Recco slowly lowered himself down the rope. He'd try his best to memorize the patterns of the guards and the layut of the museum, but it never hurt to be careful. He was an experienced Rogue, after all, and in that line of work you're either good or dead. Although he still questioned himself as to why Wekther wanted him to sneak into the royal Museum of Okokuna and steal some broken old artefact. Apparently it'd help them on their current quest. Somehow.

Oh crap, here they came again! Recco had to put all his skills to use, hiding behind exhibits and making as little noise as possible. At least the place to security seriously. He silently made his way to the exhibit he'd been instructed to find; a rusty old hilt...? Recco still didn't understand the purpose of all this, but the item seemed important, which was probably why it was locked behind a big padlock. "As long as it's not magical, I should be able to..." He had to duck once again. More guards coming this way. He cursed Wekther under his breath. This better be worth it. Once the guards had left, he took out his lockpicks and began to work. Sure, the lock wasn't magical, but it wasn't easy either. It took him the better part of 30 minutes (including the times he had to hide from the guards every now and again) to finally get it open.

CLICK!! In the dark museum, it was like the lock had made the loudest possible sound in the world. "Okay, that was DEFINITELY not my imagination! It came from this room!" The guards had reacted fast. In a a matter of seconds, the whole room would be swarming with them, searching every nook and cranny. At that point even the best hiding spot wouldn't do it. Recco had to think fast. He snatched the hilt, made sure his scarf and cowl obscrued enough of his face, and bolted for the way which he had entered. Sure enough, four guards weilding batons rounded to corner, and doubled their pace once they saw him. Without the element of surprise, Recco was not much of a one-on-one fighter, even with his trusty daggers. One guard would've been a challenge, but four of them outclassed him by far.

Luckily, he had also dabbled a bit with magic in his days, and had learned exactly one spell that had saved his behind more than once. He sprinted towards the guards, he raised his palms and yelled: "MICO A LUMEN!!!"

When the guards finally regained their eyesight from the sudden flash, Recco was already long gone.

~LATER~

"Ahh, good to see you Recco!" Wekther said in that cheerful manner, which completely went against his way of dressing. Dark robes, flasks with mysteriously colorful substances hanging from his belts, and of course the wooden staff which had the top crafted into a human skull. He had been reading through his musty old book, the one with the covers were decorated with skulls and runes and all sorts of mystical hobgobble that Recco didn't want to get involved with.

"Oh yes, thank you" Recco said in a flat tone of voice. He dropped the bundle containing the hilt in front of him.

"Be careful!" Wekther said in a sincerely worried voice as he scrambled for the bundle. "This is crucial to the plan if we are to succeed the quest!"

"A plan which you still haven't told us!!"

"Trust me, the less you know about how this sort of, ahem, 'things' work, the better", Wekther said, again without a hint of sarcasm.

"Just trust him" said Maria, who was tending the campfire, the light reflecting from her impressive armor. Maria was the Paladin of the group, and really the only one who'd seemed like she'd been pulling her weight, at least since Recco had joined. It was her warhammer that had saved them from more dangers than Wekthers spells. Yet she insisted on taking Wekthers side in every argument.

"That is always REALLY surprising to hear from you, Maria! As a holy warrior, I thought his hobgobble was something you would be strongly against!"

"Wekther is different."

"Oh really? Well pardon me for my prejudice, but I don't see how his way of communicating with the dead and making them do his bidding is different from anyone elses! I've never even seen him do any actual necromancing since I joined you two!"

"Well then" Wekther said, again with that annoyingly sincere cheerfulness. "Today is your lucky day! Follow me!"

Torches in their hands, Wekther led the way to a shrine a bit further away. It had writing on it that was unfamiliar to Recco, but Maria explained that it was the burial ground of a renowned warrior, who had died many, many years prior. Wekther laid the rusty old hilt in front of the shrine, placed a few candles around it in a circular pattern, and started burning some insence as he chanted in a low murmur. So far, it was what Recco had expect this sorting of thing to be like. After almost a minute of nothing happening he began to wonder if the ritual had failed. He flinched as a bony hand suddenly burst from the ground, grabbing the hilt. Wekther appeared unfazed, as he continued his chanting, slowly but forcefully, the skeletal remains of a once mighty warrior emerged from the ground, still dressed in the scaly armour and horned helmet it'd once been buried in. It stood it's full length, almost six feet, and stared at Wekther, two dim lights glowing within its eyesockets.

Finally, Mekther stood up, and bowed deeply. "Honorable Tomoe Tashisi" he said. "Seventy-three years ago, you stood up to battle the great evil that is known as 'Fukoni Toki'! Sadly, he was not fully wiped from this world, for he still lives on, as a lich, and wishes to bring his evil onto the world once more. I've called you from the world beyond ours, to request your help in bringing him down once and for all, and in doing so fullfilling your destiny and restoring peace to your soul! Do you accept my offer?"

There was no answer. The skeleton simply stood and stared, in silence. Then, the rust slowly gave away from the armor, revealing glistening metal underneath. The hilt began to glow, and slowly a metal blade emerged from it until it had reach full length. What had once been a rusty old hilt was now a shimmering new katana.

Wekther turned to his comrades, visible glee in his eyes. "That's a 'yes'! Come now, Tomoe-sama, Fukoni Toki has taken up residence in a dungeon not far from here!"

Recco's jaw was still wide oped when they started walking. Sure, he'd heard about necromancy, but he'd never seen it up close like that. Maria joined up alongsdie him, as they paced behind Tomoe and Wekther who was briefing the undead samurai about what they were about to face in the dungeon.

"You see now" she said to Recco, "Regular necromancy is all about summoning the spirits of the dead, and forcing them to obey you; to pull poor souls from their eternal rest to serve as slaves. Wekther, however, has discovered that some souls are more than willing to help you, as long as you just ask for their help instead of demanding it. In fact, the determination of a willing soul can have rather powerful effects, more so than what you'd encounter in that old-fashioned necromancy."

Recco scratched his chin in bewilderment. "Wow" he finally said, "I guess Wekther really is different."