The world is split into two large continents, the Kingdom of the Undead and the United Nations of the Living. The two continents had at first lived in harmony, but small frictions started here and there when disagreements sprung up. For the Kingdom, they wanted the souls of the deceased and the bodies of the dead from the Living to become new citizens of their land. However, for the United Nations, they wanted their people to rest in peace after death, and not have their spirits and bodies ‘violated’ by the dead, ‘forced’ to walk the earth even after life has left them.
The war finally started when a ship loaded with bodies from the Kingdom was sunk by the United Nations on the coast of Archelon, the port near the United Nations that the Kingdom regularly stops at for ‘fresh supplies’. The Kingdom is infuriated by the United Nations’ actions and has declared war.
The Kingdom’s advantage is that they have a near endless amount of dead bodies to fight and control. Necromancers are able to bring up as many of the dead to fight for them as long as their magic is able to sustain the magicka needed to keep the bodies animated, while the Living are restricted by their numbers. However, the United Nations aren’t completely helpless; they have the advantage of technology. Due to the Kingdom’s general everyday-life being very monotonous, its citizens often nearly always sleeping without the needs for reproducing nor eating, their technology is far behind compared to the Living. While the Undead are fighting with crude bone-swords and clubs and charging forward without any order, the Living have catapults, battling rams, and generally better-made weaponry.
1. Name: Tormina Age: 26 Occupation: Battle Priest Faction: Temple of War, United Nations Bio: Tormina is a member of the Temple of War. She showed talent for performing battle-enhancing magic, and became an apprentice to the temple at a young age. She later became a full priest, and when the war broke out, she joined the United Army as a member of the Enhancement Troop along with several other men and women skilled in the arts of battle-enhancing. Picture:
SPOILERX
Cloak she wears:
2. Name: Nethru Age: 37 Occupation: Necromancer Faction: Not-Yet Undead, Kingdom Bio: One of the minority of living beings within the Kingdom, where most were dead, Nethru liked it there. It was quiet, and he liked the quietness. The essence of death was strong in the Kingdom, and made his practices all the more easier. He joined the war to fight for the right to continue practicing necromancy. Picture:
SPOILERX
Staff (but with a lot more skulls decorating it than just one):
3. Name: Damascus Age: 448 Occupation: Death Knight Faction: Undead, Kingdom Bio: Damascus was summoned by Nethru one day. Being quite powerful, Nethru had no control over him. He was bored enough that he decided to stick around, as the necromancer seemed to have a talent of running into trouble, and he was bored to the point where he welcomed the trouble. When Nethru decided to join the war against the Living, he followed along. Picture:
SPOILERX
Steed is a combination of all three images below, but without the wings:
(the armor)
Last edited by Antagonist; 03-19-2011 at 03:48 AM..
I do not understand how to use spoilers, so I'm just posting links to my pictures :P
Name: Argus Maleficent
Age:41
Position: Necromancer
Bio: (Ill Improve/expand on this later) Argus' memory of before he became a necromancer (around 25 years ago) is completely blank. He remembers nothing of where he actually came from or how he reached the dead kingdom. His earliest memory to date is being woken on a shoreline as a teenager by a girl about his age. She brought him to her teacher, who took Argus under his wing in necromancy.
Appearance: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/th...oncept_art.jpg the male outfit is about what Argus wears. His staff: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_FL35UczQzl...ve+staff+1.JPG
Name: Shyniva
Age:311
Position: Dead General
Bio: Brought to life by Argus Maleficent. She is the epitome of his power and an extremly strong and tactical general. Argus controls the rest of his dead through her. This is her third incarnation as a Dead General, her spirit being very old and experienced.
Appearance: Before being bound to this decaying, torn apart form, Shyniva's spirit had been that of an incredibly powerful army general. Although someof her flesh is literally dripping off of her bones, Shyniva is a strong specimen. Brought to power and life by Argus Maleficent, she is his finest creation. She goes to battle in billowing deep purple robes to hide her disgusting and hairless body, atop a nearly skeletal stallion.
Robe:http://artemisia.com/store/images/VRPrp-Prp1.jpg
Horse, except picture it more skeletony: http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...Chrysaetos.jpg
((Uhh. I really don't even know how to start this xD. Its been so long since I've written anything at all.. Ill post first, but where should I set this? We didn't discuss the world they're in too much. I'm not sure what to throw them into..))
((We can make up the world as we go XD The Undead would have really messy and sloppy ways of organization, while the Living would be more neat and organized...something like that.))
Argus clenched his fists and grunted, dropping a shabby piece of parchment to his book-laden desk. He'd known it was bad knews before even opening the letter, the wax seal on the outside made obvious that it was from the Temple of War in the United Nations of the Living. All of the known necromancers in the Kingdom were issued a letter from the Nations, offering benefits of standing down and not expanding the delightful Kingdom of Undead. This offer however, was followed by threats of extreme action to be taken if the offer wasn't taken. Necromancers were no idiot bunch. They'd been fighting the smaller wars for years, and winning a good many of them. At this very moment, as Argus was standing in this grungy office of his, Shyniva, his finest creation, was leading dead in an assault not far from his location. He would return to the site of the battle in a day or two to replenish Shyniva's strength and troops. This time away was to re-charge, himself.
The recent months had run Argus Maleficent somewhat ragged. The fighting between the Kingdom and the United Nations had been escalating more and more, and now all out disaster was imminent. There was so much work to do, and Argus' power was limited, although great. He had to study and train, raise great armies that he was incapable of forming and supporting now. And where would they get more bodies? Sure, they were slaying many United Nations soldiers, but it wasn't enough. It's not enough just to be able to animate dead, you have to have dead to animate.
Argus kicked over a pile of scrolls in frustration. Just then, his apprentice entered. "Jambi, what are you doing here? You should be tending the battlefield and Shyniva! You dolt, the army could fall without you there!" Argus was absolutely livid now, but also confused asto why the boy was back.
"Sir, don't fret, there are enough dead to hold off the United Nations army until nightfall, when I will return. My reason for coming back home was to bring you this - you left it, you really must be tired Sir." Jambi carefully placed an amulet on the desk. It was a crude golden molding of a hand, and it gave Argus the power to create stronger undead creatures. He hadn't even noticed leaving it.
~
A fiery explosion destroyed a few undead warriors closeby, their crude weapons and flaming decaying flesh spattering the area. Shyniva spurred her steed and retreated a bit further. This battle was becoming a close one, the armies both gaining and losing ground - They'd need reinforcements soon or they would be done for. If Jambi didn't return soon, and then Argus soon after, there would be problems. . Shyniva raised a decayed hand, shrouded in her purple robe and shouted something in a dark dialect. The air around her heated a bit, and the dead army surged with a fiendish strength, pushing back the Living once more.
Shyniva was tired though. Her power was lacking and she needed at least Jambi to support her. Even her steed was beginning to falter more often, just under her slight weight.
Nethru found himself wondering how he always managed to get himself into troublesome situations like these.
At the moment, on top of a reanimated horse that was missing half its head, he was caught between crossfires of two forces. Damascus was fending off the living beings from the United Army for him on another nearby steed, while he threw auxiliary after auxiliary spells onto him to increase his speed and strength. He was supposed to be on a simple mission from the Elder council of the Kingdom (the Kingdom was ruled by a council rather than a single leader) and deliver a message to some necromancer named Argus Maleficent, as he didn't really enjoy battling and thus became a messenger. However, he wasn't expecting a battle when he arrived.
He had tried to sneak past with Damascus, but one of those blasted Holy Priests sensed them and threw a Judgment Cross at their direction, which completely exposed them when they had to dive-roll out of the way to avoid getting burnt. And now they were surrounded by both friend and foe, amid spells flying and various weapons clashing.
His hastily-reanimated steed was ill-made, and it was staggering around more than getting him out of harm's way, but as a mage, he knew his physical stamina was far worse than the average creature and would probably be out of breath and get himself killed before he got as far as fifty meters.
Nethru cast another Shadow and attempted to slip away from one of the priests that was hurling light balls after light balls at him; fighting just wasn't his thing. Damascus came over and hurled a severed head of one of the crusaders he had been battling at the priest, who blanched and dodged- a perfect opening. Together, they charged (Nethru abandoning his crippled steed and hopping onto Damascus's) and managed to break free from that area of fighting.
"Where the hell is Maleficent's camp?" He hollered over the din of the battle cries, weapons clashing, and screaming. If there was one downside to using the undead as soldiers, and controlled by necromancers or a high-tiered undead, it was that most of them were not exactly bright. The lowest of the lowest didn't even have any coherent thoughts other than to feed on the flesh and souls of the living, charging on blindly. So expecting them to have answers was basically out of the question.
Shyniva spied a powerful dark knight with a necromancer also atop his steed, and heard him call out her master's name. "KNIGHT!" She shrieked, calling him towards her, casting out powerful enhancing spells across all of the dead. "Knight! I am his General, Shyniva." She pulled back her horse and it reared, backing a few steps, and a barrage of light balls crashed past her. She surged with power again, it was impossible for her to keep the living repressed much longer the way it was going.
~
Back at Argus' place, he and Jambi had eaten and Jambi was prepared to make the hour's ride back to the battlefield. They were getting pretty close to home, and Argus was not into moving away from the place he'd established as his. He could feel Shyniva weakening from the distance and needed Jambi back there as soon as possible! "Jambi you must go quickly. Thank you again for bringing the talisman, but you really need to get back, make haste! Shyniva is weak and I have faith in your skill to restore her power." Argus' voice was commanding and strong, but proud. Jambi was a fantastic apprentice, he reminded Argus of himself as a young necromancer.
Jambi took the praise and left, forcing his steed to sprint quickly over the craggy terrain. He had to get back before Shyniva faltered and the dead all fell.. It would be hard to raise another army of that size, even with Argus and Jambi working together.
Nethru did not hear the shout, but Damascus did. He yanked on the reins of the horse and changed their direction to make their way over to the General, who appeared to be a powerful zombie. Nethru clung onto the death knight for dear life while the two charged through masses of staggering skeletons and shouting humans.
"We have a message for your master." Damascus rasped when they neared the General, his voice low and gravelly as though he rarely ever used it. He nudged the necromancer behind him, and Nethru gave a start before reaching a hand into his robes to find the sealed tube with the message inside. "Message from the Council regarding coming battles."
Nethru reached over to hand the message over, but nearly dropped it when Damascus abruptly yanked the horse's head around, just before a streak of pale-white light flashed through. He then pulled the message out of the human's hands and tossed it over to Shyniva, who, if his instincts told him right, was a powerful enough zombie that she would be able to catch it in time. The more powerful the zombie, the faster their reflexes and movements. One who could cast magic? Even better.
Shyniva snatched the paper from the air with one extremely disfigured hand and held it, unsure.. "Knight, and young necromancer, my master is far away" She was getting desparate, her powers growing ever thinner as she had to keep reconstructing the warriors and throwing spell after spell of support and force in her arsenal. It was horribly taxing and if Argus' apprenctice didn't return soon to restore some of her strength, she'd cripple and be lost.
"I cannot return to him, you must take this messege further to him! His quarters are 20 miles west of here, atop a small plateau.." Shyniva threw the messege back with a locator spell and turned her strength to the battlefield. The dead in her arsenal surged with evil energy, darkness radiating from their putrefying bodies. Their crude weapons were effective in the numbers they had, but with the living's strong magic users they were almost evenly matched.. it was ridiculous. "You will encounter my master's apprentice on your way, he will direct you further." Her voice was strained and raspy, steed becoming more skittish and unreliable. Shyniva pushed some energy into it and hoped that Jambi would show up soon.
~
Argus finished reading a long scroll of advanced dark necromantic techniques, and then readied himself for a long rest. Shyniva was growing very weak, but Jambi was more than halfway there by now, likely enough. He was sure that she could hold on. The weary man closed his eyes and drifted into a fitful sleep.
Jambi urged his steed to gallop faster. The army needed him, Argus was relying on him to get back. If he didn't, the living would surely seize their place of living and training.
Nethru eyed the zombie General while Damascus caught the scroll and stuffed it back into his arms. He could see the zombie was quite well-made, even if the vessel wasn't exactly great. Chanting a series of syllables after resecuring the scroll into his robes, he sent a small wave of Essence to her to give her a little more energy, though he didn't dare give too much as different necromancers all had unique 'waves', and sending too much of his own energy into someone else's summoned might cause complications.
"Let's go then." He hollered at Damascus over the din, who nodded and turned the horse around to head west, according to Shyniva's directions. It would be good to get out of the battle.
((I didn't include Jambi in the profiles because I'm gonna kill him off in just a little while.. Its going to give Argus a serious reason to be upset and go hardcore necromancy xD))
Shyniva felt a fantastic surge of energy, although nothing serious, it helped restore her composure a little, and the dead army pushed foreward. The warriors were beating back the living, cornering the mages and gruesomely chopping them up or gnawing on their exposed organs, for just a moment before leaping away to the next living warrior. The power didn't give them a huge advantage though, and the living were gaining more power through THEIR generals, of which they had more of than the dead, who just had Shyniva in this battle.
~
Jambi crashed through the wilderness on his steed, barrelling ever faster towards the battlefield. He felt a small surge of necromatic power and wondered who could've produced it.. He didn't know of any necromancers in the nearby area.. Wait, what was that up ahead? He spotted the source of the power, he knew it immediately, not because of the dakr knight with him, but because of the power he sensed. Jambi slowed his steed to a less taxing gallop and kept on with relative caution, although he needed to hurry.. he was close.
((Ah. XD I'll probably have an accident happen somewhere along the way then. Poor Jambi. XDD))
.
Damascus turned and was just starting to urge the horse to a gallop when a knight in shining armor came running towards them. Like literally shining. The knight was engulfed with various auxiliary spells from three priests who had focused their spells onto him, and moved at almost a blur from all the speedup spells. Making sure that Nethru was safely behind him, because heavens know how horrible the necromancer was at melee battles, he pulled out his sword to face the living being, dark mist swirling around him as he abruptly began pulling on his powers. He may not be able to use much magic, but his strength was hard to be paralleled.
Behind him, Nethru was torn between clutching onto the death knight, which would hinder the undead's movements, to clutching onto the saddle...neither a great choice as the saddle was loosely set and he was wobbling precariously on top the rotting horse...in the end he settled for digging his fingers into the soggy flesh around the spine of the creature. Messy, but at least he wasn't falling off any moment now.
In the distance, he could see a lone rider riding at a fast, and careless, pace towards them. It was a living creature, but he didn't appear to be on the side of the United Army, if his dark, deathly attire was anything to judge by.
Shyniva saw Jambi speeding towards them and breathed a sigh of relief. Isn't it odd that you can do that, even when you're dead? But her relief was cut short when a shimmering knight, powered by three ppriests sped towards the Knight she'd just met. She immediately hurled any an enchantment and power spell at he knight, and a huge dark blast at one of the priests, knocking him to oblivion, and weakness surged through her.
Jambi urged the steed faster, and began to summon dark energy and feed it into Shyniva and the dark Knight ahead of him. Death swirled around him, the grass deadening in his wake, birds that flew too close, just dropping out of the sky. He threw a large amount of power to Shyniva just as he arrived, bringing his steed up behind her to observe, but he wouldn't be so lucky to just sit and watch. As he found his place to observe and power from, a light ball struck his adomen, burning a small hole through him. Holy god.. Or Satan.. What have you, this is what happens when a light spell hits a man? No wondr Argus had so many scars.
He was hurt though, and tried to steer his faltering steed to safer grounds.
Shyniva managed to take out another priest, hoping that the dead knight could handle the live one now.
Damascus raised a hand to show his appreciation for the aiding spells, not having the time to voice his thanks. Nethru appeared to have found something to hold onto for now, so the death knight now focused all his attention on the other knight charging towards him, evidently having mistaken him to be a commander from the amount of power he wielded.
Both horses reared when their swords clashed, the living one emitting a high-pitched neigh while the dead one made no sound. Nethru nearly fell off, and had only prevented that by wrapping his legs around the knight in front of him on reflex when he was jerked backwards. Luckily Damascus was sword-locked with the knight at the moment so his legs remained unscathed.
The United Army knight, despite the loss of two of the priests powering him, managed to push Damascus and the dead horse back several steps, the steed's rotting muscles straining dangerously. Nethru, in his awkward position, hastily put in some energy into the vessel to prevent it from falling apart at the seams.
Eventually, after a short struggle, Damascus regained the upper hand when the auxiliary spells on the knight began to fade away while his remained strong, thanks to the necromancer sitting directly behind him. He pushed his sword forward in a savage arc, knocking the other knight's sword aside, then used the momentum to abruptly punch the man in the face, effectively snapping the human's neck. Nethru, who was still in the very awkward position, quickly sent out a few bolts of dark energy towards the remaining priest, who managed to stay alive but now had his arms shriveling up with decay.
It seemed that the knight in shining armor had been, in fact, the enemy's commander, as soon after the man fell off his horse, dead, the enemy force began gradually retreating, leaving mounds of bodies behind, both of the Undead forces and their own. Breathing out a breath in relief after the United Army retreated behind a hill in the distance, Nethru straightened himself on the horse behind Damascus, who was sitting rigidly like a statue after sheathing his sword, to look around the battlefield. 'What a mess,' he thought. And he still hadn't been able to pass on the message.
Jambi brought his crumbling steed to a plain spot on the ground, where it desintegrated to nothing but bones and a few sinewy strands of rotting flesh. He laid back and pulled open his robes over his scarred and pale stomach, where he was pierced almost clear through his body. Light spells were nothing to reckon with, powerful little darts could kill a man easily. Blood was welling up in the wound, apilling out and down his side, and he felt a bit ill. He'd overdone his powers as a necromancer and would need help, and to recover.
Shyniva picked off a few of the retreating living, and then stopped using magic so that she could conserve her power. Jambi was weak, and Argus might not be returning for awhile, now. She guided her horse over to where Jambi was laying wounded and called out yoi the knight. "Thank you knight, we appreciate your aid," her voice was now low toned, but it carried, almost velvety. She sent a strong swiftness and speed enchantment the way of the knight's steed. "You must make haste, find my master and tell him he is needed urgently. Young Jambi will not be able to keep me summoned by himself much longer." She was weary, leaning into the nexk of her steed.
Damascus nodded and turned their teetering horse around, knowing that most necromancers, including the one behind him, are ill at casting healing spells and would not be able to help the dying human.
Before they left, Nethru cast a minor blood-stopping spell for the wounded man on the ground and Damascus steered their horse on towards Maleficient's quarters. Both of them knew that the young man probably would not make it by the time they came back, unless someone planned on bringing him back via necromancy...
The horse galloped along the dusty road, quicker than it usually would've been able to run at thanks to the enchantments the zombie general had given it, steadily making their way towards Maleficient's domain.
Argus awoke slightly rested, but still quite upset. He could feel that the battle had been won, but Jambi's life was dimming. He could sense it.. The poor lad. His family had sold him, and then he escaped and ran off to the dead kingdom. Argus felt for the chold, and had taken him under his wing. He'd never found out the kid's age, but he couldn't be more than 17 or 18 now, and was probably 13 when he'd taken him in. This prompted Argus to ready his supplies and ressurect his steed. Shyniva would definitely need him soon.
~
Shyniva nodded and sent well wishes to them on a chilled wind, watching the knight and necromancer speed across the land. Her steed knelt beside Jambi, and a rotting hand reached out to brush over the wound. Her fingertips, or what was left of them, gave off a dark hue. "You soon will be one of my kind, young one." The spell she'd placed would make his death nearly painless.
Jambi watched the glow over his er.. piercing, I guess you would call it. The pain ebbed away slowly, and he was left feeling numb. He could feel his life slipping away. "I.. I hope not." His voice was strained. "Don't let him bring me back.. I don't want to be a monster.." Jambi faded out of consciousness, but was still breathing shallowly. Shyniva was shocked.. A monster?
((I'm not sure what Maleficient's domain looks like, so I pictured it as some sort of tower. Correct me if it's too far off from what you had pictured o_o;))
A while later, the two saw the first signs of a small tower from afar, probably another half an hour's travel away. However, their horse was now wobbling dangerously, and one of its legs had gone limp, almost dragging on the dusty ground. Nethru tried to patch it up, but it didn't seem to help much. The necromancer scanned the area, looking for possible 'materials' to create a new steed, but only saw a few dry, yellowish bones too brittle to be of any use. He sighed, hoping he wouldn't have to walk the rest of the way. It was almost nighttime, and he was getting tired.
Argus' supplies were nearly ready, and he had been cooking his final hot, wholesome meal when he began to feel the presense of a Necromancer coming close to his home. Surely, they were traveling towards him specifically, his tower being the only real dwelling for miles and miles around. The power he sensed was weaker than his own, the person probably quite weary from travel. Being a kind man at heart, and somewhat missed seeing his own kind more often, he left his meaty stew to cook while he ran to the top of the tower and lit a small torch beacon. Since the sun was setting, he was sure it would be seen.
Argus returned to his cooking and preparations, but first sent a small surge of energy to the Necromancer he sensed nearing ever closer. He was surprised at how slowly they seemed to be moving. He didn't want to wait much longer.
The faint glow of a burning torch and the sudden surge of power from the tower told them that Maleficient must be aware of their presence by now, as they had made no attempts to cover their aura. Nethru prodded at their horse some more, but it only made a wet, squelching sound in response.
Abruptly, Damascus swung himself off the horse and began leading it by the reigns on foot. This sped up their pace somewhat, with one less weight on the steed's back and someone practically pulling it forwards with brute force. They managed to arrive at the bottom of the tower after ten minutes. The horse's legs gave out and landed on the ground with a dull thud, Nethru barely avoiding getting crushed beneath the animated corpse by hopping off at the last moment. Together, the necromancer and the death knight walked up to the doors of the tower, leaving the now un-undead horse where it lay, and knocked.
Argus had finished his packing and was almost done eating a bowl of stew when he heard the knock. He rushed down the spiral staircase and to the huge wooden door, pushing the thing open. His eyes widened as he took in the sight of the death knight, and the necromancer beside him. "Come in, welcome." He inclined his head and stepped back. "I have a hot meal prepared, if you wish to enjoy a meal. I'm nearly finished with mine." He lead the way to the kitchen, where he refilled his own bowl, and another, offering it to the other Necromancer. He looked very.. official, but weary and in need to energy being replenished.
-
Shyniva sighed and turned away from Jambi. The poor young necromancer had drifted off into a fitful rest, and would probably fall victim to his wounds soon, and die. It wasn't long before she was sure he'd succumb. Argus would be crushed, Jambi was like a son to him and she knew it very well.. This would hurt him more than anything else. But.. What better to spark in him a passion to win this brutal war once and for all? She knew Argus Malificent better than anyone else, even Jambi. She'd been serving the man for many years now, and he was a good master. One of the few necromancers that wasn't just a ruthless jerkoff.
