Erlik

Erlik in a Nutshell: Erlik is a legend within Autochthonia, a mythological place where an Apostate Alchemical has managed to grow into a city. Below are presented three versions of the 'City of Ten Thousand Blasphemies', each more horrific than the last.

Warning!

The Content of this page is purely an exercise in theoretical mechanics and hypothetical social constructs: It should be included in actual games with utmost caution and complete awareness that it will be disruptive to established content.

You have been warned.

The Three Versions of Erlik

Herein are outlined the three Versions of the Erlik phenomenon each one designed to build upon the legends of the dark city to make them something that the Storyteller of an Alchmicals game can actually use.

In "Code Name 'Erlik'" the original 'City of Ten Thousand Blasphemies' is long dead, destroyed by the protocol 'Retribution of Mog' but it was far from the last of it's kind. 'Erlik' is now used as a secret code name for any Apostate who manages to ascend to the status of Pattropolis/Matropolis, of which there have been several but fortunately never more than one at any given time.

In "Erlik: the City of Ten Thousand Blasphemies" The original Erlik is still alive and a menace to all of Autochthonia. This is perhaps the easiest of the three potentialities to use, but far more Horrific is...

"Erlik: the Dark Nation." In this version Erlik is not one Apostate city, it is an entire nation of ascended apostates from which void cults spring and to which those apostates who escape the retribution of their loyalist fellows congregate.

Code Name 'Erlik'

Many among the citizen's of Autochthonia have heard the legend of the apostate patropolis of 'Erlik'. It's legend is known to nearly every Void Cultist across the Octet, and it's dark flag is shown to every Regulator and Arbitrator as a symbol to watch out for when conducting investgations as a sign of treason and Heresy. What no one but a few elder champions and the members of each national Tripartite Counsel Know is this: Erlik is dead, killed these more than 1000 years hence by the Soulsteel Caste champion Truthful Architect of Peace through the God-Machine protocol 'Retribution of Mog'. The survivors of the multinational force that had been sent to destroy Erlik reported back to their tripartites and passed on a decision that had been reached on the long march home through the reaches: There should never be more than one 'Erlik'; that word should become a code name for any apostate who achieved patropolis or matropolis status. The national tripartets consulted with one another in secret and agreed upon this plan: ever since any time such an event occurs 'Erlik' is the codename used for the dark city until it too can be hunted down and destroyed.

A Terse History of 'Erlik'

The Original Erlik arose in 3815 DA from a champion who had been part of the hunt for Blade of the Apostate. Having been impressed by Blade of the Apostate's strength and determination in the face of the force hounding him Garmand; the Wandering Factory reverse engineered and installed several of Blade of the Apostate's void-tech charms. Back then no one knew why Blade of the Apostate had gone mad and turned against the great maker, so Garmand did not realize what he had done. However it was not long before the gremlin syndrome infection seized full control of him and he disappeared into the reaches.

Garmand had been ready to begin the journey to become a Patropolis for years, and shortly gathered together many of the more crazed tunnel folk and voidbringer cults from the spaces beyond Claslat and started the trek deep into the reaches. After more than 40 years of wandering they came to rest at what would in later days become the location of the Patropolis of Xexas.

Renaming himself "Erlik" based on a word in the language of one of the tunnelfolk tribes his followers had enslaved for a gremlin custodian Garmand transformed himself into a Patropolis and began to produce vehicles and weapons to exploit the riches of the pole of smoke. Some 17 years later his people attacked Gulak and did significant damage to several towns. This was to prove their undoing. Gulak communicated with the other eight nations and assembled a force to hunt down Erlik. After five years of searching and exploration they located, besieged, and destroyed the renegade city.

Three more times over the next thousand years or so an 'Erlik' has come into existence and been destroyed. The Second 'Erlik' was born from Masanta; city of blessings when she attempted to build a municipal charm that could purge gremlin syndrome from those infected. The Third 'Erlik' was formed by the infamous Apostate Tarnished Moonsilver Needle decades after she had been thought killed, but was exposed when she exalted her first batch of champions twenty years later. The fourth 'Erlik' appeared only 100 years ago and had the misfortune to settle on the borders of Estasia, being destroyed in a matter of months.

'Erlik' Today

It has been noted with distress by the tripartites of the Octet that the time between appearances of 'Erlik's is growing less and less. Even now reports are filtering back from the borders of Jarish that there may be a fifth 'Erlik'. These reports talk of an area in the reaches where a blight zone is forming and apostate champions have been seen gathering in tunnel folk and attacking exmachina. With all the dangers Jarish and the other members of the Octet face these days it is unclear how soon a force to destroy this new 'Erlik' can be assembled.