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The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate
Tall, skeletal, and majestic, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate speaks with a voice resounding with a mellifluous malignity that makes the righteous quiver and the virtuous doubt their beliefs; below the black disk in a circle which is branded into the brow of his soulsteel mask, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s eyes seem as deep and as dark as the Well of the Void itself; and his every movement and gesture is an exercise in perfect grace and self-control.
Radiating an aura of grim determination and vile power, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate demands respect in both the political arena of Stygia as well as in the north-eastern wastes where he holds court for the living, the dead, and the godly alike.
While he carries a weapon, the dreaded Ardent Purification, and has been known to march in front of his armies before he exalted his first Dusk Caste general, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is renowned more as an eloquent speaker than as a warrior. He is by no means above using violence as a means to an end (in fact, he sees violence as an excellent and logical means to an end), he just prefers to make good use of his servants and allies where possible thereby reserving his own time for tasks where his personal presence is either absolutely required or his skills are obviously unmatched in any of his followers.
In the heretical work Nocturnal Apocrypha, a disciple of the Shining Path refers to the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate with the title of Black Crusader Who Holds the Parable of the Tomb and makes allusions to him maybe being a lost brother of the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible. While this is unlikely to be true in the most literal sense, it is undeniable to those who have experienced the two Deathlords together that some sense of familiarity and tension that goes beyond the ordinary Deathlord rivalry and that might be interpreted as fraternal animosity exists between the two of them. How and when this started seems lost to all except maybe the two Deathlords themselves and they are not talking.
The Ashen Glades and the Tower Malicious
Deep in the far north-eastern woods there is a clearing between the tall and majestic trees where no plant grows and no bird sings. Along with a few petrified logs scattered on the ground, the thick layer of ash that covers the frozen dirt is the only testament that this place ever hosted trees and life.
The shadowland known as the Ashen Glades did not arise as the tragic side-effect of some ancient conflict in the First Age. No. Rather than appearing as an unexpected symptom of conflict, the relatively young shadowland was the anticipated result of a massacre instigated deliberately by the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate to create a shadowland to serve as base for his operations.
For weeks upon weeks thousands of slaves were brought through the forest to this lonely place where the trees had been cut down and burned and here they were ritually murdered honoring the Tree That Blossoms Inward – the Malfean lord of the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate.
At the center of his dark demesne the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate used his powers of necromancy to conjure forth his grand citadel from the depths of the Labyrinth itself. Pointing accusingly at the skies with its single spire, the Tower Malicious serves as a reminder that whatever his goals the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve them.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s Ambitions
However their various methods of approach differ, it is the desire of each of the Deathlords to unite Creation and the Underworld under a yoke of darkness and rule undisputedly as its leader. But while the other Deathlords squabble endlessly over dominion in the worlds of the living and the dead, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate alone has little interest in ruling neither Creation nor its shadowy counterpart in the netherworld. As a Solar, he resided in the heavenly city of Yu-Shan and as a Deathlord he will settle for nothing less.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is bitter and spiteful for the betrayal suffered by the Solar Deliberative, but rather than directing his anger at the petty Terrestrial Exalted who headed the rebellion as disobedient dogs, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate blames the gods for their indifference. Idle and without care for their Chosen, the Celestial Incarna sat by passively and watched the Solar Exalted be slain and their Lunar companions driven to the edges of the world.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate feels slighted by this foul and obvious betrayal, and he will not settle until his armies have marched through the broken the gates of the Celestial City and the Unconquered Sun himself is kneeling at his feet admitting the errors of his ways and pleading for forgiveness.
While he is obviously every bit as megalomaniacal as his brothers and sisters and possibly more so, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is by no means naïve. He knows that conquering the city of the gods will in no way be an easy task and that it will take more than an ill-planned full-frontal assault to accomplish this epic display of ultimate blasphemy.
Arming himself with patience, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate has sent his Moonshadow Exalts to scrounge Creation for potential allies among malcontent spirits banished from heaven, nihilistic mortals ready to join their ancestors, inexperienced Solar Exalted ripe for picking and possible corruption, and Fair Folk relishing at the thought of feasting upon the virtues of gods. Meanwhile his Dusk Caste generals are preparing to march against the living – not to conquer but to swell the ranks of their regiments, and his servants of the Daybreak Caste are honing their skills of demon summoning as well as reconstructing and mass producing weapons of mass destruction from the precious few First Age samples found in the vaults of the Tower Malicious.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is preparing himself in every way for his bold strike so that when he makes his move, it will without doubt shake the very foundations of heaven.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s Servants
The Envoy Who Heralds the Storm is a recent addition to the host of deathknights serving the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate. A cartographer and a sky captain of the Haslanti League prior to his exaltation, he and his airship fulfill similar roles now searching far and wide for the celestial gates to Yu-Shan that lie scattered across the North-East.
One of the Dusk Caste generals in service of the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate, the Princess of Frozen Smiles and Broken Dreams was once the beautiful daughter of an Ice Walker chieftain. Immediately prior to her exaltation, the assailants who slew her family and raped her on her wedding day slit up her cheeks from the sides of her mouth leaving long purple scars in a crude mockery of a smile as it healed up. In the impotent rage brought on by her fate, she has chosen to champion the dead and defy Creation as well as Heaven.
Well over a year has passed since the ghostly explorer Teichou and his crew on the proud relic ship Apparent Calm sat sails from Stygia and headed westwards. The objective of this travel was to investigate the truth of the myths about a gate in the Far West leading to Yu-Shan and the mystery of what exactly happens to those who pass through it. While many consider this a suicide mission at best and even if news of the crew endeavors have been scarce, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate still sees to that prayers are dedicated to Teichou and his men.
It is known to the wisest of sorcerers and the most knowledgeable scholars that a necromantic spell exists that can corrupt the essence of a little god making it resonate with the energies of the Underworld rather than with that of Creation. But the thought that one of the celestial lions could ever grow so spiteful that it would willingly undergo such a ritual is ludicrous to even the most imaginative among savants.
Nevertheless, Raion, the tyrant lion who serves as steward of the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s Stygian palace, seems to shine with the pale golden aura that is otherwise characteristic for orichalcum brought into the Underworld.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate
Tall, skeletal, and majestic, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate speaks with a voice resounding with a mellifluous malignity that makes the righteous quiver and the virtuous doubt their beliefs; below the black disk in a circle which is branded into the brow of his soulsteel mask, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s eyes seem as deep and as dark as the Well of the Void itself; and his every movement and gesture is an exercise in perfect grace and self-control.
Radiating an aura of grim determination and vile power, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate demands respect in both the political arena of Stygia as well as in the north-eastern wastes where he holds court for the living, the dead, and the godly alike.
While he carries a weapon, the dreaded Ardent Purification, and has been known to march in front of his armies before he exalted his first Dusk Caste general, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is renowned more as an eloquent speaker than as a warrior. He is by no means above using violence as a means to an end (in fact, he sees violence as an excellent and logical means to an end), he just prefers to make good use of his servants and allies where possible thereby reserving his own time for tasks where his personal presence is either absolutely required or his skills are obviously unmatched in any of his followers.
In the heretical work Nocturnal Apocrypha, a disciple of the Shining Path refers to the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate with the title of Black Crusader Who Holds the Parable of the Tomb and makes allusions to him maybe being a lost brother of the Bishop of the Chalcedony Thurible. While this is unlikely to be true in the most literal sense, it is undeniable to those who have experienced the two Deathlords together that some sense of familiarity and tension that goes beyond the ordinary Deathlord rivalry and that might be interpreted as fraternal animosity exists between the two of them. How and when this started seems lost to all except maybe the two Deathlords themselves and they are not talking.
The Ashen Glades and the Tower Malicious
Deep in the far north-eastern woods there is a clearing between the tall and majestic trees where no plant grows and no bird sings. Along with a few petrified logs scattered on the ground, the thick layer of ash that covers the frozen dirt is the only testament that this place ever hosted trees and life.
The shadowland known as the Ashen Glades did not arise as the tragic side-effect of some ancient conflict in the First Age. No. Rather than appearing as an unexpected symptom of conflict, the relatively young shadowland was the anticipated result of a massacre instigated deliberately by the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate to create a shadowland to serve as base for his operations.
For weeks upon weeks thousands of slaves were brought through the forest to this lonely place where the trees had been cut down and burned and here they were ritually murdered honoring the Tree That Blossoms Inward – the Malfean lord of the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate.
At the center of his dark demesne the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate used his powers of necromancy to conjure forth his grand citadel from the depths of the Labyrinth itself. Pointing accusingly at the skies with its single spire, the Tower Malicious serves as a reminder that whatever his goals the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to achieve them.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s Ambitions
However their various methods of approach differ, it is the desire of each of the Deathlords to unite Creation and the Underworld under a yoke of darkness and rule undisputedly as its leader. But while the other Deathlords squabble endlessly over dominion in the worlds of the living and the dead, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate alone has little interest in ruling neither Creation nor its shadowy counterpart in the netherworld. As a Solar, he resided in the heavenly city of Yu-Shan and as a Deathlord he will settle for nothing less.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is bitter and spiteful for the betrayal suffered by the Solar Deliberative, but rather than directing his anger at the petty Terrestrial Exalted who headed the rebellion as disobedient dogs, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate blames the gods for their indifference. Idle and without care for their Chosen, the Celestial Incarna sat by passively and watched the Solar Exalted be slain and their Lunar companions driven to the edges of the world.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate feels slighted by this foul and obvious betrayal, and he will not settle until his armies have marched through the broken the gates of the Celestial City and the Unconquered Sun himself is kneeling at his feet admitting the errors of his ways and pleading for forgiveness.
While he is obviously every bit as megalomaniacal as his brothers and sisters and possibly more so, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is by no means naïve. He knows that conquering the city of the gods will in no way be an easy task and that it will take more than an ill-planned full-frontal assault to accomplish this epic display of ultimate blasphemy.
Arming himself with patience, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate has sent his Moonshadow Exalts to scrounge Creation for potential allies among malcontent spirits banished from heaven, nihilistic mortals ready to join their ancestors, inexperienced Solar Exalted ripe for picking and possible corruption, and Fair Folk relishing at the thought of feasting upon the virtues of gods. Meanwhile his Dusk Caste generals are preparing to march against the living – not to conquer but to swell the ranks of their regiments, and his servants of the Daybreak Caste are honing their skills of demon summoning as well as reconstructing and mass producing weapons of mass destruction from the precious few First Age samples found in the vaults of the Tower Malicious.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate is preparing himself in every way for his bold strike so that when he makes his move, it will without doubt shake the very foundations of heaven.
The Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s Servants
The Envoy Who Heralds the Storm is a recent addition to the host of deathknights serving the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate. A cartographer and a sky captain of the Haslanti League prior to his exaltation, he and his airship fulfill similar roles now searching far and wide for the celestial gates to Yu-Shan that lie scattered across the North-East.
One of the Dusk Caste generals in service of the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate, the Princess of Frozen Smiles and Broken Dreams was once the beautiful daughter of an Ice Walker chieftain. Immediately prior to her exaltation, the assailants who slew her family and raped her on her wedding day slit up her cheeks from the sides of her mouth leaving long purple scars in a crude mockery of a smile as it healed up. In the impotent rage brought on by her fate, she has chosen to champion the dead and defy Creation as well as Heaven.
Well over a year has passed since the ghostly explorer Teichou and his crew on the proud relic ship Apparent Calm sat sails from Stygia and headed westwards. The objective of this travel was to investigate the truth of the myths about a gate in the Far West leading to Yu-Shan and the mystery of what exactly happens to those who pass through it. While many consider this a suicide mission at best and even if news of the crew endeavors have been scarce, the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate still sees to that prayers are dedicated to Teichou and his men.
It is known to the wisest of sorcerers and the most knowledgeable scholars that a necromantic spell exists that can corrupt the essence of a little god making it resonate with the energies of the Underworld rather than with that of Creation. But the thought that one of the celestial lions could ever grow so spiteful that it would willingly undergo such a ritual is ludicrous to even the most imaginative among savants.
Nevertheless, Raion, the tyrant lion who serves as steward of the Patriarch of the Sepulchral Mandate’s Stygian palace, seems to shine with the pale golden aura that is otherwise characteristic for orichalcum brought into the Underworld.
