Dragon Kings zombies

[cyl]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I always thought that Dragon kings would make the perfect Solar army against the underworld, mainly because they leave no ghosts behind.


But do you think that they can be raised as zombie, should a deathlord had enough time to make some black twisted dark necro stuff on them to make them turn into an undead nightmare ?


I'm asking because my solars lead a 5000 well trained ready for battle DK army, and a few years ago, some of the pcs became deathknight working for the solar's fiercest ennemy : Walker in the Darkness. (but they're also caught in a cold- about-to-warm-up war with Mask of Winters)


Walker and Mask know about Rathess, the reconstruction and the army, and one of them (maybe both) is going to try necromancy on Dragon Kings.


Question is: Do you think there is something that can be done with raising dead Dragon Kings ?


(I'm not thinking ghosts, cause they don't have a higher soul like mortals, but more stuff like walking dead)

 

[Ledaal Kajiri]

Well...since I don't think there is a limitation that a body must be human to be made into a zombie...I don't see why not. Further, seeing your own fallen rise up and start attacking you is always a fun way to fuck with morale.

 

[cyl]

Well I think there might be a limitation... since most necromancy spells specifically target only mortals, and that zombies seem to be lower souls still attached to their bodies... (but I may be wrong about that)


And since Dragon kings have a enlightenable soul, they seem to have only one soul, one that is not part of the same reincarnation process than the mortal souls (figures... they are eons older) and they don't rise as hungry or mundane ghosts.


And yeah, you got the point, seeing those beasties rise again and start to bite would be very scary for the solars, since they raised and trained them, they are a bit overconfident  

 

[Flagg]

No, zombies are corpses animated by necromantic energy, not by the hun.


I would say that you could make DK zombies (or zombies of any type of corpse), but the spell would have to be custom tailored to that body type.

 

[Jukashi]

The question is how much of the Dragon King advantages they still have. An Anklok zombie would be much, much more formidable than a human one.

 

[cyl]

I'd say they still have their strength, claws, tooth etc etc, and yes they are much more dangerous than common walking dead, that's the point  :lol:


They would be less intelligent of course, and less quick, but maybe stronger, and more resitant (as common zombie are more strong and resistant than the common mortal).


The bigger your ennemy's weapon is, the more dangerous it is when you've learned how to turn it against him... and that looks like deathlord politics to me.  Knowledge and control is everything they are all about.

 

[cyl]

No, zombies are corpses animated by necromantic energy, not by the hun.
I would say that you could make DK zombies (or zombies of any type of corpse), but the spell would have to be custom tailored to that body type.

Okay, so I was wrong and things are much more simple right now...


Still a deathlord has to run a few series of tests before developping the magitech/spell to raise dragon king zombies, how long do you think it would take ?


I'd say nothing but a few months working with something like 20 to 50 testing specimens and his best necrotechnicians and sorcery oriented deathknights... but I can underestimate the complexity of such a task.


I'd try to make a few stats for Raptok (since that the main breed found in Rathess) zombie if I have some time this week to see if they seem fit to you.

 

[Jukashi]

One other thing to remember is that Dragon Kings are creatures of the Unconquered Sun. If you wanted to justify them having a special resistance to certain underworld-related effects (or a special vulnurability, for that matter), you can manage it by linking it in with that.


Thing is, Dragon Kings aren't going to be bothered so much by zombies as a human army would. Dragon Kings are braver (they are required to have at least Valour 2 in character creation), stronger, magically powered and natural predators. And of course, they were known for internal conflicts... unlike puny omnivorous humans, they have much less of an instinct against hurting things that look like them.


Now, if the zombies were just a distraction while you worked up a new, bigger spell... after all, the DKs say the Unconquered Sun is what gives them reason. What the sun gives, darkness can take away...  :twisted:

 

[cyl]

Now, if the zombies were just a distraction while you worked up a new, bigger spell... after all, the DKs say the Unconquered Sun is what gives them reason. What the sun gives, darkness can take away...  Twisted Evil

hooooo now THAT is truly EVIL:twisted:
But I wouldn't plot to kill all of them, and I remember reading that the Dragon kings took the side of the Incarnae and praise the US as their main divinity, but I didn't remember they were directly affiliated to him, and their elemental paths seem to affiliate them to another deity don't you think ?


But sure, they have strong connections to the big boss, but to severe them from this connection in battle while lead by solars would not really work, as they tend to see solars as manifestations of the Sun himself... methinks.

 

[Cthulhu_Wakes]

Yeah, but those deific stand-ins are sometimes cheesy pricks.

 

[Arikail]

I'm actually experimenting with this idea in my campaign right now. After monthes of experimentation, a prodigy Necromancer, guided very closely by his Deathlord master, has managed to raise one of the Dragon Kings as a zombie, to great effect. I'm not going to mention how many corpses they had to go through to get where they're at, but let's say that it's not insignificant.


Understandably, my players are rather cautious about approaching this threat on their own (they're only God Blooded after all). But there are lots of things you can do with a body that don't require a spirit.


As far as how I worked it, it actualy required the making of a Shadowland in order to sever the link between UC and DK, and even then, the DK zombie cannot operate for long outside of the Shadowland, so it makes things interesting. And of course, it is more powerful than your typical walking human corpse. His next goal is of course, to make it a little more viable in Creation, for the long haul. I'm thinking perhaps installed necrotic Essence capacitors to keep on pumping in Essence from the Underworld, to extend his life span in of Creation.

 

[cyl]

Actually I was thinking about poisoning and then cursing Rathess to sap the solar strength and morale first...


You know, a specific designed illness targeting and killing as fast as possible every Dragon King in the area, and a necromantic curse designed to raise those scaly bastards as zombies and make them contagious... the plan has its advantages:


- contaminate both enlightened and savage Dragon Kings and let the curse and the illness spread through Rathess


- by the time the solar realize what the fuck is happening, almost 1/3 of the 300 000 savages would turn into undead and start looking at everything they can bite on, and then Rathess is no longer a threat.


Now THAT is very cruel of me to think of it... the deathknight are gonna love it, and the solar will loose one of their most prized accomplishnent.


But that is maybe too much "I am a legend"-like...

 

[Jukashi]

Don't be too mean to them; the DKs aren't pushovers. If you've got an army of them I'd expect there to have been a few Ochiliké by nnow, and they're as tough as Exalted. Plus even regular Dragon Kings can make some powerful medical artifacts, and since they can work orichalcum, some of those will be highly effective against Underworld forces. Give them a few good hits, sure, but don't sell them short; your Solars spent time on them for a purpose.

 

[cyl]

I'm not going to favor the abyssal over the solar don't worry, it would be just a hit, but it's gonna be very scary, I'm thinking planting on some device with the appropriate effect (illness+curse) and make it "easy" (means = search the whole area with essence sight and a few good Medecine/Survival/Investigation/Awareness rolls) for the solars to find it and destroy the device... or maybe one of the two deathknight who had really strong ties to Rathess could warn his former mates.


He found out he was the reincarnation of Pleasant Cloud before surrenderring his soul to Walker who tortured him for long months a few years ago, by dealing with him that the deathlord helped them destroy the leech gods who were a real pain in the ass at the time... and the other never knew until recently... So maybe it could be a first step toward redemption.


Anyway the point's not to destroy Rathess, just weaken the Dragon Kings and make the Solar fear an ennemy they are so eager to fight right now.


And no they are no Ochiliké right now, I'm still waiting for the right moment to reintroduce the spirit riding thing (I did with Han-Tha and Filial Wisdom, but we went different ways since)... but maybe that could be a good thing to do

 

[cyl]

I'm thinking perhaps installed necrotic Essence capacitors to keep on pumping in Essence from the Underworld, to extend his life span in of Creation.

That is soooo necrotechnology-esque, damn you had to plant it around Autochtonia... Cyber undead Dragon Kings... WTF  :shock:
:twisted:

 

[magnificentmomo]

I vaguely remember there being some undeadish god that gained a substantial following in the DK's in the Rathess book.

 

[Persell]

Han-Tha.  He was a carrion god, a necrophage.  His followers don't worship death as much as they worship decay and rot.

 

[cyl]

Yes, Han Tha, Eater of the Dead, isn't a death aspected god, he's just about consuming other dead life and spiritual forms to get stronger and to let everythin else around rot and eat, eat, eat.


But he can't raise no zombies  

 

[magnificentmomo]

But he sounds pretty Void core.

 

[cyl]

No more than the murder spirits if you ask me.


On the contrary, he is a necrophagic entity, the dead generally feed on the living, not themselves (well some do, but they are nasty).


I used him to introduce and reveal in the most unexpected way the curse to the solars, as I rewrite the crappy background of Filial Wisdom, and make the two unite because when Han Tha rode the exalt, the solar didn't felt the effects of his curse, as Han Tha had fed on Primordial Flesh and was therefore immune to its effect.


As he was somehow slightly tainted by the underworld energies while feeding on the dead Primordial, he grew more powerful and more sensitive to things about the Neverborn, and he felt the Curse within the Solars long ago, but didn't say anything as it was his purpose to see the fall of Rathess.


When his plans went snafu, he waited til Filial Wisdom arrived, and used his anger about the corruption of the Dragon Blooded (and the siddies, I wrote a whole story about him, as being one of the first test of the Cult of the Illuminated, since he remembered to be murdered by one of his trainer) to lure him into accepting the "spirit riding thing" as only he could prevent the solar to become mad again.


Thing is, now the two are seperated, Han Tha's been bannished by the siddies allies (a battle charm in 1E) and Filial Wisdom is now an ally of the Solar (thanks to a little brainwash), but the Curse grows stronger in him, and he's really about to break his limit very soon, and things gonna be messy then.


Han Tha's now deprived of his cult and his dominion, and has to build a new sanctum... but he will definitely come back ^^