A cursed temple

At moment the kobold saw the spectral hand move towards him, he began to struggle, trying to escape the magical grasp that held him in place, squirming with all of his might, but to no avail the ghostly hand entered his chest without resistance, the apparition then started to speak [Interesting… you… you are not from this world are you?.... I don't mean the bones you inhabit; I mean your soul… no matter since you can't talk, you will answer me only with a nod of your skull which will mean yes or a side to side shake which will mean no, understood?] said the specter with a commanding voice.

After all the ghost had asked this and feeling no pain but a very uncomfortable feeling the skeletal kobold thought "well that went better than expected, wish I didn't get this slimy sensation… and I didn't expect to be asked about that so fast, yes yes" with an earnest shake of his skull the kobold answered the question raised by the specter.

[Quite interesting…] said the ghostly scaled man, all the while his spectral hand grasped something intangible in the chest of the kobold [Blessed be the Patriarch! Hallowed be the Matriarch! you have gifts from Qadarr!] shouted the ghost with surprise contained in his serpentine voice [Most interesting indeed… normal resistance for a skeleton, hmm a stealth technique, unusual but not unfeasible, no immunities to diseases or illness of any kind…. Most rare indeed… even though you are clearly a skeleton… there must be some part of you that still lives…] said the ghost with a wry smile creeping on his reptilian face [that would explain why the book you are holding didn't burn you to cinders… ] he then released his grasp from the thing previously held in the kobold chest and withdrawing his arm.

[Do you know what is that book skeleton?] he then asked with an inquisitive tone, great curiousness could be felt in the ghost voice. "no, no, I know not what this apparently dangerous thing is, better drop it, before it turns me to ashes, yes yes" with that in mind the kobold answered with a shake of his head, after all he only knew of the name written on the book but not of its contents, he then tried to drop the book only to find that he couldn't move his arms to release the hazardous thing [Insolent! Treat the scriptures with care!] shouted the ghostly reptilian man his voice filled with anger [This transgression of yours will be forgiven, given your obvious ignorance! However, … I will take the book from your disrespectful hands] said the spectral man, proceeding to make a strange gesture with his hands, from which a strange blue light came from and gently took the book, carefully placing it atop of less impressive yet still decorated altar next to the one housing round object.

[Let me educate you] said the specter [That book which you tried to so carelessly drop, contains the doctrine of Quilrrory, Blessed Mother, Goddes of the Spring and Seeress of Souls, blessed be her, this sacred scripture used to belong to High Priest Kolztak aep Xievcryn, once blessed by Quilrrory, that is… until he chose to betray the Blessed Mother, he sealed his tome and cursed this most scared temple… most sad indeed…] said the ghost with a saddened voice, his face showed an extremely sad expression [He was a very gifted priest, his healing hands saved many afflicted by the Plague of Ultharz] said the specter his voice filled with both respect and anger towards Kolztak.

As the ethereal man spoke the kobold was beguiled by the tale of betrayal recently told, he even stopped resisting the strange shackles that keep him in place, listening with increasing attention, when the ghostly man saw this, he began speaking [Interesting… you are no longer trying to escape… quite amusing indeed… I beg you forgive me, I haven't talked to anyone in a very long time, immortality, whatever is form or shape, can be… quite boring…] said the specter [answer me kobold, are you willing to listen to the story of this place, the reason why I'm here?] with an curious tone asked the ethereal man.

With a frantic nod of his skull the kobold replied to the question, eagerly waiting to hear the rest of the story "I can't escape because I'll get caught rather fast, yes yes, and I need all the info I can get, yes yes" seeing the eagerness of the kobold skeleton the specter opened his eyes in surprise, he didn't expect such an answer from a kobold, even if it was as unusual as this one.

[Quite a mystifying answer indeed… it is quite rare for a kobold to have the patience to listen to anyone for any length of time… quite bemusing indeed… but the reason for that may be your soul, possibly…] said the spectral reptilian, his elongated face showing great expression despite what one may think of a lizard face man [I'm Throzahk, I was once a priest in this most sacred temple, this temple was once dedicated to the most blessed Quilrrory, that is until Kolztak fell to the temptations laid by the treacherous Icceamond…] once again his face filled with sadness and anger.

[This was once the center of worship to holy Quilrrory, but thanks to the curse that befell upon the altar after Kolztak betrayal, that is no longer the truth] he then pointed to the round object atop of the highly decorated altar [That, is supposed to be a Half-born egg, given to the temple by Keretar the Scarlet Scales, a Half-Born, bear in mind that this egg is not his own, now Keretar was a devotee of Quilrrory and Qadarr, Qadarr being the one who has bestowed upon you his gifts, however meager they are, Keretar died thanks to the foul actions of Kolztak and Icceamond, a true loss for Quilrrory and Qadarr] said with great sadness Throzahk, who then proceeded to lower the kobold skeleton, as a gesture of what seemed to be trust.

"I better search for a place to sit and listen then…" thought the skeletal kobold, who proceeded to seat on one of the benches near the stone chair on which Throzahk had sit.

[Quite amusing indeed… you could have ran away, yet you chose sit down and obediently listen, blessed be Her] said Throzahk uttering a prayer at the end, his voice filled with joy each time he said this prayer [Now… where were we…. AH! Yes, the egg, it lays there petrified by the curse casted by Kolztak and Icceamond, those two doomed the egg to be unable to hatch, most ruinous indeed, but what they didn't conceive was that the solution for this most hateful curse was quite simply dragon blood, however due to my condition I cannot retrieve the vials from the temple's apothe…..]

Throzahk then fell silent for a few seconds his face showed a bit of curiousness and surprise [You may be able to bring me those vials, and with a bit of Holy Quilrrory's guidance… the curse on the egg may be lifted… but you are weak, much too weak, and there's the second curse that those traitors laid upon this temple… it may seem easier to get rid of the petrification curse on the egg, but if it gets affected by the other curse… Hmmm quite a conundrum indeed] once again silence befell on the room as Throzahk placed his hand under his chin, trying to think of a solution to this problem.

Whilst Throzhak thought of the solution to the curses, the skeleton kobold decided to play with his bones, trying to see if they could be moved, rearranged or changed in any way, finding that he could take away bones from his skeletal body but he could not change his shape to a more threatening profile "fascinating, yes yes, I wonder if I may be able to take the bone's from other skeletons and use'em as if they were my own, and what are those lines that connect my bones…" thought the kobold, holding his skull with his hands in a gesture of great intrigue at the bluish lines that traced around his bones, like the ligaments on a living being.

At the sight of this Throzahk said [Blessed be Her! Mage eyes… even if you have no eyes, none the less, Mage eyes… come here Skeleton!] ordered Throzahk to the skeletal kobold, whom obediently approached him, moving his skull slightly at an angle [Yes those flames in your eye sockets, those are the mages eyes, quite mystifying… so this is what they look like when there are no eyeballs… you may yet still be of use…] said Throzhak, his eyes traced along the skeleton bones as if looking for something.

[You, you don't have a core… quite remarkable, you want to know why it is so interesting?] raised a question Throzahk, query which was immediately met by a nod of the kobold's skull who again moved his skull to a slight angle.

[Very well, usually undead, normal undead for that matter, have a core, a red jewel so to say, which often is found on the chest, usually under the ribs, it's what keeps them… functioning for a lack of a better word, now, the ones without cores are either puppets made by madmen and psychopaths or cursed ones… but you, you are neither, which is why it is so mystifying] explained Throzahk to the skeletal kobold, who then proceeded to touch between his ribs and inside his chest, just to stop moments later, rising his arms and dropping them as if he was brooding "Hey! It's true, no core, aww… now I feel deprived, If I find another skeleton, I will steal their core, yes yes, that is if I can…" thought the kobold, fixing his previously dispossessed posture.

Suddenly a strange noise came from outside the room [Well, It was about time they came… we will continue this one sided conversation later, for now I want you to go to the archives, third door to the right, exit through the archway without a door and bring me the white tomes on the last row of shelves, just be careful you are not the only undead in this temple] said Throzahk with a somewhat commanding tone.

"Now, now, just when did I agree to help?..." thought the kobold in his mind, looking strangely towards Throzakh who then said [GO! we may be undead, but time is priceless nonetheless, bring me the tomes and we will continue our conversation] "Never mind then, information is more important, yes yes… other undead huh? What do I use to kill them eh!" with those thoughts on his mind the Kobold, made once again the movement of his skull, and began looking in the room something to use against the other undead.