The Warlord Bound to Stone
Long before the modern world and long before the power of the stones came into the hands of Mehndi, Henna, Lalle, and Willow, their story had already begun thousands of years earlier.
It began in the ancient Indus Valley.
In that distant age, there lived a feared and powerful warlord known as Kohl. He was a brilliant strategist and a conqueror who believed the world could be shaped by strength, knowledge, and control over hidden forces.
During his campaigns across the ancient lands, Kohl discovered something extraordinary — a group of rare stones unlike anything known to his people.
These stones held a mysterious energy that responded to symbols, intention, and natural mediums. Where others believed the stones were sacred and should be protected, Lord Kohl believed they were meant to be used.
He learned how to channel their power through mineral pigments derived from kohl minerals — dark compounds historically ground from stone and charcoal-like minerals deep within the earth. Through markings, symbols, and ritual discipline, he found ways to transfer and direct the energy of the stones.
With this power, Kohl expanded his influence and used the stones to strengthen his conquests.
But the stones were never meant to serve domination.
Over time, the energy within them began to change him.
The minerals he used seeped into his body. The stone energy fused with his spirit. His form slowly hardened, darkened, and transformed into something neither fully human nor fully spirit.
The warlord Kohl became Lord Kohl — a being bound to the very minerals that once gave him power.
The stones had cursed their first master.
The Hiding of the Stones
The warriors and scholars of the ancient Indus Valley eventually realized what the warlord Kohl had become.
They saw that the stones could shape the fate of the world — either toward balance or destruction.
In a desperate effort to stop him, a group of guardians gathered the remaining stones and made a solemn vow.
They would scatter the stones across distant lands, far beyond the reach of Kohl.
Caravans were sent across deserts, mountains, and ancient trade routes. Each group carried a stone and swore never to return home, ensuring the stones would remain hidden.
Some stones were buried in remote temples.
Some were hidden in forests and sacred gardens.
Others were carried across oceans and continents.
Much like ancient stories of sacred relics being hidden to protect the world, the guardians ensured that no single ruler could ever possess all the stones again.
With the stones gone, Lord Kohl was defeated and sealed within the temple that had become his resting place — a tomb built from the same ancient stone that had transformed him.
The Sleeping Warlord
Though sealed within the temple, Lord Kohl was never truly destroyed.
Bound to the energy of the stones, he exists in a strange balance between stone and spirit.
For centuries he has remained dormant, resting within the temple that serves as both sanctuary and prison.
But there is one thing that always awakens him.
The disturbance of the stones themselves.
Whenever their power is used in the world, Lord Kohl senses it.
Throughout history he has risen from his temple more than once, seeking the stones and the power that once belonged to him. Each time he appeared, warriors and guardians rose to confront him and forced him back into his stone-bound tomb.
And each time, the stones were hidden again.
A New Awakening
Now the ancient power has awakened once more.
Far from the temples of the Indus Valley, four new keepers have unknowingly begun to channel the energy of the stones.
Mehndi.
Henna.
Lalle.
Willow.
Through henna symbols and the natural energy of the Lawsonia plant, they have begun to access the same ancient force the guardians once protected.
They are now the keepers of the stones.
And when the power of the stones awakens…
Lord Kohl awakens with it.
Deep within his temple tomb, the stone warlord stirs once again.
Because the one thing that can defeat him…
is also the one thing he seeks.
The power of the stones.
The story of Mehndi, Henna, Lalle, and Willow has only just begun.
And somewhere in the forgotten temples of the ancient world…
Lord Kohl has opened his eyes.
Artist Blueprint 