People of Antediluvian: The Chosen
Well Met Travelers,
Welcome to another of my world building sessions. The last people of Antediluvian post that I wrote had to do with the Testudo, the turtle People who created the Monastic Tradition. This week, I delve less into a race and more into a unique culture, the Chosen.
The Chosen are a civilization of Undead. They are the chosen people of Nekross, God of Death. It is important to stress that The Chosen are not Vampires, nor are they mindless; the Chosen are their own unique kind of undead, there is nothing else like them in the world.
To understand the Chosen, One must understand the history behind their creation. While all other gods create creatures that embody the aspects of their faith, but as the God of Death, Nekross could not create life; He had to create something that was neither alive nor dead. He had to restore life some living creature who could make a difference.
This creature came at the end of the Age of Darkness when Dragons attacked. Nekross got his Champion when The Mage Queen Elanil Manabloom, one of the six Monarch’s of Highthorn’s past, chose to stand against the Dragon Lords’ conquest. She was slain by the Dragon Lord Rotfang who would go on to gorge on the arcane energy in the region.
When Elanil fell, Rotfang used black magic to condemn her soul to Araqar. As her soul was traveling on its way to Araqar, Nekross grabbed her soul and offered her a deal; she would be kept free from damnation, returning to life not long after dying, if she would be willing to lead Nekross’s Chosen people. She of course accepted. She still rules as the Cadaver Queen in the forgotten city of Zapharadel.
The chosen can come from any Race; there are undead from nearly every race, elves, dwarves, humans, etc. (the only race that does not become Chosen are the Mantir'ii). The Chosen are identified by a divine marker placed on them at birth that only becomes identifiable after death. When a creature who is to become Chosen dies, they naturally begin the slow process of reanimation, and the Cadaver Queen receives a name and General Location of the Chosen so that she may send agents to recover the newly Chosen individual. After recovery, the Necropriests of the Chosen use rituals to help accelerate the reanimation process.
The Chosen have no uniform appearance. Chosen may appear to be whatever race from which they originally come, though they all will appear in different stages of rot and decay. Some among their kind may be found with artificial limbs, while others may be comprised of all organic parts. Some among the Chosen may even look pristine because they are maintaining their body's structure with some form of magic.
There are two common clothing styles of the Chosen. The first style is elegant and colorful. The Chosen live in a dreary underground world, so color and high fashion help to ease the dullness of existence within the ground. The other clothing style worn by the chosen is used when they must interact with creatures from the surface; it is black and covers everything but the eyes, this helps the Chosen to blend in a world that is not always accommodating to a culture of undead creatures.
The culture of the Chosen is not quite what one would expect from the living dead. Because the Chosen have no need to eat or sleep, they end up having a lot of time on their hands. This fact has lead to a culture that values the fine arts, for creating occupies time and going to see that which was created is valuable entertainment. The arts community among the Chosen is incredible, for while humans and elves sleep, the chosen continue to hone their art. Many among them also dedicate time to academics and magic which, similarly to the arts, can be perfected and improved with time.
An aspect of Chosen culture that other cultures do not face as frequently is the replacement of lost limbs. Due to the undead nature of the Chosen, many find that they need to replace limbs that have been damaged beyond repair. In these cases, replacement limbs must be procured; this has led to a culture of prosthetics. In their culture, there are two kinds of prosthetic limbs, organic replacements and magical artifice. The most sought-after replacements are the organics, but they are extremely expensive. There are only five brokers who can legally sell these replacements, for they obtain them by morally unobjectionable means. This has caused the government to give these five sellers an oligopoly on Organic Prosthetics. The other alternative is magical replacements which are artisanal constructs of wood or stone that have been created and enchanted to function as a normal arm. Because organic parts are so sought after, a black market has sprung up that provides parts acquired from less than ethical means.
Another aspect of their culture that is unique is their relationship with the surface world. The Chosen are reviled by most of the world, but there is one group that accepts them, the Minotaur. These bovine creatures, while worshipers of life, they also understand that death (and sometimes undeath) is a necessary aspect of the universe. The Chosen saved the minotaur from extinction at the hands of their brethren who had fallen to corruption from an old god named "that which transforms". Their alliance allows the Chosen to receive goods from the surface.
The last important aspect of Chosen Culture is the culture of existence. Sometimes, tensions rise among the Chosen, for there are so many different cultures wrapped up in their existence that at times, some anger or bad blood may surface. For example, an elvish chosen my make a comment that insults orcish religion which in turn may anger an Orcish Chosen. These conflicts are not frequent or often violent, but they do occur. Finding oneself as a chosen is also conflicting, for some cannot handle coming back from the dead, some go mad just by finding themselves in that situation. The rest are given a choice: they may join the rest of the Chosen in the city of Zapharadel (which lies in the Deep, below Antediluvian's Surface), they may return to the grave and reach their afterlife, or they may seek life outside the confines of the Chosen Society, but this is a risky path that often leads to an unfortunate demise.
The magical affinity of the Chosen is relatively unimportant, for those who are chosen typically bring whatever form of magic they knew in life into their undead state. The Chosen have no natural affinity toward any one form of magic over another, although there are few natural casters among the chosen. This is likely because natural casters end up drawn into the Nexus of the Druid Sleep, so there is no soul in the body to become Chosen. However, any Chosen who is a spellcaster is typically a very powerful one because they have near eternity to master their art.
Their government is an absolute Monarchy, the word of the Cadaver Queen is law. Many believe the Cadaver Queen to be a lich, the nature of her return from death many times over may make her seem like a lich to those who are uninformed. She carries out the full powers of Government, creating laws, overseeing justice, and even leading wars. Her main purpose is to ensure that all newly formed Chosen are brought to Zapharadel safely. She receives the names of all new Chosen at their time of death from Nekross directly; She then sends her agents to retrieve them. She is notorious for her boredom, thus she sponsors the arts and literature as a means of trying to find something that will occupy her time. She also ensures that the Prosthetics industry is regulated, and she will stop at nothing to punish those caught partaking in the black market of limbs, for they give the Chosen a bad reputation as vile undead who seek the flesh of the living.
The Chosen speak whatever languages they spoke in life, but they also have a language that they developed as a means of communicating with one another that other races won't understand (which helps them find safe havens in hostile territory) known as Rot Speech. They have no set lifespan, but they can be killed.
Marriage and Funerary Customs
Marriage among the Chosen is a matter of personal preference more than anything, for Many among them choose to Honor the marriages that they made in life and will not marry again. Others among the Chosen see their new life as a fresh start and will marry someone with whom they fall in love. In these cases, it is up to the couple to decide what they want to do because the Chosen have no set marriage custom, often times the couple will create a ceremony that is a blending of whatever cultures they may come from.
Funerals, on the other hand, are a different story. The Chosen both fear and revere death. Having returned from the grave once, many of the chosen have only seen the black void of that is awaiting the return from the dead (they never glimpsed the other side). This instills them with fear of the grave, but they also know that they are the chosen of the God of death, so finally dying is a great honor because they shall finally enter the lands of their maker. With this being the case, funerals among the Chosen are kind of Macabre. The Chosen will have a long ceremony commemerating the dead before having a lavish party that Celebrates the existesnce of the Chosen and their chance to live two lives.
Welcome to another of my world building sessions. The last people of Antediluvian post that I wrote had to do with the Testudo, the turtle People who created the Monastic Tradition. This week, I delve less into a race and more into a unique culture, the Chosen.
The Chosen are a civilization of Undead. They are the chosen people of Nekross, God of Death. It is important to stress that The Chosen are not Vampires, nor are they mindless; the Chosen are their own unique kind of undead, there is nothing else like them in the world.
 |
| http://orig06.deviantart.net/b684/f/2013/176/8/5/necromage_by_artofty-d6aklb9.jpg |
To understand the Chosen, One must understand the history behind their creation. While all other gods create creatures that embody the aspects of their faith, but as the God of Death, Nekross could not create life; He had to create something that was neither alive nor dead. He had to restore life some living creature who could make a difference.
This creature came at the end of the Age of Darkness when Dragons attacked. Nekross got his Champion when The Mage Queen Elanil Manabloom, one of the six Monarch’s of Highthorn’s past, chose to stand against the Dragon Lords’ conquest. She was slain by the Dragon Lord Rotfang who would go on to gorge on the arcane energy in the region.
When Elanil fell, Rotfang used black magic to condemn her soul to Araqar. As her soul was traveling on its way to Araqar, Nekross grabbed her soul and offered her a deal; she would be kept free from damnation, returning to life not long after dying, if she would be willing to lead Nekross’s Chosen people. She of course accepted. She still rules as the Cadaver Queen in the forgotten city of Zapharadel.
 |
| https://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/neverwinter-top1.jpg?fit=558%2C313&strip=all |
The chosen can come from any Race; there are undead from nearly every race, elves, dwarves, humans, etc. (the only race that does not become Chosen are the Mantir'ii). The Chosen are identified by a divine marker placed on them at birth that only becomes identifiable after death. When a creature who is to become Chosen dies, they naturally begin the slow process of reanimation, and the Cadaver Queen receives a name and General Location of the Chosen so that she may send agents to recover the newly Chosen individual. After recovery, the Necropriests of the Chosen use rituals to help accelerate the reanimation process.
The Chosen have no uniform appearance. Chosen may appear to be whatever race from which they originally come, though they all will appear in different stages of rot and decay. Some among their kind may be found with artificial limbs, while others may be comprised of all organic parts. Some among the Chosen may even look pristine because they are maintaining their body's structure with some form of magic.
There are two common clothing styles of the Chosen. The first style is elegant and colorful. The Chosen live in a dreary underground world, so color and high fashion help to ease the dullness of existence within the ground. The other clothing style worn by the chosen is used when they must interact with creatures from the surface; it is black and covers everything but the eyes, this helps the Chosen to blend in a world that is not always accommodating to a culture of undead creatures.
 |
| https://i.imgur.com/J9xvssl.png |
An aspect of Chosen culture that other cultures do not face as frequently is the replacement of lost limbs. Due to the undead nature of the Chosen, many find that they need to replace limbs that have been damaged beyond repair. In these cases, replacement limbs must be procured; this has led to a culture of prosthetics. In their culture, there are two kinds of prosthetic limbs, organic replacements and magical artifice. The most sought-after replacements are the organics, but they are extremely expensive. There are only five brokers who can legally sell these replacements, for they obtain them by morally unobjectionable means. This has caused the government to give these five sellers an oligopoly on Organic Prosthetics. The other alternative is magical replacements which are artisanal constructs of wood or stone that have been created and enchanted to function as a normal arm. Because organic parts are so sought after, a black market has sprung up that provides parts acquired from less than ethical means.
Another aspect of their culture that is unique is their relationship with the surface world. The Chosen are reviled by most of the world, but there is one group that accepts them, the Minotaur. These bovine creatures, while worshipers of life, they also understand that death (and sometimes undeath) is a necessary aspect of the universe. The Chosen saved the minotaur from extinction at the hands of their brethren who had fallen to corruption from an old god named "that which transforms". Their alliance allows the Chosen to receive goods from the surface.
The last important aspect of Chosen Culture is the culture of existence. Sometimes, tensions rise among the Chosen, for there are so many different cultures wrapped up in their existence that at times, some anger or bad blood may surface. For example, an elvish chosen my make a comment that insults orcish religion which in turn may anger an Orcish Chosen. These conflicts are not frequent or often violent, but they do occur. Finding oneself as a chosen is also conflicting, for some cannot handle coming back from the dead, some go mad just by finding themselves in that situation. The rest are given a choice: they may join the rest of the Chosen in the city of Zapharadel (which lies in the Deep, below Antediluvian's Surface), they may return to the grave and reach their afterlife, or they may seek life outside the confines of the Chosen Society, but this is a risky path that often leads to an unfortunate demise.
 |
| https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a3/dd/73/a3dd73f1bfd2d35b365b653fa46faa8d--pathfinder-rpg-fantasy-rpg.jpg |
Their government is an absolute Monarchy, the word of the Cadaver Queen is law. Many believe the Cadaver Queen to be a lich, the nature of her return from death many times over may make her seem like a lich to those who are uninformed. She carries out the full powers of Government, creating laws, overseeing justice, and even leading wars. Her main purpose is to ensure that all newly formed Chosen are brought to Zapharadel safely. She receives the names of all new Chosen at their time of death from Nekross directly; She then sends her agents to retrieve them. She is notorious for her boredom, thus she sponsors the arts and literature as a means of trying to find something that will occupy her time. She also ensures that the Prosthetics industry is regulated, and she will stop at nothing to punish those caught partaking in the black market of limbs, for they give the Chosen a bad reputation as vile undead who seek the flesh of the living.
The Chosen speak whatever languages they spoke in life, but they also have a language that they developed as a means of communicating with one another that other races won't understand (which helps them find safe havens in hostile territory) known as Rot Speech. They have no set lifespan, but they can be killed.
Marriage and Funerary Customs
Marriage among the Chosen is a matter of personal preference more than anything, for Many among them choose to Honor the marriages that they made in life and will not marry again. Others among the Chosen see their new life as a fresh start and will marry someone with whom they fall in love. In these cases, it is up to the couple to decide what they want to do because the Chosen have no set marriage custom, often times the couple will create a ceremony that is a blending of whatever cultures they may come from.
 |
| https://i.pinimg.com/736x/16/0f/98/160f98091d691538833c19747b48195f--zombie-bride-fantasy-women.jpgAdd caption |
Funerals, on the other hand, are a different story. The Chosen both fear and revere death. Having returned from the grave once, many of the chosen have only seen the black void of that is awaiting the return from the dead (they never glimpsed the other side). This instills them with fear of the grave, but they also know that they are the chosen of the God of death, so finally dying is a great honor because they shall finally enter the lands of their maker. With this being the case, funerals among the Chosen are kind of Macabre. The Chosen will have a long ceremony commemerating the dead before having a lavish party that Celebrates the existesnce of the Chosen and their chance to live two lives.
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