Difference between revisions of "The Book Of Fire/Deathlords"

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== Bride Bedecked with Bloody Garlands ==
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*[[The Book of Fire/Bottomless Voice|The Bottomless Voice Drowning in Sepulchral Depths]]
'''HISTORY:''' The Bride Bedecked with Bloody Garlands, also known to the
 
Kingdoms of the South as The Gracious Slice, was one of the last
 
Solars to Exalt during the First Age. Chan Dar, a young woman barely
 
past a normal human lifespan, was as reknowned for her radiant beauty
 
and gracious manner as she was for an innate talent for sorcery. Her
 
wedding to a young Lunar hero was but days away when the Terrestrial
 
Insurrection struck. Curiously, although even she could have laid waste to
 
scores of Dragon-Blooded before they succeeded in taking her down, she
 
simply closed her eyes, and let them cut her down without a word. It
 
was this assassination, of one seemingly untouched by the Great Curse
 
and the sins that brought their judgement upon her kind, that made her
 
death one of the most difficult of all for them to carry out.
 
It is unknown what the Malfeans promised her or why she accepted their
 
offer, but accept it she did, and she was reborn as The Bride. She has acted
 
as the voice of reason and the conscience (if such can be said to
 
exist) among her fellow Deathlords, urging unity when their separate
 
goals and methods pull them apart. As time passes, and the Deathlords
 
grow farther apart, she redoubles her efforts to increase communion
 
among them, rarely with success. Those who whisper of such things
 
claim that her ultimate goal is to create a (twisted) surrogate family
 
for all that she lost in life. If true, then it is a goal clearly
 
doomed to failure, one way or the other.
 
  
'''DESCRIPTION:''' The Bride Bedecked with Bloody Garlands presents herself
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*[[The Book of Fire/Bride|The Bride Bedecked with Bloody Garlands]]
as a pale young girl of about 16 years, dressed in a shining white
 
wedding dress elaborately woven from Prayer Strips, upon which are
 
written 346 Blessings of Ill Fortune, which trail behind her like shed
 
feathers; her blood stains the dress, seeping through the wounds she
 
received from the Dragon-Blooded. Her feet are bare and leave bloody
 
footprints; her shadow is that of an old crone; her scent is that of
 
an extinct flower whose name she'll trade for one's memory of one's
 
first act of lovemaking, which memories she keeps in a necklace of
 
Yasal gems. She wears a cascading veil of Moonsilver mesh, through
 
which can sometimes be glimpsed her large, innocent-looking eyes,
 
eternally weeping tears of blood. Her voice is distant and breathy,
 
her speech has a lilting accent with an odd emphasis on certain
 
syllables, and she is given to dizzying verbal circumlocutions.
 
  
The Bride carries a bouquet of Winter Blossoms (see Creatures of the
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*[[The Book of Fire/Broker|The Fateful Broker of the Usurious Coin]]
Wyld), which she hurls at enemies (treat as Perfect Throwing
 
Knives) and which drain Essence as well as blood. Like the other Deathlords, the
 
Bride also knows all Solar and Abyssal Charms, all sorcery up to the
 
Solar Circle and all Necromantic spells.
 
  
'''THE OASIS OF BLISSFUL REFLECTION:''' Deep within the harsh wastes of the
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*[[The Book of Fire/Forger|The Heartless Forger of Ornate Designs in Steel and Shadow]]
South lies a Shadowland which, in apparent defiance of both the desert
 
and shadowlands, is full of growing plant life. This Oasis is a
 
deceit, however; all the plants that grow there are poisonous, all the
 
water that flows there hallucinogenic. This lethal Garden of Deathly
 
Delights is tended by the Reverend Sorrow, a powerful ghost lord who
 
serves the Bride as major domo of the Chapel of Eternal Parting.
 
  
'''The Chapel of Eternal Parting''' is the Bride's Citadel, a tortuous
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*[[The Book of Fire/Boxer|The Tenebrous Boxer at the Shattered Gates]]
structure of bleached bone, like unto a fracture of the Labyrinth jutting
 
through the skin of the world. Within, all is unaccountably cold for
 
the desert, and sound echoes confusingly. Laid out in the
 
manner of a First Age temple, it is more a blasphemous parody of a
 
holy place, tended by dried zombies in formal wear, witlessly enacting
 
ancient rituals. The Bride herself can often be found at the altar,
 
praying for guidance from her Malfean master.
 
  
'''THE BRIDES' SERVANTS:'''
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*[[The Book of Fire/Widow|The Widow Ravenous for Unbound Prey]]
'''The Hidden Left Hand of Silence''' is a rotund, jovial Southern woman
 
dressed in the scarlet habit of a long-extinct order of nuns. This
 
Midnight prefers socializing to fighting, and travels the towns of the
 
South, giving aid and advice with a ready wit and an engaging manner.
 
So disarming is she, that few notice the increasing trail of suicides
 
that follow in her wake...
 
 
 
'''The Sagacious Doctor of Wicked Maladies''' is a Daybreak caste who
 
shrouds himself in a voluminous black cloak that is actually a Wings of the Raptor
 
Artifact, modified to extend into giant bat's wings. His mouth cannot be seen
 
because of its high collar, nor his eyes through his dark spectacles.
 
Sometimes even his shaven head is covered with a wide leather travellers
 
hat. Soulsteel Razor Claws help him in his flesh and blood
 
"experiments" as well as in his fly-by attacks...
 
 
 
'''Cemeter Sorrow''' is the living son of Rev. Sorrow, and, known to very
 
few, the Bride herself. Through means that only the mad would inquire
 
into, she somehow succeeded in impregnating herself with the essence
 
of her ghostly lover, and birthed a living child. Incubating within
 
the womb of a ghost has caused him to develop peculiarities unique
 
even for a Ghostblood. Tall & thin, with white hair and pale amber eyes,
 
Cemeter has a certain androgenous grace about him that would net him a
 
score of lovers anywhere else. As it is, he has been around few live
 
people, and is fascinated by any visitors the Chapel receives. Cemeter
 
is immune to all the poisons and drugs in the Oasis, save one, known only to his parents.
 
He has had the equivalent training of a Dynast, has a Pyre Hawk familiar,
 
knows quite a few Charms, and is quickly learning much about
 
Necromancy. The Bride's ultimate intentions for her son are unknown,
 
but some say that she is awaiting the event of his first love with
 
great...interest.
 
 
 
'''THE BRIDES' GOALS:''' The Bride seeks to unite the Deathlords into an
 
effective team and family; unlikely, as her compatriots tend to see
 
her as more than a little deranged and ultimately harmless. She also
 
believes that the Lunar she was engaged to has recently been reborn
 
somewhere in the world, and would pay much for news of his whereabouts
 
or his presence, but for what purpose is unclear. Perhaps she wishes to finally
 
complete her nupitals, only this time beneath the gaze of the Malfeans...
 
 
 
== The Heartless Forger of Ornate Designs in Steel and Shadow ==
 
 
 
'''HISTORY:''' In life, he was one of the greatest inventors the Solar Deliberative had ever known. Because of this, he was forgiven his eccentric nature and isolationist ways; few Solars visited him at his far Northern Manse, which was populated exclusively by brilliantly crafted automata, golems and crafted consciousness, all acting out a charade of daily life...
 
 
 
When the Usurpation occured, he made it to his Manse, but not to hide as others did. Instead, he openly dared the Terrestrial Host to come for him. When they did, they died by the hundreds in the various traps built into the Manse, until the guiding Sidereals were finally able to get them to his location, only to find him mysteriously already dead.
 
 
 
Deactivating his Manse, they converted it into his tomb, and sunk it beneath the surface, hoping to give his spirit rest. And, eventually, the Malfeans came...
 
 
 
He needed little convincing, and gave away his name ere before the Neverborn finished their pitch. Reborn as The Heartless Forger of Ornate Designs in Steel and Shadow, he immediately set about his dark work...
 
 
 
'''DESCRIPTION:''' The Heartless Forger appears as a 7ft tall transparent outline of a man, "filled" with visible magitech organs affixed to a Soulsteel skeleton (true to his name, the heart is the one organ conspicously missing). Comprised of every one of the 5 MM, his pistoning, pumping and cycling inner workings are clear to all who look on him. Within each finger is a different tool, and his hands duplicate the effects of Bracers of Universal Crafting.
 
 
 
The Forger's weapon of choice is a Grand Goremaul he calls Ringing Triumph; in addition to the standard abilities of such a weapon, it can pound any object or life form into any shape the Forger desires, without actually harming it (it's size and mass remain the same). If forced into battle, he will also summon about him a version of Celestial Battle Armor, with all of the Soulsteel features.
 
 
 
The Heartless Forger's Citadel is The Bone Factory, an elaborate Underworld Factory Cathedral closely modeled on the tomb he was buried in, albeit with suitable trappings. Teams of ghosts and zombies tirelessly work there mass producing his creations, while the R&D teams try them out on the outskirts of his territory...
 
 
 
'''GOALS:''' The Forger is insane, even by Deathlord standards. He seems little concerned with the extinction of Creation, and moreso with the crafting of the means to do so. As far as he's concerned, nothing much has really changed since he was alive.
 
 
 
He pursues many projects, to the point of finishing few. If another, even a Solar dedicated to stopping him, were to share his crafting passion and show geniune interest in his projects, he would cheerfully show them off!
 
 
 
'''SERVANTS:''' The Heartless Forger is unique in that he has no Deathknights. He prefers to experiment on his share of Solar shards and has plans to use them to power a gargantuan Colossus Warstrider that his Artificier Corps is currently building...
 
 
 
Otherwise, the Forger is well-served by an elaborate network of ghosts, most with various Crafts skills useful to him. His interest in the living world is low, but occasionally he arranges for the execution of some genius savant whose work he admires.
 
 
 
His army is small, but arguably the best-equipped of all the Deathlord's forces. The Forger has created an Underworld equivalent to virtually every Artifact listed in WotLA, esp. the vehicles and weapons, and has improved upon the Mask of Winters' Loathsome Osseus Shells.
 
 
 
If he ever launches a campaign in Creation, he is looking forward to extensively outfitting zombie armies in necrotech (some examples of which can be found in The Autochthonians). He also has a special class of Nemissaries who have developed Arcanoi enabling them to possess and move arms, armor and unliving objects instead of dead flesh...
 
 
 
== LONE WALKER OF TENEBROUS RANGES ==
 
'''HISTORY:'''
 
'''APPEARANCE:'''
 
 
 
== THE WIDOW RAVENOUS FOR UNBOUND PREY ==
 
'''HISTORY:''' The Widow, also known as '''The Weaver of the Starless Skein''', is one of those Deathlords who remembers little of her existence before her present incarnation. She has little use for the living, save as the occasional snack, and focuses her attentions on combing the Underworld for lost and unique Relics and Artifacts. Her web of agents and informants is cast perhaps further across the Deadlands than any other Deathlords', whom she is adept at distracting. The major obstacles to her plans to date have in fact been the rulers of Stygia, certain powerful Ghost Lords of well-fortified kingdoms, various Nephwracks of ancient standing, and the odd Ghost Hero who stumbles across something he shouldn't have. But the Widow is cunning enough to arrange things so that she always gets something she wants, even in the face of apparent loss, and it is only a matter of time until the entire Underworld is caught within her silken grasp...
 
 
 
'''APPEARANCE:''' The Widow appears as a tall, thin woman in an elegantly-sleek black dress. She has six arms and four fingers on each hand. She wears a wide-brimmed hat from which depends a silken widow's veil all about her, all the way to her feet; an unfelt wind constantly stirs the gauzy veil, which she only removes for combat. Her face is covered by a Starmetal mask, featureless except eight abstract eyes worked into it in an astrological pattern. She only removes this to feast on those she bests, and even those sworn to her cannot bear to look upon her countenance when she does. 
 
 
 
Her main weapon in combat is the Khartomb Set, 24 rings of
 
Soulsteel that she is attuned to. With a thought, the rings unravel
 
themselves into monofiliment fibers, effectively giving her the
 
Sidereal Charms "Rain of Unseen Threads" and "Nest of Living Strands".
 
Their Soulsteel nature, however, also drains Essence from targets
 
successfully snared and affects ghosts. A consummate Martial Artist, the Widow also knows all Abyssal Charms and ghostly Arcanoi, all sorcery up to the Celestial Circle and all Necromantic spells. Most interestingly, the Widow appears to have discovered, through prayers and sacrifice to her Malfean masters, something not unlike Sidereal Astrology, that only functions in the Underworld. Certainly her ghostly enemies and allies have been subject to grave and good fortune according to their dealings with her, which furthers speculation that the Weaver may in fact have been not a Solar in life, but may have actually been a Sidereal instead...
 
 
 
'''THE LUSTROUS OBLIETTE''' is the Widows Citadel. Filling a vast valley in the Northern Underworld, it is a complex webwork composed entirely of Wraiths soulforged into fine Jade strands. The near-seamless joining of each strand creates an optical effect of solidity, until one looks really closely... 
 
 
 
'''THE WIDOW'S SERVANTS:''' Few among the Widow's servants are allowed to keep their true forms, and most of those must be content with getting a few arachnoid features via Moliation. The vast majority of her army are fully moliated into spider-like monstrosities, esp. her horrific Barghasts. The Widow disdains Abyssals, and spares no effort to physically humiliating any she finds within her territory, although she has thus far restrained herself from destroying her comrades' property.
 
 
 
'''THE WIDOW'S GOALS:''' Aside from hoarding rare items and slowly gathering intelligence and influence among the lands of the Dead, nothing is known of the Widow's ultimate goals, although those few who know her are certain that she has some concrete aim in mind. Anyone who learned something for sure would have something nearly priceless to offer the Deathlords and the rulers of Stygia...
 
 
 
== Comments ==
 

Latest revision as of 03:11, 9 June 2010