There have been a few reference images in the thread.
It Belongs to a Museum
- Thread starter Boney
- Start date
- Fantasy
There have been a few reference images in the thread.
- Location
- Greece
Sadboi and uncle are my favorites, for the opposite reasons (one feels like it would be an interesting story because of an interesting inner conflict, the other feels like it would be a fun story because of utter chaos).
The other concepts are pretty good too, but I feel like these two just lead to the most interesting plot beats.
Dunno if I should be glad one of them seems to be the most popular or sad because the other seems to not be popular at all. Probably neither, actual popularity cannot be gauged before a vote starts.
Right, which is still a really hilarious proximity to the source of a lot of evil in the setting, and being personally responsible for a least like more than a quarter of it.
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I'm incapable of not stanning Morathi, girl takes nothing but W's. She scammed chaos? Multiple times? And got out fine? Hell yeah
He'd be Dead long before now, like, proper dead dead, because not being that good at magic ends up with the gods lighting you on fire when you flub a spell, which is bad for someone as flammable as a Nehekarin
Khatep, to his students:
Now, you need one last thing to ensure the resurrection achieves true immortal life. Thankfully, I have contracted this brilliant, reliable, liche priest to act as our copper supplier, so it should all work out.
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Liche Priests and Tomb Kings are actually not the same category of creature, technically. Tomb Kings are truly undead, corpses raised by magic, while Liche Priests are technically alive, just 'immortal without eternal youth and sustained by magic' kinda alive. And yes, they look like unrwapped mummies. I think some wear masks and that at least Liche Priest eyes do not generally glow.
By default, they do not regenerate, at least not quickly, but they do via the use of magic (and Liche Priests with Lore of Nehekara can definitely do some solid regeneration). Actual Tomb Kings spend prolonged periods 'sleeping' but don't need to, it's a 'pass the time' thing, and don't need to eat. Liche Priests I think probably need to both eat and sleep? since they are in fact alive? But I'm actually not sure.
The creation of the Tomb Kings was weird, but they can probably make more, and they could definitely make more Liche Priests, but are disinclined to do so as a rule.
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That was basically their deal for 1200 years. The thing about consequences catching up to you is that it's especially bad when they're in the form of Settra.
Tomb Kings exist on a scale of "dessicated pale corpse" to "just a skeleton". It depends on how well preserved their body was, and how much of it survived until they were woken by Nagash's ritual.
We're specifically playing as a Liche Priest, who never died, but instead applied the corpse preservation techniques to themselves, giving them a form of immortality.
The bottom image in the spoiler is a very old model of a Liche Priest.
Between the army books, the miniatures, and Total War, there are a lot of reference images out there.
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Beyond anything we decide for our origins the first step i think should be a serious(as possible) discussion with Luthor about what he wants us to start with for his ego wing of the museum.
And i mean it very seriously we are working for a legitimately insane vampirate warlord with ages more actual battle experience we should steep as carefully as our nor-corpse allows.
As for first treasure ideas maybe we could search for something personal of his like his first pirate ship(likely sunk but where) or something like that hitting all points of interest before we inevitably get sidetracked.
And i mean it very seriously we are working for a legitimately insane vampirate warlord with ages more actual battle experience we should steep as carefully as our nor-corpse allows.
As for first treasure ideas maybe we could search for something personal of his like his first pirate ship(likely sunk but where) or something like that hitting all points of interest before we inevitably get sidetracked.
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I think there will be a vote for the initial exhibits in our museum. I suspect it'll be a mix of Harkon's personal trophies, some Lizardman gold of unknown origin, and some mementos of Harkon's favourite pirate captains.
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I was talking more proving ourselves useful and worth tolerating when we start derailing rather then the initial museum design.
I refer you back to the idea of a Stan Pines (or potentially PT Barnum) based liche priest.
Lurking_Badger
Cheese Enjoyer
- Location
- Wisconsin
You know what? I think the liche priests could have kept their end of the deal, if they explored a bit more into different types of magic. Chamon literally allows for a wizard to turn/replace parts of their body with an improved version made of gold.
If one of the Golden Wizards walks into the museum with a golden arm, our guy is going to facepalm really hard after asking about it.
If one of the Golden Wizards walks into the museum with a golden arm, our guy is going to facepalm really hard after asking about it.
- Location
- USA
That reminds me what origin are we using for Harkon? Think I recall one of his backstory was that he was Nehekharans?
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- He/Him
The pitch was for universal immortality...gold isn't common enough for that. They might regret not giving it a try on a king or three, but it's not viable for their actual pitch.
Reference to him as Lutr the Harbormaster implies he was a harbor guard for Nehekara, yeah. Though, that said, that version has him as a hill tribesman rather than a Nehekaran proper.
Lurking_Badger
Cheese Enjoyer
- Location
- Wisconsin
I might not be common enough in our world, but there is a ton of the stuff in Warhammer. In fact, it is mentioned that the undead armies of Nehekhara are usually completely covered in gold jewelry and gold-decorated equipment. They could probably make thousands of golden bodies with the stuff they have which would be enough for the royalty.
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- Location
- Arizona
Honestly I feel like that kind of character would have fit way better with a Skaven Revenant character than the Liche Priest. A Skaven would absolutely try to get away with as much of that bullshit as they possibly could without getting got for it.
Mopman43
Mountain-Hermit of Nitpeak
- Location
- Vermont
Depends on which Luthor you ask.
Would someone like a history professor work maybe? Some priest who was part of teaching the new inductees of the Cult, and got tired/bored enough to strike out on their own after so many centuries because everyone becoming an undead skeleton put a damper on the whole "new students to teach" thing.
Or would that be too much overlap with the funny uncle reading the forbidden bedtime lore?
There's a few options that cover different aspects of that.
Character Creation, Part 4
After Settra was safely sealed away in his Pyramid, the Mortuary Cult did not completely discontinue their research into extending mortal life in favour of their new given task of creating an entirely new body for their founder. They continued this research and applied its fruits to themselves, extending their lifespans bit by bit. Seven kings and five generations of Priests later, at the dawn of the Second Dynasty, the first Liche Priest was created, a being that the march of time could find no purchase on. Every organ was embalmed, every natural process ensorcelled, every drop of bodily fluid replaced with carefully-prepared potions. These processes never quite managed to capture the bloom of youth, but if performed properly, they could keep someone shy of decrepitude indefinitely. In this way the Liche Priests became permanent observers of Nehekhara's history, preserving knowledge, recording history, and keeping the tombs maintained while those doomed to a mundane lifespan lived and died and lived and died, over and over. Even before the Great Ritual, the average Liche Priest - if such a thing could be said to exist - must have become quite detached from the people they supposedly served.
But what is the story of your disillusionment with Nehekhara, the source of your willingness to seek a new purpose elsewhere?
[ ] Student of Immortality
1st Dynasty (ca. -2230), brother of High King Wakhaf of Khemri
You were there to see Grand Hierophant Khatep apply the earliest form of the magics and unguents that granted him eternal life. You learned from him in the days when the Grand Hierophant still taught the relatively unlearned, before generations of immortal experts had accumulated and made doing so seem pointless to him. You watched him gather influence for the Cult during the 1st and 2nd Dynasties, preserve what he could during the 3rd and 4th, and then rebuild during the 5th and 6th. You were... not quite at his side, but nearby, when he made the fateful decision to unseal the Great Pyramid and unleash Settra on the world once more. You heard Settra's rage at his awakening falling far short of what he was promised, and Khatep being banished from the cities of Nehekhara until he could fulfill that original goal.
You did your part to maintain this new Nehekhara, rebuilding a civilization of farms and markets into one of boneyards and ossuaries, marking the years until Khatep's inevitable return. And then the decades, and then the centuries, and then the millennia. Tales and legends trickled in, some from within Nehekhara and some from far abroad, and every now and then scrolls and relics arrive to be added to the archives of the Mortuary Cult. But Khatep has not returned. A better form of immortality has not been discovered. You might be one of the world's greatest experts on preventing ageing, but you know as little as a newborn child about how to reverse even a second of it.
You are an old man. You have been an old man for almost five thousand years. The desire to be more than this has always been there, its growth never more than glacial, but enough years have passed to turn the flicker of a ghost of a candle into a raging bonfire within you. If Khatep cannot keep his promise to Settra, cannot unlock something better for you, then there must be somewhere he's not looking, some avenue he cannot pursue. And you suspect you know what that might be.
Perhaps you'll bring the secret back for Settra. Perhaps you'll bring it back for Khatep. Perhaps you want it only for yourself. But it is out there, and you will find it.
Motivation: Learning about various forms of foreign magic to further the Mortuary Cult's original goal of perfect immortality.
Knowledge: Nehekharan History (Minutiae), Preservation (Minutiae)
[ ] History-Maker of Nagash
2nd Dynasty, (ca. -2050), son of High King Rakaph III of Khemri
The life of Rakaph III was long and mostly occupied by his longstanding rivalry with King Rahmohtep of Numas. By the time he fell in battle, he had outlived his first wife and most of his mortal sons, leaving succession to a choice between four impossibilities: his firstborn son, a Liche Priest; his youngest son, an infant; his wife, a woman; and allowing power to pass to King Ramohtep. Queen Rasut would rule for two years in her son's name, but succumbed to political pressure from the Cults to pass regency to her Vizier, Khetep.
The child died almost immediately after Queen Rasut relinquished the throne. All hail High King Khetep, founder of the 3rd Dynasty.
High King Khetep died in battle against Zandri when his Ushabti failed to protect him. To prevent reprisals, Zandri returned the prisoners they had taken in that battle and gifted the High King's firstborn son, Nagash, with three shipwrecked Druchii slaves to help tend the dead king's spirit.
King Rahmohtep was poisoned. His throne was taken by twins, King Seheb and Neneb, who would go on to become Nagash's staunchest allies.
The court of High King Thutep, Khetep's son and successor, was almost wiped out by an outbreak of plague. Those that remained were almost all part of Nagash's cabal.
When Thutep finally confronted his brother, the Ushabti that were supposed to protect him failed to do so, as they had failed his father.
Throughout Nagash's Reign of Terror, for all of his suppressions of the Mortuary Cult and the killing of all those who might threaten his rule, there was one Liche Priest that was never threatened, one that remained nearby throughout the entirety of his reign. One that simply watched with a distant smile as the legacy of the 3rd Dynasty was tainted in a way that would cause the soul of Khetep to burn a little dimmer every time the details were faithfully recited to it.
There are many people in the world who wish to spread the tale of Nagash, but there is only one whose motivations predate the birth of the Great Necromancer himself.
Motivation: Wants to spread the history of Nagash, and all the horrors he directly and indirectly caused, to further taint the legacy of the 3rd Dynasty to avenge the 2nd.
Knowledge: War Statuary (Detailed), Preservation (Detailed), Poisons (Surface), Necromancy (Surface)
[ ] Survivor of Bhagar
3rd Dynasty (ca. -1950), brother of King Ramssus of Bhagar
Bhagar was one of the first cities to stand against the tyranny of Nagash, and as punishment it was sacked by Arkhan the Black. Your brother and nephews were not just killed by his forces, but raised from the dead and added to Arkhan's legions of labourers used to build the Black Tower of Arkhan. Though you spent the centuries of the Reign of Terror stealing the zombie labourers from around the Tower to put them to what rest they could find inside the ruined necropoli of Bhagar, the desert sun rendered all of them indistinguishable and you were never able to know if any of those you recovered were your kin.
When the rest of Nehekhara finally rebelled against Nagash, you were one of the Liche Priests that led Ushabti to war for the first time. Your knife was one of those that carved apart Nagash's supposedly immortal generals after they had been dragged out of the Black Pyramids. But Nagash escaped to his mountain fortress in the north, and the rulers of the subsequent dynasties refused your various entreaties to finish the job in favour of dealing with the famines, civil wars, invasions, Blood Cult, and Vampires that all arose in Nagash's wake. Even King Alcadizaar would do no more than repulse Nagash's forces when they attempted to conquer Nehekhara for a second time. When the consequence of their shortsightedness came to fruition with Nagash's Great Ritual, you found it hard to feel anything but grim vindication at the extinction of a people who had refused your call to justice for so long.
For a brief, shining moment, you had hope that Settra, founder of your order and the first High King of Nehekhara, would finally do what all those who had followed him had failed to do. But even that withered, and centuries passed with you worming your way back into the inner circle of the King of Kings, only to be ejected again as he grew weary of your insistence that he intervene in Nagash's interferences with distant lands. Nagashizzar still stands, and Settra does nothing. Mourkhain rose and fell, and Settra did nothing. The northern barbarians repulsed Nagash, and Settra did nothing. When you heard of an Orc wearing Nagash's crown and wielding his lore, you took this final absurdity as the confirmation of what you had suspected for so long: that the dead of Nehekhara are as unable to properly avenge Bhagar as the living were.
But who did that leave? The living had failed you, the dead had failed you, the Vampires had served Nagash, so who? Well, there was one Vampire who seemingly had not, one that had disappeared from history after the fall of Lahmia instead of slinking away north to beg for scraps at Nagash's table, the Captain of Lahmia's Harbour Guard, Lutr of the Harkoni. And there is a Vampire of a very similar name that had emerged from seemingly nowhere some centuries back and has built a realm of some power in the west. Perhaps there some seed of vengeance can finally take root, no matter how long it might take to grow.
Motivation: Wants to help cultivate any power that might challenge Nagash, no matter how unsavoury.
Knowledge: Necromancy (Detailed), War Statuary (Detailed), Courtiership (Surface), Animal Handling (Surface)
[ ] Imprudent Tutor
3rd Dynasty (ca. -1650), brother of King Lamasheptra of Lahmia
Of course you knew. Everyone knew. Your niece sat on Lahmia's throne for century after century and everybody else did just as much nothing about it as you did. You served the other, more mortal nobility of Lahmia as best you could and ignored all of the 'Blood Cult' rumours just as much as the Kings of the 4th Dynasty did. But then some of your fellows started gathering evidence, and then Neferatem did a little bit of forbidden magic to make them fully dead, and then the rest of your fellows panicked and sent the Ushabti after her, and then she destroyed those too, and look, someone had to stick around to keep the fires burning. Should you have left the souls of a thousand years of Lahmian royalty to wither away?
Okay, maybe you did teach her a little bit of the Death Magic side of things, but early on she was too charming to say no to, and later she was too scary to say no to. And besides, she was a firstborn child, wasn't she? That knowledge would have been her birthright if fate had leaned in a slightly different direction. Maybe if you weren't the only one to bend on that, she wouldn't have had to go to the lengths she did for the knowledge she craved. If you really think about it, you were the only one pulling her in the direction of righteousness while everyone else was doing their best to shove her into Nagash's arms.
...that's typically about as far as you'd get before you'd be cast out of whatever city you happened to be in, forced to walk on to the next one. The magics that sustain you might make you able to function without food or water or sleep, but they do nothing for the tedium. Eventually you stopped letting others blame you for their failures and moved to live among the living, wandering up and down the coast of Araby, appearing to most as nothing more than a spry old man. And, yes, the Har-Ak-Iman collaboration might not have been your finest hour, but Abdul ben Raschid's work is one of the most accessible sources of Nehekharan history to outside eyes, and Abdul Alhazred is harmless, really. That Bahr fellow was more bark than bite, and Jasmina's theories were perfectly sound, and, look, didn't the whole Jaffar affair work out for the best in the end?
Okay, maybe that is a bit of an accumulated track record. Maybe it is time to seek greener pastures. And while the trip to Neferatem's current abode seems a bit treacherous for a lone traveller, getting a ship across the sea from El-Kalabad to see what young Lutr is up to seems a lot more reasonable.
Motivation: A simple joy for sharing knowledge.
Knowledge: Vampires (Minutiae), Magic - Death (Detailed), Araby (Detailed)
[ ] Hunter of the Cult of Blood
4th Dynasty (ca. -1520), brother of King Anhur of Lybaras
Born to minor nobility, Khalida was raised in the court of Lahmia after the death of her parents. Her boldness, vivacity, and sheer joy for life made her a favourite of many, including her aunt Neferata, and her unique charm would later see her become the Queen of Lybaras, earning a further reputation as an intelligent and just co-ruler. She was one of the very first to suspect the foulness that was brewing in neighbouring Lahmia, and confronted her aunt at a banquet, challenging her to ritual combat. Tragically, the skills of the merely mortal Khalida could not measure up to the raw strength and speed of the Vampiress. As Khalida lay dying with Vampiric blood being poured into her mouth, Khalida called to the Gods for salvation.
Replacing the tainted blood in her veins with snake venom might not have been what Khalida had in mind.
You did what you could to preserve the corpse of your brother's wife - snake venom is not known for its preservative qualities - and then began to do what you could in the name of vengeance, three centuries before the rest of Nehekhara would awaken to the threat of Lahmia and the Cult of Blood. You scoured your way across Nehekhara again and again and again, rooting out the horrors produced by the Vampiric coterie that would eventually doom Nehekhara, but you could never scratch the core of corruption that was growing deeper and darker by the year. History unfolded as it did, and the living of Nehekhara were doomed when Alcadizzar allowed Neferata and her coterie to slip away to Nagash's side. The living died, the dead rose, and all were reunited.
All, that is, but King Anhur and Queen Khalida.
She sits in her reliquary in the Temple of Asaph, still and lifeless, rendered as immune to Nagash's sorcery as she had been to the blood of the Vampire. She rises only at the call of the Gods to lead Lybaras' undying legions into battle, and upon her inevitable victory she returns to her immobility as though she had never risen at all. Every part of the Khalida that your brother had married was burned away by snake venom, leaving only a tool of the Gods, left to gather dust until needed and then discarded again immediately afterwards.
Maybe it would have been a kinder fate if Neferata had succeeded and granted Khalida a gentler form of immortality. Maybe the jealousy of the Gods is what actually stole your sister-in-law away.
Motivation: Wants to learn more about the Gods, Necromancy, and Vampirism, in the hopes of eventually rescuing Khalida.
Knowledge: Magic - Light (Minutiae), Vampires (Detailed), Cults (Surface), Daemons (Surface)
[ ] Legionary of Setep
5th Dynasty (ca. -1400), son of High King Setep of Khemri
General Setep of Bhagar won his reputation in pushing the borders of Nehekhara further north than had ever been explored, and when he took advantage of the chaos and unrest caused by the spread of the Blood Cult to seize power and name himself High King, he did not forget the northern reaches of what was now his realm. As his firstborn son, you led the Liche Priests managing the War Statuary attached to his legions, working alongside Setep's foremost general, Vashanesh, who commanded the then-living portion of the forces. It was a good partnership, even after it turned out that he'd actually been an escaped scion of the previous dynasty.
As fate would have it, you turned out to be the only child of High King Setep, so your father decided to adopt one of his generals. You'd argued for Vashanesh, and history probably would have gone quite differently if your father had agreed instead of going with the future High King Alkhazzar I. History marched on, as it tends to do, and the 6th Dynasty proved itself to be a gradual degeneration of everything that had made Nehekhara great. Alcadizzar was a step back in the right direction, but it turned out to be too little, too late.
Settra's awakening gave you hope, for a time, that he would be cut from the same cloth as your father, but either the tales were exaggerated or undeath had changed him, as he rarely left the throne of Khemri and when it was it was generally to reassert the same disappointing status quo that was a pale shadow of the land your father had ruled. Various titles rotate in and out of those actively recited for Settra at any given time, and every time one that mentions the accomplishments of your father in his prime came back to the fore, it was another dagger in your heart.
Eventually you left, following the same paths that you had once walked with an army at your back, and saw what had become of the places that Nehekhara once ruled. It came as a pleasant surprise to see what Vashanesh had made of himself, but his second chance at being High King didn't work out. You found a receptive audience for tales of Nehekhara's greatness among the locals Vashanesh had tried to rule, but those seemed to stoke a covetousness in their primitive hearts, and you slipped out of the Empire as an army of a sort you had once been a part of once more marched in those lands.
It might be time for a different audience. One that might prove just as covetous, but might be a bit more able to withstand the consequences.
Motivation: To spread the glory of Nehekhara at its height, and tales of great leaders that actually go out there and do some leading, unlike some.
Knowledge: War Statuary (Detailed), War Machines (Detailed), Souls (Detailed), Land Warfare (Surface), Old World (Surface), Vampires (Surface)
[ ] The Last Firstborn
6th Dynasty (ca. -1180), brother of High King Alcadizzar of Khemri
The reign of Alcadizzar the Conqueror should have been a golden age. It should have been a restoration of the unimaginable glory that you had heard stories of, not an end of the greatness you had been born amongst. You had barely applied the last of the rituals and reagants to ensure your eternity when every soul in Nehekhara had it thrust upon them, and worst of all, your brother was nowhere to be found amongst them. The Gods who you'd barely glimpsed had been flensed into new, unrecognizable forms.
You were among the first to turn your back on the reign of Settra the Usurper, the Antique, the pale shadow of what your brother could have been. You walked the lands preaching of Nehekhara's lost greatness and fallen Gods to all that would listen. The strange tribesmen of the Sinking Marshes of Khernarch were receptive, as were the hill tribes of the northern side of the Strait of Stars. You walked the lands that the Crimson King of Numas had conquered in your brother's name, and though the stunted mountainfolk there were not receptive to your religious insights, they did seem to take in a lot of what you had to say about architecture. In the lands that the Vulture Lord of Zandri had conquered, the locals disregarded your advice about proper capstones for a monument and went with a bell instead, and in the end, you feel like they definitely should have taken your advice instead of that of the other guy.
You found your greatest audience when you crossed north into the lands of Setep, where hill tribes from the east were trying to form themselves into something greater. They didn't quite grasp all the subtleties of Ptra, who they came to call Söll, and perhaps your later intervention was something of an overcorrection when it led to the whole 'Solkan' business. Later, more learned of these peoples seemed to better able to grasp your teachings, and eventually you had managed to cause a flourishing of a Mystery Cult dedicated to the Gods and philosophies of lost Nehekhara. Ironically, that would prove to be your downfall - a great deal of those that had learned your lessons entered the service of the Elf that decided to teach them all magic, and you were barely able to stick around long enough to make sure they built their new institution properly before they learned enough to start asking questions about your true nature.
In the time since, you have spent some time observing the tos and fros of faith, and there is one very strange dissonant note in the air: the strange tale of Stromfels, who was all but exterminated upon the orders of the Elves, but has been resurrected in the service of the undead of the far west. You don't know how such a thing might be possible, but you hope that studying it might reveal some insight that could allow for the same to be done for the Gods of your homeland.
Motivation: Wants to revive the proper worship of the Gods of Nehekhara, in the hopes of restoring a golden age that was only ever glimpsed.
Knowledge: Nehekharan Pantheon (Minutiae), Architecture (Detailed), Religion (Detailed), Old World (Surface)
- There is no moratorium.
- Knowledge levels go Surface, Detailed, Minutiae. Higher levels are harder to acquire. A level beyond Minutiae can be achieved for specific subsets within a category of knowledge.
- Canonicity: 6th and 8th Edition Army Books are primary canon, Night's Dark Masters and The Thousand Thrones are secondary, Liber Necris is treated as an in-universe source to be treated with suspicion, the Age of Legends books are hugely incompatible with a lot of things and at most might have ideas taken from them, End Times is fake, and always treat the wikis with suspicion.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Imprudent Tutor
[X] Imprudent Tutor