[h1]Necrobia[/h1]
Necrobia is a small nation of mages hidden in an alternate reality. Necrobians are initially from earth and recruited from various persecuted populations of sorcerers, druids, clairvoyants, witches, and shamans. They are trained in magics from the Necrobian Lexicon, an ancient text from this alternate reality, making their magic clash with more common forms of spellcraft. Use of this magic gradually turns the skin pale and turns the blood blue-violet, leading to the terms Blueblood, to describe Necrobians, and Redbloods, a derogatory term for baseline earthlings.
[h2]Discovery[/h2]
Necrobia's founder, Giatia, a goddess of light and life from a lost pagan pantheon, happened upon a Cinnabar Beacon, a [url=http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-093] disc of cinnabar[/url] that -- when placed on the ground in the correct fashion -- will transport one to another reality. Giatia accidentally activated the beacon and was transported to an apocalyptic wasteland. The sky was red and strange runes decorated the sky in place of stars. There was no flora, and undead monsters seemed to rule the land. She wandered for decades, searching for answers and battling the creatures abound.
[h2]The Necrobian Lexicon[/h2]
In her wandering, she discovered a strange book with [url=http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1326]clockwork arms out of its spine[/url]. After learning how to operate the book, she learned that it contained the magics of her exiled pantheon expanded massively. She spent centuries studying the text and learning each spell, except the forbidden ones. In her study she learned to conjure Mercuric Barriers, which prevented entry from this world's haunts, how to generate such barriers with [url=https://www.ygoprodeck.com/pics/47961808.jpg]Statues of cinnabar[/url], how to use her powers of life to grow food and cleanse water from the wastes, and, most importantly, how to leave this land and return to baseline earth. She made a few statues, generated a mercuric wall, placed the lexicon on an alter within the walls, and returned to central Europe, centuries after she'd left.
[h2]Founding of Necrobia[/h2]
When she returned, it was during an inquisition by both the church and the Chinese empire. Specifically, the Order of the Chalice, an order of crusaders from the vatican, were hunting down descendants of her followers, bluebloods, those genetically predisposed for the use of her magics. Giatia knew what she had to do. After collecting more Cinnabar beacons, she gathered bluebloods, one-by-one, and brought them to the haven she had created in the alternate wasteland. She established a nation, Necrobia, named after the texts it was founded on. The nation was governed by a council of 5 mages of various sects, with Giatia as the ArchCounciler for life, and since she is an immortal goddess, this meant she had veto power for all time.
The hidden nation thrived for centuries, growing from recruits from genetic bluebloods and even persecuted pagans and druids without "the gift". Anyone could learn Necrobian magics, but those without the genetic predisposition would struggle to master spells, and generally don't rise to positions of prominence in Necrobian society. They also accepted "catalyzers" who used Relics, objects with magical power, or various creatures to achieve spellcraft, although there is prejudice against those who rely on such things.
Giatia continued to guide the nation, slowly expanding the Mercuric Wall, and warding off the Haunts of Necrobia. Her vision was for this nation to persist as a safe haven for spellcrafters away from the persecution of baseline earth, a moderate an incrementalist vision....
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[h2]Galrithius[/h2]
Classification: Commander
Specifications: Brigadier, Taskmaster
Class Powerset: [unreleased, but whichever has one large pet and many smaller]
Specification Powersets: Vampiric Emanation; Vampiric Assault
Tertiary Sets: Atrophic Aura, Force Manipulation, Flight, Strategy (support)
Other Traits: Astral projection, Effective immortality, Lasting soul
[h3]Backstory[/h3]
Galrithius was a blueblood raised in a remote village in England sometime in the 1700s. The village was self sufficient, and used blueblood magics passed down for centuries to hide their village, while still accepting outsiders occasionally. Galrithius practiced necromancy rather openly, often having an undead wolf or mountain lion at his side. Soon after Galrithius had his second child with his wife, The Order of the Chalice discovered their village; the village tried its best to defend against the crusaders, but were ultimately no match for their numbers. They were rounded up and successively burned at the stake. As Galrithius was being tied to the stake, he grabbed the saint hoisting him, drained him of his strength and used it to raise his fallen villagers from the dead, imbuing them with the fire that burned their bodies. The blueblood zombies overpowered enough of the Chalicers for Galrithius to escape, leaving his former villagers to wander or be destroyed by the Order.
Necrobian scouts sensed the massive outpouring of blueblood magic, and arrived to find Galrithius wandering England, in shock, surviving by draining the grass beneath his feet. He was recruited into the hidden nation, and quickly ascended to a leadership of the Mercuric Guard, who watch the wall for intruders. Against Giatia's decrees, he searched the Necrobian Lexicon's forbidden spells, sacrificing those fallen at the wall to power the clockwork of the book. He learned how to control the lesser Haunts of the wasteland, and more importantly, how to conjure them to baseline earth. He also learned how to achieve a form of immortality: astral projecting his mind out of his body, then healing the damage of aging. He performed this ritual nightly, giving him indefinite life.
He eventually came out with his discoveries, offering to teach the forbidden spells to any Necrobian who wanted to learn, and the guard under his watch were most interested. Giatia demanded that he cease use of these dark spells, fearing they would corrupt him and her nation. He refused, defending his actions with the improved defenses gained by turning Haunts against one another. This political conflict lasted years, until Galrithius was exiled from Necrobia and his discoveries banned from use. The guard struggled under these new rules. After losing their most powerful defender, Thorin Sunwood, scouts were sent to Galrithius's refuge in baseline earth: the ruins of his village. They offered to support him in a coup against Giatia. He agreed, but ordered them to wait five years for him to develop a plan to defeat the goddess.
After five years had passed, Galrithius returned to Necrobia and with the Mercuric Guard, they opened the Mercuric wall and stormed the Quartz Palace with the Haunts under their control. Giatia destroyed the entire guard and their haunts, but Galrithius used a Garnet Runestone to entrap the goddess, from where she could not escape without the forbidden spells she had refused. Galrithius restored the Mercuric Wall, and instituted a new Necrobian Council, with him as the first ArchCouncilor, except this would be an elected position. With the restoring of the Guard, he easily won the election, and instituted a new vision for the nation: Convergence.
[h3] Powers [/h3]
Galrithius, and most Necrobian summoners, use their control over Necrobian Haunts to enact their vision. These haunts can also be teleported into an appropriate reality, retaining Necrobians' control over them. These haunts can also be imbued with other blueblood magics and the intelligence to use them. Use of magic is accomplished by applying Runes of power onto the Haunts, whereas the intelligence to use them comes from astral runes, invisible to the naked eye. (These same runes can be used on other compatible beings for empowering or weakening). Such haunts include:
Servi (singular, Servus): haunts seemingly from ordinary humans before Necrobia's apocalypse. They generally have little combat effectiveness, using their undead minds to hunt and kill any living creature sensed. However these haunts are almost always imbued with sets of runes to make them more effective:
-Servus Pyre: simple undead which can breathe fire, and self-destruct on command.
-Servus Frigus: simple undead which can throw icicles, freeze enemies, and cover themselves in ice armor.
-Servus Umbra: smarter undead which can cast vampiric and umbral magics.
Bellator: haunts seemingly from medieval knights, armed with swords, maces, shields, polearms, and bows. They are larger and more resistant to physical and energy damage, before their armor is considered.
Shades: haunts of a northern Asian aesthetic, carrying katanas and shuriken. They are much smarter than other humanoid haunts and use tactics to entrap and surround opponents. They can also be imbued with concealing magic and enhancements to their weapons.
Domini (singular, Dominus): tall, slender constructs of bone and miasma. They conjure black weapons, most often swords and shields, and have atrophic auras about them. They lack the tactical knowhow of Shades, instead relying on shear strength to crush opposition.
Bright Ones: Rare haunts with the silhouette of Servi, but are blindingly luminous with red light. Even within Necrobia, they summon lesser haunts to attack. Under control, they can conjure their own haunts and direct them independently of their master. Unlike any other haunt, they use Mentalism magics to cast psionic attacks and more piercing dread. It's speculated that these are haunts of mages in the Necrobian past.
Tormentors: [url=https://www.ygoprodeck.com/pics/57281778.jpg]massive beasts[/url] made of skulls and bones. These beasts are strangely impervious to damage, despite being made of desiccated bones. They initially have dread-inducing auras and can throw black magics, but they can be empowered further with massive elemental controls. One can face a legion of opponents, and drain them before crushing them under their skulls, adding the resulting bones to their mass.
Aside from conjuring haunts. Galrithius also employs a number of draining spells: draining lifeforce, electronic energy, willpower, and even astral essence. These energies can then be taken for himself, or given to teammates and minions.
When faced with more robust enemies, Galrithius will also conjure wrought iron constructs to immobilize or damage opponents. Such constructs can also be imbued with runes of power to increase their effectiveness.
Galrithius also dabbles in changeling Summoning: adding features of a creature from a summoned plane to one's self. Lesser mages risk losing control over these creatures, but Galrithius's anti-Mentalism training allows him to retain control of these new features.
-Mentalian: adds features similar to the beast Mentalian was imbued with: telekinesis, psionic attacks, and weaker illusion spells.
-Brutus: adds features of the demon Brutus: an orange aura resists fire and adds tremendous strength and stamina.
-Loxolian: adds features from a spider-like monster with astral legs: adds pairs of spidery legs to his back which can emit elementism with some difficulty.
-Tusenite: adds features of a medusan creature with many eyes: adds many eyes around exposed skin, contact with these eyes conjures paralytics in the bloodstream.
On defense, Galrithius can employ a short duration ethereal effect, making him intangible to damage, but unable to cast offensive spells. This is most often used in melee combat to outmaneuver opponents.
As a last resort, Galrithius has linked his soul to a hidden Relic. So, when his body and even his primary soul is destroyed, he will reemerge again, having learned from his mistakes.
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[h2]Mentalian[/h2]
Classification: Operator
Specifications: Engineer, Director
Class Powerset: Psychic Control
Specification Powersets: Lethal Assault, Barrier Generation
Tertiary Sets: Teleportation, Solid Form, Lethality
Other Traits: Effective Immortality, Psychic Reflex
[h3]Backstory[/h3]
Trulian McAder was a native of Scotland in the mid-1700s. His clairvoyant and psionic abilities became clear at a young age. As a child he was abused and discouraged from using his abilities. Word spread of the clairvoyant and a Scottish nationalist sect kidnapped him, and murdered many in his village. He was given a noble's life, and his powers were honed and used to destabilize England, contributing to their defeats in the New World. Such power would not go unnoticed by mageseekers. Both the Order of the Chalice and Necrobian Mentalists noticed its use. The Order sent a squadron immediately from the Vatican. Galrithius set a motion in the Council to dispatch scouts to recover the powerful psionic, but the boy was redblood, so no resources would be allotted to his rescue. Galrithius took it upon himself to travel to Edinburgh, against the council's wishes, and recover the boy. He arrived before the Order, and it was not difficult to convince the orphan to elude his captors.
In Necrobia, Trulain struggled to learn blueblood magic. His psychic abilities were powerful, but Necrobia valued use of spells, not powers. He probed the minds of fellow students to try to learn what they knew, or how they knew it, but most had the Gift he lacked, so the information was of no use. In his probe of Councilor Galrithius, he learned forbidden spells, and threatened to blackmail the Councilor. Rather than expel the redblood, he offered to give him a catalyst: a Mentalian, a creature of immense psionic power which can also cast certain Necrobian magics. Trulain excitedly agreed, but Galrithius warned of the consequences: Trulain would be disfigured, and would struggle to control the beast. Trulain insisted anyway, fearing future expulsion.
Once the materials were gathered, back on baseline earth, a Mentalian was summoned. The beast had to be hexed before it could be given to Trulain. The orphan used his psionics to their extend, and Galrithius used nearly every draining spell at his disposal, and the beast was subdued and hexed. The Rite of Reaction was performed, and the beast was combined with Trulian, in a blast of telekinetic energy, damaging Stonehenge and throwing Galrithius meters away. Trulian was left with his skin blackened, covered in violet runes, included to control the beast inside. His eyes lost their pupils and irises and remained starkly violet. Most importantly, a third eye was added to his face, in the center of his forehead. This is the eye of the beast, and would provide subconscious use of Trulain's Powers, and enhance them dramatically. However, as part of the Rite, Trulain could never use his psionic powers on Galrithius, securing his allegiance with the orphan.
The two returned to Necrobia and some were aghast at the Catalyzer but many were proud of him and the lengths he would go to achieve spellcraft. They also noted Galrithius's ambition to add to their ranks and his openness to Catalysts. Some accused him of favor of redbloods, but once samples of Mentlains' blood were taken, they were bluer than most masters of Necrobia.
[h3] Powers [/h3]
Trulain "Mentalian" McAder is a powerful telekinetic, able to stop a bus or throw a small house. He can also use this ability to generate force shields to block projectiles. He is also a strong telepath, able to easily read minds, which when combined with Necrobian mentalism, can bypass many barriers to psionic affect. However, strong implements of his powers are given away by his third eye, the source of much of his power, which will emit light based on the kind of attack used:
-violet light indicates an "overload" attack, a brute-force sensory attack to disable a mind, also apparent with telekinesis
-blue light indicates a depressive attack, using emotional vulnerabilities to demoralize an opponent, possibly leaving them catatonic with depression
-red light indicates a rage-based attack, used to frenzy or control opponents
-yellow light indicates the use of mania on another, which can hinder skill or invigorate
The Mentalian beast can cast Necrobian spells to some degree, allowing Trulain to access the Lexicon. Most often he conjures weapons, which can then be manipulated with his telekinesis. He will also conjure chaos defenses and illusion despell. With enough practice, many Necrobian spells are open to Mentalian. The beast can also combine chaos spells with telekinesis to teleport itself, or its host, great distances. The downside is that when in conflict with other tangible matter, Mentalian will lose any conflict, and can be dismembered.
The Mentalian also gives Trulain some reflexive and subconscious control over his powers: unexpected attacks may be blocked with telekinesis by reflex, so Trulain is not dispatched by a stray arrow. Outside psionic attacks are met with an automatic dread defense: the eye will glow blue, and opponents will have to fight off the depressive wave before continuing an assault.
Later, Galrithius imbued Trulian with twin Runes of Janus: a rune of invigoration and a rune of aging. This would give Mentalian a form of Immortality: Death Phase, being in a state of constantly dying and being reborn. These runes must be refreshed regularly, or Trulain will suffer accelerated aging.
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[h2]Arcaulia[/h2]
Classification: Ranger
Specifications: Hunter, Gunner
Class Powerset: Lethality
Specification Powersets: Force Manipulation, Super Agility
Tertiary Sets: Teleportation, Barrier Generation
Other Traits: Effective Immortality, Unstable mind
[h3]Backstory[/h3]
It started young with Jean Bureau. Sometimes blueblood magic finds its way into the hands of those especially Gifted. The young girl was always "lucky" with card games and dice. As she aged, her parents noticed her skin pale over the years, and her veins seemed bluer than they should be. Life continued as it would for a wealthy French aristocrat, until she fell and cut a her arms severely. The blood that spilled was bright blue from the unconscious use of chaos magic. She waved her hand on the wound instinctively and it healed. Rather than be elated by the miraculous healing, her parents cast her out as a demon. She wandered Versailles begging to get by. Through her unconscious magic, this was enough to get by, she was much luckier than most vagrants. But the open use of this magic was noticed by Necrobians in the area, and she was taken in as a young teen, to hone her skills. It was common to take on a new name when joining, the name "Arcaulia" called to her.
She excelled in most arts: elementism, mentalism, vampirism. But Chaos magic was the obvious specialty. This obscure magic relies on swapping realities with another timeline. Proper schooling with this magic was limited, so Giatia shadowed Arcaulia reading directly from the Lexicon. As she progressed, she came across the side effect of Chaos Magic: just as you are reaching into other timelines, they can also reach into yours. She received random wounds that required healing. Some spells required reapplication, as her luck was drained to another timeline. She consulted Giatia, who took her over to the Lexicon. It offered one solution: Singularity.
The Rite of Singularity allows one to cutoff influence from their alternates. But this would be required twice: once for Necrobia and once for baseline earth. The materials are gathered, including a shortsword, and the Rite is initiated on baseline earth.. Arcaulia is transported to a storming plane over a desert. She continually assaulted by doppelgangers, and she bests them with some ease, but it becomes clear that this fight will be infinite until some ingenuity is applied. She tried limiting the probability of a successful summon, with some success. Against the rules of the Rite, she summons Giatia into the plane. The two then easily dispatch the doppelgangers. After hours pass, the doppelgangers stop, as does the storm. The plane dissolves back into baseline earth, but Arcaulia is left altered. At times she will flicker out of phase with the dimension, sometimes having forgotten what has passed. The random wounds lessened, but did not stop. They began the Rite again in Necrobia, but it refused. Gaitia suspected Arcualia's Necrobian counterpart was long-gone in the apocalypse, so no intrusion would help outside random harmless anomalies. She is rendered permanently unstable, but retains the most control over her form, and proved to be an asset to Necrobia.
She maintained neutrality in Galrithius's coup, and found a position in the new Council. At times she became a political rival of Galrithius, even taking terms as ArchCouncilor. but the two worked well towards Necrobia's vision.
[h3]Powers[/h3]
"Everything is happening" is the underlying principle of Necrobian Chaos Magic: magic relying on altering probabilities and bending reality. Arcaulia is the master at applying these spells for offense and defense. Her primary attacks involve conjuring projectiles from alternate timelines: in this dimension, no one is shooting at an opponent, but somewhere in the multiverse, there's a bullet going in that direction.
Arcaulia also bends reality to entrap and disorient foes. Some timelines have oxygen deficiency, some have a hurricane in progress, and some have nothing of note. These alternatives can be conjured to immobilize or stun foes.
She can also employ smaller space-time realities to travel long distances in short periods of time, manifesting as teleportation relative to the base world.
Her legendary spells are her defensive spells, named after her:
-Arcualian Barrier: a shield is summoned composed of several similar timelines. If, say, an arrow is coming your direction, that reality can be swapped with one where there isn't, removing the threat from your reality, but...sometimes there's much worse coming.
-Arcualian Shield: an application of Arcualian Barrier for a personal shield. A shell of reality shields is maintained until a substantial force is applied, this will be transferred across the realities and nullified, but the Shield takes time to refresh, and is used as a last line of defense.
-Arcualain Renewal: in the multiverse, there are realities where you're unharmed. Chaos magic can be used to transfer these areas of the body to your own, effectively healing damage done.
Her singularity event not only limited her alternate selves from interfering with baseline earth, it also fixed her place in space-time, removing the passage of time's effect on her body, maintaining her youth indefinitely.
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[h2]Stimiku[/h2]
Classification: Ranger
Specifications: Partisan, Gunner
Class Powerset: Vampiric Blast
Specification Powersets: Vampiric Emanation, Atrophic Aura
Tertiary Sets: Superspeed, Massive Melee
Other Traits: Void aura, Violet Wraiths
[h3]Backstory[/h3]
The crypt of Necrobia were no place for mortals, even those with effective agelessness. Time and space seem to move faster than the outside, to ease the suffering of its prisoners. The crypt was sealed outside the Mercuric Wall and -- initially -- only Giatia could breach the seal. Those deemed too dangerous to be banished to baseline earth are sealed away in the crypt, at Giatia's sole whim. Wary of this sole control, Galrithius began to unravel the seal, under the guise of scouting the wastes. After years, with the help of forbidden spells, he was able to unseal and reseal the crypt seamlessly.
Amongst the horrors of the crypt, Galrithius found what looked like a runed haunt, it charged him before he trapped it in an iron cage. It reached its hand out, not to craw, but to grasp. Intrigued, Galrithius grabbed the creature's hand. It clenched his hand and green tendrils swarmed, wounds began to heal on the creature as Galrithius began to wither. He shoved the cage further, breaking the grip. The creature looked more human: wounds closed, anatomy returned, and hair even began to regrow; more importantly, it showed pale skin and blue arteries, signs of a blueblood. It looked at Galrithius and spoke roughly "help....need...life", then collapsed. Galrithius healed his wounds as best he could, but suffered about a decade's aging. He wandered the crypt for a victim worth draining for the former creature's expense. He found a spy from the Order praying skyward and bound him, dragging him to the blueblood. The spy was tossed to the blueblood, who pounced on him [url=https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Dark+Hand]placing his mouth[/url] on the spy's chest and green tendrils surrounded both of them. He got up on his feet, still pale and blue, but with full hair and musculature. He looked at Galrithius and introduced himself " I am Stimiku, I have been a prisoner here for untold years, time flows faster here." They left the crypt, sealing it behind them, and went to the barracks of Galrithius's Mercuric Guard.
From the brig Stimiku explained his curse: from the [url=https://darksouls3.wiki.fextralife.com/Dark+Sigil]runes[/url] on his back, black liquid slowly seeped and with it his lifeforce left, until he was little more than a Servus, uncontrollably searching for victims. But, he also suggested a solution: a [url=https://www.ygoprodeck.com/pics/5371656.jpg]sword[/url] said to have trapped ten thousand souls, enough lifeforce to sustain Stimiku for decades. He also gave a location: the grave of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. Galrithius considered his options: the tomb likely exists both in Necrobia and baseline earth. Where would there be more resistance? He decided the version in Necrobia would be an easier target, and hopefully the sword would also exist there. He asked for volunteers among the guard, and Mentalian. 3 agreed, including Thorin, the captain of the Guard, and Mentalian agreed, organizing the teleportation spell.
They arrived at the Mausoleum to much more resistance than expected: the Terracotta army was animated and fighting the Haunts endlessly. They attacked the Necrobians, making no distinction between the undead and the living. Trying to maintain neutrality with whoever is animating the soldiers, the group did their best not to destroy the soldiers, but to deflect their attacks and charge into the mausoleum. Galrithius applied a healing spell to protect them from the mercury inside the tomb (there was enough poisoning at Necrobia). As they came to the inner sanctum, they found the legendary sword...and who was animating the terracotta. An emaciated man in ancient Chinese garb stood in the center of the sanctum, surrounded by a river of mercury, with green tendrils covering him and his sword. Without a word, he swung the blade, and a wave of green was loosed towards the Necrobians, a Mercuric Guard raised his shield to take the brunt of the blast and his shield absorbed the wave. Terracotta filled their rear flank, occupying Mentalian in effort to contain them. The Emperor continued his swings, sending magic slices across the room, dividing the group as they avoided it's draining powers. Galrithius charged the monarch, attempting to cage him in iron to prevent his swinging. The emperor proved more agile than Galrithius could manage, and was unable to contain him. Thorin took the more direct approach, charging in to clash blades with Qin. He held his own against the millennia-old monarch, but the combination of the Guards and Galrithius's magic, the Emperor was contained. Stimiku reached out with his magic and drained all the lifeforce he could from Qin Shi Huang, then grabbed the blade with the emperor and, after a struggle, relinquished the clay katana. Qin Shi Huang dissolved into dust, speaking last words none of the Necrobians could understand. The terracotta froze, then were overtaken by the Haunts. Mentalian quickly teleported the group back to Necrobia, before the inner sanctum was stormed.
On their return, Giatia confronted the group, and her prisoner. Galrithius defended their actions with the powerful Relic and newest Necrobian, and also took the blame for the clandestinity. This proved to be the breaking point for his usage of forbidden spells, and he was banished from Necrobia. But Stimiku was shown mercy. His condition was treated by the blade, so he was allowed to return to Necrobia after so long. He was thankful for Giatia's mercy, but when the time came to choose a side in Galrithius's coup...he knew who helped him more.
[h3]Powers[/h3]
Stimiku alone has immense vampiric magic, able to drain the lifeforce of his victims, and giving him immortality. This ability makes him a deadly melee opponent, but the Emperor's Blade allows him to use his swordsmanship and vampirism at shocking range.
The sword also allows him to gift lifeforce to allies, giving Stimiku versatility as support as well as assault.
This lifeforce can be used to give him enhanced speed, strength, and endurance, allowing him to hold ground even without his blade.
After the Usurpation, Stimiku is able to spawn Violet Wraiths from his garb, giving him limited summoning capability, but little compared to master Necrobian summoners.
Overall, Stimiku is a deadly melee component with any blade, a relentless vampire at range, and with the Emperor's Clay Blade, an immortal Partisan.
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[h2]Forska[/h2]
Classification: Guardian
Specifications: Sentinel, Warden
Class Powerset: Devices
Specification Powersets: Atrophic Blast, Force Manipulation
Tertiary Sets: Flight, Atrophic Aura
Other Traits: Effective Immortality, technical affinity
[h3]Backstory[/h3]
The strangest aspect of [url=http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-093]the world within the Cinnabar Disc[/url] is the technology: their apocalypse seems to have had occurred shortly after the advent of business-class computers, despite being centuries earlier than baseline earth. Earthlings of medieval times couldn't pretend to understand the glass towers, but the Lexicon allowed Necrobia to access these over time. It contained lengthy spells of Technomancy, the art of manipulating technology via magic. Technomancers took the place of engineers in Necrobia, and could, with difficulty, use the advanced technology of the area, but it would still take decades truly understand the engineering behind it.
The most skilled of these technomancers was Forska, formerly a druid of Norway, who claims to have invented crucible steel for the viking bands. Her skill with technomancy surpasses any other Necrobian, and she had single-handedly brought Necrobia to the modern era over the centuries. Relative to baseline earth, they plateaued at about 1950s at the early 1800s, but struggled to reach modern digital computing. There were few communal computing devices within Necrobia, mostly used for accounting and logistics, but average Necrobians had plumbing, refrigeration, and air conditioning. For weapons, they relied on pre-gunpowder weaponry and, of course, magical implements.
When Galrithius was ousted for his use of forbidden magics, the Mercuric Guard suffered heavily without such magics. Forska developed a temporary solution: the Guard enjoyed the benefits of being able to control lesser Haunts to turn the apocalypse against itself, Forska invented an [url=https://scryfall.com/card/c17/222/skullclamp]implant[/url] which allowed remote control of a haunt. Although, it did require use of some forbidden magic, but Forska's massive contributions to Necrobia gave her leverage to lobby Giatia to allow the breach. This was seen by most as a solution to the banishment of Galrithius, a better way to maintain security, but the Guard found it insufficient. A control stick was used to control the haunt manually, and progress was slow on controlling stronger haunts with more accuracy. Forbidden magic allowed autonomous control, so this implant put Forska at odds with the Guard. When Galrithius returned and his coup was successful, Forska maintained her position on the Council. She continued to be a rival of Galrithius, occasionally winning elections against him, since she comes from the more moderate Giatia school of thought. But her expertise made her impossible to banish, any advanced technology keeping Necrobia safe and healthy would fall to disrepair, so she remains.
She stubbornly refused to provide technomancy for Convergence, to his Ire. Her discoveries in the wastes and affinity for cross-dimension technology would've proven invaluable, but she stood her ground against invasion of baseline earth, knowing the risk it posed to Necrobia. When the time came to invade, she did join the battle in the front lines, lest she be banished from the newly digital Necrobia.
[h3]Powers[/h3]
Technomancy is sister to Chaos Magic in that it revolves around manipulating entropy, specifically human-centric entropy decrease. This means manipulating a computer is easier than a hammer, though both are arguably "technology". Most of these spells have been popularized by Forska herself, though she struggles with teaching, so they are taught en masse by other scholars:
-Research: these spells give one varying levels of understanding in operating a given piece of technology. It's less useful once the device wears down, maintenance and repair are done without magics.
-Regress: these spells restore the entropy stored in devices. The most powerful spells revert devices to ore, but more commonly simply disable the device.
-Remote: these spells allow one to puppet a given device mentally, as one would control a haunt. Such spells were once considered forbidden.
-Endeavor: a risky spell which attempts to advance a given device even further than it's current state. For example, a musket may have rifling added, or even automatics; a steam engine may be modified for gasoline or ethanol; or a robot may be given massive computing power, even sentience. These spells were largely forbidden under Giatia, due to the risk involved.
Using elemental magics, once can also empower devices with runes to give them mystical amplifications. Firearms in Necrobia are such devices: fire shotguns, ice pistols, lightning rifles. Forska uses very advanced forms of such weapons in Necrobia. But quickly moves to more advanced weapons post-Convergence.
She also uses a variety of Remoted jetpacks and rockets to achieve flight.
She has achieved a long lifespan by using devices discovered in Endeavor-ing medical devices, and maintaining them as long as possible to prolong her life. She is biologically in her 40s despite being hundreds of years old.
Overall, Forska is a terrifying opponent for any foe relying on advanced technology. She may Regress a mech into a pile of iron, even simple weapons may be reverted to clubs at best. But enemies relying on natural (or mutant) abilities or training would find her on par with any well-equipped paramilitary operative.
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[h2] Convergence [/h2]
The title after-the-fact title given to Galrithius's vision for Necrobia: the combination of the Necrobian timeline with baseline earth in a way that allows the nation of Necrobia to control the haunts. Galrithius held this vision long before his coup; Giatia would never invade baseline earth as it threatens the safety of Necrobia and any genetic blueblood remaining on baseline earth. After the coup and imprisonment of Giatia Galrithius immediately began his plot for Convergence.
[h3]Theory[/h3]
Galrithius figured that with the right Relics he could dissolve the barrier between baseline earth and Necrobia, but it needed to be done in a way to bring Necrobians over, but not geography. Necrobian soil and water was poisoned beyond easy savior. His proposition was that powerful relics from diverse geography and opposing nature would allow a global thinning of the veil...with the added bonus of giving Galrithius god-like powers. The following Relics were decided opon.
-The Anubian Amulet: an amulet of the Egyptian god of death and judgement, Anubus. Galrithius already possesed this and employs it for his non-Necrobian necromancy (animating undead rather than transporting them from Necrobia).
-The Crown of Siva: a crown of the goddess Siva, a Slavic Goddess of Life and Fertility. On its own the crown imbues healing and other life-giving abilities.
-The Bracelet of Wi: a bracelet of the Lakotan sun god, Wi. It allows one to cast sunlight at will and part clouds.
-The Bracelet of Leza: a bracelet of the South African rain goddess, Leza. Alone it can cast streams of water and summon rain clouds.
-The Sash of Tangaroa: a sash of the Hawai'ian sea god, Tangaroa. It allows one to summon tidal waves and localized tornadoes of water.
-The Dagger of Itztli: a ceremonial obsidian dagger of Itztli, an Aztec god of stone and sacrifice. It allows one to summon stone structures from any surface and to move such structures at will. It is currently held by Aztec, a member of the hero group, the Redeemers.
These relics represent pairs of opposing concepts, life and death; rain and sun, earth and sea. The idea being the combination of them would allow one control over every aspect of reality. However, their effects are not compounding: each next relic does not provide more power than either has on their own. Any one relic is also not guaranteed to be able or worthy of wielding it, but with all of them, approval was not necessary.
[h3]Execution[/h3]
On the [url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/convergence]Day of Convergence[/url], after many adversaries are parted of their relics, including the Redeemer, Aztec. Galrithius gathered his strongest forces to an Island northeast of Alexandria, and initiated the convergence process, sending a wave across the sky, changing it to the Necrobian sky: red and covered in runes. He staged his destiny in Titan City so he could directly oversee the zone of most resistance, a city filled with supers. As Harbinger, with the godlike powers of the relics, Galrithius wrought his haunts across the city and surrounding areas, increasing in radius gradually.
Depending on the actions of the Redeemers and other supers, he would revive any fallen Councilors of Necrobia so they may take part in the battle. They and the rest of the forces, living and undead, would first attack the political and religious institutions. The political institutions for obvious reasons, but the religious institutions as retribution for the centuries of oppression spellcrafters suffered. Any church, big or small, would be a prime target for burning, just as Galrithius's family was burned.
As the battle would turn against the Necrobians, Galrithius would enact Proliferation, activating the potential of any genetic blueblood within the radius, and immediately imbuing the knowledge of spells they're most suited for. This would also enhance the powers of any Necrobian forces left, making them much more effective in battle. This would include Smog, leader of the Redeemers, who would use his powers to make decisive actions in the final moments of the battle, at the cost of his moral character.
[h3]Reconstruction Ending[/h3]
If the Redeemers and their allies are able to free Giatia from the Garnet Runestone. She would massively turn the tide of battle against the Necrobians. She would also use most of her power to contain Convergence, stopping it form spreading across the planet. She would contribute greatly to the final confrontation between the remaining Redeemers, allies, and the last of the Necrobian opposition. They would defeat Harbinger Galrithius somehow. Giatia would relieve him of his relics (except the Anubian Amulet), and take him and any willing Necrobians back to their world to restore order and safety. Many Necrobians would refuse, reintegrating into society as supers and artisans.
[h3]Diaspora Ending[/h3]
If Giatia is not freed from the Garnet Runestone. The battle would be far more difficult, and spread much further than Titan City. Proliferation would occur later, meaning Smog would have less contribution without his blueblood magics. But, the Councilors would eventually fall, and the Redeemers and their allies would overpower the Harbinger. Overused, the relics would shatter, leaving Galrithius with only his (considerable) abilities to fight off the massive resistance before him. In his last moments, he uses his remaining life-force to revive any fallen Necrobians, especially the Councilors, and then he would dissolve into dust. The veil is permanently closed to Necrobia, and the Necrobians are left with no home, so they reintegrate into society, some as supers, some as artisans, but most as prisoners of war.
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Avatar by MikeNovember
I like where this is going..I hope in the future game i could join your team and make a cool witch or something :)
-----------
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Redeemer's might be more your jam :p Necrobian's are fairly culty
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In game, my plan is to have the personal base be Necrobia, then the actual supergroup would be the Star Lords, where Galrithius goes after his defeat at Convergence.
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[h2]Violet Wraiths[/h2]
Galrithius was not the first to defy Giatia's isolationism. A chaos mage by the name of Schopf was one of the first to strike back against baseline earth. Near the beginning of the Black Death, Schopf discovered how to use chaos magic to trap entities within objects. This was accomplished by converting the object into a pocket dimension bound by the borders of the 3D object. At first he could only trap very small entities in sizable object, for example, a rat in a crate. He continued to hone his craft while scouting in Eastern Europe.
[h3]Synthesis of the Wraiths[/h3]
Purple dye had long been a status symbol in baseline earth. It was expensive to produce and was synonymous with royalty, and by some extension to the church. Schopf saw this as a weakness to exploit in the world that had wronged Necrobians. He worked with other chaos mages and elementists to create a Necrobian purple dye, slightly more purple than the Tyrian purple common at the time, meaning one could mistake it for an advanced and valuable alternative to the expensive Tyrian purple. This was somewhat appreciated by the community of Necrobia, since many still valued purple from the overworld. Once Shopf had purple cloth to stock, he began the next phase of his plan.
Collaborating with elementists, he sought to create a monster he would trap within the purple cloth. The mechanism they decided on was to draw liquid out of the pocket dimension, then freeze it into an automonous monster. This way the cloth could be set as a trap, then triggered when worn in a private area, and the monster would wreck havoc without input needed from a nearby Necrobian. Their formulation took years, but it was finally perfected near 1203 AD. Shopf called the beasts Violet Wraiths. They were constructed of a mercuric solution trapped in the cloth's pocket dimension. When worn by an individual for more than 10 minutes, the liquid would explode out of the cloth, then congeal into a series of ice shards, forming the beast. This beast would then attack the wearer of the cloth until it succeeded in killing them, it would then track any blood relatives it could find until it melted completely, killing them along the way. Schopf loved this creation, but the elementists were unsettled by the nature of trapping monsters in cloth. The beast also had a weakness: of both its violet eyes were shattered, it would demanifest and the ice shards would fall to the ground.
[h3]The Purple Drought[/h3]
After the sack of Constantinople in 1204 AD, purple fabric became rather rare. Schopf seized this market shortage as his oppurtinity to release the Violet Wraiths on the overworld. He left Necrobia for a time with dozens of sashes infused with Violet Wraiths. He'd modified the pocket dimension to trigger a week after worn for 10 minutes, so that it could be tried on safely, but would spring when worn much later, when Schopf had left town. He stopped by various merchants in cities near Constantinople, selling the trap cloths as spoils of the sacking of Constantinople. After his first sale, he made it a point to track the cloth to the aristocrat who'd purchased it. It worked wonderfully: the beast killed the lord, his lady, and their children, before expiring in their house. He made many such sales across Central Asia and Eastern Europe, until he eventually ran out, and had to restock in Necrobia.
When he arrived, he was surprised to see Giatia waiting for him. She was suspicious of the cloth used in his experiments, and confronted the elementist Shopf had collaborated with, who quickly divulged his doings to the Goddess and ArchCouncilor. Shopf was put on trial for treason against Necrobia. In his testimony, he voiced his anger towards the overworld, especially the royalty and church for their wealthy rot and persecution of spellcrafters. Two councilors sympathized with his hatred, but the other three and Giatia overrode their decision. Shopf was banished to the Crypt, and forgotten for centuries.
[h3]Resurgence of the Wraiths[/h3]
After Galrithius's coup, the crypt was opened and it's contents were inspected for their use in the new administration. Several violet tomes were found among purple bones. Stimiku was the first to read the tomes, and was infatuated with the trap set by Schopf. Realizing that the tomes and bones were all violet, he quickly sought out Arcaulia for her mastery of chaos magic to ensure the tomes themselves weren't trapped. They quarantined the books and bones, and sure enough, exactly a week later dozens of Wraiths sprung from the tomes and bones, only to be quickly dispatched by the mages waiting for them.
Arcaulia found the Wraiths to be crude and childish, but Stimiku and some chaos mages loved the flexibility they offered in larger battles. With various alterations, the Violet Wraiths became a fairly widespread weapon of Necrobians, often used as a last resort or when summoning Haunts from Necrobia was not possible.
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[h2]Sects of Necrobia[/h2]
The spellcrafters of Necrobia are divided into 5 sects, largely based on divisions in the Lexicon. The political makeup of Necrobia reflects these divisions: Under Giatia the four sects each elected a Council member by their own methods, while Giatia was permanently Arch Councilor. under Galrithius, there were five sects, each electing a representative. The sects treated each other fairly; there was little sectarian conflict. However, under Galrithius, the Summoners did have some favor, but the others were given equal access to resources and duty at the Wall, so it mostly went unchecked. Notably, given Necrobian's penchant for immortality, most Councilors were effectively elected for life.
[h3]Elementists[/h3]
The Elementists are the largest sect by far, even under Galrithius's Summoners. They are further divided into 5 specialties:
-Pyromancers: Elementists who specialize in the creation and kinesis of fire. They can generate fire from nearly nothing, though oxygen is still consumed by the flames. Master Pyromancers can even generate black flames, which also employ fluorine gas to generate even more dangerous fires.
-Cryomancers: Elementists who specialize in the generation of icy constructs. These constructs don't rely on ambient or environmental water, they are seemingly generated in place. Cryomancers may employ energy beams which freeze on contact or generate whole ice constructs instantly. Cryomancy is often the easiest and first learned by new recruits. Even novice ice mages can construct large walls of ice with ease.
-Photomancers: Elementists who can generate photon constructs, more often called Light Mages. Novice light mages can create blinding flashes or stable lamp constructs, but more skilled light mages can generate laserized photon beams which can burn targets. Giatia is actually the source of Necrobian light magic, so she had some undue favor for these less combat effective mages. After her imprisonment, Necrobia wondered why light magic continued to function, thinking Giatia dead.
-Somatomancy: Elementists who focus on the cultivation and regeneration of life, more often called Life Mages. Necrobian Life Mages are understated in their importance: they maintain the crops in the apocalyptic wasteland, and treat the wounds of those injured in battle with the Haunts or Overworld. However, their own lifeforce is drained in the process, so it's often seen as a great sacrifice to take on the role of life mage. One can also use Somatomancy to enhance speed or strength expending their own life force in the process. Under Galrithius, becoming a Life Mage was used as a form of punishment: the convicted would be forced to support the nation at their own sacrifice, essentially an extended death sentence. To separate from willing Somatomancers, these were called Botanomancers.
-Umbramancers: Elementists who specialize in generating shadow or black constructs. These constructs are made of what seems to be condensed necrotizing tissue. The material is effectively as hard as diamond, and has energy absorbing properties. The most common constructs are weapons, often swords, shields, spears, and shuriken. Master Umbramancers, or Black Mages, can generate spiked walls and even armor of this substance, although face-plates of necrotizing tissue are discouraged. A more specialized form of Black Magic is Vampirism, draining energy directly from an opponent. Under Giatia this was discouraged as too harsh, but Galrithius encourages the vicious magic.
Elementsist have a heavy focus on combat, seeing themselves as the footsoldiers of Necrobia. Reflecting this, they wear tight-fitting robes, with wraps on the wrists and shins, and a tight tunic at the body. Less skilled mages wear goldenrod robes with sashes to denote their specialty. More skilled mages wear red, light blue, white, dark green, and dark grey robes to match their designation. While most mages have a primary specialty, they are encouraged to branch out into other elements to be more versitile in combat, especially Light Mages.
Elementists decide their Councilor by ritual combat: the current Councilor is challenged by a suitor, and the pair meet outside the Wall, ideally in an area with limited Haunts. The two engage in combat until one party forfeits, or is killed. The winner must fight their way back to the Wall, if they don't make it alive, neither party is appointed. Both parties are then transported back to the Quartz Palace to be revived, if possible. Because of the lethal practice, a challenge isn't taken lightly, and generally a verbal argument precedes a challenge. For decades, Stimiku has won this combat undefeated. It has been a source of conflict since his Vampirism isn't formal spellcraft, but magic at will. But the policy was not changed in time for Convergence.
[h3]Mentalists[/h3]
Mentalists are the least common spellcrafters. Their magic centers on cognitive and emotional manipulation, telekinesis, and even illusion magic. The spells' fluid arm motions are difficult to master and too slow for combat, so mages generally practice arduously until they can be casted without motions. The illusion magic is not photon based, but manipulation of visual perception. The telekinesis is conceptualized as the formation of force waves and solid constructs like walls and boxes. Mentalism is also employed in the control of puppets: Remoted technology, demonic summons, and controlled Haunts. In later years, all Necrobians had at least a novice hold on Mentalism.
Where Elementists wear tight-fitting practical robes for close combat, Mentalists wear loose, ornate robes, since they avoid close combat fervently. Their robes are generally flowing layers of purple, black, dark blue, and pink. Illusion mages are encouraged to go in the blue direction. There is little hierarchy in Mentalists, they serve largely a scholaral function in Necrobia, so management is light and they're largely free to study what they please.
Mentalists decide their leader by deciding via consensus who has the best research propositions for the next decade. The focus is generally expansion of telekinetic and telepathic reach. Magnitude is less focused since even apprentice Mentalists can easily disable a baseline human. Mentalian, despite his controversial physiology, often wins election with incredible breakthroughs in reach, having discovered how to affect others through walls and in crowds. Despite the individualist culture of Mentalists, Mentalian also made breakthroughs in collaborative spells. Two Mentalists are far more dangerous together than apart.
[h3]Technomancers[/h3]
Epitomized by [url=https://cityoftitans.com/comment/165388#comment-165388]Forska[/url], Technomacers are spellcrafters who manipulate technology. The spells are difficult to conceptualize and execute, and Technomancers are a somewhat secretive sect. Where Mentalism is ubiquitous to some extent, Technomancers number in the dozens. Before Forska, they were able to get Necrobia to industrial era steam technology, so the few were very valued. But they were hindered by Giatia's ban on Endeavor magic. They relied heavily on salvaged technology in the Wastes. With ingenuity, they more often relied on Regress magic to bring the digital technology available within grasp of the Necrobians from Medieval Oldworld.
Technomancers wear brown robes with silver embellishments. Their robes were rather uniform until Forska, when they had to accommodate advanced technological implements. Some Necrobians rely on staves and wands for novice spells; Technomancers rely on an Emitter. Endeavored technology that can be configured to cast diverse spells/use diverse technology such as laser beams, force blasts, electric shocks, and even hacking tools.
Technomancers decide their Councilor by simple majority election. Ballots are public, and votes are often debated in-person at the time of election. Before Forska, leadership changed often, but once she brought them engines powered by air, she secured the councilship easily.
[h3]Chaos Mages[/h3]
Necrobian Chaos magic is essentially timeline bending, using the possibilities across the multiverse to effect the current timeline. Like technomancers, there were few specialist until Arcaulia's expansion of the study. They still held a Council seat, despite their numbers. The most common chaos magics before Arcualia follow:
-Project: brings an object or force from another timeline: usually a projectile.
-Reflect: a difficult spell which takes in a projectile then Projects a returning attack.
-Chaos Healing: swapping anatomy from another timeline to resolve wounds or even gain mass.
-Chaos Revival: a risky spell which swaps the entire body of a recently deceased mage with an ideally similar one from elsewhere.
-Chaos Step: a surprisingly easy teleportation spell which moves one to another location from a nearly identical timeline. Advanced users can bring objects with them.
Once Arcaulia made her breakthroughs with Giatia's help, Chaos magic was expanded and taught to most Necrobians to some extent. Many Necrobians could Chaos Heal if they struggled with Life Magic. Chaos Stepping was also fairly common for those who didn't prefer telekinetic flight. Chaos magic also involves the usage of pocket dimensions and other trans-dimensional anomalies for advanced timeline play.
Chaos mages have a culture of impusivity and brashness, since skilled mages can revert most actions. Their attire reflects this: they wear teal, black, and golden robes, with embellishments that project out from their main garb, often asymmetrically. They also often alter their hair and skin tone recreationally, using foreign physics to add iridescent hair or color changing tattoos.
They decide their Councilor by a test of stamina: a mage meditates and allows themselves to be open to other timeline's alterations. Whichever mage maintains the meditative state longest is awarded the Councilship. Advantages are allowed during this state, and a mage can Chaos Heal while meditating, making these completitions very lengthy, sometimes lasting days. Arcaulia, having completed the Rite of Singularity, easily wins these competitions. Given her reputation as a legendary chaos mage, there're few disputes anyway.
[h3]Summoners[/h3]
Previously grouped under Chaos Mages, Summoners use the aforementioned foreign physics to summon beings from other planes not to replace existing beings but to fully manifest them from afar. Because they are not proper Chaos Mages, they never won the Councilship stamina test, relegating them to some obscurity before the coup. They also employ significant Mentalisms to control the beings they summon. Some beings they conjured follow:
-Haunting Singularity: a mostly non-corporeal being of sickly life magic that revives corpses within its radius then sends them to attack foes.
-Mentalian/Mentalus: a sentient but unstable being that wields psychic powers that mirrors advanced Necrobian Mentalism. It floats telekinetically and motions spells with all four limbs in the air.
-[url=https://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Rikti#Rikti_Monkey]Psi-Imp[/url]: small, animalistic creatures that carry an aura of mania and can cast simple psychic attacks.
-Abyssal: a large necrotic monstrosity with numerous, asymmetrical limbs. It easily conjures black weapons and attacks any living being on site.
Once Galrithius finished his coup, the Summoner's were revolutionized. They became a sect separated from Chaos Mages, and their study was fully opened with the Lexicon. Galrithius announced his plan for Necrobia and with it, strongly encouraged all Necrobians to learn the new summoning methods, chiefly, summoning Haunts to Overworld. Galrithius also incorporated Elementism to the summoning, allowing mages to empower their summons with elemental powers, though this makes them more difficult to control. All summoners are also encouraged to practice an elementism for close combat if their puppets failed; most chose Umbramancy for the superior weapons, but some opted for Mentalism, for better control over their summons.
With their own Sect, Summoners got a wardrobe change. They wore black robes to match Galrithius's. The robes were loose and somewhat billowed with green or red embellishments. Those that could summon a Tormentor were granted a high-collared cape to go with their robes. With the new Sect they also needed an election process. Galrithius was wary of a direct election as they can be detrimental to long-term projects. He proposed instead a summoning competition, not unlike their Chaos mage predecessors: they would travel to Overworld, to an island in the Atlantic, large and mostly uninhabited. They would try to summon and control as many Haunts as they could. Tormentors were worth more points than Servi. Given his advantage, Galrithius never failed this competition, generally opting for the many Servi route. The summoners and their magic would become the most politically important sect, but their specialists didn't reach majority over the Elementists.
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[h2]Tale: Assault on PIT HQ[/h2]
Galrithius stands on a rooftop in South Titan City, behind an illusory construct. The workday is ending, so most 9-5 workers are leaving the office. He unconsciously fiddles with his Amulet of Anubis as he watches the cars leave the employee parking lot. To his shock, a curious voice is heard from the stairway behind him.
"Mommy says not to go there" the little boy says, somewhat nervously. Galrithius had a soft spot for kids, even redbloods. He makes a mental note of the child, to protect him from the [url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/convergence-open-rp]events to come[/url].
"What makes you think I'm going to go there?" Galrithius asks before turning, and squatting down some to the boy's level.
"You're looking at it a lot" the boy says, taking another step forward, just outside of arm's reach.
"They took something from me, and won't give it back." Galrithius replies, feigning sadness.
"Are you going to hurt them?" the boy asks, taking a step backward.
"I think they'll be nice today" the necromancer says. He conjures an iron coin, then holds it out to the boy. The boy takes it sheepishly. "Run along now. Go ask your mom if it's okay to talk to strangers" Galrithius says with a smirk, before dissolving into shadows.
--
The last of the day-shift leaves the parking lot -- the last of those that leave on time that is -- before Galrithius remanifests on the front lawn. He conjures an illusory construct across the lawn to attempt to hide himself from view. He then begins a series of motions raising his hands above his head in various signs. Desiccated bones and skulls begin assembling from the dirt of the lawn. The signs are finished before the bones are halfway assembled, and as the beast finishes manifesting, Galrithius imbues the beast with enhanced Mentalism runes. The [url=https://cityoftitans.com/comment/165384#comment-165384]Tormentor[/url] finishes assembling, and slams it's fists on the grass, leaving an imprint. Galrithius sends the beast to the West, by the hard science wing, assuming the Relic was not there.
The Necrobian then walks through the illusory construct to the front door. He opens it with his hand and is greeted by a bewildered security guard. "Uhhh, can I help you?" he asks, wary of the man in sinister-looking black armor.
"Can you point me to the Crown of Siva" Galrithius replies, halfheartedly, dubious the under-equipped guard had any idea what that was.
"Don't say a word!" a voice shrieks from down the hall. A better-trained agent had rounded the corner after seeing the illusory construct from the window.
Galrithius makes eye contact with the agent, then says with a shrug "hmm, was worth a try." He conjures a black spear in his left hand and impales the guard through the chest. He squeezes the spear tight as it's imbued with fire. The heat is transferred through the spear and into the guard, exploding out his back. He demainfests the spear as he begins to walk down the hall. The agent surmises that this is a necromantic construct, between the pale skin and the skulls. She switches her pistol to spectral mode, and fires two shots at the mage's unarmored head. They each bounce off the chest of his luck-infused armor. She fires the other 5 shots in the clip. Two shots legitimately miss, but the other three ricochet off the black armor. As Galrithius gets within yards of the agent, he begins conjuring three black bolts. He asks the agent halfheartedly "don't suppose you can point me towards arcana?" The agent draws her dagger, but the mage casts the black bolts through her torso. She stumbles back and falls, loosing grip on life quickly.
The Crown was powerful, but not dangerous. It wouldn't be in a maximum security area, but not on the ground floor either. Galrithius looked about, trying to get an idea where the item might be kept. His concentration is interrupted by an alarm, followed by the building lock-down. It seems the Tormentor is doing as intended, inciting panic in the science wing. Bulkheads dropped across the halls to his left and right, and the elevator console in front of him turned red with an exclamation point. His brow furrowed, then relaxed. The agent and guard weren't likely to have had clearance, so he'd have to brute force his way to the next floor. There must also be resistance ahead, so he motions upward to conjure some Knights. Out of the walls of the corridor, six knights walk through: two armed with long spears, two with greatshields and swords, and two with axes and shields. Galrithius directs them to open the elevator door, imbuing them with a strengthening Somatomancy, in formation, the axmen use their axes to pry the elevator doors open, then all six pull the doors aside, past the end of the tracking. Galrithius peers into the shaft, and fortunately, the elevator was stopped on lower level 2, so he could simply jump onto lower level 1. He directs the Knights to drop down first, he then hovers down gracefully.
Security is ready on lower level 1, arcana. This wing holds the "hard magic" studies, before they're sent downward to more scientific research. A dozen agents in enchanted riot gear wait across from the elevator. Two sets of three stand in front with sapphire shields which reflect energy. Behind them, agents carry techno-arcane rifles which can fire lightning, fire, or energy. The moment the knights begin to pry the door open, the agents open fire with energy bolts and fireballs. Galrithius casually takes cover in the elevator shaft while the knights finish opening the door. Both swordsmen are taken down by energy bolts to the head. The elevator is lodged open and the axmen charge, followed by the spearmen, in formation. An axman reaches each set of shielded agents and smashes its ax into the sapphire shield of the middle agent. To their shock, the ostensibly steel ax cracks the shield, dispelling the runes. As the agents stagger and reform, a spearman stabs each agent with a cracked shield in the throat, then continues to impale a rifleman each in the chest. The spearmen are then brought down by the rifleman. While their attention is away, the axman pin the shielded agents against the wall and wale on the shields, destroying them quickly and brutalizing the agents behind. With two shielded agents and four riflemen left, Galrithius exits the shaft and begins casting black bolts at the rifleman, dispatching them quickly. He casts a vampiric implosion at the remaining shielded agents, then infuses it with his Amulet. Their life force is ripped away and separated into each of the dead, reanimating them. All six knights and twelve agents stand ready, awaiting Galrithius's next command.
With the bulkheads dropped at the end of the hall, Galrithius considers other options. He orders the Knights and agents to bash the walls of the corridor, intending to smash around the bulkhead to the end of the hall. Once the agents breach the walls with their bare hands, a greyish energy grid fills the room and ends halfway up the shaft. The agents fall dead, motionless, the knights are staggered and lose their enhancements, and Galrithius is knocked back a couple feet onto his knee. After a moment, he thinks aloud "expected that sooner, actually" referring to the antimagic mine. He gets on his feet, and sends the knights into the room, then follows. They're greeted on the other side by magic-infused automatons; they charge with electricity arcing from their fists. The knights split into equal groups, and manage to take down two automatons before being dispatched by the other three automatons. Galrithius enters the room and immediately begins draining the electrical energy from the automatons. They turn their attention onto him, then Mark him, before they're frozen by an ice blast from Galrithius. he takes a moment to try to sense the Crown. Thankfully, it is on this floor, but resistance increases with each moment. Galrithius drains the remaining energy from the automatons into a fiery stream, melting the wall across him, which triggers another anitmagic mine.
The Necrobian walks through the hole in the wall, then sees a man in a fairly steampunk outfit to his right: black leather coat, dark brown paints with blue jewels at the knees, rings of several colors on each finger, red-tinted goggles, and side-parted black hair. "You're under arrest!" he announces.
"This is somewhat outside your scope, agent" Galrithius replies, keeping his crass composure across from the hero.
"This is your last warning, necromancer" Clockwork Wail says sternly.
Beginning to lose some patience, Galrithius replies "I've already killed over a dozen of your colleagues. Stand down!"
"You have the right to remain silent..." Wail begins. Before Galrithius can respond, "... I, however--" he then lets out a booming scream. Visible blue waves emanate from his mouth, and a red and blue ring on his hand begins to shine. Galrithius is staggered onto his knees and deafened immediately. The scream continues and starts to ablate his stamina. Galrithius has encountered many opponents in his many years, but this type of sonic attack was actually unprecedented. Between the waves, he figured Wail could continue this indefinitely, until a force substantial enough to actually contain him arrived. Mustering some Life Magic to even move, Galrithius reaches out and summons three Servi Umbra behind Clockwork Wail. He tries to move forward from the Servi to keep the scream on Galrithius, but he's stabbed in the back by a black dagger. A green ring on his right hand shines bright and he's covered in green runes. The dagger dissolves and Wail spins around with a knife-hand stretched out, knocking all Servi back. The wound heals immediately. Wail turns around to resume the crippling scream, but Galrithius is already casting black fire at him. The green runes stop the flames, so Wail begins the scream anew. Galrithius is knocked back some, but in the same motion, he begins draining Wail of his astral energies. His red ring begins to waver and the scream is reduced to only an extremely loud sound. Taking the energy with him, Galrithius approaches Wail slowly, while the Servi pound on his green shield.
"Cease this and you can live another day. This is your last warning" the Necrobian says, trying to hide his impatience. Wail continues the scream, not being baited into pausing to speak, and the Servi continue to wale on his runes. Continuing his drain, Galrithius begins a simple telepathy Mentalism. "I'm sincere! You can leave here alive or I can feed you to my Servi."
"What are you even here for" Wail replies in thought, maintaining the scream as Galrithius gets within arm's reach.
"The Crown of Siva. I suspect there are worse Relics I could be here for" the Necrobian replies, continuing the stalemate. Clockwork Wail thought for a moment, calculating the risk the mage presented against the shame of letting him by. He could indeed hold the Wail indefinitely, for at hours at least, but this necromancer could summon while under the scream, so he may be able to do worse given time. He stops the scream, but maintains the green runes. "Wise choice" Galrithius said aloud "you shouldn't trust me to transport you out of here. Leave on your own." The Servi stop their attack, and stand eerily still.
"You're not going to get out of here anyway" Wail said sarcastically, then walked around Galrithius. He kept his eye on the mage as he then walked backwards through the melted, blackened hole in the wall. Confident the hero was out of his way, Galrithius takes a few seconds to drain the electrical energy about him to heal his ears. He sensed the crown in the room across. He melts the wall with black flames as he had done with the previous wall, and another antimagic mine is triggered. The Servi lose their Umbral runes, and Galrithius is pushed back some. He smirks as he replaces the Umbral runes with Mentalist astral runes. The Crown sits on a research bench, carelessly left out after a day's study. Galrithius takes a moment to chuckle to himself, he slides his hands under the Crown with care, then lifts it. It doesn't seem to resist his touch, as other Relics have. He slowly rests it atop his black hair. Green energy flows through him as his wounds from the Wail are healed. Thankful that the item neither resisted nor was it locked away, Galrithius retrieves his Cinnabar Disc, and tries to transport himself home, but the three antimagic mines had deadened the enhancements Galrithius had added. He would have to exit the hard way.
.
He sighs aloud as he puts away the Disc. One of the Servi begins to groan loudly, alerting to oncoming threats. Galrithius sends the Servi to the first doorway and begins to walk out of the lab. Just as he exits, a barrage of silver bullets hits the shoulder of his armor. He ducks back into the room and activates a speed Somatomancy, the life erosion from normal Somatomancy is negated by the Crown. A threat response agent turns the corner and is greeted by a black spear through his head. Galrithius drives the agents body forward at superhuman speed to use it as a shield against the dozen agents across the hall. They riddle the body with more bullets as Galrithius charges toward them. He infuses the spear with both fire and light magic. The body explodes in a firely, blinding blast, singeing nearby agents and blinding all of them for a moment. He runs past them and through the room with frosted walls. The agents fire blindly at the Necrobian as he vaults over the hole in the wall, all bullets ricocheting off his armor. He uses Chaos Magic to fill the hole in the wall with brick, then turns to face two larger automatons blocking the elevator. They fill the hall with energy bolts and project a shield in front of each of them. The bolts miss Galrithius as he continues his superspeed charge. He conjures two black swords and lodges them into the shield of one automaton. He infuses it with a vampiric charge, which disables it for a moment. It's down for long enough for Galrithius the run through and jump up the elevator shaft.
The necromancer reaches the ground floor to much less calamity than expected. At the end of the hall stands a single figure: another hero, in white, metallic tights, curved shoulder blades, a yellow sash at his waist, and glowing white eyes with tendrils emanating against darkly tanned skin. "Necrobian?" Blacksun asks.
Galrithius is taken aback slightly: Necrobia is not widely known. "I am [i]the[/i] Necrobian. And I've just attained supremacy over life and death so you should really go" he answers impatiently.
"Wail and I will have a conversation." Blacksun begins coldly, "I see past this plane, I know you plan to merge worlds." He knew this from the moment Galrithius touched the Crown, as the combination of the Crown of Siva and the Amulet of Anubis began to tug at reality. "You will fail" the hero announces confidently.
"You won't stop me!" Galrithius yells as he charges the hero at highway speed. Halfway through the hall, he conjures a black spear and takes on a lunging stance as he runs. He reaches the hero in under a second to a white sphere surrounding him. The spear shatters as it strikes the sphere. Blacksun counters with a beam of shining energy. Galrithius blocks with a black shield, parrys to the side, then runs along the wall with a vampiric-imbued black axe. Expecting the axe to bypass his sphere, Blacksun discharges the sphere into a wave of force, shattering all the glass in the vicinity, and knocking Galrithius back halfway down the hall. "Enough!" the necromancer yells then clutches his Amulet. Bright green energy leaves him and shoots into the bodies of the agent and security guard. Their eyes open wide and glow bright green. They're granted black armor about them and given a black sword each. In a fluid motion, they both get up and charge Blacksun. The guard reaches him first, but his sword is caught by the hero, who returns a beam to the chest. The armor absorbs the energy with purple energy, and the guard forces the sword closer to Blacksun, holding the blade back with his bare hand. It glows white to stop the blade from cutting. The agent reaches him second and he holds her blade with his other hand. The three are in a stalemate as Galrithius walks up to them at human speed. "So the Tormentor accomplished his goal, since you're the only one here" he muses aloud.
"It's hold on the fearful is strong. They would not follow." Blacksun replies calmly, despite being immobilized by undead.
"You wouldn't like my new world" Galrithius says calmly, raising his ax. The undead press harder, and both glow with vampiric auras. Blacksun tries to resist, but struggles to muster the strength to overpower either undead, or blast any energy. Galrithius reaches him, and raises his ax. "Your body will be useful for my escape" he says, holding the ax high, awaiting Blacksun's last words.
The hero looks beyond the present for a moment, seeking his own future, but comes up blank. "Unlikely" he says coldly, as Galrithius's ax sinks into the hero's skull. White light shoots into the room blinding the undead and Galrithius for a moment. Before his sight had even recovered, he clutches his Amulet and green energy emanates into the hero's body. It raises with no white tendrils. Galrithius frowns for a moment, realizing his miscalculation. He dispels the animation on the fallen hero, and the body slumps back into a pool of blood.
Galrithius walks out of the building with his thralls, and sees his Tormentor battling many PIT agents and a couple caped, flying heroes. It seems to be fairing well against he many attacks and continues to smash the agents relentlessly. Galrithius has his thralls guard him as he sits. He retrieves his Cinnabar Disc and takes the time to cast the transporting spell. One of the flying heroes notices the red runes, and flies over to try to stop him, but he disappears in a flash of pale red light before the hero can reach him. His thralls are dispelled and their bodys slump onto the grass, losing their armaments. The Tormentor continues its rampage, adding bodies to its form as it dispatches agent after agent.
Galrithius manifests in the Quartz Palace, with his new crown, and a busy day ahead....
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
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[h3]Tale: Wandering Lost[/h3]
Galrithius wakes suddenly and stumbles forward some. The first thing he notices is the pitch black sky above. The moon isn't visible; neither are any stars. Below the lightless sky are a few buildings in a small town crossroad with dirt roads. The buildings are modern brick with unlit neon lights. Galrithius finishes stumbling and gathers his surroundings. "I suppose" he says aloud. He examines himself. He's wearing resurrection robes: black with many green runes, wraps at the hands and feet, and a wrap around his mouth. He looks at his hands and notices his skin is fair, not the stark white they should be. He tries to summon his signature black sword, Mindbreaker, but can only summon an ordinary black blade, an elongated gladiolus. The mage snarls slightly, then demanifests the blade.
What had come to pass finally catches up to the old spellcrafter. He shudders, then falls forward onto his knees. "I've lost..." he murmurs "...we've lost...". "The link is cut. Necrobia is lost" he continues. He leans back on the heels of his feet, kneeling and examining his fairer hands. "A century of preparation!" he snarls aloud as he closes his hands into fists, then slams them into the gravel. He takes a breath, trying to calm. "What now?" he began to think "first the coup, then Convergence, then Proliferation". His head snaps up. "The chalice..." he murmurs, then continues to think "I should've centered in the Vatican. Then at least we'd be rid those dogs. But they'd've butchered as many brethren as they could. Heroes are at least merciful." He stands back up, slowly. "Yes" he says aloud "the Chalice...like I should have done from the beginning." With new purpose, he begins to wander this strange realm.
He walks toward the buildings, tiring quickly. The buildings are oddly visible, despite no obvious source of light. Blackish fog seems to surround the area outside the intersection. The mage walks to a sign: "30" in the middle of the circular metal, with a red outline. "England" Galrithius says aloud, "good, would be cruel to start where I left off." He walks slowly to the first building. It's two stories of grey brick with an ornate wooden door. The mage notices items in the window, gathering that it must be a shop. He then sees his reflection and is startled: he hadn't seen himself this youthful in over a century. While he's biologically in his thirties, his pale skin and prominent veins made him seem old and decrepit to redblood eyes. The necromancer darts his eyes away from the reflection, in disgust. Within the shop window, a trinket catches his eye. He walks over and peers into the window. His blue eyes widen at the amulet of a jackal's head. He suppresses the excitement; "surely there's a trick to this" he thinks. The mage walks to the door where a sign reads "closed" in red text. He goes to turn the handle, but finds none on the door. He presses his hand against the door but it doesn't budge even slightly: more than a deadbolt seems to hold it shut. "Oh! Ba and Ka" he says aloud suddenly, remembering the theology about the Amulet of Anubis. He walks back to the window, looking at his youthful reflection. He reaches out his wrapped hand and slowly brings it closer to the window. His middle finger touches the glass and he looks into the eyes of his reflection. After a moment, the glass shatters and falls easily, disintegrating before it hits the ground. After a bit of shock, Galrithius quickly snatches the Amulet. As he peers into the red eyes of the jackal, he notices the fog to the North dissipate some, revealing a longer dirt road to the distance. The mage drapes the Amulet over his neck and begins to walk down the road, past the buildings, into the black fog.
He wanders into the fog for an duration difficult to determine: time seems to move at strangely here. He walks along a gravel road though what seems like a forest. The fog is so dense one can only see a few trees in any direction. They are ordered enough to seem artificial, but each tree is eerily similar. Galrithius tries to take breaks often, since the area seems exhausting, but he's filled with restlessness the moment he stops, so he continues slowly. He stops abruptly for a moment as he has a flashback to the coup: much of the guard had been eliminated by Giatia, Galrithius enters the throne room and brandishes the Garnet Runestone. She screams "heretic!", and the flash ends.
"Fool!" Galrithius says aloud, coming to. "Necrobia was a refuge, not a home" he says aloud, beginning to walk again. He continues ruminating over old choices: "between the undead and the Chalice, it could not last. We deserved better..." he trails off. "Maybe they have that now" he says aloud. Some of the guilt wavers. "Many used magic openly in Titan City, even [url=https://cityoftitans.com/forum/convergence-open-rp]some officers[/url]." he continued "but [url=https://cityoftitans.com/comment/166912#comment-166912]only one[/url] was blueblood, and even then not knowingly and with a Relic." He's suddenly reminded of his Proliferation, then remembers Darkbreaker. "Destroyed by my own doing..." he says. As he furrows, he notices his path is impeded.
Three carved trees are in front of him. Two are little more than bare trees, but one vaguely resembles a human torso. Galrithius winces: "another one" he says aloud. He ponders for a moment, frustrated. "Last time, I was able to return quickly...." he thinks. "Obviously, I need to 'choose' the human one. But how do I do so?" he wonders. "It's about reclaiming my body's essence, so destroying the decoys would be sensible." He goes to cast streams of black flame at the trees beside the carving, but orange flames leave, singeing them. Galrithius sighs, but the fog behind the figures dissipates several hundred meters. Galrithius walks them tiredly until he meets another trio of tree carvings. This time all vaguely humanoid: the first is visibly shorter, with a thin frame; the second is even shorter, but seemingly feminine; the third is the largest, and even has some facial features, matching the mage's. He singes the smaller trees and again the fog dissipates a kilometer. He tiredly walks to the next trio, attempting to rest halfway. He winces seeing this trio of carvings. They are all identical in form: roots rising to a robed, wide torso with similar robes as Galrithius is wearing, the facial features are seemingly identical and the hair also nearly matches his. However, the wood each carving is made of differs: the first is a dark walnut tree, the middle is a light cedar, and the last is a white birch. "hmm, is my 'bodily essence' more blueblood or redblood. The darkest one is obviously incorrect" he ponders aloud, before singeing the first of the carvings. He looks as his fair-skinned hands then grimaces. "I suppose" he says, before casting flames at the white birch carving. The fog dissipates slowly, but reveals so much road it's impossible to estimate the distance. Galrithius begins to walk again, wondering what would've happened had he picked the wrong carving.
After an indeterminable amount of walking, maybe hours, maybe months. The old mage begins to notice feathers along the gravel road. They are uniformly grey, likely falcon feathers. He continues to walk several more kilometers, and the feathers get more numerous and begin to cover the path and ground beneath the trees. He finally reaches the end of the gravel. Feathers coat the ground and the sculpture in front of him. Beneath the feathers is a falcon's claw, pointing upward, and in the middle, a golden feather, glowing faintly. Galrithius stops, fearful for the first time in a long while. "Surely my heart would be considered heavy" he thinks to himself "but I did what I thought what was right for my people. Is that so damning?!" The restlessness creeps on him as he considers his next step. "Perhaps revenge is not the wisest path...." he continues to ponder, but the restlessness becomes too much to bear. He steps forward out of the treeline. Once his back foot leaves the treeline, Galrithius is slammed to the ground by a massive force from above. "Imperial!" "Prideful!" "Wretched!" Such words fill the mage's mind with many voices, spiraling him into guilt and shame. "Arrogant!" "Impetuous!" He yells out in defense "we were suffering! Something needed to be done!" "Hubris!" "Fool!" "Madman!" He yells out again "They hunt us down! We could not survive in Overworld!" "Wretched!" "Obstinate!" "Zealot!" "Myopic!" Between the mental screams he tries to think. "Myopic?" he thought, calming slightly. "Perhaps there's truth in that" he thought, the voices ablated slightly. "Powerhungry!" "Obstinate!" "Imperial!" "Zealot!" He tries to think more "'zealot' has come up again. I had been called that before." "Prideful!" "Prejudiced!" "Xenophobe!" He notices the voices attempting to guide him to a conclusion. "Perhaps I had been too prejudiced. That city was filled with humans with genetic gifts, varied and powerful. The world has gotten bigger." The voices stop. Galrithius slowly rises as the force pushing him down is released. He slowly steps toward the golden feather, but doesn't reach out. Light begins to pour in through the black fog. The old mage breathes deeply and closes his eyes as the light rushes in, engulfing him.
He awakens back on earth, in front of his Runestone. He's kneeling with his arms crossed. Before looking at anything around him, Galrithius looks down at his hands. They're stark white, with thin skin and bright blue blood vessels. He looks up and his eyes widen with surprise. He's surrounded by men in white robes with golden trim. They carry silver staves that end in a cross. "Heh, you would be waiting for me" Galrithius says aloud.
"Give yourself up, vile creature!" the man in the middle says. Clearly the leader of the group with more embellished robes and a golden staff. They all lower their staves towards the mage and begin praying quietly.
"Vengeance it is" Galrithius says aloud. He conjures Mindbreaker easily, and pauses to appreciate his returned power, before charging the man with the golden staff.
[hr]
[color=red]PR, Forum Moderator[/color]
[url=http://cityoftitans.com/forum/desvipers-creative-impulsivity]My Non-Canon Backstories[/url]
Avatar by MikeNovember