User:TheLongConn/World of Warcraft: Necropolis

World of Warcraft - Necropolis
(Quote)

Introduction
Within the dark heart of Azeroth's underworld, the corpse of Azjol'Nerub stirs.

''The nerubian kingdom was founded in defiance of their gods, but maddening whispers have taken root after its fall. An ancestral voice echoes in the mind of every last nerubian, beckoning their return to the fold. Ancient instructions guide their limbs, enacting rituals to bridge reality and oblivion, heralding the end of all life.''

''To prevent this eventuality, the reborn kingdom has sold its soul to the very power that once destroyed it. Condemned to an eternity of cold undeath, yet free from the void's influence, the nerubians will stop at nothing to secure their own survival. To preserve their undying legacy, they will scour worlds and silence gods.''

''Descend into the depths of Azjol'Nerub and bring down the dread necropolis. Witness forgotten wonders and horrors that have never seen the light of day. Observe the majesty of a dead kingdom in the throes of resurrection, preserved in silk and memory. Bind your story to ancient legends and ascend to true mythos.''

Features
(WIP)

History
Following the death of the Lich King, the nerubians quietly faded back into the obscurity of myth and legend to rebuild what remained of their kingdom. Caches of preserved eggs were discovered in sunken vaults, rekindling the resurrection of Azjol'Nerub. While the rest of the world slew dragons, demons, and each other, the nerubians slowly reclaimed their sprawling underworld. A new queen was crowned. Cities were rebuilt. Legacies were secured. Only the isolated dwarven archaeologists of Doorward kept any sort of relationship with them, trading artifacts and secrets.

It was Doorward who first discovered the nerubian's sickness. Somewhere in the deepest reaches of Azeroth's underworld, a connection to the Void had opened. From this wound, a relic of the nerubian's past whispered of communion and worship; a Hive Mind from their Aqir ancestors. In their ancient history, the nerubians cast off the hive mind, rejected the Old Gods who birthed them, and built a civilization of dark majesty. Reborn, the Hive Mind seeks to bring them back into the fold and call forth oblivion.

Amidst this chaos, a new force entered the rebuilt city of Ahn'resat. Calling themselves the Ammit, they are undead nerubians, once slaves of the Scourge, and they claim to bring salvation to the nerubian people. The Ammit claim that only living nerubians fall prey to the Hive Mind, but if they were to join them in undeath, they will be saved from the Void's call. It was necromancy that destroyed Azjol'Nerub, but now it shall preserve it. What the Lich King started, the Ammit will finish. For the glory of Azjol'Nerub.

Caught between mindless slavery and cold undeath, the queen has surrendered to the Ammit's necrocracy, desperate to save her kingdom. Legions of nerubians have already been slain and reborn as lifeless husks. Azjol'Nerub will become an undying civilization. A city of the dead. A necropolis.

The Creed of the Ammit
"Neither life nor death, light nor void, shall bind our forms. Our will is our own. Our rule is unquestioned. Our legacy is eternal."

The Ammit have cemented themselves as the nerubian queen's ruling counsel and their plans grow bolder by the day. They claim that Azjol'Nerub's isolation has been its undoing since its foundation; from the collapse during the Great Sundering to their defeat during the War of the Spider, from invasions of demons to the unshackling of Old Gods. It was the unchecked actions of younger races that called out to the Burning Legion, that awakened forgotten deities, that tore the bedrock of the world apart. They are idiot children, playing with powers beyond their understanding.

The future of Azeroth will be built on the foundation of death and silence. From their dread necropolis, undeath shall spill out and engulf the surface, rendering all dead and stagnant. Only once all has been made still will Azjol'Nerub will be hidden from the machinations of the gods.

War Against the Surface
Not every nerubian found solace in eternal undeath. The Azjol-anak, previous counselors to the queen and protectors of the nerubians after their fall, were against surrendering to the very power that destroyed them. They argued for destruction of the Hive Mind at its source and the closing of the bridge. As their support waned, the Azjol-anak communicated with Doorward, warning them of the oncoming threats. The forces of the Ammit and nerubian royalists descended on Doorward to silence them, but a few brave souls managed to escape before the city locked itself down.

The call has gone out.

Zones
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 * The Upper Kingdom: The entrance to the underworld, a descent through ice and plagued ruins into the heart of Azjol'Nerub.


 * Amenthis: Once the palatial estates of the nerubian elite, these caverns now shelter refugees displaced by both the Hive Mind and Royalists, huddling in the kingdom's shadow. Enchanted stone gives the illusion of daylight, nurturing vibrant mosses and lichens. Nerubian refugees hide within decaying palaces, while Dwarven archaeology sites radiate out from the de facto capital, Doorward.
 * Doorward: Settled by the remnants of the Bronzebeard excavation in the ruins of a nerubian city, Doorward has slowly become a center for dwarven archaeology within Azeroth's underworld. Following aggression from Azjol'Nerub, it has opened its doors to nerubian refugees and adventurous surfacers. Whether you need weapons, a meal, or just some respite against the ever-present gloom, Doorward accepts all. They are the last, sputtering light in the darkness.


 * Khep'seti Wilds: The city of Khep'set once fed all of Azjol'Nerub, delivering shipments of fresh fungus and insectoid flesh to every corner of the kingdom. These were harvested from the fungal wilds at the farthest edges of civilization, but in the wake of the kingdom's fall, it is now the city that is being consumed. The bioluminescent jungles hold many secrets, from unsanctioned research to temples of dead gods.


 * Dun Valdr: Laid to ruin by the Winterskorn vrykul, Dun Valdr was once the capital of the earthen. A monument to the failures of the Titans, it has become plagued by a corrosive darkness. A dwarven kingdom stirs in its infancy, surrounded by malevolent machinery. A misguided expedition seeks the mantle of their forebears, but they play with the powers of gods.


 * Lethae: A vast underground waterway, the rivers of Lethae are said to wash away memory and thought. Controlled by a race of leech-like arcanists, generations of nerubian kings have tried bartering, bribing, conquering, or quarantining its gemstone caverns to contain its dark influence, and all have either failed or been forgotten, erased from living memory.


 * Ahn'Resat: The capital city, birthplace of Azjol'Nerub, named for Anek'resat, the First King. Founded in defiance of an empty existence at the whims of elder gods, Anek'resat sought to build an empire whose achievements would echo through time. Now the city is strangled, caught between the hollow enslavement by the void and the empty eternity of an undead cult.

Dungeons

 * Lost Falkirk: This dwarven settlement was established as a satellite city of Doorward, dedicated to storing and cataloguing artifacts scoured from the underworld. Following the recovery of an unknown relic, the foundation collapsed and sent the city crumbling into the bowels of the caverns. Only recently has an expedition located Falkirk's resting place, the comforts of dwarven domestic life twisted and broken during the fall. The expedition set up an outpost to begin recovery and reconstruction, but the sunken city has now gone dark.
 * Dynasty's End: In ages past, the nerubians honored their dead with elaborate burial rituals, including mummification and the construction of elaborate tombs. Rather than serving any religious purposes, these ceremonies and crypts served as symbols for the glory of Azjol'Nerub, an eternal kingdom whose history will never be forgotten. (WIP)
 * The Candelabra: The holy city of the kobolds, where the wax flows like rivers and 10,000 candles banish the darkness. Driven into a frenzy by the rising void, the high tallowmancers have decreed a holy crusade the banish the shadows, as well as anyone else who gets in their way. (WIP)
 * Gallery of Neglect: The titanic machinery that once supported Dun Valdr has become corrupted and mutated, their timeless constructs becoming monuments to hubris and failure. A dissolving darkness rises from below, tainting the living and the artificial alike. The Grayslate dwarves have traced its origins to the once-esteemed titanic engines, which now birth monstrosities. The largest of these is called the Gallery of Neglect, a tribute to the folly of the Titans' perfect plan for the world. (WIP)
 * Halls of Control: The Fellowship of Stone believes that it is their birthright to reclaim the legacy of the Titans. This coalition of dwarves, gnomes, and even humans have co-opted Doorward's expeditions in order to penetrate the heart of Dun Valdr's ancient vaults. Within the Halls of Control, one of the only titanic engines that remains functional, the Fellowship has restored their ancestral forms of stone and metal, eager to claim the mantle of their makers. (WIP)

Raids
(WIP)

Key Players

 * Nerubian Royalists:
 * Ammit:
 * Azjol-anak:
 * Doorward Council:

Vestiges
(WIP)

Factions
(WIP)

Bestiary
A comprehensive bestiary of Azjol'Nerub; User:TheLongConn/Necropolis: Bestiary

Humanoid
 * Khepri

Professions
World of Warcraft: Necropolis Professions