Stepping backwards, Tela lowered her arms, foreign words bouncing around skull, along with numerous fleeting memories.
Attempting to categorize and control many of the words that now infested her skull was splitting her head open, the sheer pain of so many different languages mixing and matching, all these different meanings and terms and things that had no counterparts in her own language. The key thing she had learned of this being, beyond a mash of languages, was the sheer age of the being. Where her mind was a mere six centuries old, this creatures mind was cavernous and deep, older and more ancient than any she had ever joined before.
A slight buzz echoed in her ear, a countdown running.
She smirked, and cleared her throat.
'Well now that that's over, can you get your buddies to drop your guns?'
Every being in front of her fixed her with a variety of stares, their features ranging from a slightly opened mouth and squinted eyes from the vein- no Human, she had merged with, and the smaller scaled beings each rapidly raising and lowering their fins, each pulsing with burnt orange color.
The only being that didn't visually react was the short, red-furred one. It muscled its way to the forefront of the small crowd, its bulk knocking away many of the smaller creatures.
'Now that it's all down, where are we witch?'
The noise in her ear rose slightly, as various call signs were questioned and answered, machines being moved into position, and crewmembers readying weaponry.
'We are on the Citadel. And you are in a lot of trouble.'
The thumping noise of numerous Gunships now echoed overhead, with many sleek forms darting sideways, their weapons trained on the larger armored soldiers, while larger transports opened various hatches. A single drop-ship detached itself from the majority of the group and slowly took position near Tela, a hatch slid back and a heavy mounted cannon loaded up, the gunner focusing on the beings before her.
As the numerous ships floated around the crew, Felix couldn't help but feel a pang of nostalgia, and a slightly disturbed feeling following that.
It wasn't the first time he'd ended up in a situation like this. Wasn't even the second one either.
No, all he needed to do was let the captain try and talk his way out of this mess, or failing that, let Gotrek cut his way out. Wouldn't be the first time he'd seen Gotrek take down an airship with his axe either.
A slight moment of retrospect threw Felix's thoughts.
'It says something about my life when I already now how to get out of the situation, and even then, basing it purely off experience.'
Any how, he had to focus on settling this peacefully.
'Captain…'
'Yes-Yes, I know blessed passenger.'
The Captain motioned slightly with his arm, causing the Saurus warriors and the few Kroixgors supporting them to lower their weapons and return to a stand-by state. The figures they had been holding hostage followed no such commands, immediately raising their weapons and rapidly backing away, guns trained on the crew.
It was a testament to the Saurus' training (and breeding) that none of them reacted to this turn of events.
The Non-Dem- the Asari also started belting out commands to her troops.
From the haze banks of his own memory, Felix could roughly understand the various orders she was giving, despite misunderstanding a number of basic sentence structural difference between their to languages. A mess of sharp chirps and whistles sounded off some of the armoured troops, their weapons still focused on the ships crew.
'With all due respect ma'am, these things just popped out of no where, held us hostage, and are now only standing down because of one order?'
The Turian commander flicked his arm out, singling some team members to shift around to the flank of those giant warriors.
'We don't know what they are, their capabilities, and if they'll just pounce on us again.'
Tela had to physically and consciously restraint herself from shouting at this idiot.
'Captain. Stand down. That is a direct order, from a SPECTRE.'
He wavered slightly, still focused on the beings in front of him.
'We are in the middle of a first contact situation. Crowds are gathering and the media is probably already recording us. The Council will be watching.
Stand Down now.'
Tela watched with slight satisfaction as the captain roughly ordered his squad to stand down, despite the fact he ordered them to key weapons free.
Alright. Now to try and salvage this clusterfuck.
The next hour, suffice to say, was incredibly boring from the perspective of Felix, discounting the entire 'new race, giant space station, and multiple weapons being held in his general direction' parts. Acting as a translator between a tiny, vengeful skink and what he suspected was a demon in disguise, despite the knowledge that it was another species, was not particularly taxing on his part, as years of speaking nearly ever known 'civil' language had prepared him to spot some truly strange linguistic sounds.
Following a rough agreement between the 'SPECTRE' and Captain Py'qird, both the Captain, Gotrek and himself were loaded up on one of the gunships to transport them to the shoreline, along with transport to meet the leaders of this space station. Felix couldn't help but chuckle at the entire 'take me to your leaders' part of the conversation, prompting the Spectre to ask why.
Despite denying it, he was constantly reminded by a story he'd been assigned to read by one of the editors back at his very-late brothers company. A relatively fantastical story (which was ironic coming from him of all authors) was that of some alien race landing on Luto Pila and demanding to be 'taken to your leaders.' A shame the young lady who had written it died almost two centuries ago.
At any rate, the gunship ride wasn't particularly eventful. However, he did note that the Captain had been issuing orders for his crew to move forward beneath the lake towards their drop site, presumably as some show of force against these new species.
That and Gotrek was beginning to eye the various aliens aboard the gunship with a very annoyed gleam in his eye, one that never boded well with out the addition of booze or close combat.
As the Gunship began to bring itself lower, the uptake from its engines blasting away the accumulated grit and trash of the Citadel walk ways, Tela shifted in her seat, attempting to catalogue the mish mash of words that would out line what she was about to ask of them.
She began with the language she'd successfully used before, but she still lacked the words she desired. A number of other languages floated inside her mind, and she tried a multitude, mixing and matching in an attempt to pass her request across.
Judging by the looks on the faces of her allies, she'd sounded like some horrific beast from the pit, and the looks of the crew they'd picked up, they only partially understood her.
Luckily, the being she'd melded with, the elder, attempted to communicate back, speaking her own language with greater ease than she'd seen any other attempting to do, especially one coming off a recent melding attempt.
'What was it you asked of us?'
'You are going to have to leave your weapons in storage on the ship. I don't know if this may be against whatever cultural values you may have, but I will not let you appear before the Council carrying those.'
Judging by the look on the Elder's face, this may prove difficult.
The Gunship slowly descended to the lower wards ring, nearing the junction that connected to the Presidium ring. Unfortunately, a massive unknown spaceship crashing into the local water supply, along with a new race being seen in what appeared to be a stand-off between local C-Sec forces, had led to a massive media frenzy surrounding the landing site. As such, C-Sec was hard pressed to try and contain the baying mob, and numerous camera drones flitted around, diving in and are the cordon, despite numerous tech operatives trying their best to shut them down.
By the time the shuttle had landed, the crowd was already at its breaking point, with numerous citizens and journalists pushing against the barriers in an attempt to see what would come out.
And as the doors finally opened, they went mental; from fear or excitement none could truly say.
The sight of two or three new alien races, especially ones that had nearly crashed into a heavily populated Ward, moved them into heightened states of frenzy, while cameras buzzed around and reporters eagerly screamed and shouted out reports and queries to the new species.
A rough shove knocked a few C-Sec staff over, sending them out into the crowd. Despite the stern looks of the Turian guards and their tightening of weapons, Gorek scowled and glared at them, as if begging for them to try and fight him. Felix may have convinced him that the two Saurus warriors following them as guards, to hold their weapons, but it did nothing to persuade him from antagonizing the soldiers surrounding them.
Clearly, Gotrek was not enjoying the experience.
Felix could only raise his hood and keep is head low, hoping none of what he suspected were the local media, were foolish enough to actually get in range of Gotrek.
He'd seen what had happened whenever the press got to close to annoying Gotrek. Something the media back on Luto Pila had learned the hard way, and made a conscious decision to standby.
A massive drone buzzed in front of Gotrek, before either Felix or the 'SPECTRE' could bat it away, displaying a holographic outline of what appeared to be another one of those repulsive 'Asari'.
From what Felix could understand from the basic knowledge he'd acquired, it was babbling something along the lines of that horrific tabloid nonsense he'd seen back one Luto.
A quiet voice in the back of his head was also pointing out that he was glad he'd never allowed his own families company to ever produce such shameful parodies of information.
Gotrek's reaction however, was something he'd both expected and feared.
He swung his short arms outwards, clipping the camera and bringing it low. Roughly grasping the two sides, he heaved and bisected both the blue hologram, and the floating camera in front of him, throwing the two halves of the camera to the ground with such force that they left great gouges in the metal and causing the various reporters leaning over the barricades to quickly lean backwards. As Gotrek dusted off his hands, his eye swept the crowd, as if inviting the rest of them to try it person.
It was no surprise that the rest of the media began to pull back the rest of their own devices, as the group made their way up to the elevator that lead to these 'Leaders'.
At least the most eventful part of this should be over.
Glancing around as his companions, he noted a savage glare on the face of the Captain. No doubt he had enjoyed the sight of Gotrek carving his way through those few cameras that had gotten to close.
A bright eye flicked up to his, mischief dancing through it.
As one, a massive number of the Saurian warriors raised themselves from the lake, marching over the barriers near the elevator and pushing past both the crowd and the soldiers guarding them. Each marched in step before halting at the doors, spinning slightly, before all standing at perfect attention before them. Not a single misstep or misplace action, all timed and in perfect co-ordination.
As the crowd raised itself in a massive cacophony of noise, Felix lowered his head and hood even lower.
This was going to be a long day.
Tela resisted the urge to simply shoot the bloody-minded oaf in front of them, which was mainly held in check by the fact that she probably would have done the same if in such a position.
The smaller rough furred one with the massive crest and horrific number of scars, introduced by the Elder one as Go-Trek, continued to glare at the crowd, despite a slight push from behind to keep him moving.
Knowledge of the Asari biology, an attitude worse than a castrated Krogan and a multitude of weapons designed for both long and close range?
These beings were the opposite of what an Elder being should be, nowhere nearly worthy of the Matriarch title.
As long as they remained moving and without any more violence, perhaps she could salvage this situation without calls of fear and violence from the rest of the local populace.
Of course, when the legion of armed and heavily armoured giant Lizards marched out of the water, massive pole-arms held ready, and took up position outside the elevator, still dripping water and moving nary a muscle, despite C-Sec's attempts to relocate them, she was starting to get angry.
Both the Captain and the two Elders were going to require a clear message before she introduced them to the Council.
To say that the two elder matriarchs held no notion of beauty would be folly in Tela's mind. Both stood with great strength in their limbs and fierce intelligence in their eyes. To often, in her six centuries, she had seen both Asari and Krogan go soft and dull over the years, centuries of life wearing away their minds and bodies.
But to say that either of the two elders were actually beautiful?
It repulsed Tela that any creatures so old, with such echoing thoughts, could appear so uncultured, so uncivilized in appearance and weaponry.
Within her own people, in their myriad of cultures, one aspect remained key, the Matriarchs were supposed to be the eldest, the most knowledgeable, the most beautiful out of all Asari, the ones who were unto goddesses among her people and existed beyond the childish notion of self-servitude, but lived to serve their people as shining examples of what they were to be.
And to compare them to these beings?
The two before her were roughly dressed, armed with archaic weaponry, filled with bloodlust and thoughts of wanderlust.
How could such things, such ancient beings that should be deserving of such respect and awe, from any among her people, be so … so … so wrong?
Not only were their minds and thoughts so different to her own, their forms, to her eyes and what she believed would be the view of many of her own people, were disgusting.
The eldest of the pair was understandably hideous. Simply looking upon him conjured feelings of bile within Tela. Mangled extremities, a multitude of horrific scars, some so fresh as to still have bruising surrounding them, while others were knitted against its skin, creating a terrifying patchwork of years gone by. One of its eyes gouged out, replaced not by a following crystal garment that her people would wear, nor a replacement that was so common these days, but by a worn scuffed piece of animal hide, lacking any embodiment or substance beyond the rough laces holding it together.
Its nose and mouth were no better. While many creatures among the races that made up the Citadel, from Turian to Asari to Yagh, none had such horrifying features as this. Its teeth were mottled and black, like stone tombstones in shape, with green growth not unlike the vines of Thessia lacing them, tainting them with a horrible mix of yellows and greens.
The only thing that even hinted at any kind of overarching culture separating it from beast, was the endless golden bangs and chains engraved with numerous scenes of gods and men.
But even those were despoiled by how they were treated! Among the Asari, especially among the matriarchs, it was near taboo to defile the flesh by tearing at it and embedding it with stones and metals. True refinement came through the following art that was painted into an Asari, the sweeping lines and endless swirling scrip's showing, if not reverence to the gods, their age and understanding.
This eldest Matriarch, this alien, was covered in numerous golden chains and tight bangs, each decorated with scenes of glory and horrible rectangular scrip that was disgusting to look upon.
No, the eldest was visible horrible, wearing its hideousness with an almost fierce pride.
The elder, youngest between the two, held its own disgusting features, but they were subtle and ensnaring. When even she studied the alien, its forms and cultural cues, she almost grasped them. But at the point of realization, they became wrong, horrible corrupted values of the Asari reflected in its outfit and lifestyle, its existence almost a mockery of the wise Matriarchs.
Its own form reflected these ideas, its limbs and extremities shaped in a mocking form to her own. Its arms swung to high, arms reaching to long, fingers grasping and stretching beyond what should be capable of a common hand.
A traitorous though wormed through her mind as she stood in the ever-climbing elevator. What if these thoughts were not unlike those of her people when they first encountered the many races of the Citadel?
Maybe in ages past, when they first met the young Salarians, their jittery bodies and ever-moving minds drove away her own kind before they adapted, and joined with them? What of the days when the Asari found the colossal Elcor, their forms massive and unwieldy like the serpentine whales of Thessia? Were her people as revolted as now?
Whatever her thoughts, Tela was a Spectre, servant of the Council and its people. She had a duty to them, to ensure that peace was maintained, no matter the cost. If that required her to accept these things, then she would.
Another thought returned to her, something that had been the focus of her rage when those great beasts strode out of the Citadel lakes.
She raised her hand to her helmet, and called for the elevator to reduce its speed. These aliens needed to now the proper respect that was due to the Council, and by Athemes sacred lights, she would teach them it.
Commander Joram of the Citadel rapid response unit maintained his stance, weapon held ready and eyes locked on the larger reptiles standing at attention behind the smaller creature.
Since they had moved into the elevator, accompanying the smaller reptilian creature, he had kept his eyes locked on them, silently judging them, awaiting the slightest movement, any twitch of an eye or tail.
So far, nothing.
All ride he had been inspect them, taking in their features, estimating their possible threat to the Council. He'd be damned if he let these creatures before them with any means of harming the Council, be it weaponry or their own teeth and claws.
Their massive jaws and long claws were the biggest natural threat, combined with their huge size, they looked like some pack hunter ready to hunt the massive game that wandered Pavalen. Their artificial weaponry was no less intimidating. Each held to colossal staffs in their hands, each taller than him, while the blades bolted to the top appeared to be sharp enough to slice through his own natural plating, not to mention his armour.
And their other arms, despite holding the cases provided for their 'diplomatic' guests weaponry, still had long cables running along them, connecting to massive barrels that appeared to be like Gatling cannons.
If they could fire such things with a single arm, and still maintain the use of their melee weapons, these aliens could be formidable foes.
But even as he evaluated their strengths, Joram was also accounting for what he believed to be weaknesses.
Already, he had realized that, for all their strength, they were slow and unwieldy, built for strength and brutish war, rather than the lightning strikes of his own people.
A movement to his side drew his eye.
The Spectre had raised a hand to her helmet, faint words filtering out.
The elevator shuddered and groaned, the speed slowing.
The other aliens, the 'diplomats' turned to the Spectre, the tall lanky one speaking a mishmash of Thessian, the jarring voice causing problems for his own translation software.
Felix turned, questions forming on his lips, only to be halted by a splayed hand held forward by the Asari.
'Alright, listen up. So far, you've crashed into the Citadel on a ship made out of rocks, nearly gotten in a firefight, and your friend has purposely antagonized the media out there. Not to mention that display your armed forces put on.'
She lowered her arm, breathing deeply.
'That stops. Now. I don't give a damn about your posturing or your cultural reasons. It stops here.'
She turned, eyes shifting between Gotrek and the Captain.
'You are going into a meeting with our ruling Council. If any of you, any of you! Pulls another stunt like that, I will personally throw you off this station myself. Am I clear?'
Felix simply looked at her.
She was asking him to tell Gotrek, a Trollslayer, to watch his manners in front of their leaders?
She turned her head to his, eyes boring into his.
'Translate it'
A brief moment after he had told the rest of his companions, Gotrek turned to her, thumped his fists together and released a low growl.
'The Witch wants peace? She can have it over my body.'
Both the Asari and Gotrek advanced upon each other, Gotreks meaty hands slamming together and knuckles cracking, while strange flickering wisps of energy began to peel away from the Spectre's body.
A light ding echoed, the large metal doors parting sideways, revealing a beautifully decorated hall, almost reminiscent of the Araby halls of Felix's past travels.
The Spectre stood backwards, before turning and stepping out of the elevator, the police commander from before falling in step behind her.
Py'qird, motioned with his tail, a slight flick, sending his own guards marching forward, Gotrek, Felix and the Captain following behind.
They marched upwards, brutishly pushing past the multiple aliens the inhabited the hall.
The Spectre was ahead of them, pulling to a stop before a massive staircase that lead upward to a long platform. She turned and glared at Gotrek, before roughly motioning up the stairs.
The Captain scurried upwards, his tail flicking outward and the Sarus guards taking place on either side of the staircase. Gotrek was quick to follow suit, stomping upwards with all the joy of a bull on the way to a stockyard. Finally, Felix paused before the steps, turning towards the Spectre, before roughly bowing to her.
'I apologize for our inconvenience Ms Vasir. My companions have never been the most civil of beings, and I would ask that you forgive their actions. A Dwarf like Gotrek gives his own people issues, let alone those of the other races.'
If she gave any indication of hearing, it did not register with Felix, so with a quiet goodbye, he stepped up the stairs, aiming to catch up with his fellow travellers.
By the time he'd reached the top, the Captain was already in the midst of giving his own introduction. What few bits Felix was catching consisted of the usual mix of 'Star pond', Ship' and 'Old Ones'.
The Captain turned to him, crest flaring.
Felix swallowed, lips turning dry.
He stood over what would look to the uninformed to be a pirates gangplank stretching across a pleasant garden below. Before him stood three figures dressed in a startling array of differing clothing and colours.
'I bid you greeting on behalf of the Systems Alliance, the Reikland Empire and my current allies the …'
Felix waited with a brief pause at the end of his introduction. Slowly, he turned his head to the left and right, taking in the surrounding environment. When he had initially entered, he had suspect it was towards some kind of official meeting hall, like those favored by kings and queens of ages past. He was not disappointed.
He had passed between magnificent halls, stretching high and detailed sparsely, each carved with smooth flowing lines, lacking any detail beyond sheer simplicity. The stairs upward had been long and lightly sloped, a hundred pink leafed trees slowly fading away as he and the rest of his accomplices stepped forward, thousands of petals swaying and floating away. He presumed that some kind of air conditioner had been installed to give such an effect.
In total, it was reminiscent of some kind of bizarre mixture of the High King's palace in Karaz-a-Karak and the Celestial Emperor's palace of Cathay, if lacking in obscene amounts of gold and a ridiculous number of artworks. However, the place where he now stood had initially been a slight shock to him.
Standing on a great dais suspended over a small garden of blooming trees, it hung ominously in the midst of the chamber, surrounded on all sides by great balconies and facing a massive dais, larger than it, in front of it.
All around him, on the multitude of balconies shrouded in darkness, gleamed hundreds of eyes, all differently shaped and radiating in the darkness. From one balcony, he spied a great beast, almost like a Stegadon of the terrifying jungles of Lustria, but wrapped in a swaddle of cloaks and lacking the numerous, deadly horns that the Stegadon used to gore its enemies.
From another, he spied a strange creature, almost lizard-like in appearance, eyes blinking rapidly and its skin reflecting the light softly. Even as he watched, its eyes rapidly blinked, many more only visible from the shine in their eyes amid the darkness. Beside it was a small ball-like thing, a squig in armor and with stubby limbs, slowly waving and gesturing to the members surrounding it.
Again and again, he saw numerous creatures all watching and conversing with each other, judging the strange man that stepped before it.
Righting himself, he back away slowly, his cape slowly dragging along the pristine floor, the dust and water leaving a smear along the metallic floor. He stood himself by the Captain and his erstwhile friend Gotrek, awaiting the reaction of the three beings that had been stood before him.
The first was another of strange women-like creatures, the Asari. Clad in a slim dress of garish pink, it stood coldly, the centre of power within the room. All eyes were draw to its form, the long legs and stocky torso, with strange white lines spiraling along its blue skin. The face of this woman was like ice, a sharp complexion of winter and a fierce gaze, dominating the Council of beings surrounding her.
In a way, she almost reminded him of the line of Tzar's of Kislev, their blood granting them mastery of ice and snow to drive back the ever-raiding chaos to the north.
Beside her was a being wrapped in massive cloaks, each layer building and spiraling around its minuscule figure, leaving only a single line of strange patterns available to comprehend for any who looked upon it. Within its dark hood were to pitch black eyes, rapidly blinking and flickering back and forth, alien knowledge darting back and froth within its mind.
To the other side of the Asari was a creature armored in a set of fine-spun clothing, utilitarian and simple. A simple blue color with red outlines. Beneath sat numerous plates of hardened flesh, each shaped to protect its body. Its head was stretched and thin, two large mandibles flaring outwards as it considered what stood before it. As with the first, the Asari, many white lines covered its face, but styled as spikes and jagged edges, carving their way through the plating, as a knife would flesh.
As Felix watched, many a chirp and slight croaking were heard from the two creatures standing next to the central Asari, each bending their head to look at her, while she continued to look at the new creatures within her realm.
A light tugging on his arm pulled his view away from the spectacle, the young Skink from before, the scientist looking up at him, a single unblinking eye looking into his own.
"Blessed one, what are the soft-soft things saying? Many good things, yes?'"
"I do not know, from what I can barely understand, they are deliberating on an acceptable course of action."
A rough huffing sound came from Felix's side, a sign of Gotrek's annoyance at the whole affair.
"Come manling, we have better things to be doing than listening to the caterwauling of aliens. I thirst, and they better have a drink in this mess of a station."
Turning backwards, Gotrek swiped his Axe out the claws of their Saurus Guards and began to move away from the Dais. A rough excuse to Captain Py'quird and the retrieval of his own equipment, Felix joined him.
The Dancing Varen was your typical bar, for the Zakera Wards. Scummy, filled with whores and booze, along with a terrible thumping beat of the blazing music. In all, a tip of a place, and perfect for many of the seedier characters that lived in the wards.
Here a man could find many things, be it a partner for the night, a drink strong enough to knock you off your feet, drugs, weapons or whatever else you craved. It was a small hole in the side of much greater things, filled with the weak, the lowlifes, the scum and whatever else decided to spend the night whiling away their money.
It was into this ever-so-respectable alehouse that the infamous pair arrived, in search of a decent drink.
Pushing their way through the various patrons, the roughly seated themselves at the bar, or attempted to at any rate. A multitude of people ebbed and flowed through the building, some drunk and other ecstatic, all looking to get drunk. A small nod to the bartender, some kind of elephant creature that resembled the large ones from within that council hall, and two bizarrely colored drinks arrived.
The two glasses that slide along the bar top to their standing positions could only be described as colorful.
It took both Gotrek and Felix a moment to consider what the hell they were looking at.
Years of travel, all kinds of foods, and more importantly, drinks, had left the two with a broad if recognizable taste for liquor. Usually, the refined, golden and cold, lightly foamed kind that was so ever popular in the Dwarven holds. Failing that, if it was some kind of booze they'd drunk it before. The sugar substance in Ind, the Elephant's piss of Nippon, the murky black substance of Altdorf's finest, the thick vodka of Kislev, they had tried it all.
Never had a drink that was pink however.
A scowl on his face, Gotrek seized the pair of glasses and downed them both, grimacing all the while. This wasn't improved the moment once he'd finished either of them, but a brief nod at least confirmed they were alcoholic. Another wave to the bartender, and the two began their arduous task of drink their way into a late evening. This wasn't helped by the intrusion of a giant Lizard-like creature a few minutes later, along with a fair number of its horde.
TowerofHoeth/Magic/Notable;Magicians/Necromancers/ Nagash
Article: Nagash, the First Necromancer.
Nagash was born two thousand years before the time of Sigmar in the mighty civilization known as Nehekhara. His father was King Khetep of the 3rd Dynasty, ruler of Khemri and all Nehekhara. As a young man he joined the Mortuary Cult(a priesthood dedicated to the veneration of the dead and the magical prolonging of life) and became a leading figure in the cult. Nagash was ambitious, and despite rising to the rank of High Priest of Khemri, the cult's highest position, he coveted his father's throne.
It was only when a group of Dark Elves, whom had washed up on the shore of Nehekhara after a battle with the High Elves, and were brought to Khemri that his quest for immortality proved fruitful. One among their number was a Sorceress, who revealed all her knowledge of Magic to Nagash. From her, he learned of the Realm of Chaos beyond the Chaos Wastes in the north and of the Winds of Magic, and how they could be channeled.
Unlike the divine magic of the priests of Khemri, based on the intercession of gods, Nagash learned of magic that mortals could manipulate for themselves. He learned of Dharand how it could be drawn to a location and condensed inside certain materials. When the sorceress outlived her usefulness, Nagash murdered her companions, defeated her in a magical dual and consumed her soul. He then proceded to enact his plan to put himself on the throne. He brought dozens of weak and dispossed nobles togather and gave them the ability to prolong their life, and in return, they swore to serve him forever. Foremost among them was Arkhan the Black. He became nagashes second in commmand and one of the most ruthless of Nagashes servants.
For additional data on Nagash's early life, please consult the relevant articles.
CONNECTING
Article: Nagash's modern relevance.
Nagash is still considered among one of the greatest villains of all history, despite the legislation and acceptation of Necromancy as a viable school of the Altdorf Colleges of Magic. Following his resurrection in the year 1666 P.S, he reputedly acted over the next centuries in the quest to build up a multitude of armies and magical forces in order to retake his home, cow the Vampires back under his magical control and destroy the Empire created by his killer Sigmar HeldenHammer.
Originally acting under the guise of the evil Necromancer Heinrich Kemmler and his undead henchman Krell, Nagash's actions lead to the resurrection of the legendary Mannfred Von Carstien in the year 3089. Finally able to lead his arm in to battle, Nagash's first actions were to order the resurrection of a grand army able to raise the lands of men. Unfortunately, Nagash's actions in building his own forces had not gone unnoticed by the various Vampire covens, who lead a grand arm of their own forces, including a multitude of military forces under the command of the Empire against him. Ultimately, this proved to be folly as Nagash slaughtered them and magically bound the Vampires to his will, creating an even grander army, capable of defeating any nation that stood against him.
Unfortunately for Nagash and to the benefit of the world, Nagash's reckless use of magic and dominance of the Vampire covens lead to a massive joint effort from the newly formed Alliance against his various bases in the 'Badlands'. On the eve of battle, in which he had spent days raising and fortifying his new army, Mannfred Von Carstien led a revolution against him, having been freed of his bonds by a number of magical incantations weaved by Elven magicians.
As the sun rose on the day of battle, the great armies of the Alliance were created with a sight of both hope and horror.
The grand necromantic army had been reduced to nothing but cadavers and bones, but at its cost was the death of a massive number of Vampires, with the severely weakened Mannfred Von Carstien having been impaled on a great spire.
It is unknown were Nagash has fled to, with a number of popular rumors even saying he has returned to the Empire under the guise of a teacher at the Universities, while others say he wanders the wastes of Nehekhara, as the Tomb Kings locked him there, forever to be cursed at the sight of their nations rebirth. So far, no-one knows where he is, or when he will strike again.
However, for all his work, Nagash unveiled a great weapon against him, and has lost one of the great sources of his power. With the revival of the Von Carstien's and their attempted subjugation, his actions forced the few remaining members to plea directly before the Alliance members, causing the knowledge of Vampires at a public level to become know, betraying the centuries of secrecy they'd built up around themselves. As such, Vampires, the few that were not reduced to broken souls by Nagash's enslavement, are now commonly know among the Alliance, and ever act in defense against him, now free to operate in public, despite continued disgust at their existence.
To date, the widely accepted leader of Vampires with politics is the now reformed Mannfred Von Carstien, whose defeat at the hands of Nagash and centuries of political knowledge have well equipped him for the multitude of political efforts required to keep Vampires within the Alliance. However, tensions among both him and the Magicians of Hoeth remain high, due to his (dismissed) claims of a magical geas preventing him from doing more than simple politics.
CODEX: Zakera Lake Incident
NOTE: INCOMPLETE ADDITION; Help us maintain the integrity of the Codex! Please source your information as you add it!
NOTE: RECENT ADDITION; This event occurred with the last month or less, and as such, may be lacking in complete sources and contain unsourced information.
Following the appearance of a currently unverified type of Faster-Than-Light transportation, through the creation of a bizarrely shaped portal of unconfirmed energy. Information received for various Citadel based sensors (both official and unofficial records) currently identifies the portal as an anomaly, as it registered numerous bizarre signals and created various manipulations of natural phenomenon, prompting a wide interest in the event, as many wish to understand what caused such blatant disregard for the universal forces such gravity.
The event occurred at 13 hours central Citadel time, during the eighth semester of an average Citadel year. Originally noted by two C-Sec officers, the anomaly occurred above the Zakera Ward, prompting the Salarian Frigate (Family relation: Linron, 132nd of its class) to move into an interception angle against any possible, unregistered threat to the Citadel. Following the rapid arrival of the unknown space ship, the Salarian frigate was 'clipped' and lost a minor section of its forward bow. Currently, the frigate is undergoing repairs in the Linron owned ship yard within Tayseri Ward.
The unknown spaceship then proceeded to crash land in the Zakera Ward lake, becoming submerged in the water supply for the entire ward section. Numerous concerns were raised over the possible impact this may have on the standards of drinkable water for the entire ward, along with the threat of possible flooding, but thanks to actions undertaken by Keeper units, numerous flood walls were built within an hour of the ships landing.
Recent interviews with Citadel staff have confirmed that the ward will not be majorly threaten by possible infection from the water source, as the water supply already travels through numerous filtration systems due to the various intoxicants already present.
To date, the ship remains lodged within the lakes water supply, with the majority of the ships mass being submerged beneath the lake. So far, this has not been a major issue to the newly discovered species, as it appears that they are aquatic in nature. So far, the upper exposed levels of the ship have been closed due to a C-Sec presence, in an attempt to ward of any potential scavengers and such. Recently, an issue did arise with the activities of a local Hanar group, whose routine activities take them through the submerged area, causing them to complain to C-Sec about the ships presence.
Also, the ship appears to contain various creatures within its hull, including areas that still maintain oxygenated areas. It is unconfirmed as to the nature, size and ability of these animals, but recent statements from Citadel Security confirm that the creatures are under control by their various handlers. However, another issue has been raised by the numerous aquatic reptiles that are now located around the downed ship.
The staff of the Codex advises that if any come in contact with any unknown creature that is possibly related to the downed ship, it be avoided.
C-SEC: WARNING: Be advised, information provided states that the majority of creatures that have possibly escaped are incredibly poisonous, and easily identifiable due to their brightly colored scales. Any unidentified creature of bright coloration is to be avoided, and you are advised to contact C-Sec if encountered. The specific breeds of creature are unknown, but their abilities range from poisonous bight, intense musculature used to crush limbs and spitting of acidic materials.
Please, if any unknown creature is encountered, contact your local C-Sec officers.
I hope you don't expect me to update this with any kind of frequency.