Corpore Mortis
Dedicated to the goddess Inthanata, the Corpore Mortis is a collective of necromancers and those others that practice the dark necromantic arts. It is an organisation that has often be maligned through out the ages, and used as a scapegoat for all manner of things, at least some of which were not a direct consequence of its members machinations.
Structure
The Corpore Mortis is highly factionalist, with many different interest groups and factions forming themselves within the organisation. This is aided by the fact that there is no coherent leadership or structure to the organisation and people rise to predominance within the Corpore Mortis through sheer force of will and a demonstration that they are the most powerful of its members. Internal strife is regular and brutal, with many vying to claim that they are Inthanata's chosen and therefore should be dominant over all other members.
Despite this, members of the Corpore Mortis will very willingly help one another with business outside of the factional politics of the organisation, though most are driven by a sense of greed as to what they will gain rather than by any sense of altruism.
Public Agenda
Members of the Corpore Mortis are open in their desire to utilise and demonstrate the power over life and death granted to them by their patronal goddess Inthanata and they believe that everyone should be given the chance to prove themselves worth enough to be shown the way or given the opportunity to receive the goddess' ultimate gift of immortality through undeath. However, as most members of the Corpore Mortis tend to be rather lacking in a sense of morality, they view most others outside of the Corpore Mortis as tools with which to prove their own worth to Inthanata and thereby improve their own chances of reaching immortality and the untold power that is said to go with it.
History
Since the time that death was instituted as a natural part of life, under the guidance of the first Divine Orivious, there have always been those who have sought to undo the natural cycle completed by death, none more so than Inthanata. Many of Intanata’s brother and sister Divines have the ability to bring people back from the dead, but none revelled in it as much as she does. It is said that Inthanata's proficiency with undeath and desire to use her powers stemmed from an innate sympathy for the plight of the mortal races to never be in charge of their own destiny, and for them all to eventually be sheafs of wheat to be harvested by her sister Thanata. Rather than being inherently evil, it is said that Inthanata simply wishes to rectify what she sees as a gross imbalance.
To this end Inthanata taught the first mortals the secrets of necromantic magic and also how to achieve immortality through undeath, and these people became the first members of the Corpore Mortis. Since their establishment, the Corpore Mortis have continued to honour their patronal Divine through the practice of the necromantic arts, sometimes for good, but most often for their own fell purposes.
Demography and Population
It is hard to exactly pin down the demographics of the members of the Corpore Mortis, partly because they are so secretive, but also because they are so egalitarian. All one requires to be admitted is a demonstrable dedication to the Divine Inthanata and it is surprising quite how many people from all species, races, classes and ethnicities are drawn into the service of the goddess of undeath. This means that one demographic, species etc is unlikely to be significantly larger than any other by more than a marginal percentage.
Territories
Corpore Mortis is not an organisation that owns vast tracts of land, nor are they a recognised nation state, so they are therefore not regarded as a territorially based organisation. However, they do maintain a vast amount of safe houses and meeting places all across Kelbonnar’s various planes of existence, whose locations are only known to those within the organisation, with few knowing of the existence of all of them.
Religion
The raison d'être for the Corpore Mortis is to serve the Divine of undeath Inthanata. Religion therefore is at the heart of what they do as they strive to repeat Inthanata's success over the power of the god of death Thanata and to achieve what they deem to be the most powerful gift that Inthanata has bestowed upon them, the gift of immortality through undeath.
Whilst most members of the Corpore Mortis do not enact specific religious rituals, rites or even acts of worship, with some not even taking part in prayer, they view everything that they do which is linked to their necromantic arts as being a devotional act in itself.
Foreign Relations
On the whole the Corpore Mortis are viewed with great distrust across Kelbonnar and in most of its associated planes of existence. Whilst the Empire of Turelion, one of the most dominant powers on the surface of the Material Plane has never gone so far as to ban them as an organisation or try to purge them from its lands, they discourage their activities in public circles and publicly decry them as a menace, even if this is not the true opinion of all within the Empire.
Similarly, the majority of powers within the Underdark view the Corpore Mortis with abhorrence, though the more complex political tapestry of the Underdark means that many factions have put aside their distaste in the Corpore Mortis’ activities in order to gain political or military advantage over their rivals.
Beyond their patron goddess Inthanata and her servants, the Corpore Mortis has no friends amongst those in the Celestial Plane, but they do occasionally find favour amongst the denizens of the Hellish Plane and the Shadowfell, though this favour waxes and wanes with the whims of any potential supporters.
The only place that is always supportive, though even they are rarely openly supportive of the Corpore Mortis is the nation of Ymeris on the Material Plane, who, given it is run by Vampires find a natural accord with Thanata’ Bane and who provide support, resources and information to them.
Founding Date
Unknown
Type
Illicit, Other
Alternative Names
Thanata's Bane / Guild of Undeath
Demonym
Necromancers / Demorticians
Currency
Whilst members of the Corpore Mortis will happily use and be paid for their services by outsiders in the predominant monetary denominations of where they happen to be, for example Imperial Coinage on the surface of the Material Plane and Fraxian Standard in the Underdark, a different form of currency holds the most sway amongst the members themselves. Amongst one another, members of the Corpore Mortis will use undead thralls as a form of payment, or to give as gifts, with thralls that had specific and desirable skills or knowledge in life being particularly highly prized.
Deities
Comments