It was dank and dark in the caverns of Marleath, and the muttering and chittering from the undead creatures lining the walls created a dim echo that fled from cave to cave and room to room, reverberating down the tunnels and creating the harsh noise that all amongst the living learned to ignore, to put out of their minds. For when a man or woman reached the age of 50, they would be brought to one of the many ritual chambers that dotted the city and surrounding areas of Marleath, and upon their birthday they would be slain, to rise again as a mindless servitor to the lords of the Dread Caverns. Those of suitable nobility or skill would be given a greater role in their next life, perhaps a lieutenant in the army or a new-born priest in the service of the dead god. A select few would even be granted that pinnacle of undeath, and retain their knowledge and their skills as a born-again lich, invited into the ruling council of the Dread Caverns, and engaged in the power games that wracked the eternal lords.
Those among the living who served Marleath were divided at a young age, taken from their breeder parents and given into the cold and heartless care of certain intelligent undead, who would teach and prepare the children for their appropriate task in the great necrotic machine of Marleath. Many of the least intelligent were taken to the mines and the tunnels, constantly forced to dig and build and carve the heavy, heartless stone of the caverns. They would be worked until they died, and then transformed into zombies and skeletons, idiot creatures that could work yet longer hours. Those with a special spark were gifted into the ranks of the defenders, the undead taskmasters, or the ritual-bound priests. Once drafted, those children would be trained and forced and beaten and abused until they had learned all that was necessary for their given duties. From the age of fifteen, they would take up those duties and carry the weight until their death upon their fiftieth birthday.
Two of those twisted creatures stood together in a quiet side cavern, one a priest, the other a holy defender, a special warrior blessed by the priests with some of their foul god's magics. They were that most rare of things, a pair of brothers who had survived the selection process and both been chosen as gifted children. Now in their second decade of service to the crown of Ve Angau, they looked to recover what had been lost to them long ago.
[spoiler]This is the official game thread for the Cult of the Damned. IC chatter only please. Feel free to plot and scheme and plan things.
A minor note: Ritualists are the priestly class down here, or at least mixed in equally with clerics and others.[/spoiler]
