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This massive box canyon lies on the border of south and east Shadelands. A thick mist covers the bottom and half way up the canyon walls, making any means of seeing into the crevasse impossible. In the center of the canyon, a tall dark tower pierces the mist, being the only thing one can see from the canyon's edge. Upon entering the Deadlands, the bones of long dead creatures, human and otherwise, can be found littered all over. Abandoned ghost towns stand as monuments to why the canyon is named Deadlands.

A group of men wearing black leather vests, long black bandannas and black hakamas with white tiger stripes wandered through the misty canyon. The lead man had a shoulder cloak depicting a black tiger with white stripes on a white circle with black background, "There has to be an active nomad village here, boys. Listen, hear that music?", the lead bandit said, his voice heavily british accented. The two men following the lead looked at each other and nodded, "Right, boss. No other cause in this Shar forsaken place.", the left most bandit said. The right most man chuckled, "And if they know what's good for them, they'll pay the Night Stalker clan for protection, right boss?", he said. The mist soon revealed the great gates to the dark tower, the haunting song echoing from within. The lead bandit gave a hand sign to halt, "They must be inside, living it up. Fan'Ki, Roa'Tai, stay by the entrance. I'll go in and 'introduce' us.", the leader said with a wicked smile, drawing his curved blade. The two men nodded, "Yes, Shada'Kai, Sir!", they said in unison before moving to flank the door. Shada'Kai nudged the door open, taking a step into the darkly ornate antechamber. "Ello? Anyone home?", Shada'Kai shouted, his voice echoing up the tower. The bandit slowly began to ascend the spiral stairway, his yellow eyes narrowing as he reaches the audience chamber, where the music emanated from. "Ello?", he said, gazing around the room until his gaze fixed on the glowing orb in the center of the room. Shada'Kai cracked a grin at the sight of the large gemlike orb, "Well, while I'm here...", he said, sheathing his blade and moving carefully toward the orb. He laid a hand upon it, his grin soon melting away as waves of pain wracked his every muscle, but he was unable to scream. "It's about time, now then, your body is forfeit.", Ran'Ku's voice scraped at the bandit's mind like nails on a chalkboard. The bandit felt his spirit being dragged from his body and into the orb, being sealed away in it's dark glow. The body staggered but soon gained it's footing, a wicked grin cracking his lips. "Finally, a new physical form...Beware Ran'Ke, my brother.", Ran'Ku said from Shada'Kai's body, the eyes changing from lustrous yellow to a blood crimson. Back down at the door the two bandits waited for their leader. "Where is he? Some nomads can't take this long to clear out.", Fan'Ki said, looking to Roa'Tai. The body of the leader walked back down the stairs, exiting the tower without so much as a word to the two bandits. Roa'Tai stepped forward, "Sir?", he managed to say before Shada'Kai turned and held his hand out. The two men dropped to their knees, screaming in agony as they felt their minds boiling. Blood dripped from the bandit's eyes and noses as they crumbled to the ground dead. A sinister chuckle came from the leader's lips as he turned back and walked off.

Ran'Ku emerged from the ominous mists of the Deadlands outside of the grave site of the Night Reavers. Sable and Mable are sitting around the Eldest's Sarcophagus, Able resting within. "Master, you return.", Mable cooed playfully. Ran'Ku glared at Mable, his gaze alone enough to frighten the shadow demon. "The plan failed. Those despicable Kehjani ruined everything!", Ran'Ku hissed, his eyes glowing a blood crimson as his wildly fluctuating mental power swirls the mist around him. Mable, now hiding behind the sarcophagus, peers over the edge. "What...what now, master?", she asked meekly. Ran'Ku sighed deeply, the swirling mist beginning to slow. "We wait. There's no way to get into Bel'tha'go without Noxx'Zus or Rian'Ka knowing. We must formulate a new scheme. And I think our first priority is luring Ran'Ke away, but not to somewhere as accessible. Somewhere menacing...", Ran'Ku thought, pacing around the grave site.

Ran'Ku began to chuckle lightly before going into full laughter. He turned to look at Keiko as she emerged from the thick fog of the Deadlands canyon, "It seems my infamy precedes me.", Ran'Ku said with a confident smirk. Ran'Ku knelt closer to the Darkling, "And he's smarter than he looks. As much as I like your acknowledgement of all my greatness, prey tell, how could you possibly help me?", Ran'Ku asked. He looked up from the darkling towards Able's sarcophagus, a growling sigh echoing from within. "Master, as your loyal servant, I must say that this creature doesn't sit right with me, I can feel something in my mind that I haven't felt before, and I can't place it's motives.", Able's voice echoed through Ran'Ku's mind as the Eldest telepathically communicates with the Crimson King. Ran'Ku smirked slightly wider, closing his eyes as he stands, "Duly noted, Able. But for now this Darkling is our only aid in my schemes.", Ran'Ku replied mentally to Able. Ran'Ku turned from the Darkling, facing Keiko with his eyes closed and his hands behind his back. "Well? Come now, I haven't got all day.", Ran'Ku said with a chuckle.

Ran'Ku turned his head to look at the Darkling, "Troops? Power!?", he said in a slight growling tone. Ran'Ku turned and walked towards the Darkling, bending down to stare into it's eyes with his. "I have no need for power, Imp! Had those wretched Kehjani not intervened and ruined my plans, I would have slain Ran'Ke on the spot.", Ran'Ku hissed, his crimson eyes glowing darkly as the Deadlands mist begins to swirl vigorously with Ran'Ku's mood. The Crimson King stood and walked past the Darkling to stand in the dragon skull gateway to the Night Reaver's cemetery. "And as for troops?", he said with a dark chuckle. Ran'Ku focused his mental control on the dark orb residing within his tower in the Deadlands' core. The ground around the cemetery began to shake violently, an unholy wail shrieking through the night. Cracks formed along the ground as hordes of skeletal beings began to crawl out, their bones reinforced with steel and light steel armoring affixed to their frame. The dragon skull's eye sockets glow deep crimson as it slams it's mouth shut, appearing to have devoured Ran'Ku. The skull lifts from the sand, the bone wall surrounding the cemetery forming the long serpentine body of a Bone-Yard Snake. Ran'Ku stands within the cemetery, a satisfied grin on his face, "And if that weren't enough, I've been saving these for a special occasion.", he said confidently, pulling a crystalline whistle from within his pocket. The whistles shriek cuts through the night air with a fell wail. The ground shuddered once more as the cracks where the Legion of Bone arose begin to widen, a sickly hiss gurgling from within. An enormous pair of serrated sickle-like claws dig into the ground, lifting a huge grotesque scarab-like creature from the ground. An acidic bile drips from the creature's mandibles, sizzling as it hits the ground. Several more groups of these monstrosities lurch from the sands surrounding the Legion of Bone. Ran'Ku chuckles in dark amusement, "Behold! The Carapace Horde. A swarm of zombified Ss'Kul'Kyn that have been torn from the grips of death to serve yours truely. Now what was that about a deal, Darkling?", Ran'Ku said with a satisfied grin on his face, his malefic crimson eyes staring down on the Darkling.

Ran'Ku watched his Bone-Yard become a twisted creature of darkness, the amused grin never leaving his face. He let's out a manic laugh as the dark ichor spreads over his Legion of Bone like a plague, "Now that is a nice trick. That is something I can work with. It seems that this master of yours can be of use to me after all, Imp. Very well, I'll take your offer.", Ran'Ku hissed with a hint of dark amusement. He walked out of the cemetery past the Darkness-spawned Bone-Yard, looking up at it with sinister eyes. Ran'Ku ran his fingers across his chin in thought, pacing slightly where he stands. "Well, I don't think even the Templars can muster the strength to fight these beautiful creatures head on, but there's the problem. We won't be facing them head on, Bel'tha'go sits on the highest plateau in the Shadelands, heavily defended on all sides. The serpent could probably cut a swathe to the plateau wall but the Templars are much craftier than the Regulars, they will have a defense already set before it get's there. We need an ace in the hole, some way to keep the Bel'tha'gian soldiers busy while luring Ran'Ke from the city.", Ran'Ku mumbled to himself, as if he were in his own little world of thought. As quick as the words escaped him, an idea formed. "The wellspring. It turned Ran'Ke into a thing of near unbeatable power, a true engine of destruction. If it did that to a weakling like him, imagine what it would do for me", Ran'Ku said with excitement, "Monsters alone will not draw my brother out into the desert but a phantom of his wayward past may just pique his interest enough to lure him after me. It's flawless, there will be no safe haven in this realm when I am done with it." Ran'Ku started to walk away from the cemetery into the Deadlands mist, "Able, I'm going to the Annihilus spring. Gather the Legion and the Carapace Horde and start for Bel'tha'go, I will meet you there.", Ran'Ku mentally spoke to Able. The Eldest slowly rose from his sarcophagus, looking around at the twisted creatures. "As you wish, my Crimson King.", Able mentally replied with a hint of reluctance.

Able glared down on the darkling with suspicious eyes, "If you must know. We are bound by Oath to our Crimson King.", Able growled. A harsh scoff came from Sable, the Eldest turning his head to look at the Second as he sits facing away from his grandfather on the rim of his sarcophagus. "Oath...", Sable hissed with much sarcasm, "You mean we are slaves, Grandfather." Able turned and gripped Sable's shoulder with his clawed hand, pulling his grandson around to look at him. "Sable! You know we would be dead if not for our King.", Able growled. Sable growled back and swatted Able's hand from his shoulder, "He controls us, Grandfather! Against our will! If he saw fit, he could end us with a thought, we are puppets to that madman!", Sable roared, as he turned and walked over to Mable's sarcophagus, the Youngest hiding within as her brother and grandfather argued. Able sighed in a growling tone, "That may be, but do not forget, my Grandson. We were on the brink of extinction, soon to be wiped from existence by the nomad hunters. If it had not been for Master Ran'Ku's mental guidance we would have suffered along with the rest of our kind.", Able said as he turned his gaze back to the darkling. Sable scoffed once more, "Whatever. I guess we'll never see eye to eye on this, Grandfather. But the madman ordered us to move the Legion and the Carapace Horde towards Bel'tha'go. Come Mable, I guess we're nothing more than shepherds to his abominations.", Sable hissed as he led his younger sister from the cemetary, hissing orders in Shadelands tongue as the monstrosities begin to march into the mists. Able watched as the Legion of Bone and the Carapace Horde disappears into the mists, sighing deeply. "That was more information than I cared to reveal to a strange Imp. But that is why we follow the Crimson King, we are his to control however he wishes. It was the only way to ensure we survived the eradication of our kind.", Able growled.