[center][h2]Empire of the Dead[/h2][/center]

[img]https://www.wallpaperup.com/uploads/wallpapers/2013/12/13/194515/637fb8dabc41eabae04cb7bc0806270c-700.jpg[/img]

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There are a great number of tales of undead hosts terrorizing the living. Literature is replete with these stories of necromancers and armies of zombies laying waste to civilization, carrying out horrifying atrocities against all living things. Inevitably, however, the forces of righteousness ultimately emerge victorious against the forces of death itself. But in this story, the valiant efforts of the living defenders ultimately prove futile.

This instead is the tale of Death triumphant.

Several decades have passed since the warlock Eagoth first raised his army of cadavers and waged war against the realms of Leria. Eagoth's undead legions took the continent by storm; his armies multiplying after every single battle. His undead warriors were unburdened by fear, hunger, or weariness and were motivated only by mindless subordination to the necromancer lord. For all their valor, the mortal armies of Leria were hopeless against the endless undead legions. A year after the start Eagoth's conquest, the numerous and mighty kings and lords of Leria were reduced to a handful of isolated holdouts trapped within the walls of their own castles, besieged by swarms of howling ghouls. Two years later Eagoth's conquest was absolute; every single Lerian - down to the last man, woman, and child - was a walking corpse. Leria had become an empire of the dead.

While Eagoth had proven himself a capable warlord, he found managing his vast undead dominion intolerably tedious. Eagoth granted to his most capable ghouls the capacity for free thought and introspection, that they could use their ability to think for themselves to take on the tasks of governing the various wards of Leria in the lich's stead. These Revenants Major served as governors and generals, ruling large portions of Leria in Eagoth's stead. The Revenants Major in turn appointed the cleverer ghouls as Revenants Minor, who served as deputies, leftenants, and taskmasters over the slavering, mindless ghouls. And it was the lot of the vast multitudes of mindless ghouls to toil unquestioningly to advance Eagoth's continuing war effort against the mortal kingdoms beyond Leria, who had now united in common defense against Eagoth's undead legions.

The combined armies and fleets of the living have managed to contain the undead to Leria's shores. Numerous invasion fleets have been sent out across the White Straits to establish an undead foothold on the lands of the living, but none have succeeded due to enduring naval superiority of mortal men. And though the living control the seas, they dare not attempt to field any foray onto Leria's shores lest their armies fall against the undead hordes and join their ranks in death. The resulting stalemate between the undead of Leria and the mortal men beyond has held for over twenty years now.

Over the course of such time, the undead dominion has had time to stabilize. A society of undeath, with its own strange polities and economies, has emerged. Eagoth, bored by the governance of his undead empire, delegates nearly all control to the Revenants Major. Not even death can prevent rivalry and intrigue. Infighting is strictly forbidden by the necromancer lord, but is not unheard of. Even open rebellion has a precedent, though the last uprising was stamped out ruthlessly many years ago and has not been attempted since.

Though the undead realm of Leria has ossified to a degree, this is a period of change and potential. The Revenants Major that carry out nearly all of the governance of Leria are beginning to realize the extent of Eagoth's apathy and have started to test the limits of their own authority. The undead legions are not the hivemind once previously thought and the monolithic undead realm begins to show signs of fracture.

In this story, you are a wight in any stratus of Eagoth's dominion. You may be a Revenant Major governing one of the wards of Leria or a legion of walking dead, perhaps you are a mere ghoul recently exhumed by the gravediggers with no power nor recollection of who you were in life. Or perhaps you find yourself somewhere in the middle.

That choice is yours to make, as is the path you lead in undeath.

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Empire of the Dead is a freeform, literate roleplay with some optional nation roleplaying elements. As with most Advanced Roleplays, the goal here is not to "win" but to engage in collaborative storytelling and worldbuilding. Creativity is the number one priority here. I have therefore only sketched out the backstory and the setting so as to offer plenty of blank space for players to fill in. For the same reason, the plot of this roleplay is not on rails. I may have a general idea for an overarching plot that I might nudge the players along, but if something else develops naturally, I am perfectly fine with that. Players may focus on a single character, or play through the point of view of multiple characters in the Nation Roleplay fashion.

Regular RPG rules apply, but beyond that anything goes - within reason.

If it isn't clear already, the setting is generally medieval middle-fantasy (if such a term exists). Roughly halfway between Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings in terms of how present fantasy themes are. Magic is present but fairly uncommon (save for the dead walking around). Standard fantasy races (orcs, dwarves, giants) may be present, but are not the focus. The level of technology is roughly that of Europe circa 1300 AD sans gunpowder. Wizards and destruction magic exist, but are either few enough or weak enough that castles and wall fortifications are still relevant.

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[center][h3]Application[/h3][/center]

Character sheets should be kept relatively brief and posted initially on the OOC thread. If I've given you the go ahead to proceed, please feel free to paste it onto the character tab and jump into the IC. You may add additional fields to the character sheet if you like, but remember that brevity is key for character sheets. Those who have posted their character sheets on the interest check may skip ahead and post directly to the character tab.

Name:
Rank: (Revenant major, minor, or ghoul?)
Description: (Missing a limb or eye? Well preserved, or a skeleton? Male, female, or is it even possible to tell anymore?)
Background: (Don’t feel obligated to spell out every last detail of your character’s background, as you can - and should - tease this out slowly over IC if possible. Just give us a quick rundown of who your character is, and who they were in life if they know. Most ghouls have little to no recollection of their former life.
Wards(If applicable): (For those characters that are higher-ranking wights. Briefly describe the region of Leria that they have charged with managing. Does it have a name? What is the industry here that supports Eagoth and his legions? Notable undead cities, ruins, etc?)

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[center][h3]Snippets on the Undead, the Living, Leria, and the wider world[/h3][/center]

[hider=On the Undead]
The undead are the deceased peoples of Leria that have been resurrected by the necromancy of Eagoth to serve in his legions of walking dead. Be they man or woman, prince or pauper, all Lerians whose deceased body was mostly integral during Eagoth's Conquest (i.e. not burned or hacked into many pieces) became one of Eagoth's undead minions.

Corpses do not immediately rise up in Undeath. A corpse takes three days to become a ghoul, during which time the corpse can be burned or otherwise destroyed to prevent it from becoming a ghoul. The Undeath is not a virus or plague; a living human can be bitten, scratched, or otherwise wounded by a ghoul and make a full recovery without "turning" a la George Romero. The Undeath is instead necromancy magic, and effects only those corpses slain upon or buried in ground that has been cursed by the Ritual of Undeath (virtually all of Leria at this point).

Undead rise with the same physical capacity as the corpse. A powerful warrior in life will be a powerful warrior in Undeath. A frail, old woman in life will be a frail ghoul in Undeath. Undead do not age; a child that rises in Undeath will not grow into an adult, and will remain a child for the duration of their undeath. Because undead do not grow, they cannot ever grow stronger. Physical training is useless for an undead and is in fact deleterious. The wear caused by intense exertion cannot heal as it would in a living human. In other words, a ghoul is as only as strong as it was when it died and will gradually weaken over time.

Corpses can also become ghouls when the ground they were buried in becomes cursed by the Ritual of Undeath. In order to rise and walk about, these ghouls must have some flesh left on their bones. In some areas of Leria - particularly in the North - climatic factors and soil chemistry have left even very old bodies very well preserved, resulting in extensive reserves of high-quality ghouls just waiting to be dug out of the ground. These areas are of significant strategic value to the undead. Completely skeletonized bodies cannot rise up, though this is not to say that skeletons cannot be ghouls. It is possible to graft ribbons of flesh onto the joints of a skeleton that allow it to move about. While this can be done, it is a very labor-intensive process even for skilled meatworkers. Skeletons are usually only "stitched-up" when decent corpses cannot be sourced from local cemeteries.

The undead are theoretically immortal, and will persist as long as their body does. However, as previously stated, the undead degrade over time due to wear and tear as well as environmental factors. Ghouls that routinely perform strenuous work or engage in combat will not last more than a few years while very sedentary undead could last for perhaps a hundred years or more. The degradation process can be further slowed with the application of embalming fluids, which stave off decomposition and can also keep undead flesh supple and elastic. The most common embalming fluid in Leria is aqua vitae: high-proof grain alcohol. The enormous demand for potent spirits with which to make aqua vitae which has rather-curiously forced the undead to begin farming again. More exotic embalming fluids requiring advanced alchemical knowledge to produce are reserved for some Revenants Major or the strange endeavors undertaken in the Meatworks of Necron.[/hider]

[hider=Geography of Leria]
[hider=Map of Leria][img]https://i.imgur.com/0LMS53f.png[/img][/hider]

Leria is not terribly diverse in terms of biomes. Most of Leria is comprised of temperate forests and grasslands. In the northern reaches beyond Vardo's Bridge, the deciduous forests gradually transition into coniferous forest and windswept tundra with peaty bogs. In the southern extremities, the climate is dry and warm. Broadleafed evergreens like cork oak, laurel, and the occasional palm tree grow on the windswept headlands carved out by the tumultuous seas of the White Straits - named after the numerous whitecaps of these treacherous waters.[/hider]