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gazing into the beautiful strangeness of UnderVerse. What words passed between
them was never recorded. But while
Oltovm held his place, Covu strode on into the UnderVerse and was never seen
again.
The Second Regime: Oltovm the Builder
Intent on never losing his way to this remarkable place, Oltovm erected hidden
navigational markers that would lead him back. Never again would any-one doubt
its existence! Once the way was charted, Oltovm initiated the construction of
a portal around the Threshold forces that could resist the vortices of space
and force open the Threshold on demand.
A trusted officer was tasked with guarding the Threshold against marauding
races. His name was never recorded, so he is simply referred to herein as the
Guardian of the UnderVerse. Said to be nearly three meters tall, the Guardian
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and his legion of faithful will repel any non-Necromonger who may make
unauthorized approach to this most holy of places. During those times when the
Threshold is opened to admit a Lord Marshal on pilgrimage, the Guardian and
his warriors must turn their backs so as not to gaze upon the UnderVerse.
Early in the Second Regime there arose a contro-versy. How can procreation be
tolerated in a faith devoted to non-life? The solution was to ban all breeding
(though of course not the sex act itself). This prohibition led to the
inevitable conclusion that the Faith would die out in one generation's time
un-less new converts could be found.
The Faith was still great, but distances of space were greater. More ships
with improved drives were needed. Now, Oltovm was no longer a young man, and
the construction of the Threshold portal had oc-cupied many of his years.
Still, he became devoted to the idea of gifting Necromongers with the greatest
ar-mada ever seen.
The manpower needs were tremendous. The task of meeting that need fell to a
fiery young commander full of the Faith, named Baylock. An ardent student of
the teachings of Covu, Baylock was admired even if some of his actions drew
criticism. Among other things, he used unconventional means to subjugate all
the races of Boroneau V. Strong backs and new re-sources were needed to build
the armada, and
Baylock delivered them at whip's end.
Oltovm never saw First Ascension, the day the new Necromonger armada rose from
Asylum. In-stead, he chose his successor and then chose ritualis-tic suicide
at the edge of the Threshold. Oltovm had told
others it was "due time" for his death, and it is he who is now credited with
this important distinc-tion of
Necroism. Even while we covet death, there is a right and proper moment for
any death. Unless a
Necromonger dies in "due time," he will be prohib-ited from entering the
UnderVerse.
The Third Regime: Naphemil the Navigator
Naphemil had risen fast in the military ranks, a young cartographer who helped
lay the foundations for what we now call, simply, the Campaign: the plan to
rid the known 'verse of all human life. Oltovm chose wisely when he named
Naphemil as the leader of this epoch of Necroism.
Rather than leave Necropolis behind on Asylum, Naphemil ordered the structure
unearthed and en-tombed in a far larger ship, the Basilica. The first
Necromonger church would travel with the armada through space, into which it
ventured on Ascension Day.
In the short years of the Third Regime, Necro-monger society did well at
spreading the word of
Covu, gathering converts by the thousands. The swell of new blood brought
refinements in the conversion process. It was no longer enough to bow before
the Lord Marshal and take an oath of fidelity. True pu-rification was
necessary.
The pain-deadening act we know today is a faint echo of Covu's experience at
the hands of the Austeres.
Just as he was tortured to the point of non-feeling, new converts are put
through a process that demonstrates how one kind of pain can deaden oth-ers;
how pain can actually bring spiritual bliss. The office of "Purifier
Principal" was created to oversee new conversions.
Despite these gains, the Necromonger faith began bleeding off numbers, as
infighting among officers and natural attrition outpaced conversions. After
the enormous expenditure of resource that marked the
Second Regime, it seemed the faith was floundering.
Some Necromongers began to see Naphemil as more planner than leader, more
strategist than war-rior.
He was, as Oltovm concluded, a good choice for the ascension period of
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Necromonger history but that period was now challenged by new realities.
Naphemil was killed in a dispute with then-commander Baylock, and this
unapologetic murder marked the first time that a lord marshal had been
dethroned by violence. Debate raged as to whether Baylock was entitled to the
post of lord marshal. Ultimately, the teachings of Covu prevailed, as Baylock
defended his act with Covu's own words: "You keep what you kill." Baylock
ascended to the throne of
Necropolis, and all Necromongers knelt before him. The society now knew two
kinds of suc-cession:
appointment and murder.
The Fourth Regime: Baylock the Brutal
Baylock was the last lord marshal born to Necro-ism, and the first of the
modern lord marshals. During his regime, planetary subjugation became the
norm. The plan that had served him well on Boroneau V
was applied to new worlds on a grand scale.
Baylock also taught that it was not enough to gain converts. Those who refused
conversion should be ground to dust. Once again he relied for justification of
his actions on the words of Covu, who said to the last of the Austeres,
"Convert, or fall forever."
By all accounts, Baylock's regime would have met with unparalleled success had
he not encountered the dread Carthodox. This was another militarized faith,
monotheistic and procreative but potent nonetheless.
The Carthodox, too, were seeking converts in the planetary system Neibaum, and
when paths crossed,
the worlds of Neibaum became the holy battlefield.
An interesting though probably irrelevant footnote to the history of this
particular conflict: there are sug-gestions oral history only that the
Elemental race was advising the Carthodox in the course of this war. But many
doubt this, citing the traditional neutrality of all Elementals.
The Carthodox had strange new weaponry, some of it superior to the
corresponding Necromonger ar-mament. Losses among the supporters of the Faith
grew catastrophic. Officers complained that commu-nications were not
sufficiently secure, allowing the Carthodox to know their moves in advance.
Baylock's commanders advised retreat from the Neibaum system. If they could [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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