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I awoke suddenly with a start, the darkness that I had been drowning in for what seemed like an eternity slowly receded and flowed out of my vision revealing that I had been lying face down upon dirt ground. My hand clenched and I brought a handful of the dirt into my grasp before letting it go again. It was warm, much like sand that has been baked under and early morning sun; however, I did not feel any warmth of the sun upon my back and neck. There was heat, yes, and weight down heavily upon me as though someone had thrown a blanket across my being and was slowly smothering me. I tried to breathe in but my lungs tightened, doubling me over as I cough and wheezed for breath, disgusted to find dust in my hands when I pulled them away from my mouth. Bone Dry Dust.

I suddenly froze. I stared at my hands, or at the things that now occupied the space where my hands had once been. The half skeletal things crusted with brittle fur and decaying bone was truly a repulsing sight to see. My brain could not comprehend what my eyes were beholding as I looked on, silent, in complete shock. These could not be my hands! That was impossible, my hands were gone! My brain ordered my left index to bend and the left index of the two rotting massed bent in time. I still could not convince myself that these things belonged to me. I still had the sensation of touch in them despite their obvious lack of skin for I curled my fingers and felt the touch of my palm upon my finger times. This could not be happening. I gaped down at my own body to find I was wearing all the same clothes I had been when I had…

My heart started pounding, or at least I felt a shudder within my chest where my heart should be. There was no guarantee that the organ was still there judging by the state that my hands were in. Memories flooded back into my head of the past twenty four hours. The last moments of my waking life came back to be in an instant. I had died. I had died with a flash and a bang, there was no pain, no lingering feeling. I felt nothing. I was dead. And yet, here I was, breathing, thinking, standing on my own two feet. That was impossible! I looked around me, hoping to find some sort of answer to my predicament. The only thing that met my sight was an endless tunnel of some sort of gray rock which seemed to emanate a reddish hue. How odd, I thought to myself as I bit my lip in utter confusion. I felt the fur against my teeth; at least my head was still in tact. I hoped my head was still in tact. In this cavern there was no way for me to see what sort of damage had been done.

I lifted a hand gingerly to my face and nearly fainted when my finger met bone on one side and harsh, frail tufts of fur upon the other. My fingers navigated my once normal features slowly and methodically, this was impossible. My brain could not comprehend. I wanted to see, I needed to see. My head snapped around, hands pressed to my chin, as my eyes searched for something reflective, something, and anything, within this seemingly endless and completely desolate cave. My breathing was rapid as the inspections of my countenance continued until they got to my eyes, rather where my eyes should have been. My brain said to blink, to protect my eyes from my finger but instead of feeling the soft, delicate fur upon my lids, they practically fell into the holes of the empty sockets. I could not stifle the scream that rose in my throat, my hands flying back out in front of me in horror and revulsion.

WHERE AM I? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME? I cried, my voice sounding like air being blown through a long hallow pipe, distant and echoing.

The answer came faster than I expected, for all at once a great boom thundered through the cavern, rattling me to my very core, my hands flying to cover my ears from the deafening sound, the concussion sending me to the floor. The great explosion of sound tampered off into deep, rolling laughter that sent chills up my spine. The disembodied laughter seemed to grow and fade as though the being that was making the sound inhabited the space right in front of me. My hands still remained upon my ears as I huddled on the ground, shaking, alone, the most scared I had ever been. My jaw quaked, the top and bottom rows of teeth clattering together, the sound of bone meeting bone far more prominent that it had been when I was alive. The laughter slowly, surely, tapered off and finally the voice spoke. Joseph von Schraeder, it called my name, the hint of sarcasm and belittlement present in the baritone timbre. Welcome, to the Underworld

Full Name - Joseph Luitipold von Schraeder
Gender - Male
Species - Acara
Age - Fourty-Six
Birthday - October 28th
Height - 5' 5
Level - 1
Owner - pickelhaube
Time Frame - 1900-1960.
Nationality - German/Prussian
Eye Color - (formerly) Brown
Fur Color - A Sickly green, broken by darker green spots.
Strength - 7
Defence - 8
Movement - 20
Intelligence - 11

Ref Sheet

The great dragon, enthroned upon blocks of pumice and obsidian glared down at Von Schraeder with two pairs of glowing red eyes, a blaze with flecks of yellow and orange. The lord of the underworld snorted, a cloud of black smoke billowing from his nose and the spaces between his teeth. So He said, his voice thundered about the room. The silvery mane bristled upon his neck as his eyes narrowed upon Von Schraeder, the acara shrinking under his gaze. What do you have to say for yourself?. Von Schraeder looked as though he would faint at any moment, if he could still faint. The fact that the acara was still walking and mobile long after he had died was still a foreign concept to him. The great dragon was growing impatient, the fact that he had watched the acara and his allies for years wreck their glorious deeds upon the world and now, when he was brought before him, he was as silent as the grave made the lord of the Underworld furious. WELL? he thundered, rocks came crashing from the wall of the room and thudded to the floor, the ground shook under the acara's feet as he fell to his knees, his hands over his head.

Von Schraeder slowly lifted his eyes to the purple lizard with glowing eyes. I...I had always thought... that... I... I would... end up… end up in heaven.... YOU? The lord of the Underworld Bellowed before breaking into fits of laughter that only caused more rock to come falling down around the quacking acara. You? Of all people, you thought you were going to be admitted into heaven? He engaged himself in another round of booming laughter. Von Schraeder was cut to the core. What was this great beast that called himself Lord trying to say to him exactly? The acara must have looked exceedingly flabbergasted as he huddled on the ground for the creature in front of him spread the giant wings upon his back and let out an unearthly screech, the sound of billions upon trillions of beings screaming in agony and hopelessness, the cry of the infinite inhabitants of the underworld caught for all eternity in this loathsome place. Von Schraeder cried out in pain as he tried to block out the great and terrible sound. After everything you have done, you are lucky I had the courtesy to welcome your pathetic soul into my realm.

The lord of the underworld stepped down from his throne, his great bulk caused the ground to tremble as he walked over to where Von Schraeder had fallen upon his knees. He reared back upon his hind legs, his being filling up the entire room as he spread his wings around the tiny acara, blocking all hope of escape that he had. The dragon's great head came down to Von Schraeder's level, the lord's breath smelled strongly of smoke, molten sulfur and rot. And be thankful that I have lowered myself to your level to bring you to an audience before me… The tattered remains of Von Schraeder's ears fell flat against his head as he look upon the pool of fiery goldenrod and red in front of him that was the eye of the creature. Th-this d-doesn't h-happen often? he stammered out, his voice barely reaching above a whisper. The dragon blew a whirl of smoke into the acara's face causing him to, once again, going into rounds of dry, hollow coughing. Indeed it doesn't he sneered, his eye narrowing and, despite the heat of the raging inferno, Von Schraeder felt cold, he felt fear. He felt fear as though it was a tangible object, wrapping itself around him and diffusing through his system.

I have a proposition for you, Von Schraeder… with a thrash of its tail, the dragon lumbered back to its throne, the black, razor sharp spikes upon its back glinted against the glow from the molten lava. The acara's ears twitched slightly as he lowered his hands from his face so that he could look at the Lord with his hollow eyes. Yes? he squeaked out. The Dragon roared which caused Von Schraeder to fall silent, quaking with fear once more, the minute acara retreating back against the wall. So many who enter this place are wasted, thrown into the pit or into their own cells, never to set foot beyond their cell's boundary for the rest of eternity… but you… I have something special for you, and I trust you will not fail me if I order you to do this task. The acara tilted his head slightly, what sort of task would the Lord of the Underworld want him to do? What on earth would he put him in charge of down here? What could he possibly be of any use for? What sort of task, sir?

Servitude! the dragon bellowed, his eyes seeming to glow brighter for an instant. Eternal and unquestionable Servitude to me, Von Schraeder. The acara froze, his eyes widening as he merely stared, inarticulate, babbling, at the great dragon. There was only one person and one person only in the world who could make him swear an oath of eternal and unquestionable servitude and he had met the same fate, death, as Von Schraeder had. It seemed sickeningly ironic that he had just broken his oath with the other and was soon to be sworn in again to a new power. The acara's tattered ears twitched slightly. What sort of 'Servitude'? He asked the creature who had now reseated itself on its obsidian throne. The Lord of the Underworld snorted smoke once again as his tail lashed around him, The Welcoming Committee

Von Schraeder turned away from the dragon for a moment and then quickly turned back, thinking he might have made some great and horrible error by breaking eye contact with the Lord. His hands laced them selves together and then broke away repeatedly in his nervous state, waging some unspoken war with one another. The Fur on his tail and what little fur remained upon the back of his neck bristled and stood on end as though he was being watched from behind. He was, in his own mind, for he had convinced himself that the Lord of the Underworld was omnipresent within this room. What exactly… do you mean by that… Sir? he asked, his voice trailing over the 's' in sir, drawing it out in a hiss much like a snake's. The coldness that had been ever present within the core of his new, undead, self seemed to grow more frigid, its icy touch worming its way to the edge of his ears and to the tips of his fingers as he waited for the Lord of the Underworld to answer him. He swallowed hard, the lump of unease rising in his throat, what remained of his tail lashing from side to side for a moment. There was no answer. Had he offended the Lord and now was soon to find himself amidst the other screaming souls who were forever locked within the pit?

The creature snarled at him and almost instantly he felt as though a great pressure had suddenly been dropped upon his shoulders. His right leg had always been bad and this sudden weight dropped upon him was too much, it crumpled beneath him and he stumbled. This new entity seemed to make everything more difficult. The rising and falling of his chest seemed to be excruciatingly difficult to maintain, what ever air that was still within him was slowly being forced out of his body. It felt as though his limbs were slowly being torn away from him and ever sinew of his being was slowly, but forcefully, being stripped away from his being. He gritted his teeth as he tried to breathe, the long hollow sound of air being blown through a tube meeting his ears once again as he gasped for breath. The dragon sauntered up to him, the red glow glinting off every one of his needle-like, serrated teeth as he growled at the acara. The Lord's tail flung out and wrapped itself around the acara's middle and brought him up to look eye to eye with the creature once again, You don't need to know any more, make your choice. He shook the acara back and forth violently, only making the pain that Von Schraeder was experiencing more acute. The Acara felt a whimper escape him, Sir... please... stop he managed to gasp out.

The Dragon let out another screech, but because his tail restrained Von Schraeder's arms there was no way for him to block out the horrendous sound. He writhed, his eardrums throbbing at the horrible noise and there was no way to make it stop. MAKE YOUR CHOICE! the creature thundered at him, the sulfuric smell of its breath weaving their way into the acara's nose. The sheer volume caused Von Schraeder to be pushed backwards from the force. You can swear your oath to me and serve me or you can be tossed into the pit and let your soul spend the rest of eternity in pain and anguish unable to do anything about it.. The acara could draw no more breath. He could feel his rib cage coming together within his body from the crushing heaviness that hung over him. The Lord of the Underworld was cornering him, he was going to get his way whether Von Schraeder had any say in it or not. The acara tried to break free of the Dragon's grasp, but his struggles were futile, the only thing exceeded in was causing himself more pain. Tears, or what could be called tears in his undead state, poured from his eyes as the pounding in the back of his skull seemed to magnify. Finally he could take no more.

FINE! The acara shouted, his voice at an unnaturally high pitch as he wheezed and sputtered in the creature's grasp. I will serve you, Sir!... just please... let me go... In an instant he was falling as the dragon released his grip upon the acara. Von Schraeder landed upon the ground with a sickening crack that would have alarmed a living being, but since he was not among them anymore the acara paid the sound no heed. He merely lay there staring up at the ceiling of the cave, wishing and hoping that he had not made a grave mistake.

I hate my job, von Schraeder thought as he pulled the graveyard gate closed behind him, its rusty creak splitting the cold night air. The rain poured down from the black, cloudy night sky and pelted his frail body, dampening his shirt causing it to stick to his form showing all places that his decaying body had fallen away. Oh the trials of being undead; let alone undead and caught in the world of the living. The mud was thick on his boots as he took the shovel from his shoulder and shook it off, sending clumps of soggy earth spraying in every direction. This was another wasted night in this dirty city, he hand only managed to get three or four graves checked before the downpour had started, the rain coming down in torrents from the sky.

He shook his head from the rain and ran a hand over his face to stop the water from running into his eyes. Months and Months of searching had only ended in disdain as every grave he dug up turned out someone different then he was looking for. He was looking for one very specific person. A very Specific person that he learned was buried in a very unmarked grave. Joseph snorted water from his nose as he replaced the shovel up his shoulder, feeling the weight of the wooden handle digging into his neck. Another night wasted. How long had it been? 10 years? 20? Dare he think 30 years since he escaped from the Underworld? He twitched his tattered ears, he had lost all sense of time up here among the living. Because he did not age anymore, there was really no reason too keep track of the moon and sun, day and night, year and month.

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By I_love_kacheeks760

This is Von Schraeder's Portion
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