NecroCastellan
Necrocastellan Armour
...and then they charged.
Not the regular infantry outside the walls; no, we would have expected that. Something worse, far worse.
Shadows appeared as the sun shone down on our walls, shadows that swiftly spread as the shapes landed amongst us; at least nine had died before any one of us could see what was happening, and what was killing us so easily.
Each was between nine and ten feet tall; they were armoured, heavily so, somewhere between superheavy armour and the mythical Warstrider. The armour was bone, and soulsteel, and heavily knotted muscle from some great beast; huge shoulders supporting arms that were held along their inner edge by the humans inside. Vast dense muscles packed the thighs and calves of these monstrous suits of armour, and vicious blades decorated the thick arms, mixed with other vile weaponry.
They'd jumped, over our walls. The muscles in their legs had allowed them to exert far more force than was needed to carry them up and over the fortifications, and now they were slaughtering us.
I span as the front gates came down, ripped open by more of these things, these Necrocastellans; more were coming through, these some eleven to twelve feet tall. Their wearers like the others had their spines bared, long spines of bone and Soulsteel meshing them to the armour totally; the heavier suits, though, wielded more vicious weaponry. As the first burst through the fallen gate, packed bone spines all over its chest plate and shoulders exploded forward, ripping apart everyone in their path. Two of them were armed with gigantic scythes that made best use of the added power of the armour, two more fitted with spikes over their arms; the last was the worse, with a tube grafted onto the back of an arm, vomitting digestive acids over anything living that came close.
We almost all died that day.
Almost.
Necrocastellan armour is one of the dark creations of the Daybreak caste. More often than note, it is made for human troops that hold allegiance to a Deathlord, though occasionally the Deathlords comission a suit to be made for one of their favoured Deathknights; the only Deathlord whose servants know the complex technique to making this armour is the Divine Mortifier of the Thrice-Cursed Desert, though as other Deathlords see their effectiveness as shock troops and heavy infantry, they will try (and succeed) in replicating the effects.
The armour itself is impossible to wear unless tailor-made to the individual attempting to don it. For mortals, this is easy; simply a case for the necrosurgeon to bare the spine of the recipient, then bind him inside. This grants him extended control of the enhanced musculature and functions of the Necrocastellan armour, which surrounds him almost utterly. The lighter Shock Armour leaves the wearer exposed from the upper thigh and shoulder down on each limb, and from the collarbone up, though the large shoulder plates protect the head from either side and the back plate often extends up to protect from the rear; the heavier Assault Armour conceals the wearer utterly from the neck down. This means that the wearer cannot actually remove the armour, since they cannot attune to it. Removal is certain to kill the subject.
When Abyssal Exalted or Ghosts don the Necrocastellan armour they are made, things are different. Their necrotic Essence is suitable for direct attunement, thus the connections to the armour can be made through Essence. As such, Abyssals can step out of their armour whenever they like, and done it just as easily as it splits open over the major joins and disgorges its operator. No other kind of Exalt can don Artifact Necrocastellan Armour; if they try to attune it or wear it without attuning, their first try will fail with a painful warning. The second is less forgiving, resulting in a swift, very painful death as the Essence within the Exalt's spine literally explodes.
Below is the system for using the Necrocastellan armour as an Abyssal or Ghostly artifact. Following that is the stats for Necrocastellan troops within a Deathlord or Deathknight's army.
NECROCASTELLAN SHOCK ARMOUR
Artifact ••••
Necrosurgically Crafted Armour Suit
Requires: Strength ••, Stamina ••
Comittment: 10 Motes
An Exalt or Ghost wearing Shock Armour gains a bonus of +2 Strength and Stamina, and a soak of 10L/8B. There are penalties for the size and bulk of the armour; the mobility penalty is -3, and the wearer is at a -4 penalty on Stealth rolls. Also, Awareness and Investigation rolls are made at a -1 penalty.
Each Necrocastellan suit has a set of bonuses tailored to it, making many different variations of even Shock Armour. Artifact Shock armour has 4 points to spend on the Enhancements chart. Note: Brawl and Melee charms may be used with Melee weapons attacked to Necrocastellan suits, and Charms may be used as normal otherwise. Most artifact weapons can be used with Necrocastellan armour, though most prefer the usage of Necrocastellan weapons over the more mundane arms of Creation when lacking artifacts.
NECROCASTELLAN ASSAULT ARMOUR
Artifact •••••
Necrosurgically Crafted Heavy Armour Suit
Requires: Strength •••, Stamina •••
Comittment: 18 Motes
Bulkier than Shock Armour, Assault Armour grants a +4 Strength and +3 Stamina bonus, and a soak of 15L/12B. The penalties for this armour are likewise more harsh; they have a mobility penalty of -4. The wearer automatically fails all stealth rolls unless hidden in a large construction and "unpowered", that is not in use, and Awareness and Investigation rolls are made at a -2 penalty.
Each Necrocastellan suit has a set of bonuses tailored to it, making many different variations of even Assault Armour. Artifact Assault armour has 7 points to spend on the Enhancements chart. Note: Brawl and Melee charms may be used with Melee weapons attacked to Necrocastellan suits, and Charms may be used as normal otherwise. Most artifact weapons can be used with Necrocastellan armour, though most prefer the usage of Necrocastellan weapons over the more mundane arms of Creation when lacking artifacts.
ENHANCEMENTS
- Striking Blades (1 point) - Vicious ripping blades line the arms of the suit, extending from the forearms and elbows. spd+2, acc+1, dam+3L, def+1
- Necrotic Cloud Spores (1 point) - The Necrocastellan suit is surrounded by a sickening cloud of rank air. All close combat attacks against the wearer are made at +1 Difficulty, and all ranged at +2.
- Terrifying Construction (1 point) - Numerous sickening and frightening additions to the suit make it a horrific foe to face. Those wishing to attack the wearer must succed at a Difficulty 2 valor roll to do so, or lose their action this round.
- Shard Launcher (2 points) - A weapon designed to fire shards of razor-sharp bone at lethal speed. Use Dexterity + Athletics or Archery to hit, and add successes as normal. acc+1, dam5L, rate1, range 150 yards
- Smash Hammer (2 points) - A huge attack weapon crafted from solid bone and capped with soulsteel. spd-2, acc-1, dam+9L, def-1
- Splinter Explosion Armour (2 points) - A layer of vicious spines cover the armours breastplate and shoulder pads, providing +2LNecroCastellan/B soak when still attached; they can be fired reflexively, inflicting 12 dice of Lethal damage on everything within five yards and in the front 120 degree arc of the armour. The spines regrow after the period of a day.
- Jump Ligaments (3 points, Shock Armour Only) - Massively bunched and twisted augmentations to the legs. They can be used to propel the wearer over most fortress walls and over a long distance, though using the ligaments within three turns of having used them previously puts strain on them, and they will snap on a die roll of a 1. This increases with each jump after the first, so if an already-strained pair of Jump Ligaments are used again within three turns, they will snap on a 1 or 2.
- Repeating Shard Launcher (3 points) - A variant of the Shard Launcher that sacrifices range and raw damage for a higher rate of fire. The launcher may be fired three times each turn with a full die pool, though no Extra Action charms may be used in conjunction with this weapon, nor can the wearer split his dice pools. acc+1, dam4L, rate Special, range 50 yards
- Castellan Scythe (4 points) - A twin-handed Scythe, the ultimate melee weapon for a suit of Necrocastellan armour. spd-1, acc+0, dam+10L, def+1
- Digestion Sprayer (4 points, Assault Armour Only) - A necromantically-crafted weapon, using the stoumachs of numerous large predators and various muscle groups to create a sickening assault weapon that literally melts those hit with it. Any witnessing the harm or death of another attacked by a Digestion Sprayer must pass a Temperance check (difficulty 3 for Mortals, 1 for Exalts) or spend the next turn retching. acc+1, dam8L, rate1, range 20 yards
As enemies to be faced, Necrocastellans are less terrifying than an Abyssal wearing a suit of the armour; still, they are not foes to be trifled with. Three variants are listed below.
- SHOCK NECROCASTELLAN (Jumper)
Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5, Charisma 1, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Courage 3
Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Brawl 3, Endurance 1, Melee 3
Attack:
Claw: Speed 6, Accuracy 6, Damage 8L, Defence 6
Soak:12L/13B Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/ Dead
Willpower:6
Enhancements:Striking Blades, Jump Ligaments
- SHOCK NECROCASTELLAN (Shooter)
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5, Charisma 1, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1, Perception 2, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Courage 3
Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 3, Archery 3, Brawl 1, Endurance 1, Melee 2
Attack:
Claw: Speed 7, Accuracy 5, Damage 7L, Defence 5
Shard Launcher: Speed 5, Accuracy 7, Damage 5L, Range 150 Yards
Soak:12L/13B Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/ Dead
Willpower:6
Enhancements:Striking Blades, Necrotic Cloud Spores, Shard Launcher
- ASSAULT NECROCASTELLAN (Heavy Infantry)
Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 3, Stamina 6, Charisma 1, Manipulation 2, Appearance 1, Perception 1, Intelligence 2, Wits 2
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 3, Temperance 3, Courage 3
Abilities: Athletics 2, Awareness 2, Brawl 3, Endurance 1, Melee 3
Attack:
Scythe: Speed 4, Accuracy 6, Damage 17L, Defence 7
Soak:20(18)L/20(18)B Health Levels: -0/-1/-1/-2/-2/-4/ Dead
Willpower:6
Enhancements:Castellan Scythe, Splinter Explosion Armour, Terrifying Construction
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