Lords Species in When the Curtain has fallen | World Anvil

Lords

The Lords were here forever.
Some people had them deep within themselves, in some dark, twisted part of their brains.
The Word just awoken them from their sleep.   The Lords are dangerous, cunning, and monstrously strong beings.
In their sleeping state, they can pass from one host to another just by being close to another human.
They possess the knowledge of all their previous hosts.
They prefer to inhabit people disillusioned with the world or those hating humanity.   After their awakening, they start to kill as many people as possible and spread The Word wherever they can to cause as much damage as possible.
They can summon the creatures from beyond The Curtain and wake up the great Beasts.
Their only goal is to lead humanity to extinction and take over as the new rulers of the world.   ZODIAC, the "twelve heroes", were the ones that were supposed to stop the Lords and save the world.
But when they were needed the most, they disappeared.   After the Extinction has finally ended, most of them resided in their Dominia and were never seen since.  

Aspects

Every Lord rules over some aspect of the world.
They can manipulate it, modify it, move through and by it, and even create it out of thin air.  

Dominium

The Lords have the ability to invoke Dominium over the land they want to possess.
The moment one of them does that, the surrounding area starts to terraform to better reflect their aspect.
Lands filled with fire, toxins or locust.
Their aspect can also affect living beings.
The animals living there change into monsters.   At the center of their territory, the enormous tower starts to rise.
The tower serves them as a house and shows any outsiders that the Lord rules there.  

Word that warps

When fighting the Failed Oness, Lords can use the word that enrages the nightmare living inside of the Faceless One.
In that state the Faceless One starts to lash out in every direction, destroying everything around.
At one point, the nightmare takes over, changing the Faceless One into a Warped One.  

Artifacts

When the Lord is defeated, their body crumbles and scatters, leaving behind their essence, their aspect. Normally, only one of twelve heroes, who defeated them could claim that essence, which would then change it into Artifact related to the aspect. Three years before the Extinction, a piece of new knowledge has been acquired, thanks to which anyone who participates in a fight with the Lord can claim the Artifact. Thanks to this, while the Extinction was still ongoing, The Faceless Ones had some chance of something close to the fair fight.

Basic Information

Anatomy

In most cases, the Lords retain the form close to that they had as humans changed in some way by the aspect they rule over.
They often adorn themselves with clothes that show their status or symbols normally assigned to deities and other religious figures (halos, wings, scarves, etc.).
The ones who often use their aspect or want to present it, let their old bodies be morphed, warped and transformed further until one can only guess if they ever resembled a human. This will also happen to them after enough time passes as their aspect always affects them just like it affects everything around them.

Genetics and Reproduction

The only way for Lords to increase their number is to spread The Word until someone doesn't die from experiencing it.
As such, from now on their number can only get smaller.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The Lords don't age, eat or sleep.
Ruling over their aspect for prolonged periods of time changes their bodies.
They can revert to their basic form by "resting".
The rest, in this case, means complete stagnation that can last years.
This is the main reason why they create the Dominia and the towers. To protect themselves while resting and regenerating.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

They can be met all over the world.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Out of their Dominia Lords perceive as a normal human could (unless their aspect would let them otherwise).
When the Lord resides within their Dominium they know of anything that passes through the boundaries of their territory and unless the intruder can somehow mask their presence, they know their exact location.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

They don't have names, only titles.
Their titles follow the structure: Lord of ___.
Some of them change the first part to its equivalent from other cultures, such as Count, Duke, Marquis, Earl or Baron.
Lifespan
Indefinite, they die only if they are killed.
Average Height
In human form: 1-2 meters In changed Lord form: 0.01-50 meters
Related Myths

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