Necromonger

The Necromongers are a religious empire that zealously and violently follows and propagates its religion Necroism. They are an absolutely fanatic group that believes life is antagonistic to the natural state of the universe. They intend to convert or kill all who oppose them.

Beliefs
The Necromongers believe that each 'verse has its own god, that life is antagonistic to the natural order of the universe and must be purged from it to be reborn in the Underverse. The Underverse is their promised land, but they believe that unless a person dies "in due time,” they will not go to the Underverse.

They also believe heavily in a philosophy of, "You keep what you kill,” believing that ending another person’s life entitles you to their property and position.

Conversion
The Necromongers do not reproduce in order to avoid further propagating life, so all Necromongers are converts, not born into the religion. When someone undergoes the conversion, they receive the Mark of the Necromonger.

Because of two painful spikes are stabbed into the sides of their necks, they learn how one pain can lessen another. After this "purification" the nerves are numbed, and color drains from the converts eyes and skin. The new converts wear, burned, tattered, and decayed robes. To ensure that breeding will not occur converts reproductive organs are altered, but not in a way that would hinder sexual pleasure, which is itself not restricted by their religion.

Military
The troops of the empire are particularly effective, since they view death as honorable, and are also unable to feel pain. The warriors do not believe in unblemished or clean armor, believing that the more damage you show, the greater the warrior you are.

Armament & Equipment
While the soldiers of the Necromonger Empire do wield guns, it is considered more honorable to use melee weapons.


 * Gravity Gun


 * Poll Axe


 * Lensors

Armada

 * "It is said the comet always precedes them."
 * —Imam

The Necromonger fleet moves from planet to planet, system to system, appearing as a comet before arrival. The Armada first began to take shape under the orders of Covu after his discovery of the Underverse. The Armada arose from Oltovm who Covu left behind as he and his Necromongers entered the Threshold. Oltovm the Builder began to construct a bigger armada, but he never saw First Ascension when the New Armarda arose from Asylum and chose Naphemil the Navigator to replace him. Naphemil had Necropolis unearthed and entombed in the Basilica, which travels with the armada on it's conquest through space.


 * Basilica - Command Ship


 * Sarcophagus - Troop Transport


 * Fighters - Aerial support


 * Frigate -


 * Warrior Ship - Aerial assault


 * Conquest Icons - Superweapon/carriers

Pre-Necroism
The necromongers can track their history back to the Brotherhood of Austeres. The group sought to distance themselves from the other worlds of man that they found so corrupting. The Austeres settled on the world Asylum.

Quickly dissension arose, Covu an important scientist-philosopher began teaching the then radical belief that there might be more than one God indeed, that there might be as many Gods as there were "universes"!

Covu decried monotheism as an unnecessary vestige of Jesusism. He believed that it should be shed with other Christian trappings already left behind by the Austeres. For this stance, Covu was persecuted by the Austeres. When he declined to recant his positions, deemed heretical, the Austeres tortured Covu day and night, and the abuse was so relentless that Covu lost the ability to feel pain.

Soon the Austeres turned their ire on Covu's family, torturing and killing them. Covu would have died at the hands of the Austeres, too, had it not been for the few followers, Covulytes, who had been drawn to his teachings and who helped Covu to escape.

Outcast, Covu wandered space with the corpses of his wife and children. How long he journeyed is unclear, but eventually Covu made a discovery of unimaginable import: a rift in known space that constituted a crossover to another 'verse. The Threshold!

The Covulytes were afraid to approach this strange and turbulent corner of uncharted space. Only Covu pushed ahead, perhaps driven by the need to lay his family to rest in a place that would remain undisturbed by the Austeres.

Only minutes later, Covu returned, yet he seemed years older. Too, he seemed stronger, more resolute in his words and ways. Speaking to his astounded followers, Covu claimed his family was no longer dead, that they had risen and walked again in the 'verse on the far side of the Threshold, a glorious place he called "Underverse."

Imbued with an almost magical new strength, Covu took righteous retribution on the Austeres who had cast him out. He fought and killed their commanders, claiming their heads as he did so. Looking into their newly dead eyes, he was overheard to whisper, "You keep what you kill."

In victory, Covu assumed the new office of "lord marshal," the one rank that cannot be superseded. After forcing them to bow before him, Covu reorganized the last living Austeres into a more regimented though still pre-military society.

So different was this society that it begged for a new name and a new place of worship. Covu termed this new ideological order "Necroism." As a powerful testament to it, Necropolis the most hallowed hall of the necromongers was erected on the tallest mountain of Asylum.

First Regime: Covu the Transcended
Covu had seen, firsthand, the beauty that is the UnderVerse. So compelling was the sight that he taught that all life elsewhere was "a spontaneous outbreak," an "unguided mistake" that needed correction. The Natural State was death and what came afterward. Covu and all Necromongers were also part of this "grand error," but having seen the truth, they were duty bound to remain alive until the known 'verse was swept clean of all human life.

Some years later, Covu chose a successor. It was Oltovm the Builder, the officer who had laid the first and last stone of Necropolis. Oltovm set out with Covu to return to the Threshold. It was an arduous journey, months long. Some in their company wondered aloud if Covu had ever seen the Threshold at all, and they started to doubt his word.

But then it was found! Oltovm describes the Threshold as "Surrounded by great tidal forces of space, treacherous to navigate near, yes, but exotically beautiful, hinting at the dark wonders that lurk beyond." Days were spent waiting for the tidal forces to ease, and then finally the Threshold opened! Covu ordered all Necromongers except Oltovm to turn their backs as approach was made, and that forever established how a Necromonger vessel nears the open Threshold: aftward first.

Indeed, no living Necromonger except a Lord Marshal may cast his eyes upon the Under Verse. On the Threshold the two men stood, the once and future lord marshals, both now gazing into the beautiful strangeness of UnderVerse. What words passed between them was never recorded. But while Oltovm held his place, Covu strode on into the UnderVerse and was never seen again.

Second Regime: Oltovm the Builder
Intent on never losing his way to this remarkable place, Oltovm erected hidden navigational markers that would lead him back. Never again would any-one doubt its existence! Once the way was charted, Oltovm initiated the construction of a portal around the Threshold—forces that could resist the vortices of space and force open the Threshold on demand.

A trusted officer was tasked with guarding the Threshold against marauding races. His name was never recorded, so he is simply referred to herein as the Guardian of the Underverse. Said to be nearly three meters tall, the Guardian and his legion of faithful will repel any non-Necromonger who may make unauthorized approach to this most holy of places.

During those times when the Threshold is opened to admit a Lord Marshal on pilgrimage, the Guardian and his warriors must turn their backs so as not to gaze upon the UnderVerse.

Early in the Second Regime there arose a controversy. How can procreation be tolerated in a faith devoted to non-life? The solution was to ban all breeding (though of course not the sex act itself).

This prohibition led to the inevitable conclusion that the Faith would die out in one generation's time unless new converts could be found. The Faith was still great, but distances of space were greater. More ships with improved drives were needed.

Now, Oltovm was no longer a young man, and the construction of the Threshold portal had occupied many of his years. Still, he became devoted to the idea of gifting Necromongers with the greatest armada ever seen.

The manpower needs were tremendous. The task of meeting that need fell to a fiery young commander full of the Faith, named Baylock. An ardent student of the teachings of Covu.

Baylock was admired even if some of his actions drew criticism. Among other things, he used unconventional means to subjugate all the races of Boroneau V. Strong backs and new resources were needed to build the armada, and Baylock delivered them at whip's end.

Oltovm never saw First Ascension, the day the new Necromonger armada rose from Asylum. Instead, he chose his successor and then chose ritualistic suicide at the edge of the Threshold.

Oltovm had told others it was "due time" for his death, and it is he who is now credited with this important distinction of Necroism. Even while we covet death, there is a right and proper moment for any death. Unless a Necromonger dies in "due time," he will be prohibited from entering the Underverse.

Followers

 * Dame Vaako
 * Krone
 * Zhylaw
 * Zhylaw
 * Zhylaw
 * Zhylaw