The Four Horsemen

Part 3: Death and The Paradox of Life

Let's take a look into the past, almost a thousand years ago to be exact. It's 1190, right in the middle of The Third Crusade. Between Jerusalem and Acre there is a battle that was never documented, and there is a very specific reason why that is. A mighty clash between the Sunni Muslims and the Holy Roman Empire has been going for well over an hour. The casualties on both sides are staggering, and yet neither have shown signs of weakness or giving up. This is truly a testament to mankind fighting for what they believe in, no matter who is right or wrong. Of course what they didn't realize was that this bloody war is about to be interrupted by a third party, and it's just a party of one....

Amidst the chaos and bloodshed, a small noise goes from being completely unnoticed to heard by everyone on the battlefield. It's not that it's particularly loud or anything, but it is somehow vibrating inside all of their brains. Everyone actually stops fighting because they can tell whatever is making the noise... it's getting close. The noise is the galloping of a horse. It's incredibly fast, and it's coming from just over the north. From there everything went wrong for all those people.

What started as a scorching summer day in those arid sands would become the exact opposite of everything they knew about their environment. An ominous white fog rolls in, completely smothering the sun. The soldiers can even see their breath from their exhaustion. The galloping of the horse begins to fade until it completely vanishes. Something else replaces it, the slow, inhuman footsteps of the greatest curse to all of humanity.

A curse is perhaps too harsh. More accurately it's more of an unfortunate necessity. It's the idea that with every beginning there is an end. That wasn't supposed to be the case for humanity, but sinning certainly has its consequences. The biggest being mortality, and in that mortality lies an entity that feeds off of it like an infant to its mother's teat. The fourth and final Horseman of The Apocalypse, their leader. He's one of the strongest demons in all of Hell. The only ones close to his level or surpass him are the Devil, the Devil's second in command, the sin of Pride, the Sin of Gluttony, and maybe the Devil's third in command. The legends say he rides on a pale horse of great power, and we'll get to that detail at a later time. But this is the leader in all his glory, and his name is Death.

The shadow of Death looms over all, but now he has come specifically for them. While his appearance is obscured by the fog, it no doubt resembles that of the Grim Reaper. The soldiers are both terrified but also confused when they notice he's carrying an unusually shaped item over his shoulder. Those unfortunate to be close enough to him see that he's carrying a casket. It's about half of his size so it's unlikely to actually be carrying a person. Death rustles around in his cloak's pockets in his free hand and tosses something to their feet. A few soldiers back away nervously, but a few more confused soldiers looked closely to see that what he threw to the floor was roses.

They think this is a peace offering, but they couldn't have been more wrong. You see, Death has a very theatrical side to him. He loves to make a grand opening nobody will soon forget, and that rose was just the first act to his three act play. The second is holding out his free arm to reveal it's all bones as we would expect. His fingers are clawed and when he clenches his fists he punches into the casket. He twists and turns his arm until the casket is destroyed, revealing what was inside. His signature weapon, the scythe, a weapon that is pretty impractical in almost every scenario as a tool for murder, but Death is both the exception and the rule. From stalking the farmers in the early days of Europe to watching and learning the uses of weapon martial arts in Asia, he developed his own style to make it the ultimate weapon. There is an interesting backstory to be told for his scythe, but that is information for another time.

The design of the scythe is unique even among demon weapons. While most of that nature are rather sinister, this has a more elegant look to it. The pommel of the scythe is gold with a rectangular shape to it. On each of the four sides is a symbol to represent the four members of the Horsemen. A skull for Death, a sword for War, a cluster of corrupted bacteria for Pestilence, and the food scale for Famine. The handle of the scythe is colored in Alizarin Crimson. There is an engraving on the handle that reads "Thanatos." In ancient Greek culture this is in reference to the personification of Death. The actual blade and top of the scythe is decorated with proper demonic decorum. The blade comes out of a fanged mouth of a silver sculpted head of what looks like a horned goblin or gargoyle. The head has two eye sockets that are filled with a ruby for each eye. The blade itself is colored in black and made from a very specific material.