Ghulmia

"Song of madness and deceit... Eyes of plague and unfathomable depths... Skin of dust trailing behind as smoke and ash... Woe to those that cross her path..."

- Rough translation of an ancient verse engraved on Ghulmia's coffin. Ghulmia is an ancient sorceress and necromancer, believed to be a Skull Creature.

History
Little to nothing is known of her past. From what has been told in old tales, she was part of an ancient order called the Skull Priests. Legends claim that they were allied with the Skull Creatures and other similar beings, specializing in the arcane arts. Each member was said to have their own private army, Ghulmia included. At some point in time, they were each individually imprisoned by an unknown party for unknown reasons.

Thousands of years later, Kripta's archaeology group discovered her tomb. One of their members accidently triggered a trap, which triggered a machine that spawned a portal. Her tomb and the crew were sent into the Shadow Realm. Years later, a patrol of Makuta's minions stumbled across the stone coffin. Breaking its magical seal, the goons unwittingly freed the Priestess from her prison. She returned the favor by destroying them, and fly off into the eternal night sky. For the next few years, she spent a great deal of her time searching for an exit from the dimension.

She eventually learned of Makuta's presence withinthe Shadow Realm, and caught word that he has been preparing to make an escape. An idea formed in her head, and thus she sought out someone to carry out her plan. She eventually recruited an eccentric scholar, promising him great knowledge in exchange for his services. His first task was to discover the location of Makuta's private vault, where the Mask Hoarder kept his most prized possessions. He succeeded in this, but he was unable to crack it open.

However, fortune fell upon them when they discovered Kripta's survival, as well as her fair share of arcane treasure. Ghulmia sent the agent to spy on her, learn of her hideout's location, its defenses, and report back to her. Once she learned all she needed to, she attacked the safehouse, the servant having disabled most of its wards by the time of her arrival. She pillaged the area while her spy incapacitated the Okotan, and made her way to Makuta's base.

There, she offered it to him as a favor, in exchange for an alliance. Makuta agreed, and welcomed her among his army. He told her of his plans, and how he ended to carry them out. In reality however, she was only keeping him occupied while her spy stowed away in the loot, carried by the Mask Hoarder's guard. Once he opened the vault from the inside, Ghulmia slipped in and stole a number of relics. Makuta quickly became aware of her treachery, but it was already too late: she had made off with enough materials to forge her own escape plan.

She returned to her lair with her spoils, and immediately went to work on conducting a ritual. However, she quickly realized that she lacked the energy needed to create a portal. She sent a scout to plant a rune within the Mask Maker's fortress, to siphon out the energies he would summon to create his own portal. When his plan of escape failed, it sent whatever power it could salvage to her. She began the ritual shortly after, and managed to escape. However, she was caught off-guard by the arrival of Kripta, who leapt through the gate with her. A brief skirmish occurred between the two, with Ghulmia blasting the novice sorceress into the sea.

She teleported back to her original lair after that, hidden somewhere on Okoto. She is currently plotting a new scheme of conquering the island (and possibly even beyond it as well). Her first step is to collect the Masks of her fallen brothers.

Abilities and Traits
TWB...

Trivia

 * Ghulmia was inspired by Omnigul, an antagonist from the videogame Destiny. The Skull Priests in turn were influenced by the Dragon Priests of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.