Seps are the only Kulornes in Terra Exsules that frequently visit the outside world. Being a Sep is not a choice, should a child show the ability to cover his or her own real form, and instead be mistaken as something else, they are taken on immediately: For the skill is a rare one indeed. Seps have given up all magical capabilities beyond their innate abilities to hide their true identity. A Kulorne's horn encompasses and isolates their magikal abilities, without it, A Kulorne has no magikal inclination or ability. In payment for their full camouflage capabilities as a Sepulcher, a Kulorne will give their horn by having it ripped from their head by an Elder. It is believed that the honor of this ritual is of the highest degree, and to live through it is to have the grace of both Erro and Como Siscut shining on your life. This ritual was adapted early on in Kulorne history when the first Sep, Karre, was chosen by Erro; the goddess of dusk, dawn, and death - who was rumored to take the physical form of a most beautiful hornless Kulorne; and she said unto Karre;
“Hide your face, for it shows no beauty in the eyes of other men. Instead, become them, win their trust, and then strike them down like the dogs they are.”
“But how?” Karre pleaded to the goddess. And, derived from his few reports still legible after thousands of years rotting in ruins, it was read that when Erro smiled upon Karre; dusk and dawn glowed from her eyes and carried with it the sweet peace of death that eased Karre's turmoil.
“Give to me your whole self; that which your ancestors gave you and which your race is known by. Give me your horn.” Karre, being young, naïve and influenced by Erro's goddess like beauty, was neither reluctant nor apprehensive; instead he solemnly nodded to Erro and bent on a knee as she pulled the horn from his skull, showing Karre no quarter. For Erro was a devious, traitorous being and longed to be the strongest goddess of all, she gave Karre the power he sought only for that which it was said a Kulorne cannot survive without. And acquiring that magik kept in a Kulorne’s horn would give her exactly what she sought.
Most Kulornes tell the tale differently from person to person from then on; different families saying different things. But most claim that Karre’s cry of pain was so loud and garish that he became a beacon. Informing every god and goddess that Erro now held the ancient magic of three races in her hands. It is told that Karre only survived the fatal injury because, in giving up his horn, Como Siscut; god of luck and good fortune felt respect for the mere Müller, or man, and graced him with survival. From then on, and this point is agreed upon by all Kulorne, Karre spent his days searching for others to follow in his path. To become the ending blow to any who opposed the Kulorne race, and that he worshiped Erro, who he still thanked, despite her actions. Until one day he disappeared, never to be heard from or sought after again.
The Kulorne are a very dark race. Their history is full of sacrifices, small wars and bloodshed. Though internal wars have never happened with the Kulorne; as they have learned better than to waste their precious few resources on fighting one another after years of exaltation from the rest of the world.
A Character:
'Terror struck every chord in his mind as the woman's heart was punctured. The bullet tore through her skin and exploded out of her back in a shower of tissue and skin. Blood from the wound dripped quickly down her delicate frame. The love of his life, his only reason for being all those years, had died at the hand of his worst enemy; at the hand of God.'
•••
▬▬▬Xigganin choked back his tears as he closed his favorite novel; "Lucifer's Beginnings" for the third time. The ending was just too much for him to bear, it made him bawl every time he read the ending. No one deserved the fate that Lucifer had been given, in his opinion, not even the devil himself. Though that was the novel's situation, with the setting taking place in the lower levels of hell, which got Xigganin thinking. “What would hell look like?" He muttered to himself, tapping his foot to an invisible beat no one else heard. Just a tick he did while thinking, but to his advantage it irked Cauder, so he found himself doing it while taking part in the activity often. Normally this ended up in Cauder gallivanting off to his room in order to avoid the noise, and left Xigganin free of his annoying 'friend'. But not this time. Not when a knock echoed from Xigganin's door across the room, an all too familiar voice on the other side of it.
“Hey Xiggy, what’s up?” It was Cauder, Xigganin’s - self-proclaimed - best friend and mortal annoyance that never seemed to let him be. The knocking continued for another minute or so, Xigganin ignoring it with ease. It was one of those things that became easier to tune out with practice; something he had had a lot of. At least, it was normally easy, just like tapping his foot normally deterred Cauder, but today was a persistent day apparently. “C’mon Xiggy, I’m bored here! Help me out, I know you’re in there!” Xigganin sighed, setting his book on the table as Cauder pounded on the door once again, louder this time.
“Alright, I’m coming Cauder, just please stop before my door gives out. You’re giving the thing quite the pounding.” Xigganin hauled himself up from his comfortable spot on his windowsill chair, the green drapes hanging over swaying gently as he moved; the light seeping through performed a waltz on his royal blue walls. For a moment it mesmerized Xigganin, until once again the incessant hammering of his oak door began. Xigganin rambled to the door and apprehensively opened it, expecting to be either mauled or dragged to whatever frightening activity Cauder had prepared for them that day. Instead, he found himself looking at a confused expression on Cauder’s face; a nice change from the normal over excitement that filled it. “What?” Xigganin asked, though he didn’t recall himself giving his body the command ‘speak so the belligerent fool can ramble some more’.
“Where’s your hat? Never seen you without it before.” Cauder’s face returned back to its normal appearance when he must have come to the decision Xigganin had finally decided to go without it; which was not the case. He grabbed at his head, hands overlapping each other, scraping at their sea foam painted nails at the spot where he normally wore his small top hat. His eyes widened and frightened tears welled up in them, making the ice blue reflects almost white in the twinkling streams of light still dancing around Xigganin’s room. Cauder flushed at Xigganin’s reaction, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Xiggy, what’s wrong?” Obviously he had taken the hint, but Cauder finally acquiring common sense didn’t help him right then.
“I-it’s gone… My hat…” Xigganin choked back tears again, this time for his hat which was his best friend. Who else would he talk to if it had disappeared to never be seen again? Desperately he searched through his room, tearing at places it could have fallen, and digging at crevices that could have tried to eat it. Nowhere he looked did the hat appear, this was one of the days he wished his hat was larger than the size of a woman’s mourning hat. The thought of never seeing his poor hat again made him cry, tears that were held at the brink of emotion fell down his cheeks in a waterfall of sorrow. Cauder ran over to hug him, both men surprised to see Xigganin expressing such emotion.
“Hey, shush. Calm down, we’ll find it.” Cauder whispered, patting Xigganin’s back, he supposed it was scary to see someone generally composed degraded with such gloom and sadness.
“How do you know? What if I never find it!? Dammit Cauder that hat is my prized possession!” Xigganin grasped Cauder’s hand, looking up to his face, a painful look in his eyes. Cauder gave him an empathetic glance, and then shot his eyes around to make sure no one was around. He leaned down to whisper in Xigganin’s ear.
“I know someone. Meet me outside the grounds later tonight.” Cauder stood up, rubbing his hand on Xigganin’s hair and giving him a quirky grin and a letter, and then walked out the door, his stride proud and exultant as always. Xigganin grimaced at the touch after Cauder turned about and returned to his windowsill.
“I don’t know about this…” He heard himself whisper nervously. No one at the mansion ‘knew someone’, they didn’t get out much. If at all.
•••
Around ten or eleven that night Xigganin shimmied down the grate next to his room on the outside of the house, in hopes no one would catch him going outside at night, or at all. It wasn’t the sort of thing Raiken allowed or that Xigganin did, but the curiosity aroused at the idea of this acquaintance of Cauder’s actually existing had him doing crazy things: Like climbing a grate down the side of a house for instance. The nice thing about the descent was that the dull white of the house glowed silver in the moonlight outside, a clear night.
“What a perfect night for sneaking around with the shadiest person in this place. This must have been what the term; ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, meant.” He whispered to himself, gripping each edge tight as he continued his decline. Never once did Xigganin catch himself on talking to himself, though normally it was because he was deep in some sort of conversation with his hat, his poor hat. Xigganin’s eyes welled with tears again as he took a light, quiet step onto the cement patio out back of the mansion. The tears fell, silently, and shimmered like a lake in the moonlight, reflecting the many colors of the flowers in the garden Raiken kept a few yards from the patio. Xigganin then read the letter Cauder had given him, advising him to meet him where they could easily leave. “Only one place I know of around here Raiken wouldn’t notice.” He grumbled.
Farther down the patio was a cobblestone walk, obviously aged from either years of use that lead into the wood trails and out to a desolate dirt road; the meeting place. Xigganin took an anxious step onto the dirt trail off of the cobblestone and set off into the wood. Wind howled in the wood surrounding the mansion, shifting from light breezes to raging screeches of air in seconds. It was no wonder not a soul ever came to the mansion. Xigganin found himself jogging, not his normal way to get around, through the wood, then running, until finally he appeared at the road, sweat beading on his forehead. A tapping came a few moments later; there stood Cauder, keys in hand, car at the ready.
“Took ya long enough to get here Xiggy! I figured you’d have gotten here an hour ago, I already went and got our ride!”
“Where did you get a car Cauder?” Xigganin asked, not sure whether or not this was to be expected.
“Made it drop from the sky.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s my department.” Xigganin stated sarcastically, for once enjoying a conversation with Cauder. Cauder made a half laugh, half scoff kind of noise and pressed a button on the keys, causing the car lights to blink twice, then opened his door and climbed in. The sheen black of the car and clean cut style of the body interested Xigganin as he climbed into. “What kind of car is this?” He blurted out.
Cauder grinned.
Xigganin had a bad feeling about it.
“It’s called an Audi, Xiggy, got her cheap, been storin’ her at a warehouse down in town.” Cauder put on his seatbelt, put the car in drive, and took off in the opposite direction of the mansion.
“So this is what you do all night, no wonder you wake up at two every day.” Xigganin too equipped his seatbelt around him, leaning back in the black leather seat. He white knuckled the arm rest, Cauder drove like a mad man.
“I’m flattered you know my schedule, Xig.” Cauder took a few sharp turns here and there. It had to have been four hours in the car together, idle chit chat, mostly on Cauder’s part, all along the way. Until they pulled up to a bleak, abandoned, field in the middle of nowhere. Green grass grew up to Xigganin’s ankles, teasing and tickling them for entertainment. He hindered his steps as his eyes adjusted to the area in the dark, a man standing by a door appearing rapidly in his vision.
•••
It all happened so fast after that; Cauder shoving Xigganin up to the man, running off, and driving away in his car. That was the biggest downside to Cauder, his ability to control time in small areas tended to leave Xigganin vulnerable, as he rarely was. But now the door and its doorman stood in front of him, menacing in their own special ways, even when the man bowed to Xigganin, he still felt the chill wrap around his spine and freeze it to the core.
“Welcome,” Said the man, his waistcoat folding with the bow, his hand holding his top hat to his chest. Xigganin eyed the hat, making sure it wasn’t his; he couldn’t be sure in the dim light. "Welcome, dear guest, to the Infinite Corridor, the world between wake and slumber. I am The Doorman, a humble denizen of this plane." His body then shifted towards the door; plain and yet unnatural, no supports, but nothing someone at the mansion couldn’t pull off. Xigganin shrugged it off, his eyes heavy from the long trip and Cauder’s use of his powers, he ignored the doorman’s words, whatever they were, and went to take a closer look at the door. It called to him, enticing him to open and walk through.
Something seemed to be dragging him to sleep right there in the field, a dangerous feeling of need overcame Xigganin, and he fought to control himself. He didn’t need - it wasn't a part of his genetics - he didn’t entirely want anything either, except to get some rest. The doorman said a few more words, grasping Xigganin’s shoulder as he approached the door, but he didn’t listen much, he just wanted to get behind the door, and maybe get some rest and find his hat.
“Look sir, I understand your plight, may I just please enter?” The man’s face reflected something related to surprise, but Xigganin assumed he was playing a role of some sort, probably a prank of Cauder's devices. As the Doorman let him pass, not another word was uttered as Xigganin opened the door that had learned to stand on its own and took his first, unknowing, steps into the Infinite Corridor.
Xigganin is the main character of Jus Sanguinis. He has a bit of an issue with socializing, and talks to a hat. We all should really be quite worried.
