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It Belongs to a Museum

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Artemis1992 said:
Small lore-question, can a regular intelligent Undead, like a Wights learn Necromancy, or any magic at all, post-mortem?

Because it seems like most undead Necromancers are people who died/became immortal as Necromancers, or Vampires with a natural affinity for the discipline.
Actual undead who later learned the trade are not known to me.
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It's possible, but seemingly rare. Outside of Vampires, it seems like you need to still have a life to cling to to be really passionate about defying death.
 
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Year 0, Part 4 New
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    • [*] Skeletons

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    Over the coming months, as you see to the renovations of Lutr's former castle and its docks and get to know Awakening and its inhabitants, crates of skeletons begin to arrive from the Citadel of Dusk. You'd thought transportation would be tricky to figure out, but it turns out that Lustria's geography means that the only way to reach Ulthuan or the Old World from the Citadel of Dusk while avoiding the Vampire Coast is three thousand miles of open ocean until one reaches the southern coast of Araby. Carrying a few crates or barrels for Awakening is a price many traders will gladly pay for being able to hug the eastern coastline of Lustria without having to worry about pirates. Payment to Aelsabrim's company flows south by the same avenue - it is possible you could have drawn on her gratitude alone to get the skeletons, but gold is easier to acquire and thus better to spend than influence over royalty.

    Part of the renovations of Fire Serpent Island's docks is the building of a specialized mooring close to shore that is to be the permanent home of the Niflhundr, as was the name of the Norscan longship before it came under Lutr's command, as well as watching the skilled shipwights at work as they carefully remove and replace individual planks that had been a part of the Dread Abyssal for sixteen centuries. The new ship being built - or old ship being rebuilt - differs a great deal from the current form, lacking the broadside, the triple Hellcannon chase guns in the bow and stern, the manor on the stern, the sarcophagi dangling from the rigging, and the jagged keel of rusted iron built to allow the ship to not just ram into but to carve all the way through a larger ship. But it does not lose its presence, retaining the aura of the ship that was once the sole vessel operating out of the Vampire Coast, that Haakon the Bloody captained and used to capture ships and treasure to build his dream, that the first Vampires of the Depth Guard experienced the Red Ascension aboard. Even the original oars are reinstalled, dug up from some dusty corner of Lutr's castle, discarded after the growing mass of his ship, his greater grasp of sea magics, and his alliance with the Shark God made mere muscle power redundant.

    You also turn your attention to who you will take on as part of the 'at-home' team for your museum, some sort of expert that will add their knowledge and capabilities to your own. This will be the final demonstration of the Vampire King's largesse to be paid upfront, and any further expansions of your museum will require that you either demonstrate yourself as a worthy beneficiary to him, or that you cultivate alternative patrons.



    The one option with the most votes will join the museum. Their primary role will be to 'refine' the exhibits - for example, taking a pile of 'large lizard skeletons' and turning them into 'Stegadon' and 'Bastiladon' and the like. The more knowledge they have, the better the result. Ones with Rare Capabilities might allow you to create entirely new kinds of exhibits, or give you new options for exhibiting the ones you have.



    [ ] Black Lion
    The Elven man calling himself the 'Black Lion of Chrace' wears the pelt of his namesake and little else. If pressed, the closest he'll give to an actual name is Drathrá, which you suspect is just Eltharin for 'Black Lion'. His desire to join the legendary bodyguards of the Phoenix King was already on shaky ground due to his lack of refinement, and when the traditional hunt for a Chracian Lion had the prey he had spent weeks tracking and nearly died defeating ruled invalid for it being melanistic, that was the end of his ambitions. He turned his back on Ulthuan and has been drifting around its colonies ever since, hunting the beasts of Lustria, Khuresh, the Southlands, and the Dragon Isles for anyone willing to pay him to do so. His current employer is Aelsabrim's company, and though he's not likely to feel at home in the Citadel of Dusk for long, he might find himself fitting in better in a place where his lack of refinement is irrelevant and his savagery would be deeply respected.
    Knowledges: Beasts (Authority - Jungle), Weaponry (Detailed)
    Rare Capabilities: Animal Wrangler

    [ ] Barrow King
    The northern continents are dotted with the remains of an empire seemingly almost as ancient, as powerful, and as widespread as that of Nehekhara: the Scythians. And just as Nehekhara did, they interred their Kings in magically-protected tombs to wait for something better, and just as the Nehekharans did, what they actually got was the encroachment of Necromancy. After a century of being raised by Necromancers, sent against their enemies, struck down, reforming, regathering his followers, settling back down in the barrow, and being raised again, Bracht the Eternal had enough. He copied what he had seen far too many times before, broke the slumber of his followers, and led them away from the direction that the Necromancers usually came from. When they reached the coast, they followed it until they reached a fishing village, demanded the terrified and confused locals teach them how to use one of their boats, and then they set out to sea. They encountered many ships during their wandering voyage, most of which took one look at a small fishing boat filled with skeletons and gave it a wide berth, but eventually they were stumbled across by a captain of the Vampire Coast, who took them in tow to a place where there were enough willing dead that nobody was going to bother to try to enslave the extremely armed and angry ones. But Bracht and his entourage don't rest as easily as they once did, and every now and then they take their fishing boat out for a day. Homebody Necromancers are scarce in Awakening, and being able to recruit this one and his entourage for nothing more than a secluded basement they can call their own is a rare opportunity.
    Knowledges: Weaponry (Detailed), Land Warfare (Detailed), Scythians (Detailed)
    Rare Capabilities: Necromancy

    [ ] Priest of the Shark God
    Once, Stromfels was treated as an aspect of Manann and given proper respect and propitiation by all the seagoers of the Old World. Then came the heresy of the Sea Elves, enforced at the tip of a treaty, that declared Him a false aspect, a lesser God, a parasite, a mere child of Ellinill. His worship was banned and the Pirate Wars began, pushing public worship of Stromfels off the mainland entirely. Most of that diaspora went to Sartosa, where He is still worshipped openly, but some ended up in Awakening, where the shrines to Stromfels are modest but ancient, where Stromfels is not quite venerated but is deeply respected. Stefanie van Walvisstraat is the third generation of a lineage of Anointed Priests of Stromfels to call Awakening home, who show their dedication by tending to and learning from the most savage of ocean beasts, and by acting as a mortuary priest of sorts by ensuring the bodies of the faithful end up in only the worthiest of gullets. She has a habit of swimming with her charges that has cost her a limb on a number of occasions, and nobody's keen to ask how she manages to keep getting them back.
    Knowledges: Sea Creatures (Minutiae), Stromfels (Minutiae), Manann (Detailed)
    Rare Capabilities: Anointed (Stromfels)

    [ ] Heretic Gunsmith
    In the north, blackpowder is considered almost as sacred as the hammer they worship. Refining it into more powerful and reliable forms is pursued by alchemists, academics, and Wizards alike, and the many twisting paths that its pursuit takes one down has some very dark passages leading to some very dangerous places. Of these, the most dangerous adulterant one could investigate is Abn-i-khat, Nagash's favoured catalyst, known in the north as Wyrdstone. It's not the effects that makes it dangerous - it's apparently shockingly reliable in this capacity - but the attention it draws, as it's only a matter of time until one's dabblings with the forbidden substance draws the attention of one of several groups, of which Witch Hunters are somehow the least terrible. Herman Kaltenhof fled the Empire with his tools and his reagents, and the ship he fled upon being set upon by pirates was the best thing that could have happened to him. Ever since he has been one of the most sought-after artisans in Awakening, even managing to add some refinements to the signature blackpowder recipe of the Vampire Coast.
    Knowledge: Weaponry (Authority - Firearms), Chemistry (Detailed), Warpstone (Detailed)

    [ ] Vampire Skald
    Of the Niflhundr's original crew, the most prominent is its former captain Jhannes, now the ghoul Black Jens and the one who acts as Regent when Lutr is away or not currently able to contribute. But Fjolnir, then a mere oarsman with vague ambitions of being a skald, has also lingered over the years, in no small part because he was one of the initial recipients of the Blood Kiss before Haakon had properly established the initiation rites of the Depth Guard. He likes to sail and he likes to fight, but what he likes most of all is all eyes on him as he tells the tales of sailing and fighting, whether his own or of others. He can be very useful not just as someone who knows the Vampire Coast's history by heart, but as someone who has spent centuries refining his ability to tell their stories.
    Knowledges: Vampire Coast (Authority - Vampires, Navy, History), Lustria (Detailed), Norsca (Detailed)

    [ ] Stranded Valkyrie
    Among the colonies of the Isthmus of Lustria, stories circulate of encounters with strange women that live in the deep jungle and wield terrible powers. These stories inevitably grow in the retelling, all too often veering into lurid tales of ludicrously underdressed women seeking relations with outsider males, but the core details of these women - speculatively labelled 'Valkyries' by the Norscans and 'Amazons' by the northerners - are static enough to garner attention from academics. Said academics funded expeditions, as they do, and one of said expeditions encountered a sacrificial tomb of these reclusive people and decided they'd take the body inside home with them, as they do. The outraged spirit of the woman was not able to intervene herself, but once out at sea it did draw the attention of one of the Vampire Coast's ships. The body ended up in Awakening instead, its spirit cajoled the locals into animating her body, and she set out to return to her tomb. But the overland journey led to so many adventures that she enjoyed so much that when she got back to her tomb, she just repaired the damage that the explorers had caused, left a note for any of her own people that might investigate, and went back to exploring. Nowadays the Wight that calls herself Ixi, adorned in feathers and the fangs of Lizardmen, is a regular visitor to Awakening, and while she is not willing to speak much of her peoples (except of her mixed feelings about the alleged necessity of the sacrifice of her life and her skin) she is happy to speak of other secrets she has learned about Lustria and of her many encounters with the Lizardmen.
    Lustria (Authority - Isthmus), Lizardmen (Surface), Old Ones (Surface)



    - Origins of the Researcher options were rolled for here.
    - Knowledges can overlap. If you've got the skeleton of a Lustrian beastie, then Knowledge about Beasts and Lustria would both be relevant to it.
    - The 'Authority' level of knowledge includes Minutiae for the entire subject.
    - You may or may not be able to recruit these individuals in the future if you don't pick them up now. Some are more likely to still be hanging around in the future than others. If you really want someone, vote to get them now.
    - Picture of Luthor Harkon's flagship, the Dread Abyssal:
     
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    • Boney said:
    The one option with the most votes will join the museum. Their primary role will be to 'refine' the exhibits - for example, taking a pile of 'large lizard skeletons' and turning them into 'Stegadon' and 'Bastiladon' and the like. The more knowledge they have, the better the result. Ones with Rare Capabilities might allow you to create entirely new kinds of exhibits, or give you new options for exhibiting the ones you have.
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    Seems familiar somehow...

     
    [X] Barrow King
    [X] Stranded Valkyrie

    "Just stop waking me up" and "Being dead is boring" both sound like fun vibes. Would have voted for the Vamp if there'd been a connection to Best Niece, but alas.
     
    Boney said:
    [ ] Black Lion
    The Elven man calling himself the 'Black Lion of Chrace' wears the pelt of his namesake and little else. If pressed, the closest he'll give to an actual name is Drathrá, which you suspect is just Eltharin for 'Black Lion'. His desire to join the legendary bodyguards of the Phoenix King was already on shaky ground due to his lack of refinement, and when the traditional hunt for a Chracian Lion had the prey he had spent weeks tracking and nearly died defeating ruled invalid for it being melanistic, that was the end of his ambitions. He turned his back on Ulthuan and has been drifting around its colonies ever since, hunting the beasts of Lustria, Khuresh, the Southlands, and the Dragon Isles for anyone willing to pay him to do so. His current employer is Aelsabrim's company, and though he's not likely to feel at home in the Citadel of Dusk for home for long, he might find himself fitting in better in a place where his lack of refinement is irrelevant and his savagery would be deeply respected.
    Knowledges: Beasts (Authority - Tropical), Weaponry (Detailed)
    Rare Capabilities: Animal Wrangler
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    We voted to have skeletons, and this is the skeleton manufacturing expert.

    Along with our knowledge on Death, we could do some neat exhibits.

    [X] Black Lion
     
    [X] Black Lion

    He is only one who isn't Awakening inhabitant, which means that it would be (arguably) the hardest to attempt to recruit him again in the future
     
    [X] Black Lion
    Probably the most immediately useful in setting up and displaying the skeletons we've acquired thus far.

    [X] Barrow King
    He's so adorably grumpy! And I wonder if necromancy can be used to make skeletal exhibits hold together. And defend the museum if anybody should come a'knocking after hours...
     
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