Undead

AC:DM Bestiary Description

Upon meeting one of Dereth’s animated corpses, never fool yourself into believing that what you face is a monster devoid of intelligence, bent only upon the murder and defilement of one’s mortal form. To underestimate the undead of Dereth is a vast mistake, for they are fiercely intelligent, and enjoy a society as rich and complex as any living culture.

Many of the undead seen today were born far from Dereth’s shores, on an unseen western continent called Dericost. Long ago, the noble families of the Dericost Kingdom learned necromancy from the Falatacot people. For thousands of years, undead nobles of Dericost ruled the kingdom in secret, through living intermediaries. After a lifetime of service, these figurehead rulers would join the ranks of the undead on the frigid northern Plateau of Gelid, the heart of the Kingdom.

But the Old Lords grew smug in their power. Some, calling themselves Latzimestal (“Lords of the World” in the language of the Falatacot), declared that ruling in secret was cowardly and hypocritical. The undead had power; let them rule openly. So saying, they seized the realm from the old guard Filinuvekta (“Winds From Darkness”), and launched an aggressive campaign of military expansion. They were ultimately defeated by a coalition lead by the Kingdom of Haebrous, under King Jailne, and the Empire of Yalain, under Empress Alaidain.

But not all the undead were destroyed. Many of the Old Lords fled to the island they called Killiakta: Dereth. They remained a powerful faction until the release of Bael’Zharon in P.Y. 11. The factious undead came to rare accord, and stood united against the Shadows. This proved their undoing, as the losses they suffered destroyed the core of their power. The Dericost are now struggling to survive, and plotting to rebuild their power yet again.

Some luminaries of undead society are:

Lady Aerfalle is a formidable sorceress who resides on the volcanic island of Aerlinthe. She is one of the Primogenitor (original) undead, as is her longtime love interest Lord Rytheran. As a Primogenitor, she has a unique ability to regenerate herself from almost complete physical destruction – an awing feat of sheer willpower. She is the de facto head of the Filinuvekta faction in the absence of His Eternal Splendor.

Lord Rytheran was once the master of a lyceum (school of magic) for children of the Yalain Empire, a position that gave him much satisfaction. Over the course of centuries, he turned many of the best and brightest of his Kingdom’s conquerors to the ways of necromancy, and the allegiance of Dericost. As a Primogenitor undead, Rytheran can never be destroyed, unless he chooses to be. He still resides in his school, the Mage Academy dungeon near Castle Neydisa.

His Eternal Splendor is an elusive figure, mentioned a few times in lore. He is one of the Primogenitor undead along with Aerfalle and Rytheran. He was once the leader of the Filinuvekta faction, but disappeared long ago. Even the undead seem unsure of his current whereabouts. The last mention of him dates back to the Empyrean war with the Shadows.

The Steward of Chalicmere presumably lives in the Direlands fortress of that name, but has never been seen by human eyes. She is the current leader of the Latzimestal, as evinced by her title of Steward; she maintains titular control of the Dericost Kingdom in the name of King Sarvien II, the Latzimestal monarch deposed by the victorious armies of Yalain and Haebrous.

The Sand Kings are former chieftains of the High Desert, a large expanse of wasteland and tundra west of Gelid. The tribes of the region were fierce nomadic warriors, who moved their herds of animals from one hot spring shelter to another as the seasons turned. The High Desert was an early conquest of the Dericost monarchs, a campaign in which they came to respect the fighting prowess of their enemies. For millennia afterwards, the nomads were recruited to lead the armies of Dericost. They currently serve the Steward of Chalicmere’s Latzimestal, though not necessarily by preference – their oaths were to the monarch of Dericost, and the nomads always honor their oaths.

Nerash was a Sand King who led the armies of Dericost at the final battle of the Millennium War – the siege of the Plateau of Gelid. For losing this battle, he was disgraced. During the engagement, however, a beautiful Haebraen warrior named Leikotha caught his eye and heart. In the aftermath, he abducted her and turned her to an undead. She later escaped, and had her vengeance at the conclusion of the Empyrean Shadow War. Nerash was slain by Leikotha at Ayn Tayan, a titanic three-day battle between undead and Shadow.

Anadil was a fellow of Nerash, and apparently second only to that Sand King in the art of war. He was recruited by the Steward of Chalicmere to serve as head of the undead army that stood against Bael’Zharon in P.Y. 11. While serving in that capacity, he was slain by Isparians near the Cathedral of Ithaenc. He has since been laid to rest by his tribesman at the Crypts of the Sand Kings, in the South Direlands.

Undead creatures are Filinuvekta mages, Skeletons are Latzimestal warriors, and Mu-Miyah are nomad warriors of the Sand Kings.