Chapter 28

Captain Meralco the mink, Vic the lemming, Medina the water buffalo, Camia the parrot, Earl the beaver and the remaining two water buffalo men approached the glass coffin at the center of the room. Inside was the decayed and emaciated body of a jackal woman. Her body was twisted as if in agony, her eyes were closed and she grinned in a rictus of agony. She wore a dress that had visibly faded and rotted and her arms were wrapped around her body as if she was shivering in the cold.

“Oh Nadia!” Medina cried as she looked into the glass coffin. “What has he done to you?”

Then, much to the horror of those looking in from the outside, the jackal woman’s eyes snapped wide open, revealing milky eyes that stared hard at them.

+++

Kiana the spider had climbed up the ceiling of the basement and the bone giant tried smashing at her with its arms comprised of multiple skeletons. It pounded hard and tore holes in the flooring above, bringing in more mist into the already foggy basement. The remaining lemmings tried desperately to find the dropped Candle of Protection but with the rampaging bone giant smashing and crushing all in its wake, they were more than hesitant to get too close to where their comrade fell.

Zenny the tiger fought well, managing to avoid getting stomped on by the undead horror but even she was beginning to tire and could barely see in the thickening fog.

After managing to reload his pistol, Prince Gaius the lion shot the bone giant which only dislodged a skull and a few bones from one of its shoulders. It was very clearly not going to stop just because of a few shots fired from his pistol. He had to leap away from the monster as it continued to roar and thrash above him as it would most certainly crush him if it caught him.

Having run out of ammunition, Cindy the skunk resorted to throwing fireworks at the bone giant and was successful in dislodging bones from its body and angering it further. The occasional explosion from her fireworks lit the ever-darkening basement briefly and only revealed how trapped they were. Still Cindy dug through her pockets for more fireworks to use against the enormous skeletal beast and threw them at it whenever she could.

McGrath the scorpion and Zobel the rat did their best to distract the monstrosity but it was clear that they only provided little help in the long run. The bone giant was simply too big, too powerful and too resilient to be effectively killed by anything any of them had. Add to that the fact that the room was being quickly enveloped in dense fog and it was clear that the monster had the upper hand in their struggle.

+++

“Medina?” the corpse of the jackal woman croaked. “Medina, is that you?”

“Yes Nadia,” Medina said. “It is I. I am here. I have brought help.”

“Oh,” the corpse very disturbingly tried to smile. “Thank goodness.”

+++

The doors to the basement burst open and Prince Gaius’ heart sank. That meant that the other undead were probably pouring in from above. He tried not to think too much of what could happen next and focused on reloading his pistol so he could use it again.

Then the mist parted around them and the familiar sound of chanting filled the cellar.

It was Father Stanwick the badger, Sanchez the dog and those that came with them.

“Sanchez!” Zobel said as he dove aside to avoid being crushed by one of the bone giant’s enormous legs. “Help us out.”

And that they did.

+++

“Thank you,” said the corpse of Nadia Belford. “Thank the Redeemer that you’ve come.”

“We’ll get you out!” Medina said, opening the glass coffin. “We’ll help!”

“No,” said the corpse. “Please, if you must help, please help my daughter Wendy!”

+++

Sanchez the dog, Fr. Stanwick and the lemmings and buffaloes that came with them were quick to join the fray.

As the priest descended, he began to chant louder, dispelling more and more of the fog so that the others could see it better. Their group also had their own lanterns and Candle of Protection which they used banish more of the mists that surrounded them. Now they could all see the thing more clearly and they fought it with even more ferocity.

+++

“Joseph!” Nadia Belford said in her raspy corpse-voice. “Joseph took Wendy with him when he left Karlaca!”

“Nadia?” Beryl asked. “Is your daughter still alive. Is she still alive like us? Or is she like you now?”

“My Wendy is alive,” Nadia answered. “I was merely his experiment. My husband just wanted to know the effects of undeath so he used me as his test subject. Oh, how I suffered for him! If I could only get my hands around that man’s neck!”

Vic shivered at the idea of an undead woman like Nadia strangling him.

“Then let us get you out!” Medina said, once again prying at the glass coffin. “Help us find your husband!”

“No Medina,” Nadia said. “You must destroy me!”

+++

Fr. Stanwick’s prayers almost dispelled the fog completely but it was clear that they were still at a disadvantage against the bone giant. They simply did not have enough energy and ammunition to keep fighting it and destroy enough of its body. Fr. Stanwick considered calling for divine intervention to disintegrate the monster but that would allow the mist to reform, blinding them again.

But then several small things fell unto the creature below which exploded, causing parts of the monster to scatter everywhere. Then, bolts of fire rained down from above, setting parts of the bone giant ablaze. To forms descended from the holes the bone giant made earlier. One was avian and dressed in a bright red hood and cloak while the other was long and serpentine with a white coat.

It was Sienna the owl and Zane the cobra. Next, the doors to the cellar swung open again and a crocodile and a bat entered, followed quickly by a hare and a tortoise carrying a small cannon. More people came through the open doorway and more people came in armed with muskets.

+++

“Destroy me Medina,” Nadia said. “End the awful curse of this place!”

“But...” Medina trailed off.

“Please Medina,” Nadia went on. “My husband has gone mad! He has become obsessed with undeath! He is now bent on finding Admiral Sebastian and learning all that he can from the archlich!”

“He’s what?” Beryl asked. “You’re telling me that Count Belford is looking for Admiral Sebastian?”

“Look to his notes,” Nadia pointed at the table with all the notebooks and papers at the side of the chamber with a shaky, skeletal hand. “You will find it all in there. He has written there all that he knows of the undead pirate and how he may achieve undeath himself. Joseph has recorded everything. Every minute detail of how to create undead and transform oneself into one.”

“Does he know how to find Admiral Sebastian?” Beryl said as she looked over the notebooks on the table. “Will we learn of his whereabouts?”

“Yes,” Nadia said. “With those, you may find my husband and, if you follow him, he will likely lead you to Admiral Sebastian. He is obsessed with the old lizard, you see. He will stop at nothing to discover the archlich’s secrets, including and especially his immortality. All that I ask is that you save my daughter from him. Take her back and tell her what her father had done to her mother. Tell her everything.”

+++

“FIRE!” shouted Khayyam the crocodile once they had a clear line-of-fire towards the bone giant.

“Fire!” repeated Prince Gaius as he fired his own pistol at the undead horror.

“Fire!” yelled Cindy as she tossed her last remaining firework at the goliath made of skeletons.

The crewmen with muskets all fired at the bone giant as Gustaf the tortoise and Karl the rabbit blasted away with their cannon. Sienna the owl attacked the bone giant with a more potent fire spell, expanding her bolts of fire into a large ball of flame. Zane the cobra tossed a bomb at the monster that immediately sizzled and began eating away at the bones of the creature when it struck.

The combined force of the attacks knocked bones out of the undead horror’s body and finally, it toppled to the ground, its body dividing in half.

Those gathered around the monster were about to cheer in triumph but then something started happening.

The bones that had been knocked free from the bone giant began shaking again as if there was an earthquake. Soon the bones began to fly in the air once again and filled in the gaps of the two masses of bones. Then, after all the bones on the floor had gone, two new bone giants clambered on disproportionate feet.

“Not again,” Zobel the rat said. “You gotta be kidding!”

+++

“Now, please do as I ask,” Nadia said. “Please, destroy me.”

“But why?” Medina said. “There must be some other way.”

“No, my friend,” the corpse-jackal said. “There is no other way. I would want to help you but through me my husband has already too many awful things. I have felt and witnessed many who have died within Belford Mansion. Those who were unfortunate enough to find themselves within its walls have rarely escaped. Through me, the curse of the house has spread through Karlaca in the form of the mist. I have seen how it has taken the people and turned them into zombies. I have seen how the mist reanimated the dead, trapping unfortunate souls within their own decaying bodies or imprisoned within the mist and slowly forgetting everything they had ever known and loved. I am what powers the curse and to end it, you must destroy me.”

Medina the water buffalo only looked away.

“Please, I am just so tired,” Nadia Belford said. “I am so tired of being here. Of being trapped in this coffin. Of being trapped in this rotted husk of a body. I am so cold but I know that nothing will warm me now even if I am set on fire. Please, end it.”

“No,” the water buffalo said. “I can’t.”

But then Beryl put a hand on the other woman’s shoulder.

“I will do it,” said Beryl and drew her pistol-sword. “Will this be enough?”

“Yes,” Nadia said. “That will do.”

The corpse-jackal pointed a gnarled finger at her forehead.

“Aim here,” Nadia said and again attempted a smile that only made Vic’s skin crawl. “But please find my daughter. I do not know what her father has told her and I don’t know what she has done but I assure you that she is a good girl. Her father has taken her with him, corrupting her mind with his own ambitions of eternal life. Please take her back from him. Take her back so that she can live a better life. The life of a necromancer is not for my dear Wendy. Please, I beg you.”

“I will,” Beryl said, pointing her pistol sword at Nadia Belford. “I promise.”

+++

As a gun was fired somewhere on the upper floors, the group in the cellar prepared for the worst. Their combined attacks worked to a degree but it was clear they needed even greater firepower if they hoped to destroy the bone giants. What they had on hand was clearly not enough.

They tried to reload as fast as they could while McGrath, Zobel, Cindy, Kiana and Zenny tried to distract the enormous monsters that were trying to stomp on them like vermin.

Prince Gaius was trying to reload his pistol, carefully pouring in gunpowder into the barrel with shaky hands. Zane was trying to prepare another acid bomb as it did damage the monster couldn’t easily repair but had to rummage through his rucksack because he didn’t dare take his eyes off the monster. Sienna had expended a lot of energy in her last fireball attack and took deep breaths just to be able prepare firebolts.

But then, just as the bone giants bore down on them, they suddenly stopped and bones began to fall and scatter from their enormous forms. Bones rained all around them as the bone giants began to fall apart. It was clear that whatever force animated them was gone now.

The mist too began to part, revealing the cellar fully. Whatever power it had was fading too as they could hear corpses and skeletons above fall over. It was over, the curse had been lifted from Belford Mansion.

Yvonne the fruit bat raised her head cautiously.

“Is it over?” she asked. “For real this time?”

1-3-13

The third floor of the Belford Mansion was a jumble of machinery. Here were large pipes that leaked mist which was the source of the plague of undeath in Karlaca. There were large gears that rotated in a rhythmic fashion, like the mechanical innards of a great beast. There were dials and gauges that neither Beryl nor Vic understood and there were glowing bulbs of different colors that dotted the walls and ceiling.

“This is it,” said Medina. “This must be the power source of the curse!”

“The focus,” said Beryl as she eyed a gauge beside her that had a needle swinging across ideograms she didn’t recognize.

Vic looked around and saw a few things he did recognize: a valve that said “intake” and a lever that said “release”. He had no idea what they were for or what they actually did but being painted in bright colors meant they were probably for something important. Although, he could admit that he knew nothing of engineering and such.

+++

Prince Gaius didn’t realize how far the fall would be and fell flat on his butt.

He was quickly helped up by Cindy and Kiana though his rump still hurt quite a bit. One of the lemmings with them raised his lantern to reveal where they were. It was a cavernous chamber that seemed as big as a town hall in and of itself. It was built completely of brick and smelled of rot and decay. Scattered all over the floor were piles and piles of bones and at one corner was a mountain of skeletal remains that stank strongly of death.

“Good lord!” Cindy groaned.

McGrath raised a torch of his own and looked about himself frantically while mumbling unintelligibly.

“You and me both,” Zobel said, raising his halberd again. “I don’t trust this place one bit either.”

Then, with little warning, the bones around them began to shake. They rattled and thudded as they struck one another and the walls. Gaius looked around himself frantically.

“Is it an earthquake?” Gaius asked.

“No,” Zenny said and pointed at the huge mountain of bones with her sword. “Look!”

The bone mountain continued to shiver violently and then a form rose out of it, followed by another. It took Gaius a few moments to realize that it was actually trying to get up. The enormous pillar of skulls and bones were actually its arms and that it was raising itself up on them. Soon it rose on a disproportionate number of legs that was composed of multitudes of skeletons locked together. The eye sockets of every skull in its body came alive with a deep purple flame that bathed the chamber in their baleful light.

“By the Creator!” Zobel said and the thing roared at them with jaws made of rib cages. “It’s a bone giant!”

Indeed, Zenny noticed that it was so large that it reached the stalactites pointing down from the ceiling.

+++

The mist on the third floor was low and stayed mostly just on level with their knees.

Beryl walked carefully, as if afraid that something might grab her from below. She kept her pistol-sword at the ready, prepared for anything. She still had one bullet in it after all and could still hold her own if worst ever came to worst.

“Place looks pretty solid,” said Earl, making all of them jump at the sound of his voice. “This is some really good engineering right here.”

“Count Belford was also quite the inventor,” Medina explained. “He would build many wonderful things. Once he even made gifts for his wife, or so Nadia used to tell me. At least, until the madness and his obsession with immortality took him.”

Then, something snaked across the floor that set them all on edge.

“Okay,” said Beryl. “What was that?”

“Be on your guard,” said Medina. “I have no idea what else the count may have created.”

And then a low moan that send shivers down Beryl’s spine issued from the misty bank of fog beneath them. Then slowly, a large form comprised of misty smoke emerged, faces forming in its roiling substance. It was so large that it covered much of the chamber and it issued another low moan that was composed of many voices.

+++

The mountain of bone roared, its voice was the sound of skeletons clashing and rubbing against one another.

It brought down one of its four disproportionate arms down on Zenny who rolled away in time and struck only the floor.

Kiana the spider fired at the enormous monster but only succeeded in dislodging some of the bones from its body. The monster only turned her way and roared again, nearly knocking her over. Luckily, Cindy the skunk was there with her own blunderbuss and opened fire on the great beast of bone.

It stomped on four disproportionate legs and tried to crush Zobel and McGrath underfoot but the rat and the scorpion were quick. Much quicker than the massive bone giant that wanted them dead. That said, they were equally weak against the bone giant and could only distract it.

Gaius did his best to keep away from it while reloading his pistol. One of the lemmings, the one carrying the Candle of Protection came closer to it waving the candle at the beast. He seemed to have thrown caution to the wind as he stood very close to the monster’s stomping legs.

“No!” Gaius shouted at the lemming as he aimed his pistol at the enormous monster. “Get back!”

The lemming was slain instantly when the bone giant stomped on him. There was just that horrific instant when one moment he was standing there and the next, he was under its enormous foot. The Candle of Protection he held fell away and was snuffed out on the dark floor.

The mist from above began to descend on where they were.

+++

Vic drew back as the monster of smoke and mist hissed and moaned at them.

The lemming was confused at first and then he remembered the valves and levers he saw earlier.

The poltergeist moaned again, louder this time, all the mouths in its form yawning wide. It seemed completely unaware of Vic and that was exactly the lemming wanted it. He rushed towards those same controls and pulled hard on the lever that said “release”.

While the poltergeist tried to batter down on a frightened Earl the beaver and Camia the parrot, it failed to notice that the mist was draining away.

It was only when the undead horror’s face was right up against Earl’s did it notice that it was being swept away like soapy water down a drain.

In almost no time at all, all the mist in the room had been drained away. The poltergeist too was soon swept towards a large pipe and was gone from sight. It moaned one more time, this time in horror rather than menace, but was then gone for good.

All that was left were the artifacts of the room including a brass table covered with notebooks and other pieces of paper. A large grandfather clock in one corner that reminded Vic of the one he saw at the Intoxicated Whaler. And then there was the enormous glass coffin at the center of the room that contained the mummified corpse of a jackal woman.

The Undead

Death has always been a thing of fear and mystery to the people of the Known World. While most, if not all, faiths agree that there is life after death or that a person doesn’t simply cease after they die, they still debate on what actually happens after a person takes their last breath. For instance, the so-called Children of Aapo (Golden Church, Children of the Sun, Children of the Moon and Children of the Star) believe that the souls of the dead travel to a place beyond the material world and ultimately find themselves in Heaven or the Abyss. On the other hand, the followers of the Great Cycle (House of Seasons and the Road of Light) believe that one is reborn into a new body after the death of their previous one. Then, there are your animist religions that believe that souls and spirits are everywhere.

Despite what religions may say, the subject of death is always a difficult one. In Kithiya for instance, merely speaking of the dead is considered bad luck and is generally discouraged. In places like Xepico and Waldoria, death is an accepted reality of life and they deal with this through morbid jokes that usually disturb those who are unfamiliar with their culture. Most cultures though prefer to be positive with their views either way and like to think that people who “pass on” from their life are either rewarded for their good deeds or punished for their bad deeds.

Then you have undead. Ghosts. Zombies. Banshees. You name it.

In most cultures, those who should be dead but are somehow still moving around are considered abominations. They are things that simply should not be. A man should only be able to take so much pain. A woman shouldn’t be able to move after she stops breathinging. The list goes on.

But through dark rituals the dead can be forced to stay in the material world. This is called “necromancy” and is a blasphemous act that can get one into lots of trouble. While undead are considered to be evil or at least dangerous, not all are as there are a few benign ones here and there. Unfortunately, it is never good for any dead being to remain in the material world as their immortality, their inability to affect anything and their other limitations will certainly damage or destroy their sanity. That is why most religions, especially that of the Golden Church, encourage purifying said spirits so that they can move on to another phase of existence.

Undead are rarely tolerated and, in more civilized parts of the Confederate Islands, the general response to undead activity is purify or destroy. That said, there are some undead that are tolerated in some places, especially those that prove useful and are not intelligent enough to be considered sapient. However, these undead and the necromancers that created them are closely guarded and watched by clergymen and such beings are often destroyed right after they are used to avoid further problems.

There are many rumors that both the Xenjese Commonwealth and Zorali Magocracy incorporate necromancy in their military technology though there is very little convincing proof of this. Be that as it may, both nations have been known to engage in unethical activities to gain an advantage over their rivals, namely each other and the Confederate Islands. When one thinks about the slavery that is commonplace in Xenji and the genocide that seems like a requirement in Zoral, necromancy seems like a petty crime.

History

The undead have been around since people first learned the art of necromancy. However, even in those early days, necromancy was shunned for the innate danger it posed. Only a few were allowed to practice necromancy and those who were irresponsible in its use were immediately put to death by the kings and queens of that age.

The first act of necromancy to be recorded was committed by King Eleazar of Pelmos who reanimated his wife when he couldn’t accept her loss. Unfortunately, due to being a very inept necromancer, the king only turned his wife into a zombie who quickly attacked and killed him. It has been a cautionary tale of not tampering with unknown forces for millennia.

Another infamous act of necromancy was said to be enacted by Queen Ahaz of Surdalia who, in a fit of rage against her husband, reanimated a small army of zombies to attack him. Again, being a largely inept necromancer, the zombies immediately turned on the queen after they had devoured her husband. Yet another cautionary tale about necromancy.

The first true necromancer to use his powers for ill purposes was Cain of the Wastes in Valmoren. In order to challenge King Samson, he raised legions of wights to attack the capital which was razed to the ground in the course of a week. Luckily, King Samson knew another necromancer, Niobe who called upon the ghosts of the dead to aid the living in their fight against Cain’s sorcery. It took King Samson and Niobe over three years to just reclaim the capital from the undead but, with the help of clergymen and devoted followers of the Redeemer, the wights were destroyed. This came at the cost of Niobe’s life and King Samson’s sight and right arm. Cain was ultimately slain by a group of warriors who simply buried him unceremoniously with the corpses he reanimated.

Another notable undead to pop up in history is Prince Vladimir of Varelac in the Dark Isles. Unlike most examples here, the prince chose to become a vampire to protect his country from foreign invaders. Unfortunately, while he did manage to fight off his enemies and protect Varelac, his transformation turned him into a true monster. His need for blood became so terrible that his own grandchildren came to fear him which eventually drove Prince Vladimir to suicide by exposing himself to sunlight.

Then there is Countess Emerald of Selvakar, another member of the modern Dark Isles, who was so obsessed with her wealth that she became a ghoul. She hid this well from the people of Selvakar and was said to wander out into the night in order to devour young maidens. Even before she became undead, Countess Emerald was already well known for her sadism towards the peasantry and the common folk. She would put people, including and especially children, in prison for flimsy claims and slowly starve them to death. It was only when the people finally had had enough of her cruelty that they rose up and rebelled against her. Aided by Duchess Kezia, another noblewoman of Selvakar, they laid siege to her castle and, upon breaking into her quarters, learned just what an abomination she had become. It was said that Duchess Kezia was so disgusted with her that she condemned Countess Emerald to the same fate as her victims: death by starvation. After her death, Countess Emerald’s body was burnt to ash to ensure that she would never rise again.

On a more positive note, probably one of the rare few, King Jung of Dorul was once distraught over how he should deal with the Pearl Bandits, the pirates who terrorized the waters of his country in days of old. He feared trusting foreigners because he always thought they were invaders or would betray him at the slightest opportunities. Unfortunately, due to inaction, many common sailors like fishermen and merchants fell victim to the Pearl Bandits leading to bankruptcy, misery and death. However, one night, he was visited in his dreams by the ghost of his grandmother who told him that there was no harm in trusting others so long as one remained vigilant. And so it was that King Jung came to realize his folly and has focused on diplomacy with neighboring island-countries to ensure the safety and prosperity of Dorul. However, that was the last King Jung heard of his grandmother and wept often for her until he died. On his deathbed, his last word was a happy greeting of “grandmother!”.

In the 1400s, there is of course Admiral Donato Sebastian, one of the most feared undead. Being an “archlich” instead of simply just a lich, there are few things that can truly match both his physical and magical power. Only holy relics of great significance can ever hope to slow him down and only the most senior and determined of clerics can hurt him. It was said that he became an archlich after performing a profane ritual he learned from the Gravelands. To become immortal and gain god-like power, it was said he sacrificed his own wife and unborn child in the ritual to become the undead horror he is now. Since becoming undead, he has prowled the Thessonia for centuries, attacking Xenjese and Zorali ships while corrupting the good citizens of the Confederate Islands.

When the Xenjese Commonwealth first came into being during the early 1600s, the Xensjese transformed the corpse of their founder of their island-country into a revenant, a rare and powerful form of undead. The Xenjese wanted a leader who would lead them against Zoral and the Confederate Islands and, to achieve this, the Commonwealth hired necromancers from all over Thessonia to build the abomination. However, one of the necromancers in the group still had a conscience and deliberately sabotaged the effort in recreating the old pirate. Instead of getting a leader that would lead them in glorious conquest, the Xenjese ended up with a mindless monster that destroyed a number of their cities and then died an explosive death three days later that took out a small province.

Then, in as far back as just a few decades ago, Cain of the Wastes rose again as a lich and attempted to destroy Valmoren with the greatest horde of ghosts, zombies, phantoms and wights to ever be seen. Luckily, the Confederal Military responded almost immediately, managing to drive back the undead before they could cause significant damage. In the end, Cain of the Wastes was slain by two preachers (one from the Golden Church and the other a child of the sun), a team of young wizards and several shots from multiple mortars. This time, the body of Cain was burnt to ash to prevent his return.  

Nature

While not all undead are evil, remaining in the material world is ill-advised for them. It is always better for them to move on to their next phase of existence rather than stay in the material world. Watching their loved ones grow old and die, their inability to affect anything and the total lack of feeling will eventually drive them to madness, sometimes making them outright hostile to the living.

There are mainly two categories of undead: corporeal and incorporeal. Corporeal undead are those that still have physical bodies like skeletons, zombies and wights. Incorporeal undead include wraiths, ghosts and phantoms which are reduced to being fleshless spirits. The general rule with undead is that, if they have bodies, they are likely to be mindless and dumb and those that don’t are still fully capable of rational thought and reasoning. Then there are those undead that are both such as revenants, liches and archliches which are some of the most dangerous types of undead.

Point of Origin

Undead are reanimated through necromancy. They are usually fleshless spirits bound to the material world. Then there are those rare undead that are called forth from the place between the material world and the hereafter such as phantoms.

Types of Undead

There are actually many types of undead but these are by far the most notable ones:

GEIST: Neither true ghosts nor undead, geists are just the psychic or spiritual imprint of people. They have less to do with actual dead people and are more like memories or ideas of said people. Physical weapons like swords or guns will never harm geists and will just pass through them harmlessly. Natural weapons like fists or teeth will hurt them however as it is the idea of damaging them that actually works.

SKELETON: Walking piles of bones. Generally dumb but, in enough numbers, can be a real problem. Their natural weapons like teeth, claws or tusks are usually rotted and can only harm the living with their fists, feet or weapons they can pick up.

WRAITH: Spirits or souls with little to no memory of who they are. They are usually harmful and will often try to suck the energy out of the living to sustain themselves. Appear as grey or black rags or wisps of smoke that form a vague humanoid shape.

ZOMBIE: Walking dead with flesh on them.

GHOST: Souls of people trapped in the material world.

WIGHT: Intelligent zombies that can turn the living into the latter.

PHANTOM: Souls of people summoned from the border between the material world and beyond.

REVENANT: An undead with a complete mind and an extremely strong and durable body.

LICH: An undead magician that is extremely hard to kill thanks to their phylactery.

ARCHLICH: A combination of a revenant and lich, combining raw physical power and magical mastery, making them the most dangerous form of undead.

ASWANG: Usually only found in Pyril, aswang can appear human by day but are slavering undead monsters by night. After dusk, they detach part of their bodies to hunt for the flesh of the living, though their favorite is that of unborn fetuses. The two types of aswang are the manananggal whcih detach at the waist and the penenggalen which separate at the neck. They are almost always hostile to the living.

TIYANAK: Again, usually only found in Pyril, these are undead children that have powerful illusion magic. They usually disguise themselves as babies, toddlers or any older child and attract victims with their cries. They usually reveal themselves when their prey is close enough or until a person carries them to a settlement where they can wreak havoc.

Weaknesses

GARLIC: As a general rule of thumb, nearly all undead are repulsed by garlic.

HOLY SYMBOLS: Also, most undead, especially those that are hostile to the living, are afraid of religious symbols.

RED: Incorporeal undead usually can’t cross a barrier that is colored red such as a wall that is painted red.

1-3-12

After they made it past the gate, Prince Gaius and Captain Meralco hatched a plan.

Their vast company would divide into four groups to be able to more quickly search for the “focus” of Belford Mansion. Prince Gaius the lion, Zenny the tiger, McGrath the scorpion, Zobel the rat, Cindy the skunk, Kiana the spider and about four lemming townsmen would search the right wing and basement of the mansion. Captain Meralco, Vic the lemming, Earl the beaver, Camia the parrot, Juarez the buzzard, Danilo the alligator, Steno the hyena, Medina the water buffalo and two other water buffalo men would look through the left wing and third floor of the building. Sanchez the dog, Fr. Stanwick and about five lemmings and three water buffaloes from the town would comb the central section and the second floor. All those remaining would have to go back to town or the Chenodia to get additional reinforcements and munitions with Zane the cobra particularly promising to bring more explosives and incendiaries and Sienna bringing along more books of magic containing information on how to counter necromancy.

With that discussed and gotten over with, the groups went their separate ways.

“So okay, where do we start?” asked Beryl at all those with her.

“Let’s try a window,” said Steno the hyena. “I think they’re old enough to be broken into easily.”

“No,” said Medina the water buffalo. “We must go through the front door.”

“Huh?” the hyena looked at the water buffalo dumbfounded. “Why?”

Medina didn’t reply, nor did she need to as the great front doors of Belford Mansion opened of their own accord with a loud creak. Then after they had gotten in, the voice of Nadia Belford came into their heads once again. This time there was a sense of urgency in her voice. This time she was clearly frantic and frightened.

“Hurry!” her voice came. “I can’t hold them back!”

And that was when the moaning and groaning of voices came their way. The undead were coming! A horde of wraiths, skeletons, ghosts, zombies and Creator only knows were on their way to them.

That was when the three groups went their separate ways, hurrying through the corridors and hallways of Belford Mansion.

+++

Zobel the rat, McGrath the scorpion and Zenny the tiger fought off the oncoming zombies behind them with all their might. Together they tore at undead flesh and shattered bone but only managed to secure small victories against the oncoming tide of undead. Meanwhile Cindy and Kiana cleared the way forward using their blunderbusses which they took turns at firing at the undead before them and then reloading as quickly as they could. Prince Gaius helped with the townsmen lighting their own Candle of Protection which flickered as if being blown by the wind despite the fact that there was no wind around them or even outside.

“The doors!” Gaius shouted while holding up a lantern over the din of battle and the groaning of zombies. “We need another way through!”

And that they did with Gaius and Zenny and at least one townsman trying the doors on the side of the corridor. Most were locked and they had to go from door to door to find safety. While McGrath, Zobel, Cindy and Kiana fought valiantly and while some of the other townsmen did all they could to keep their candle alight, they were quickly losing ground.

Getting desperate, Gaius started kicking at the doors, hoping against hope that they were rotted away enough to budge under the weight of his boots. After almost two minutes of kicking, one door finally gave way and swung open. Gaius was about to smile at this development when a skeletal hand in a tattered sleeve shot out from the darkness of the doorway and grabbed his foot then quickly dragged him inward.

“Prince Gaius!” Cindy shouted and fell back with Kiana following suit.

“Protect the prince!” Zobel rushed back and into the dark room with McGrath right behind him.

The lemmings went in next, trying hard to protect the flame of their candle burning.

Zenny came last, fighting off the undead that came after them. She fought back with everything she had, severing decayed limbs with her sword and breaking old bones with the hilt. Still, she fended them off and hurried into the dark room and quickly shut the door behind her before any of the zombies could come through.

+++

The wraiths quickly followed Beryl’s group through the hallways of Belford Mansion. Some came through walls or windows. Others entered through the mist at the windows. All around them the incorporeal undead came, hungry for their warmth.

Vic the lemming was immediately assaulted by images of his sister. In his mind, her clothes were all torn and her body was all beaten and bruised. Tears flowed from her hollow eyes which were filled with misery and despair.

“Look what they’ve done to me Vicente!” Pia Dubois said in his mind. “Why did you let them take me, brother? You’re supposed to be a man! You were supposed to protect me! You really are useless just like what father and all the others said!”

Vic was on the verge of tears upon seeing and hearing this in his mind. But then, a comforting hand found his shoulder and he found Captain Meralco the mink standing beside him. She was offering a smile of encouragement which made him stop and rethink his situation.

“Don’t listen to them,” Beryl said to him. “They lie, none of it is real.”

“She is right,” said Medina the water buffalo as she held up a Candle of Protection which flickered in the darkness. “These wraiths lie about everything. They have no substance of their own and their own memories have faded over the years. All they can do now is dredge up your own memories and use them against you until you die and become one of them.”

“Well, I don’t want to become one of ‘em,” said Earl the beaver. “They got another thing coming from this beaver!”

“Keep boasting you old fart,” Camia the parrot scowled. “And we’ll all be ghosts before this is over.”

“We’re here,” said Medina, as they stood before an enormous set of double doors. “This is Count Belford’s personal collection of artifacts. We’re getting closer to the source of the Belford Mansion’s curse. Are all of you ready?”

+++

Prince Gaius struggled with the skeleton that had grabbed him. It was an elephant skeleton so was actually a lot larger than he was. Luckily, its tusks had broken off long ago and the lion only had to fight off its attempts to strangle him. That said though, it proved to be strong enough to overpower him even without the advantage of musculature. It was now strangling him and Gaius could only fight it off for a few moments before losing consciousness.

It was then that one of the townsmen shoved the Candle of Protection into the elephant skeleton’s eye-socket that it reared back and released Gaius. While it had no vocal cords, the monstrosity shrieked loudly into the room. Cindy finished off the elephant skeleton with a blast from her blunderbuss which sent the thing’s bones scattering in multiple directions.

Zenny looked around the room as McGrath picked up the lantern Gaius had dropped earlier and shone it around the room.

“What is this place?” Zobel said as held aloft his halberd, ready for anything.

All around them were the mounted heads of dinosaurs that had been preserved through taxidermy. Here was a small flock of velociraptors. Over there was a deinonychus with its feathery arms spread wide. And near that was a head of a T-rex, its jaws opened wide. Then the light of the lantern fell on the head of a triceratops that was mounted not far from them, its horns held forward in an aggressive display.

+++

Vic soon found himself in a vast room with so many artifacts either hung on the walls or kept safe inside cases of glass. Here was a suit of wooden armor with a helmet that featured a scowling mask. There was an old wooden staff, gnarled and etched with runes that Vic couldn’t understand. Not far from that was an old crown of silver, surrounded by corroded rings. Further away, near the edge of the room, warriors made of clay brandished spears in the dozens.

“Where are we?” the lemming asked.

“Looks to me like it’s some kind of museum,” said earl the beaver. “This Belford fella must’ve traveled a lot.”

“And that he did quite a bit,” said Medina as they walked on. “He and his wife traveled all over the place. From the frozen mountains of Waldoria to the deserts of Surdalia. He came here to Pyril as it was one of the few places he hadn’t yet seen much of. It was also here that the man began to lose his mind.”

Steno the hyena looked around himself and began to pick at a glass cage containing an old sword and a strange pistol with five barrels. In less than a few seconds, he had it open and quickly stashed some of the stuff he found in a sack that he carried. He came to the next glass cage that contained some old books and scrolls. After opening it and stashing them into a sack, he thought to himself that they might be valuable to some rich wizard or academic somewhere like the owl or the cobra back on the Chenodia. He soon came to another glass case which instead contained jewelry which he was more than happy to pick at. However, as he began to stash the contents of the glass cage into his sack, the suit of armor near him began to move and the warriors of clay moved.

Beryl, Earl, Camia, Juarez, Danilo, Medina and just about everyone else failed to notice that there were things that began to move.

The suit of armor raised its huge sword while Steno was completely unaware of it.

That was when Medina noticed that the flame of her candle had suddenly turned an eerie bright blue.

Before the suit of armor could bring the sword down on the hyena, Vic managed to block it with a long wand that was on display and not contained in a glass cage. There was a bright flash of light that surprised Steno, Medina, Vic and even the suit of armor making the attack which was followed by an explosion. The suit of armor was hurled back by the force of the blast and knocked on its back but it neither fell apart nor gave up. Instead it stood up as the clay warriors began to march towards the intruders that had entered in their midst.

+++

Gaius and his grouped charged through the corridors of Belford Mansion, using the triceratops head they found as a battering ram. Zombies were either impaled on the triceratops’ horns or thrown aside by the speed and force of the group as they ran along. Behind them, Cindy and Kiana covered their retreat, blasting at zombies behind them or those who were thrown aside.

They ran at full speed, McGrath and Zobel carrying the triceratops skull forward. On either side of them were Gaius and Zenny, killing off the undead who were trying to attack them from the side. Behind them were the lemming townsmen, with one holding up their Candle of Protection with the other carrying the lantern that lit their way through the dark corridor.

+++

Danilo the alligator and Juarez the buzzard tried to cover the other’s retreat as the moving suit of armor and the clay warriors followed after them.

“We must retreat!” Medina said. “Those relics are now possessed by the spirits of Belford Mansion. There’s very little we can do to fight them now. Even the Candles of Protection can’t defend us from all of them.”

Beryl then ran ahead with Medina at her side as the others followed her. Vic dragged Steno to his feet and the two started running after everyone. Danilo and Juarez stood at the far back, their own cutlasses and pistols drawn but clearly shaken by the possessed relics that were walking their way.

+++

Gaius soon found a trapdoor beneath them as the group continued to plow through the hordes of zombies that were coming their way.

“We’re running out of ammo,” Cindy shouted as she shot at another wave of zombies. “We need to fall back!”

McGrath the scorpion mumbled something that no one but Zobel understood.

“We can’t go down the trapdoor,” the rat shook his head at the scorpion. “We don’t even know what’s down there.”

McGrath replied with another long stream of unintelligible sounds.

“Alright,” Zobel said then turned to the prince. “Your Highness, McGrath says we should try for the trapdoor.”

“That’s a good suggestion,” the lion prince said as he shot one of the zombies with his pistol, making it double over and then went immediately to the trapdoor’s handle. “We need to get away from these things!”

+++

“Hurry!” Medina said, pointing up a staircase. “Up the stairs, c’mon!”

Vic, Steno, Earl, Camia and all the rest tried to follow.

One of the clay warriors raised a short bow and struck one of the water buffalo men that came with them.

Danilo immediately went to help the stranger but two clay warriors raised their own and struck the alligator in the chest with arrows. With a cry, Juarez the buzzard rushed to help his friend but was then stabbed by one of the clay warriors with a long spear. Some of the others wanted to go back and help, including Vic but were held back by Beryl and Steno.

“It’s too late for them,” Steno said. “There’s no point!”

And so up they all went to the third floor of the Belford Mansion.

+++

“Jump!” Cindy said. “Down the trapdoor!”

Zenny hesitantly followed, plunging into the darkness beneath Belford Mansion. Prince Gaius followed after her with his female bodyguards in tow. The lemmings that came with them went down next, shedding some light into the dark below. McGrath and Zobel were the last to enter, using the triceratops head as a kind of barrier and then shutting hard the trapdoor behind them with a loud thud.

The Fae

The Known World of Felominar is home to many creatures and a countless number of flora and fauna. It is also inhabited by many different species of sapient beings or “man-kin” as they are sometimes called. However, there are a number of things that defy all description and any attempt to properly categorize them. These beings are called “fae” and have time and time again been encountered, bargained with or fought by men since time immemorial.

Despite their similarities with people such as being able to communicate effectively and form very large societies, fae are clearly not of this world and some lack a physical form altogether. Occasionally, there are fae that prove benevolent or engage in benign acts such as curing sicknesses, healing injuries or bringing food in times of hardship. That said, fae are a fickle lot and are capable of anything so speaking, let alone dealing with them, is always ill-advised. While one cannot really call them “evil”, it is best not to get embroiled in their affairs which are difficult to understand and all too often lead to confusion, trouble or worse.

Fae are extremely powerful beings who can wield potent magic. It is said that fae are capable of anything from healing to causing dangerous diseases or fatal injuries, crafting magnificent artifacts to calling down calamities on people. Many in the modern age are skeptical of the existence of fae, there is plenty of evidence to support their activities in Felominar.

History

Many are skeptical and prefer not to believe in the tales of fae but they have, more than once, influenced the Known World on numerous occasions. Still, these events are often guarded secrets as they can lead to delicate and awkward situations. All in all, while contact with the fae have indeed yielded benefits, these often come at great cost either metaphorically or literally.

King Altair, the first king of Delmaron, was said to have wielded Exaldor, a mighty sword forged by dwarves. While it is often questioned whether or not it was actually dwarves that made the sword, there is no doubt to the sword’s quality and composition. It can very easily cut metal and stone with little effort but is no heavier than a short wooden stick. In all the centuries it has been kept in the Eastonian Museum in Delmaron, it has neither rusted nor shown any sign of corrosion.

Queen Cheng, one of the oldest rulers of Kithiya is said to have had an elf for a lover. Said lover was named Belfren and could take the form of a handsome fox. Sadly, nothing became of their relationship and Belfren fled back to his world when Cheng was crowned queen of Kithiya. Still, the queen remembered him fondly and had a statue built in his image which remains in the Basalt Square of Chong-ku.

It has been recorded in ancient texts that a great feud between two great bear clans Macintosh and Jobs was settled when Clan Jobs called upon the aid of a great orc army. While the defenses of Clan Macintosh were certainly strong, they were no match for the hordes of orcs that were sent against them. It was all too bad though that the orcs turned against those who called upon them as they had no one else left to fight. The fight was settled when both bear clans, or what was left of them by then, called for a truce with one another in order to join forces and send the rampaging orcs back to their dimension. Clans Macintosh and Job have been on friendly terms since and have even helped put together a guild that produces abacuses which they named Tiny Soft.

While no pig, toad or mouse will admit it, it is said that the first coins were actually made by goblins. It was said that during ancient times, when men struggled with coming up with a more efficient means of trading, Queen Innana of Tyrac sought help from beyond. Her pleas were answered when goblins came forth and taught men how to work the ingots of electrum into the first coins. While it did have the benefit of accelerating and expanding economics, it had the disadvantage of also accelerating and expanding avarice in the common man. Some of the said coins are currently kept in the Museum of the Ancients in Tyrac and, should one find even just a single piece just lying around somewhere, it is more than enough to buy oneself his or her own small fiefdom.   

Nature

Fae, as already mentioned, are extremely strange and fickle. Some are even ethereal, possessing no bodies of their own. It is very hard to relate to them although it is possible to communicate with them. However, one can liken speaking to them similar to ants asking a man at his doorstep for sugar.

Fae are not really evil in the same sense that demons and the most wicked of men are evil. Instead, they can best be described as indifferent to the plight of men which somewhat makes them worse. They may take amusement in the suffering of people, but they do not really understand the magnitude of their actions. Particularly mean-spirited fae can be likened to that of children tormenting insects out of malicious curiosity.

Fae can occasionally be traded or reasoned with but this is often a bad idea as fae do not think in the same sense as ordinary people. They might misunderstand the value of one thing or even one person and say wildly inaccurate things since, most of the time, they don’t fully grasp the weight of the terms they use. Fae can indeed be reasonable but one must be very precise with their wording and present a good description of what they want or what they want to happen rather than just giving abstract answers which fae can all but rarely comprehend.

However, there are those fae that do understand the culture and values of man-kin and exploit them for all their worth. These are the beings that are best avoided as they cause only misery in their wake. Unfortunately, these are often the fae that actively antagonize people such as stealing their children or slaughtering their livestock in the night.

Place of Origin

Fae are thought to come from the Fairlands, a world that is separate from Felominar. There is little information on what the Fairlands are like save for the fact that they are inhabited by fae and make little sense for any man-kin that manage to make it there. The few people who have returned from the Fairlands are usually too insane to give a proper description of what they witnessed.

Types of Fae

There are actually many types of fae but these are by far the most commonly encountered by people:

DWARVES

Habitat: caves and tunnels

Season: winter

Likes: mechanical devices like clocks or guns

Dislikes: forests and sunlight

Appearance: short and stocky heavily-armored men resembling pigs or wolverines with thick beards

ELVES

Habitat: forests and jungles

Season: spring

Likes: beautiful men and women

Dislikes: ugly people

Appearance: tall and slender beings that move like cats or foxes and have pointed ears

ORCS

Habitat: deserts and tundra

Season: summer

Likes: fighting and killing

Dislikes: peace and boredom

Appearance: powerful and large men that sort of resemble crocodiles with their scales but have the heads of gorillas and the tusks of pigs

GOBLINS

Habitat: cities and abandoned buildings

Season: autumn

Likes: money/coins

Dislikes: loud noises

Appearance: short and thin creatures that resemble rats and mice but are hairless and have skin similar to that of toads

PIXIES

Habitat: anywhere

Season: dry season

Likes: excitement

Dislikes: sleeping

Appearance: tiny glowing women that look like insects

MERFOLK

Habitat: oceans, rivers and lakes

Season: wet season

Likes: water

Dislikes: fire

Appearance: gigantic anglerfish the size of houses with lures that can change their shape into alluring forms to attract prey

Factions of Fae

There are two large factions of fae but not all of them belong to one or the other. There are also many neutral fae but even these lean either way. Again, considering these factions to be good or evil is a mistake as their agendas rarely account for man-kin. They might seem “good” at first glance but the effects of their actions may have “bad” consequences later on.

SEELIE COURT

Fae who believe they should communicate with man-kin. While generally benevolent, these fae have a poor grasp of man-kin culture. This results in a lot of awkward interactions that lead to a lot of trouble. That said, there are also members of the Seelie who just want to exploit people and care little for their welfare.

UNSEELIE COURT

These are the fae who believe that they should stay away from man-kin altogether. They are the most mysterious of fae and are all too willing to kill persistent people. That said, they can also be quite benign as they will warn or even protect people from fae who seek to take advantage of man-kin. Still, they can be quite frightening and rarely take into account people’s thoughts and opinions.

Weakness to Cold Iron

All fae naturally fear cold iron. It is the one thing their magic can’t affect and iron weapons will either kill them instantly or slowly poison them in an agonizing fashion. As a matter of fact, Duke Albrecht of Halreich once fought against an army of fae wearing iron armor and wielding an iron dagger and somehow won unaided.

Relationship with Religion

Fae are not naturally evil but they do fear the power of God. As such, particularly powerful fae can be challenged and defeated by potent clergymen. That said though, there are fae who openly recognize and respect matters of religion in ways only understood to them. These last are usually the fae most likely to understand man-kin and treat them fairly if not benevolently. 

Association with the Gods of Death

The Gods of Death of Pyril are sometimes associated with the fae but there is little actual evidence to support this. While they do indeed share some similarities, it should be pointed out that there are indeed fae who are purely benign and mean man-kin no harm while the Gods of Death bring only disaster and anguish in their wake. That said though, it is thought that there are fae that work with the Gods of Death or perhaps even the Nemesis.

1-3-11

By following the light in the distance, the crewmen of the Chenodia and the townspeople who came with them eventually found Belford Mansion.

It towered well over the seekers, looming like some dark giant watching pesky children. The light came from a high window from a tower at the center of the great building. It glowed It was like a castle and it reminded Gaius of Cunningham Palace, his own family’s home in Delmaron. To Beryl, it was very reminiscent of her husband’s old family home, the same place where he and his family took their own lives all those years ago.

The gates were once again closed and forbidding. Mist obscured their surroundings and distorted voices murmured all around them. The undead were coming and, by the sound of it, there was going to be a lot of them.

“Light the Candles of Protection!” Medina the water buffalo shouted. “Light them now!”

And hurriedly, matches were struck to light the Candles of Protection they had brought along with them along with torches which crewmen and townsfolk held high to ward off the oncoming unquiet dead.

The murmurs grew quiet, as if they were surprised or confused. It took a while but the mists soon parted from those who held Candles of Protection. It fled the way a swarm of voracious night vermin might retreat from light or fire.

“Now, this is what we need to do to end the curse,” Medina said. “Gather around me now as I need to be as clear as possible to all of you.”

And that they did. Both the crewmen of the Chenodia and the townspeople who came along gathered around the water buffalo woman. Even as wraiths and zombies moaned and groaned in the distance, Medina spoke to them as loudly and clearly as possible. It was likely she wouldn’t be repeating herself considering the delicate situation they were in.

“Listen now,” Medina the water buffalo said. “Somewhere in that house is a power-source for all that’s happening here.”

“A focus, you mean?” Sienna the owl asked. “Necromancy needs a source after all, unlike wizardry that usually comes from the self.”

“Aye,” Medina nodded. “That’s what I’m talking about. Somewhere inside Belford Mansion is the source of all this evil. If we destroy it, we will set Karlaca free from Count Belford’s curse.”

“So what do you think it is?” asked Sienna. “What kind of focus is Count Belford using?”

“Something of this magnitude must be truly powerful indeed,” Medina said. “It may either be an animal or more likely a person with a strong attachment to the world of the living. I’m not sure what it’ll look like though. I have little knowledge of black magic after all.”

“It’ll probably look like a coffin or something,” Sienna said, volunteering her own knowledge. “If I understand black magic correctly, it will likely be a dead animal or person placed inside a glass coffin or cage.”

“What do we need to destroy it?” Beryl asked. “What do we do to make sure it goes for good?”

“There are many ways, young captain,” said the water buffalo. “Prayer is one way; magic is another and simply destroying their physical body is sometimes enough to kill any undead. Let me warn you though that it probably wouldn’t be giving up without a fight. And as it stands, unless we destroy the source of necromantic energy in this place, we will not be able to put down any of the undead for good. Even if you destroy them, they will rise again and again until their source of power is put out. Do you understand, all of you?”

Those that gathered around her either nodded or murmured their understanding.

“The only way to repel them is by using the Candles of Protection,” Medina went on. “Only the divine power stored within them can keep the undead abominations at bay. But all of you need to conserve them as I only have so many of them. As much as possible, we should light only one candle for every five people with two more ready to be lit.”

“But what if we run out?” Gaius asked. “I mean, three candles can only last for so long.”

“Then pray we do what we need to in that short time,” Medina said. “Pray we finish what we came here to do before it’s too late.”

Then a quiet voice emanated from Belford Mansion, chilling those gathered at the gates even as they snuffed out some candles to save them for later. Everyone froze where they stood, a little too scared to move. Zane, Sienna, Khayyam, Yvonne and Biggs remembered it as the same voice that led them out of the house just over a day ago. Medina recalled that it belonged to none other than the kind Nadia Belford, the count’s sweet wife who was a counter to his own cruel personality.

“You have come,” said the voice in a whispery but not unkindly tone. “Finally...”

They all heard the voice of the woman but they didn’t hear it in their ears exactly. Instead, it seemed to come from inside their own heads. As if it echoed around their own psyches.

“Nadia?” Medina asked. “Nadia, is that you?”

“Medina, you are here too?” asked the voice. “This is probably one of the better nights I’ve had. But hopefully, it will also be the last. Have you come to end the curse?”

“Yes, my friend,” Medina answered. “We have. It has to end Nadia. And tonight, we will end it.”

“Praise the Redeemer,” Nadia’s voice said. “Then I will help you. But be warned, the forces in the house are strong. Much stronger than I am. My husband has done much in infusing this house with evil. The evil here is very powerful, Medina, your Candles of Protection might not be enough to hold back the undead here. You may need to attack them with weapons or magic to repel them. Be careful because they will not allow themselves to be destroyed so easily.”

Then, with a loud shriek, the gates to Belford Mansion creaked open slowly, like the jaws of a great beast.

“Come,” said the waning voice of Nadia Belford. “I will do all that I can to help you destroy this place. I will see to it that you end the curse. But you must hurry, I can only fight the spirits of the house for so long.”

Medina looked on and into the house with Beryl and Gaius right beside her.

Gaius looked back at the crewmen and townspeople behind him.

“C’mon everyone,” he said. “Let’s get this over with!”

And thus they all entered Belford Mansion to end the curse of Karlaca for good.

Pirate Fleets

Pirates are a largely independent lot, operating on a loose chain of command at best. Even the so-called “captains” of pirate ships are only captains during a voyage, when the crew is in need of a leader to coordinate its efforts. When off-duty, such as when in port, “captains” are just another common pirate and can be easily usurped or outright murdered by their crew if they prove too incompetent.

However, there are times when certain pirate captains and their crew gain the respect of other pirate ships which leads to them forming a criminal organization of their own. If said pirate ships and their crews work together for long enough and adapt each other’s customs, lingo and insignia, they become what is called a “pirate fleet”. Pirate Fleets are rare at best mostly because of the unruly behavior of pirates in general. When pirate fleets form, function and coordinate over vast distances, they become a truly formidable foe for authorities like the Confederal Constabulary and or the Confederal Navy.

HISTORY

The first pirate fleet in the history of the Known World is the “Pearl Bandits” of Kithiya, during the early 1200s. Led by the fearsome Captain Ho (ancestor of current Emperor Pu of the Xenjese Commonwealth), the Pearl Bandits raided ships coming and going from Kithiya, Zeppon, Keril to as far as the Firelands. While they never reached as far as Delmaron or Halreich, they made trade with those island-countries extremely difficult. As a matter of fact, they made commerce very hard for everyone as there were many goods at the time that could only be found in Kithiya. It was only when the navy of Cauldmer joined forces with the navies of Zeppon and Ubastis did they manage to sink many of the Pearl Bandits’ pirate ships leading to the capture and eventual exile of Captain Ho.

One of the oldest pirate fleets in existence that is still in operation today is, of course, the Grim Sail pirates led by the infamous Admiral Donato Sebastian. Formed during the late 1400s, the Grim Sails have been a threat throughout the Known World and is an especially hated enemy of the Xenjese Commonwealth and the Zorali Magocracy. While the Storm Talon, the flagship of Admiral Sebastian himself, has rarely attacked ships of the Confederate Islands, the same cannot be said of the other members of the Grim Sails. The Grim Sails mostly operate around Pyril but Admiral Sebastian and the Storm Talon has occasionally been sighted to sail across the frozen rivers of Waldoria and even near the beaches of Surdalia. No single pirate fleet has put as much fear into the hearts of men as the Grim Sails as they have been well-known to use sorcery and have the largest number of wizards among their ranks.

The most recent pirate fleet to terrorize Thessonia would be the Yellow Brotherhood. A purely Pyrilian pirate fleet led by Fong Go the lemming, the Yellow Brotherhood hunted ships for slaves and booty both in the Expanse and have traveled as far as Elmarina, Ulrondo and Dorul. Of all the pirate fleets to sail the seas of the Known World, the Yellow Brotherhood was probably the largest, having well over a thousand pirate ships under its command. Unlike most pirate fleets that banded together for mutual benefit or respect, the Yellow Brotherhood had a religious aspect as well, being avid worshipers of the Maw of the Void, one of the first faiths of Pyril. It was because of their beliefs that they often sacrificed many of their captives to the pantheon of the Maw. The Yellow Brotherhood proved to be such a terrible danger to seafarers and maritime trade that the Confederal Military formed a temporary alliance with other pirate fleets like the Scarlet Tide, Steel Sharks and even the Grim Sails to stop the former. After a few months of grueling naval warfare, the Yellow Brotherhood was defeated and Fong Go was slain on May 13, 1723. Its remnants today can be found in three smaller pirate fleets, the Sea Fiends (which is led by Fong’s son Tong), the Crimson Cutlass and the Cobalt Scourge.

Another pirate fleet of considerable infamy is the Hordes of Oblivion despite having little to no confirmation of its actual existence. They are at best a legend of sorts among superstitious sailors although witnesses have cropped up every now and again who speak of great black sails woven from skin and hulls of bone. It is said that the Hordes of Oblivion is also dedicated to the Maw of the Void much like the Yellow Brotherhood but take their devotion to an even higher and more depraved level. As said, there is little evidence of their existence and most of the alleged witnesses who have seen them are stark raving madmen, but many seamen insist that they prowl Thessonia at night.

ORGANIZATION

As already mentioned, pirates are a chaotic sort and there are many pirate crewmen who can barely tolerate one another. But again, some pirates are really just that charismatic and can exert his influence outside his own ship. Different pirate fleets operate differently from one another. The Grim Sails, for instance, only unite when called upon by Admiral Sebastian himself and usually treat one another as rivals. Then there is the Scarlet Tide pirate fleet that operates across the Thessonia and often have various schemes in motion to maximize their profits.

“ADMIRALS”

The title of “admiral” among pirates is at best an informal one. Unlike in actual naval terms where the admiral has absolute control over his fleet, a pirate admiral is simply the leader of multiple pirate ships. Again, it may differ from one pirate fleet to another but a pirate ship is always free to act of its own accord and or outright leave their pirate fleet if the captain sees it fit. They cannot, however, expect to be on friendly terms with the pirate fleet they so recently abandoned.

+Known Admirals of Pirate Fleets+

=Donato Sebastian

Pirate Fleet: Grim Sails

Flagship: Storm Talon

Often Sighted: Everywhere

=The Red Lady

Pirate Fleet: Scarlet Tide

Flagship: Blood Serpent

Often Sighted: Pyril

=Uriel Vance

Pirate Fleet: Steel Sharks

Flagship: Mako

Often Sighted: Delmaron, Cauldmer, Halreich and Zebaston

=Tong Go

Pirate Fleet: Sea Fiends

Flagship: Typhoon

Often Sighted: Pyril

=Cedric Failon

Pirate Fleet: Crimson Cutlass

Flagship: Silverfish

Often Sighted: Pyril

=Aku Sakim

Pirate Fleet: Cobalt Scourge

Flagship: Hand of Jade

Often Sighted: Pyril

=The Grim Gentleman

Pirate Fleet: Hordes of Oblivion

Flagship: Jaws of Death

Often Sighted: Everywhere