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Description
A lone case stands before an alter, six feet long and three feet high decorated with the letters T.N.G stamped in pure gold and black leather, rusted iron bands wrapped around the body of the case to identify it's age but it lacked any ware on the leather of it and seemed to have recently been repaired. Surrounding it laid piles of gold that had littered the floor and encircled several statues that seemed to lure anyone around it with the chance for wealth and fortune.

One may ask who would wish to obtain this gold, well the answer is fairly obvious in itself, a single thief that had claimed glory and fame through his deeds in the land for his cunning and cleverness. He was a young man, no less than twenty five years of age and muscular build, skilled with a dagger as he was with a cutpurse. He had planned to steal the legendary art that was the yin yang drakes, one sculpted from pure ivory and decorated with scales of gold and diamond and the other crafted with solid onyx with scales crafted from the etched stone and ruby flakes. Each drake balancing a single blue glass sphere that radiated with a brilliance that rivals the purest stone, claws and fangs bared in protection of this orb.

As the man had prepared for entering the domain of an artist long since dead the townsfolk of the land hard warned him of those who have gone before him never coming back the same it at all, claims of men and women looking like machines and death displayed in beauty. All of these warning were for naught however as he believed them to be nothing more than fairytale from the surrounding town, he had walked along the path through the forest and approached the black gates of the manor that housed the art, slowly pushing open the gates with a loud creak before venturing inside the unlocked door.

Once he entered inside the manor he would find it looking long since abandoned and deserted with only the faded works of the artist adorning the ancient hallways. The main room decorated with worn furniture and the carpet faded, a single statue above the fireplace that clutched a pair of sewing needles that was crouching under the painting of the manors owner looked back at him motionless. The thief looked back at the painting, a elderly man whose face had been kind with the passage of time and long silver hair by the name of Thalsor Cadverse. The eccentric man had always believed that art was the focused power of the mind, body and soul coming together as one to form an entity of creation that would live on for generations to come and had been known for his masterful art that ranged from the simplistic to the very bizzare. The thief had known the Cadverse for his works being valued for their craftsmanship and detail before he died to leave his work at the mercy of the elements and whoever was brave enough to plunder from his galleries. The thief ventured down the hall, the statue that had observed him slowly turned it's head and leaned forward with the soft sound of grinding stone before coming to rest facing the hall he moved to.

The thief searched through the building for his prize, finding nothing but the dust and age the building had suffered and old books littered with notes on sculptures in the library, one book however gained the thief's attention. It was a black leather bound book that was filled with information about golems, how they were sentient creatures that worked on a carefully made directive and rumors of them being able to posses free will, he looked through the pages with interest but still kept searching for the treasure he desired. He walked out from the library and ventured further, hoping to find something of value along the way that was not damaged or already stolen, a faint shuffling of footsteps echoed out down the hall and the thief froze, ducking behind a corner and leaning out to see who or what was moving. The steps grew loud with the ticking of gears and rusted shrieks of metal bouncing off the halls as a large humanoid figure lumbered past, the thief's eyes going wide at what he saw. It possessed not skin and flesh but hide, metal and clockwork that kept it together, tattered clothing hanged in rags with a single glowing red eye that scanned the area around it. Iron fanged teeth hanging half open with brass claws clinking against one another, a single arm arched over it's back with a metal spike poised to impale any intruders as the thief kept his breathing slow and calm so as not to alter the construct as it kept walking by. His mind instantly flashing back to the pages of golems but what powered them was unknown or for what the artist intended for them.

The thief quickly but carefully rushed past the golem once it had passed far enough before darting into the next room, a clatter of metal filled the room where he stepped and held his breath as the familiar metal screech came thudding back down the hall and past the door in search of the thief, walking past the room as it did and slowly fade back into silence. He looked back to the room he was in and was greeted with the dim light of something glinting, slowly moving towards as his feet shuffled through the metal and gradually realizing that it was coins he was walking over. His eyes shifting from one side to the other as they adjusted to the dark of the room and taking in the sight of what he was after, the case that held the yin yang drakes surrounded by gold and the statues that were displayed around it. The thief carefully approached the case and looked over it, double checking to ensure the golem would not come back before removing the simple latch that kept the case secured, revealing the beautiful dragons inside with the orb shining brightly in the dark with the mans heart soaring once he laid eyes on it.

The thief pulled out the statue carefully, looking inside the case for anything that might have fallen as he noticed an odd black shadow within the case and thinking it was only how dark the room was in comparison with the black rose patterns on the velvet interior. He began to make his way back out before something dripped in front of him, looking down he noticed a droplet of black liquid on the ground that kept dripping. He looked around for the source before the pitter patter of droplets began to pick up and the material of the statue began to look muddy, slowly liquefying in the thief's hands as he tried to let go, finding it was sticking to his hands as looked on in bewilderment as he tried to release his grip as the liquid coated over them and crept over his arms. The fluid bound to his skin and clothing as he bat at them to wipe it away to no avail.

A metallic chuckle echoed in the room as the case behind the thief emitted a bubbling sound as black fluid began to fill the cases interior, the man bolted for the door before he slipped on a series of coins with a heavy thud, the fluid spreading past his shoulders and down his chest and back. "So...Yet another thief has thought they can take what they think is theirs...Do they not know that they become what they crave so much?" The voice asked. "W-what? I-I am not a thief!" He replied to the voice, arms sticking to the floor as he tried to escape. "It is clear of your intentions as I can see the evidence upon your form, your flesh sings with the song of greed as those before you." It spoke out, the black fluid reaching out of the case and shifting towards the man, the lighting of the room growing brighter to reveal the other statues of other thieves cast in solid gold, mixed expressions varying upon their faces from fear to rage and confusion in their poses. "You are to be yet another example of those who are obsessed with their desires they shall become the very thing that they desire."

The black mass moved closer towards the human, a single tendril peering out with a razor sharp quill filled with a golden fluid in the reservoir, lurching forwards as the thief let out a shriek of pain as it punctured his shoulder, injecting him with a bizarre fluid that slowly made his flesh grow cold and his joints become stiff as he tried to get up. His skin, flesh and bone slowly transforming into gold where it contacted him as his struggles grew desperate. His breathing slowing down as fear spread over his face, his blood feeling like ice in his veins and his skin stinging like needles where it fused with the gold, his right arm loosing feeling as it crept through his torso, rending his arm and most of his chest left in the solid gold. He tried to slink away but the sheer weight of his own body began to weigh down on him as his body grew more and more heavy, his right side converting to gold as breathing grew labored, clutching his chest with his free hand as the quill kept pumping the fluid into him. The thief cried out as the rest of his body was transformed, his legs becoming dead weight as his one good arm slowly locking into place with one last yell coming out as his head was slowly converted. Fear and pain flooding into his mind as the last feeling he sensed was locked into him, leaving him a statue of solid gold with the rest of the thieves before him his mind wrapped in the sensation he was enduring as the tendril pulled away and receded back into the case with the lid closing shut and settling once again. The creature within residing in it's domain with yet another work to add to it's vast collection and it's gallery.

The thief stared up at the ceiling, gaze frozen looking skywards as he desperately tried to escape from his prison, the soul writhing and mind racing inside as his silent scream filled the air for all eternity.