The Undying
The Undying are blessed by the Great Plague and can never die. The details of the blessing vary, but almost all Undying suffer from terrible illness.
The immortality is accompanied by disease. The Undying cover their skin and their faces to hide their blessed flesh from the unworthy eyes. Some report partial blindness or changed vision. The skin may be covered in blisters and scars, turn into hard bark or peel off. The flesh may decay, though the Blessed One usually retains control over muscles.
These may be accompanied by cough, pain in virtually any place, incluing migraines, apathy, extreme hunger/thirst or no hunger/thirst at all, periodic weakness/paralisis or spontaneous muscle contractions.
Rarer symptom include various deformities and disproportionate growth, half-formed limbs and other organs in inappropriate places, body parts falling off (sometimes remaining alive, sometimes controlled, sometimes growing into another humans), spontaneous pregnancy. Since ageing may vary among the Blessed Ones, it is hard to tell how old is somebody. As a general rule, after approximately 20-80 years an Undying is able to ignore all the symptoms of the illness and remain calm and concentrated at any moment. There is also a not so obvious effect of the Undying's immortality - they don't need to constrain themselves to protect their bodies. Ordinary humans have incredible strength and can exert huge force - yet their own bones and tendons would break. The Undying don't need to worry about that.
They may compete a little, but age made them largely uninterested in any kind of change. Instead, they do everything they can to keep the feudal system and the Undying's privileges stable. Among the Undying, it is impossible to move between classes. And even if an opportunity to become, say, a merchant exists, most Undying don't care and don't want to change anything.
Undying peasants enjoy the privilege of not paying any taxes, except for possible recruitment, but this mostly leads to even greater isolation. For ordinary humans, however, everything is different. They are under protection of a local Undying Lord, but must pay tangible taxes. This is a comparably low price for almost assured safety.
There are multiple cities around the castles, that consist mostly of the Unworthy. They create "a society in a society", since interactions of normal humans and the Blessed Ones are scarce. It is worth noting, that anyone can be blessed, but close contact with the Undying significantly increases one's chances. Most Undying are stuck in whatever condition they were before the blessing. Very few marry or create any kind of romantic relationship. It is not uncommon for them to help each other and form close communities, but these communities are often hostile to outsiders and prone to turning into cults.
Immortality and disease inevitably impacts the sanity of the Blessed Ones. Many Undying are just frozen in their ancient routines. Many turn to faith, but often become extreme fanatics and/or create localised cults.
The most sane of the Undying are high-standing politicians and soldiers, who either travel or receive the news from the outside world regularly, and constantly have new conditions to adapt to. Local Counts and Barons seriosly impact the politics of the region, as they can largely act as they please. If they become too unstable, they will be removed by their neighbours, but the Undying have very high demands for "too important to care".
Most soldiers are pikemen, while front 2-3 rows have shields and spears. The Undying rarely abandon their formation, but if they are forced too, they will turn to chaotic melee. More specifically, veteran warriors with two-handed swords are used for crowd control and disruption of enemy's line.
Crossbows are quite common, but there are many professional archers, that are far more effective. If crossbows are used, it's the heavy ones. Most Undying have plenty of time to train and practice, so relative ease of using crossbows is irrelevant.
Since the Undying have close relations with the Touched, some soldiers have firearms. These are more of a bonus, and few rely on them, but they still can be incredibly handy. Over time, Undying military proved itself almost unstoppable, wiping out many local threats. Now they are frequently moved to various corners of the Court. Though the Cestorian jungles are the most problematic spot, the Pure deny any help from the Undying.
Blessing
The Blessed Ones can never die. Some age, some don't. Some regenerate wounds, some don't. Some bleed, some don't. It doesn't matter. They are immortal.The immortality is accompanied by disease. The Undying cover their skin and their faces to hide their blessed flesh from the unworthy eyes. Some report partial blindness or changed vision. The skin may be covered in blisters and scars, turn into hard bark or peel off. The flesh may decay, though the Blessed One usually retains control over muscles.
These may be accompanied by cough, pain in virtually any place, incluing migraines, apathy, extreme hunger/thirst or no hunger/thirst at all, periodic weakness/paralisis or spontaneous muscle contractions.
Rarer symptom include various deformities and disproportionate growth, half-formed limbs and other organs in inappropriate places, body parts falling off (sometimes remaining alive, sometimes controlled, sometimes growing into another humans), spontaneous pregnancy. Since ageing may vary among the Blessed Ones, it is hard to tell how old is somebody. As a general rule, after approximately 20-80 years an Undying is able to ignore all the symptoms of the illness and remain calm and concentrated at any moment. There is also a not so obvious effect of the Undying's immortality - they don't need to constrain themselves to protect their bodies. Ordinary humans have incredible strength and can exert huge force - yet their own bones and tendons would break. The Undying don't need to worry about that.
Society
Technically, the Undying are ruled by an ancient Immortal King, the Hollow Vessel. The Vessel, however, is frequently forgotten about, since if he exists, he certainly doesn't have any political power. Therefore, the actual ruling is done by a senate of various Dukes, Counts and Lords of various Houses.They may compete a little, but age made them largely uninterested in any kind of change. Instead, they do everything they can to keep the feudal system and the Undying's privileges stable. Among the Undying, it is impossible to move between classes. And even if an opportunity to become, say, a merchant exists, most Undying don't care and don't want to change anything.
Undying peasants enjoy the privilege of not paying any taxes, except for possible recruitment, but this mostly leads to even greater isolation. For ordinary humans, however, everything is different. They are under protection of a local Undying Lord, but must pay tangible taxes. This is a comparably low price for almost assured safety.
There are multiple cities around the castles, that consist mostly of the Unworthy. They create "a society in a society", since interactions of normal humans and the Blessed Ones are scarce. It is worth noting, that anyone can be blessed, but close contact with the Undying significantly increases one's chances. Most Undying are stuck in whatever condition they were before the blessing. Very few marry or create any kind of romantic relationship. It is not uncommon for them to help each other and form close communities, but these communities are often hostile to outsiders and prone to turning into cults.
Immortality and disease inevitably impacts the sanity of the Blessed Ones. Many Undying are just frozen in their ancient routines. Many turn to faith, but often become extreme fanatics and/or create localised cults.
The most sane of the Undying are high-standing politicians and soldiers, who either travel or receive the news from the outside world regularly, and constantly have new conditions to adapt to. Local Counts and Barons seriosly impact the politics of the region, as they can largely act as they please. If they become too unstable, they will be removed by their neighbours, but the Undying have very high demands for "too important to care".
Military
The Undying military have the obvious advantage of being immortal. They do not have cavalry - horses are found almost exclusively in Astarion and in the Kashta steppe, but are well equipped to deal with it. Undying soldiers may train for decades, polishing their art to utmost perfection. They have learned to ignore pain and injures, since those are of no consequence to the Blessed Ones. Most still wear armour to prevent even momentary debilitation.Most soldiers are pikemen, while front 2-3 rows have shields and spears. The Undying rarely abandon their formation, but if they are forced too, they will turn to chaotic melee. More specifically, veteran warriors with two-handed swords are used for crowd control and disruption of enemy's line.
Crossbows are quite common, but there are many professional archers, that are far more effective. If crossbows are used, it's the heavy ones. Most Undying have plenty of time to train and practice, so relative ease of using crossbows is irrelevant.
Since the Undying have close relations with the Touched, some soldiers have firearms. These are more of a bonus, and few rely on them, but they still can be incredibly handy. Over time, Undying military proved itself almost unstoppable, wiping out many local threats. Now they are frequently moved to various corners of the Court. Though the Cestorian jungles are the most problematic spot, the Pure deny any help from the Undying.
Geography
The humans, that were later blessed, belonged to many different nations. In time their differences largely disappeared, but the vast and diverse lands remain. The Undying can boast the most fertile lands in the Court, and they have enough to feed a couple of other nations. They lack ores and minerals, and mostly import those from the Touched. Most of their lands is covered in dense forests. In the Watchman (Watcher's) Woods one of the most precious resources in Asheareth is found - Yrann, the black oil of the Yrynn trees. On the far west, the Undying' domain even reaches the ocean. They, more precisely, their subordinate Unworthy, are one of the main marine powers in the Sunset Ocean. In the north the Undying border with the Touched, and with the Eyareen and the Pure in the south. Church's lands are a mess, with pockets amidst the ancient Undying territories. Overall, the Church has a gradient influence on the Undying, and vice versa. Some villagers under the church's jurisdiction even become blessed and simply stop paying taxes.Khai'rimoy - "death perpetuated".
Type
Geopolitical, Country
Parent Organization
Deities
Divines
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Comments
Author's Notes
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