|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 11:12 pm
A new day arises. The miners went back to work, and the blacksmiths began forging, producing more weapons to replace the ones lost. The city was silent, except for the echoes of pounding hammers and rolling carts. All was silent, except for inside the great temple, where a dark god simmered with anger. That anger was taken out on his highest ranked disciple, Lilith, who in turn passed down the punishment to those under her - what few there were anyway.
"Never again," the dracolich growled, coiled up on the raised onyx dais, the live embodiment of the statue that usually filled the spot. "Never again will such humiliation be brought upon my name. Never again will the promises of a mortal spring you into unnecessary action. For next time, it will be my wrath that they face personally, and after I finish with them, you all will feel it next. There will be atonement, but for now you must replenish your lost numbers."
"Lilith." The priestess jumped, bowing her head. "Return to Lament to finish what was begun. How you get there is up to you. Fail this time, and it will be your last."
"Yes, milord. I will not let you down again," she said humbly.
"As for the rest of you," Darshendros continued, looking at the few necromancers and priests gathered within the temple. "You will build a new army, a stronger army. The mortals have powerful weapons, and so shall you. Go to the surface, and use what is still left over within the unsealed ruins. Study it. Understand it. Build more of it. One year from now, I shall call upon you if the tasks I have set have been complete."
The chamber went pitch black for a moment. When light returned, the statue of the dragon once more stood upon the dais. Lilith rose to her feet, turning to look at the disciples, whom were still on their knees.
"You heard your Lord, now move!" she commanded.
They scrambled out of the temple hastily. Lilith sighed, then retired to her room to prepare herself for her trip back to Lament. After packing a few things into a travelpack, including her armor, she recited a spell that turned her form into mist, and floated out of the city.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 01, 2006 1:29 pm
Within the old dusty hangar, the frame of a new airship was being put together, welded by magical flame and sitting upon stones shaped to fit underneath it. The steel came from the mines underground, forged into rods and beams and carried to the surface via the hidden tunnels that led directly to the necropolis. The normal passage was still caved in from the missile attack, but it was being slowly cleared away now. To protect these passages, and the undead working on the surface, walls of stone, twelve-feet high, had been raised around the crater they worked within. Sentries were posted atop it, armed with high-powered crossbows capable of reaching distances up to one-thousand meters. The steel bolts they fired would pack a punch, and at closer distances would be capable of punching through armor.
Meanwhile, efforts were underway within the city to create a new contingent of golems - steel golems. Yarnith had reformed by now, and was leading the efforts for the creation of the golems. The fat lich had already created one of his own. The Horde that had been held in reserve were now the main force, with new undead conscripted to make up another, smaller reserve force. In the meantime, they were only charged with protecting the necropolis, and the workers above.
Darshendros lorded over the whole thing from within the top level of the temple tower, checking on his few Chosen who were outside of the city, performing their selected tasks.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:59 pm
The frame for the airship had been completed, and now all that remained were creating the armored plates, wings, and the complex technilogical systems that composed the former ones that had been destroyed. There was only one problem; none of the undead nor any of the necromancers present had any knowledge how magitechnology worked. The only one who did was Darshendros, and he had already done enough favours for his followers. Perhaps he could lead them in the right direction, though.
A sign.
Thus did one of the undead miners who had been clearing out the blasted tunnels discover some unexploded ordinance in the caves. One of the Ymiristan missiles that had been launched into the tunnels was wedged between a gap in the rock walls. As dangerous as it was, the undead who had discovered it were oblivious to the fact that the missile was still armed and could explode at any moment. Thus, when they brought it over to the camp to show their masters - necromancers who had sense enough to know that the missile could still explode - they were sent to drop it off into the ocean. The missile detonated halfway there.
Inspiration was brought upon the masters lording over their undead workers. Now the question remained of how they were going to work it out to their benefits.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2006 7:52 pm
The new airship, Vengeance, was now half complete. Much of the arsenal of the destroyed airships had been reconstructed and improved upon, built onto the new airship. Their circuitry and connectivity to the airship's systems were still being worked on, however. Much of the magitech being used in the construction was experimental, and had yet to be properly tested. The promises in the designs, if all worked accordingly, yielded massive potential though. Wizards from Nezlidrichynn, who specialized in necromancy and the shadow arts, along with some gnome slaves who had proven to be exceptional engineers, had been sent here to assist with the airship's construction. Given the environment, they were all provided with the proper protections to ward them from it's harmful effects while they worked.
* * *
"Give me a status report, minion."
The skeletal knight bowed it's helmed head low, kneeling on one knee. "My lord, Lord Valas has sent a small contingent of his wizards and some of their slaves to aid in the building efforts. The gnomes have proven to be quite useful, when given the right motivation. It will still be some time before Vengeance is operation-ready."
"What of the other projects?"
"My lord, we have dug up all of the old technology we can, but more than half of it is beyond repair. We have salvaged what parts we can from them to put into other equipment. However, we still lack any power sources to draw from for the weapons."
"Let the drow handle that problem. I have no doubt that they have what we seek. Return to your master, and tell him to carry on as usual. That is all."
"Understood, my lord." The skeletal knight rose to it's feet and did an about face, then marched away.
"Lilith."
Yes, my lord, the air whispered, as the ghostly form of the half-drow priestess appeared, wavering in the air.
"Give me a foot massage."
At once, my lord.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 1:55 pm
With all the work going on on the surface, it was decided that a new city should be constructed within the crater. The gnomes provided plans for building elevators that would connect the surface city to the necropolis. Indeed, it seemed they were more than eager to combine their expertise to build new things. They were happy as long as they were kept busy, it seemed.
Magic was used to created sixty-foot walls of stone, thirty-feet thick, around the rim of the crater, with only one gate facing the south. The city would be mostly industrial, since the dead need not sleep. For those few mortals amongst them, a living quarters would be made to accomodate them, probably fashioned out as an apartment unless they requested a private residence. The city may likely be built into the earth, burrowing down to the necropolis, with tunnels and honeycomb-like structures built into the rock walls. Without trees anywhere nearby to provide wood, it would likely take much longer to raise buildings on stone and steel alone. The new city, once completed, would be christened, Necromon.
Meanwhile, Chaszmyr had returned to Necropolita, giving his report that all in the drow city is going well and the lichdrow no longer required him. He awaited his next mission.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:36 pm
A lone flying serpant fitted for recon flew 10,000 meters above ground level into northernlands, over the area were the Necropolis was pinpointed to be underground. It's mission was to check for suspicous activity over enenmy territory, and take plenty of pictures. Coordinates of any development on the surface could be sent back to Western Republics Military Command immediatly via communications sattelites.
Despite political chaos, Western Republic was still at war.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:00 pm
After a week of non-stop digging, they had burrowed at least half a mile into the earth. The first layers of the new city was already being built into the walls of the great hole, with undead crawling around and digging and shaping honeycomb-like chambers, like an army of worker bees. Several buildings were being built around the perimeter of the great hole, most of them being watchtowers situated around the perimeter.
The gnome slaves, nearly dead from exhaustion, have completed plans for new engine drives for the airship. It's design would call for an artifact that could draw energy from the Plane of Negative Energy to empower them, which several necromancers were at work in developing. The lichdrow Valas was among them, having returned from the drow city after having successfully started a secret following there. Their efforts were being worked in the necropolis deep underground, within the confines of Nightlund Tower.
A vampire by the name of Alexander Worthington had since taken over the leadership of the church. Both a wizard and a cleric, he excelled at necromantic magicks and was hand-picked by Valas as a suitable successor to the slain Lilith. It also gave the lichdrow a foothold of power within the church, since Alexander once studied in his tower. Currently, the new High Priest was searching for ways to draw more vampires back to the necropolis, possibly by enlisting them into the clergy.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:47 pm
The engineers of the ambitious Necromon project discovered a fatal flaw in their design. A city built into the walls of a descending tunnel that led to an underground necropolis would be very vulnerable to attack from the air. Taking the past attacks against the recently cleared main tunnels for example, it would be a simple task for a bomb to be precisionly dropped into the middle of Necromon and collapse the entire structure. Taking that concern into consideration, twelve liches gathered together to create and form a powerful combination of spells to protect and hide the city.
Combining their spells, they would create a layered, protective dome of force and prismatic energy over the city. Magical wards would be in place so that only those chosen few who ventured out of the cities on a regular basis would have knowledge, the required artifact which would be later created, and access to where the hidden entrances would be. Anyone who was otherwise would be rendered permanently insane, fearful, weakened, or all of them combined, or dead. Magical transportation into the city would be impossible without a certain artifact which would later be created, but transportation out of the city would still be possible. Magical transportation attempted into the city without the artifact would send them elsewhere in the wastes of the Northernlands, within a thousand-foot radius of the city. Scrying attempts upon the city, whether magical or technological, would be impossible.
The city would lastly be veiled in illusions, making it all seem to vanish in thin air. There would be nothing but endlessly ruined landscape that looked like the rest of the Northernlands. The effect only affected perception from outside of the city, but once inside all would be normal. These spells, their research and preparation, their casting, and the permanency effects placed upon them, would take approximately twenty-four hours to complete. The spells of illusion would have to be recharged everyday, since they could not be made permanent effects, but it would only take one of the twelve liches to recharge them each time.
Spells used: Wall of Force, Prismatic Wall, Alarm, Mage's Private Sanctum, Phase Door, Symbol of Insanity, Symbol of Fear, Symbol of Weakness, Symbol of Death, Dimensional Lock, Screen, Mirage Arcana
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:08 pm
With labor on the rise, it was soon realized that even if all the undead residing in Necropolita were put to work (which they practically are currently, the the exception of higher ranking undead, mages, and clergy), that the upper-city would still not be completed in time. After a small party of priests to represent the city and their unholy order were sent into the Underdark to conduct some secret meetings, they had stopped by the slave market to purchase a few fresh, strong backs. They also made an extra purchase, at the request of the new high priest. Apparently, he liked young boys. Bought and traded for, the slaves were outfitted with magical chokers that other mortal residents wore to prevent them from succumbing to the vile effects of the zone of desecration, and then brought back to the necropolis.
While the labor slaves were put to work, the boy was brought to the temple and presented to Alexander. His ragged slave clothes had been discarded and replaced with the attire of an altar boy, and he had also been cleaned up for presentation, though not much could be done to hide the missing eye.
"He's damaged goods," Alexander said, peering down at the boy, "Couldn't you have gotten me something less deformed?"
"We apologize, my holiness, but underdark slave markets aren't exactly brimming with young humans. This was the best we could find."
Alexander, dressed in the dark robes of a high priest of his order, took a step toward the boy, bringing a cold hand to the side of his face that was scarred, and turning it aside to take a closer look. He dropped his hand a moment later, turning his back and stepping away. After a moment's silence, he said, "What is your name, boy?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:25 am
The boy was trembling slightly. This entire place that he'd been brought to scared him. Everything was dark and dead. He did feel better now that he was clean and fully dressed, but it wasn't enough to take away the fear of his current situation.
He'd been very nervous to meet his new master, but dispite how terrifying the world he'd been brought to was, he still hopeful that his new master would, at the very least, be kinder than hs last. Maybe at the very least he wouldn't be quite as fond of torturing and mutilating him.
His eye went down to the floor when his master was clearly displeased with his appearance. Damaged goods. Deformed. Yes, he'd heard it all before. He knew that he was ugly. People cringed when they looked at him.
He looked back up at his master when he put his hand on the side of his face. It was so cold. He was nervous as he took a closer look at the scarred side of his face, which he usually tried to keep hidden as much as possible with his hair.
After the question was asked it took the boy a moment to find his voice, but he quietly answered him "My name is Kalen...sir."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:46 pm
"Kay-len," Alexander repeated slowly, as if testing the name on his tongue. "You will address me as Master. You have nothing to fear here, as long as you serve me loyally and dutifully. Displease me in any way, and I will give you torments like you have never experienced before."
Alexander turned back around to face the boy, adding, "I assume that I am not your first master, so I will expect you to know how to act accordingly. Do not worry. You will grow used to the dark."
Nodding to the deadite that brought him into the temple and introduced him, he ordered, "Show him to his quarters, and then fetch the Fleshcrafter to see about his face."
The deadite stepped in to take the boy by the arm in it's cold, skeletal grip, and it would lead Kalen to a side door, which led to a long hallway. The hallway curved around the main hall, with a spiraling staircase in the middle. His room would be next to the staircase, small and sparcely furnished, with just an old dusty bed, and a hard stone desk and chair. It was a typical convent's room.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:30 pm
Kalen found himself relaxing slightly at what his new master said. True, the threat of expieriencing torments like he had never felt before should he displease him was unsettling, but it seemed that he would only be punished if he did something wrong, so if he did his best things shouldn't be too bad.
"Yes, Master." He said when Alexander finished speaking to him. He followed the deadite obediantly when he led him away to his quarters.
Most people would probably have been disapointed in such a dreary room, but Kalen could hardly believe his luck. The bed was dusty and old, but it was still a bed, and if he shook out the blanket it would probably be quite comfortable, at the very least extremely comfortable compared to the cramped cage he'd slept in previously.
He wasn't expecting that he'd have it easy here, but there were certainly some bright points to this dark world. Maybe they'd even be able to fix his face.
As soon as he was left alone in his room he set to getting some of the dust out of his bed, and found himslef smiling slightly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 1:39 am
Some time later, his door would open and Alexander would step inside, followed by a hunched over figure in a black hooded cloak, carrying a black leather case. Alexander stood back as the hunched figure waddled toward Kalen.
"This is him?" the figure asked in a rasped voice. Alexander nodded.
"Kalen, this is the Fleshcrafter. He is here to see about fixing your face. Lie down on the bed so he may examine you."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 9:42 pm
For a split second Kalen a hand against the cloth that was tied over the place where his eye used to be, but he brought it down. It would be defying his master to make any effort to block the empty socket.
"Yes Master." He answered quietly.
Shaking slight, he took a deep breath and layed down on the bed. He told himself that the cloaked figure was just there to help, even though it made him incredibly uncomfortable for someone to be poking around there.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
