Arkonian Order
The Classic Antagonists of the Setting
Creating Arkonian Characters
Consider the following if you seeking to make an Arkonian character:Preserving what you Love
What living thing do you care about? Do you seek to preserve your family and live with them forever? Is the community you're in too splendid to lose? Perhaps you believe your golden years were wasted and now seek to reclaim the years you lost.
Perspective of Death
How do you feel about death? Do you fear death like a plague? Is death the ultimate challenge to beat for you? Perhaps you are vengeful for death turning everything you love into dust.
The Old Coalition
How do you perceive the Coalition members (Argatok, the Feydom, and Vrexen)? Do you loathe them for seeking to strip away necromancy? Are they ignorant fools for rejecting what it has to offer? Were they just in exiling Arkonia into the Shadowfell? Do you possibly detest one member over the other? Many Arkonian members detest the Coalition for constantly rubbing their noses into that land of despair.
Structure
Overlord
The unquestioned seat that belongs to Arkengrath. An overlord is tasked with ruling over Arkonia, often with an unchecked reign.
Dreadlord
The core of Arkonian leadership. The Order is made up of various factions aligned with the same pursuit of immortality through necromancy. The leaders of those groups are titled as Dreadlords. They are responsible for overseeing Arkengrath’s wishes and governing their people in the Order’s benefit.
Each Dreadlord is themed around a certain genre of horror. Should a bold group of adventurers come across a dreadlord, they should certainly feel their presence through that theming.
| Dreadlord | Sect | Horror Genre |
|---|---|---|
| Count Constantine | Crovenites | Monster Horror |
| Ethandril Nox | Nox Orthodoxy | Body Horror |
| Mother Maratha | Nashikh | Supernatural Horror |
| Salazar Kiver | Impure | Psychological Horror |
| Sar'Ganockt | Sar’Remor | Slasher Horror |
Knight of the Order
Arkonian knights are the embodiment of their respective Dreadlord's demands. They act as muscle to their skeleton.
Overseer
Overseers act as communal guides or subordinate to a Knight of the Order. They can act as lieutenants in times of war.
Acolyte
Acolytes are the proven and tested of the Order, often bossing the initiates as little sergeants.Initiate
Initiates are the wannabes. Fresh blood that acts as foot soldiers for the Order. After proving themselves among the crowd, they can be ranked to an Acolyte.Culture
Plague Doctor Uniforms?
The signature clothing of Arkonians are the robes and beaked mask. The reason they picked it up is that there was always a risk of infection when handling dead bodies while practicing magic. Thus, these garments were adopted as signature robes for the Order.
Public Agenda
Heal from the Necrowar
Don’t let it fool you that seeing an Arkonian out in Florenelle convince you that
To think that the Coalition powers get the chance to recover from their old war wounds is infuriating. The Arkonians within Grathenvok still fester in the Shadowfell as their punishment. The sentence is long overdue and they are willing to revive Arkengrath as a desperate effort. Not only to break free of their gloomy exile but also to restore glory to all of Arkonia!
Teachings of Necromancy
To some, necromancy is dark magic used to raise legions of the dead. To the Arkonian Order, necromancy is merely a means to extend what is beautiful and precious to the practitioners. The Order wishes to make this point clear.
History
Promises of Eternity
Before Nerivus introduced his work to the Consulate, he sought out various nobility throughout Florenelle. He promised them all that their reign would never have to end so long as they provided him resources to conduct this research. Of course, Nerivus had to showcase what he knew and astounded many while also mortifying others of this magic.
Overtime as Nerivus honed his craft, these forgotten rulers bickered about the morality of immortality, especially with Tabith catching wind of this. These tensions that slowly heated would cause a divide between many powers. By the time a boiling point reached, Nerivus had been outcasted by the Consulate as the founders for the schools of magic sought to destroy his research. Rulers that aligned with necromancy were sought out by Nerivus as refuge. This would become the spark to blow the powder keg for the Necromantic War.
Horrors of the Necromantic War
The Necromantic War (or Necrowar for short) spanned all across Florenelle and even touched beyond in places such as Elvarid and Undarid. Before any bloodshed began, alliances had to be made. Nerivus, often reminding rulers of their fragile mortality, formed the Arkonian Order. The Coalition was formed by various powers that sought to push back the macabre of necromancy or the idea of eternal rulers.
The Necromantic War’s key campaigns were in Elvarid, Undarid, Drakmir, and the final battle in Vrexen. The fields in Elvarid were testing grounds if Arkonia could defeat a major power in the Coalition and the victory in Falderin would prove it possible. This victory led to Nerivus being titled Arkengrath, King of Wrath in Abyssal for his brutality.
Undarid would be a trickier place to finish off the Faene but Salazar Kiver knew how to play and counter the tricky ways of the drow. With the help of the unyielding hatred of the sadarren, the campaign was brutal but made easier for the Order. This campaign would refine Arkonia’s strategies while also developing new ones as the Coalition began finding ways to counter the tricks necromancy brought to warfare.
The fight in Thracallia was largely held by Count Constantine. Arkengrath at the time was formulating plans to maneuver through Oceania to take out key Argaton islands to reach their continent. While that went on, Constantine went about purging backers of the Coalition to ensure fear is instilled for enemies of the Order.
Defeating one adult dragon is difficult. Trying that with an island full of them would be impossible. Mother Maratha would prove this wrong in the Drakmir campaign. She knew that engaging Kraven, Maw, and the rest of them at once would mean certain defeat. She would utilize her mastery over spirits combined with her Eye of the Seer to turn these dragons against each other instead. While the dragons were distracted, that was the time to engage their armies. This became a pattern that brought Arkonia victory once again.
The last bastion became Cyorrin. A battle in Vrexen became the Order’s vast undoing. They relied so heavily on Arkengrath to bring countless victories. His defeat at the hands of his countless enemies became his undoing. The Order became demoralized as their leader fell and Dreadlords went into hiding as the founder of necromancy was gone.
Arkonia in the Restoration Era
What remains of the original Order was banished into the Shadowfell. The Coalition would go about destroying what remained back in Florenelle. Without a leader, the Arkonian Order struggled to stay cohesive as lesser Dreadlords warred over who would rightfully ascend into Arkengrath’s position in his absence. Leaders from the war such as Mother Maratha, Constantine, Salazar Kiver, and Sar’Ganockt would prove that it would only be natural for them to guide the Order.
This wouldn’t stop the warring entirely however. The Leskremoks, “lost lords,” when roughly translated from Abyssal, is what they’d be called. They and their followers were outcasted from Grathenvok but they still continue to war both among themselves and with the current Arkonian establishment.
To this day, the Arkonian Order focuses on handling the Leskremoks. When there is time to spare, it’s used to discern ways of making a vast exodus from the Shadowfell to escape its despair. The Coalition has neglected overseeing their activity which allows Arkonia to get away with many of these actions.
Demography and Population
Much of the Order is made up of sadarren, vren, or gnolls that are descended from the veterans of the Necromantic War. And this is only assuming the population within the Shadowfell of Arkonia City.
The Nashikh are Mother Maratha's followers that have sworn to uphold Arkonian ideals while having a mixture of divination added to the mix. They too are mostly sadarren or other interested followers hoping to never be left in the dark.
Military
Dreadnoughts
Arkonian ships are known as dreadnoughts (not that they are an actual behemoth of a ship). Their hull and mast designs can either have a haunting green hue or a steely black tone to the hull and masts. In naval combat, their sails are known to introduce the ship by bellowing an unnatural scream that scares the enemy sailors on board.
Undead Legions
Much of the Arkonian manpower relies on undead creatures to overwhelm the enemy. Skeletons are easy to produce and arm for conflict. Loyal without question, they are the perfect unit to swarm enemies with. They are often used as a means of whittling down an enemy's strength before sending in more powerful units to destroy what remains.
Divine Origins
Founded by Arkengrath, the initial role of the Order was to aid him in the campaign against those who would snuff out Necromancy’s importance, such as the Coalition. The mystery and fear that death causes were something that many people had to struggle with. This Tamer of Death provided a cure that relieved their fears and they would fight for him to live forever. Many influential figures in various societies either allied or joined Arkonia in hopes of receiving an eternal reign.
Tenets of Faith
- Instill fear in the enemy so their cowardice will never question our might.
- Necromancy is how you will live with your loved ones eternally.
- Death is never the end. To be loyal to Arkengrath means never having to answer to Tabith.
Worship
- Adorn the beaked mask during ceremonies. It is a symbol of unity amongst Arkonians.
- Blood is the essence of life. Without it, we would be husks.
Sects
Impure
The Impure get their name from the Empire of Coatala’s caste system. The most despised group within that society are called the Impure because of their “heresy” against Slethehosk’s wishes for snake purity. It especially sticks because Salazar Kiver comes from Coatala and operates this branch of the Order.
These Impure are often individuals who are the loners, the downtrodden, and those who were deemed as “monsters” from their society’s eyes. Kiver recruits them into this cause, turning them to become his own slithery operatives to spy and manipulate accordingly with his plans.
Nashikh
The Nashikh are a particular group that follow Mother Maratha. She teaches her followers about manipulating and communing with spirits to obtain what they seek. They are predominantly within Pradesh.
Nox Orthodoxy
The Nox Orthodoxy is a lesser piece of Arkonia that seeks to uphold the original intentions of Arkengrath. The original beliefs that through necromancy, that death doesn't have to be the end. Fear is to be used as a deterrent.
The Order has no problem with the Orthodoxy, quite the opposite, really. The Orthodoxy is seen more as eager dreamers than down-to-earth realists. The Order knows that what they stand for is a sensitive subject but being free from the Shadowfell is something the sadarren died for.
Praise Arkengrath
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|---|
| Cantrips | Chill Touch, Spare the Dying |
| 1st Level | Cause Fear, Ray of Sickness |
| 2nd Level | Blindness/Deafness, Ray of Enfeeblement |
| 3rd Level | Animate Dead, Revivify |
| 4th Level | Blight, Shadow of Moil |
| 5th Level | Contagion, Raise Dead |
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