Mar'rianiyah
Amun-Mar'rianikr'ril (Father of Nightmares) Khandea
The warlord Psiolic Mar'rianiyah was an avid worshipper of Cannibal. He claimed that his drive and skill was what set him apart from his contemporaries, and he was right. He was tireless on the battlefield and off, learning the arts of combat, tactics, and metaphysics with an intimidating alacrity.
Like many of the heroes of the Sazashi Revolution, Mar'rianiyah was armed and armored by the grandmaster smith and enchanter, Ultus, ex-Sovereign. Ultus was fearful of arming Mar'rianiyah, for he saw in Mar'rianiyah's heart a capability of seething he'd only ever seen in Cannibal. He gave him a magnificent set of armor and a blade which Mar'rianiyah called the SeluSerache (the AllWound) because only the thickest of armors could stop its Metaphysically-empowered cleave. After the events which followed, Ultus never again forged a weapon for anyone.
With SeluSerache Mar'rianiyah and his army wounded the Verin occupation of the mainland on every front. Just about every Sazashi country has a historical battle which was settled by the arrival of Mar'rianiyah, who not only organized the initial strike and partook in the battle from beginning to end, but surrounded himself with the finest warriors he could find and spread his ire to them like wildfire. It was said you could hear the drums and screams of his army for hours before they arrived, and by then your army was a terrified mass ready to retreat.
Battle after battle tainted SeluSerache with Mar'rianiyah's contempt and the panic of those who fell at its edge. It became more powerful of its own accord, until one day it began to speak to Mar'rianiyah. It referred to itself as SeluKhaan, the AllBane. When he swung it, it screamed, cutting through magic and metal alike with yawning rifts that less separated limb from foe and more reduced them to quivering chunks in a single swing.
Like many of the heroes of the Sazashi Revolution, Mar'rianiyah was armed and armored by the grandmaster smith and enchanter, Ultus, ex-Sovereign. Ultus was fearful of arming Mar'rianiyah, for he saw in Mar'rianiyah's heart a capability of seething he'd only ever seen in Cannibal. He gave him a magnificent set of armor and a blade which Mar'rianiyah called the SeluSerache (the AllWound) because only the thickest of armors could stop its Metaphysically-empowered cleave. After the events which followed, Ultus never again forged a weapon for anyone.
With SeluSerache Mar'rianiyah and his army wounded the Verin occupation of the mainland on every front. Just about every Sazashi country has a historical battle which was settled by the arrival of Mar'rianiyah, who not only organized the initial strike and partook in the battle from beginning to end, but surrounded himself with the finest warriors he could find and spread his ire to them like wildfire. It was said you could hear the drums and screams of his army for hours before they arrived, and by then your army was a terrified mass ready to retreat.
Battle after battle tainted SeluSerache with Mar'rianiyah's contempt and the panic of those who fell at its edge. It became more powerful of its own accord, until one day it began to speak to Mar'rianiyah. It referred to itself as SeluKhaan, the AllBane. When he swung it, it screamed, cutting through magic and metal alike with yawning rifts that less separated limb from foe and more reduced them to quivering chunks in a single swing.
Founding an Empire
After the war ended there was no room for a man like Mar'rianiyah. He was a being of rage, not of peace, they said, and him killing Siosyan in a fit during a debate proved it. He did not wish to draw his blade against his former comrades, and so he struck south across the ocean, to cold, unclaimed lands. These became the Mar'rianiyan territories.
His armies and colonies settled along the coast and began to build. He hung his blade over the mantle and turned his meta, muscle, and mind instead to farming, building, and leading. Despite what people said about him on the mainland he enjoyed the lifestyle; certainly, he was prone to his rages but the feeling of establishing something big was fulfilling.
But times were lean, and the land was scarce. By plague and famine his people began to die. In desperation he asked his neighbors across the ocean to help, but they were so involved in their inner turmoils and construction that he was ignored. He turned to his meta, to history, to the knowledge that had always served him well, and he rekindled in himself an interest in that forbidden meta of his youth: Kyzanry.
His armies and colonies settled along the coast and began to build. He hung his blade over the mantle and turned his meta, muscle, and mind instead to farming, building, and leading. Despite what people said about him on the mainland he enjoyed the lifestyle; certainly, he was prone to his rages but the feeling of establishing something big was fulfilling.
But times were lean, and the land was scarce. By plague and famine his people began to die. In desperation he asked his neighbors across the ocean to help, but they were so involved in their inner turmoils and construction that he was ignored. He turned to his meta, to history, to the knowledge that had always served him well, and he rekindled in himself an interest in that forbidden meta of his youth: Kyzanry.
Putting The Dead To Work
Working with his highest Psiolics, he devised a plan. It was macabre, but necessary. He decided that as people grew close to death he would offer them a choice: release, or to stay behind and help. Many chose to help in whatever way they could, to serve their families. He and his Psiolic bound their souls to their bodies, stripped away that which could rot, and resurrected them as skeletons by the Kyzan way. Their minds were mostly gone or addled, but they were smarter than your average golem, and so they could work.
The process was effective. More and more upon their deathbed volunteered, until it became a staple of their society that the dead would serve, protect, and nourish the living. Mar'rianiyah built a society on the sacrifice, love, and dedication of skeleton minions willing to work nonstop for no pay. They hunted, they trapped, they fished, they did as they were bade.
The territories grew and expanded, but something nagged at Mar'rianiyah. An old fire burned, something impatient. More and more he heard the voice of SeluKhaan in his dreams. It missed the old ways. He entombed it in stone in his basement rather than leaving it on his mantle.
The process was effective. More and more upon their deathbed volunteered, until it became a staple of their society that the dead would serve, protect, and nourish the living. Mar'rianiyah built a society on the sacrifice, love, and dedication of skeleton minions willing to work nonstop for no pay. They hunted, they trapped, they fished, they did as they were bade.
The territories grew and expanded, but something nagged at Mar'rianiyah. An old fire burned, something impatient. More and more he heard the voice of SeluKhaan in his dreams. It missed the old ways. He entombed it in stone in his basement rather than leaving it on his mantle.
SeluKhaan's Betrayal
Years passed. Mar'rianiyah sired many children across a series of turbulent relationships and regrettable infidelity. He found a woman he truly loved and he fell for her. He ignored that dull ache of SeluKhaan's ceaseless speaking. He pretended he was okay.
SeluKhaan, furious at being denied for so many years, struck Mar'rianiyah where it hurt. It got into the mind of his wife and shared with her the memories of the war, shared with her the feelings in Mar'rianiyah's heart and the atrocities he'd committed. She could not bear this, and it convinced her that she was going to give birth to a wretched spawn.
She killed herself on an altar of The Wheel as he watched, unable to stop her quick enough. A seppuku abortion. The last thing she saw was his eyes wide and desperate as he ran towards the altar. The last thing she heard was him screaming "Vunkt Khesh!" Don't kill yourself! Please!
Years of growing poison in his soul came pouring out all at once in that instant, a catharsis of the darkest sort. That moment was the lynchpin which plummeted the territories into hell. Like a Shade, the very presence of Mar'rianiyah's tormented soul darkened the spirit of his realm and corrupted the meta. The previously invisible raw meta turned dark and congealed on every surface, and spread like wildfire across the land. It hinged off of every spell he'd ever done, off the skeletons of his casting which walked the land, of the thousands of enchantments he'd help to cast. Each one radiated his loathing and his despair, and the Territories fell into what is known as Mar'rianik'rril - Mar'rianiyah's Nightmare.
SeluKhaan, furious at being denied for so many years, struck Mar'rianiyah where it hurt. It got into the mind of his wife and shared with her the memories of the war, shared with her the feelings in Mar'rianiyah's heart and the atrocities he'd committed. She could not bear this, and it convinced her that she was going to give birth to a wretched spawn.
She killed herself on an altar of The Wheel as he watched, unable to stop her quick enough. A seppuku abortion. The last thing she saw was his eyes wide and desperate as he ran towards the altar. The last thing she heard was him screaming "Vunkt Khesh!" Don't kill yourself! Please!
Years of growing poison in his soul came pouring out all at once in that instant, a catharsis of the darkest sort. That moment was the lynchpin which plummeted the territories into hell. Like a Shade, the very presence of Mar'rianiyah's tormented soul darkened the spirit of his realm and corrupted the meta. The previously invisible raw meta turned dark and congealed on every surface, and spread like wildfire across the land. It hinged off of every spell he'd ever done, off the skeletons of his casting which walked the land, of the thousands of enchantments he'd help to cast. Each one radiated his loathing and his despair, and the Territories fell into what is known as Mar'rianik'rril - Mar'rianiyah's Nightmare.
The Fate of His Empire
The people lived on. They made do under the constant presence of rocksweat darkened fog, under the cold-snap it all summoned, under the skeletons who once helped but now harmed. They drove out the old skeletons and started anew, building walled cities which their skeletons protected.
The very presence of rocksweat, of the concept that meta can be corrupted by mind and thus might be alive in its own fashion, drew the interests of many Psiolic, and they began to study it. This gave them a dark insight into the way meta interacts with the soul, and while most contemporary Psiolic might not want to admit it, they owe a great deal to the horrible experiments that Mar'rianian Psiolics did at this time. They discovered how Shades form, how exactly the Soul leaves its imprint on all things and how all things leave their imprint on the soul. They mastered anchoring souls to their bodies, and drove forward the field of Kyzanry. The things they learned were almost alchemical in nature, processes as much physical as metaphysical. They learned how to create viruses of the soul, how to compress multiple souls together to create new souls, and how to strip out memories it didn't need -- Grimoires.
The Mar'rianiyans didn't find a new element of magic, they found a new methodology. In this regard it's all really just Kyzanry, but it's often called Mar'rianiyan magic so that people will understand its source.
The very presence of rocksweat, of the concept that meta can be corrupted by mind and thus might be alive in its own fashion, drew the interests of many Psiolic, and they began to study it. This gave them a dark insight into the way meta interacts with the soul, and while most contemporary Psiolic might not want to admit it, they owe a great deal to the horrible experiments that Mar'rianian Psiolics did at this time. They discovered how Shades form, how exactly the Soul leaves its imprint on all things and how all things leave their imprint on the soul. They mastered anchoring souls to their bodies, and drove forward the field of Kyzanry. The things they learned were almost alchemical in nature, processes as much physical as metaphysical. They learned how to create viruses of the soul, how to compress multiple souls together to create new souls, and how to strip out memories it didn't need -- Grimoires.
The Mar'rianiyans didn't find a new element of magic, they found a new methodology. In this regard it's all really just Kyzanry, but it's often called Mar'rianiyan magic so that people will understand its source.
Social
Speech
Rapid and often snarling, as though always on the edge of exploding.
Species
Ethnicity
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Founder of Mar'rianian beliefs.
Founder of the Mar'rianian Territories.
Founder of the Mar'rianian Territories.
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Red-gold with black flecks.
Hair
A short, bristly mane dyed black.
Height
5' 11"
1.8m
1.8m
Ruled Locations
Comments