Pushing through a hidden door behind a book case, a man in dark blue robes, alight with white patterns of glowing star stitching descends a stair case. Deep inside the catacombs below his lavish home, he finds himself in a stone room lined with book cases and filled with tables, each with large tomes lying open upon them. A shrine to forbidden knowledge and dark secrets, each tome carries information of the shadow side of the arcane and divine arts.

In the center of the room, a statue rises toward the ceiling. Carved of obsidian, it is a rough effigy of a felinoid man-shape with a draconic snout and whiskers with wide wings stretching up toward the ceiling. The statue holds one one open hand forward, a glowing blue flame burning in its palm. Its other arm is carved to show a heavy book held close against his chest.

"The pieces fall into place, my lord," the man in the robe says, a grin lighting up his face beneath the hood of his robes. He stands before an altar in front of the statue, a chess board and an an open book lying upon it. Moving the black queen to line up with the white king, near the middle of the board, he chuckles quietly. "The pawns of An'unamous fall daily and draw attention away from our designs. The knights of Guxx spend much of their efforts to quell their advances, all the better to our plans."

As the blue flame lights up more brightly, the man nods slowly. "And as always, Yasou's tools carve a path of misery according to our orders and subtle suggestions. Though they do add an element of chaos to the mix, all is within specified perimeters."

Sliding his hand over the text of the book, he stops to eye a passage that references to the four ancient guardians. "The gathering comes soon, my lord. And the pillars shall fall."