130 Salifinos And Adaptions (2/2)

[Alert: New rules of engagement

All over the world, there are abominations being blessed with the necromancer class. Those selected for this honor are to be given positions of honor in their communities. They are some of Althos' newest direct servants and they are to be the direct leaders of the newest faction to enter the war: Althonian undead.

Althos is the god of the grave, and many of his servants are undead monsters who hate life. Their master is equally sadistic but often hides that from his living worshipers. The undead who serve the god of the grave wish to enact violence on mortals as much as you do. That said before you use them there are some rules to consider.

The first rule is that if the undead are used against a community of mortals than they are to kill every mortal in that community. None shall be spared. Use them against communities you seek to utterly annihilate. If an abomination attempts to stop them from enacting their violence on a mortal community, for any reason, then the undead will turn on that abomination. These are your allies, but they serve only the god of the grave. Do not make the mistake of thinking you command them.

The second rule is that when the undead are used against a community, the dead who are not eaten by the undead will be reanimated as undead monsters themselves. They are not to be eaten by the abominations. That said, Althos provides for his worshipers. No community of abominations shall starve so long as they serve Althos.

The third rule really only applies when the undead first appear. Portals will appear across the lands controlled by abominations and undead shall step through them. If these undead stop in your communities it is because they have no other mission. Some undead will instead step through the portals that first appear and continue to move. Those undead have missions and will stop at nothing to fulfill them. They will come back in a few hours or days. Do not attempt to distract them.

Althos is now the commander of all abominations on Salifinos. As such he has specific rules to follow. The first is that his followers must break their prisoners. Your god has the power to transform mortals into abominations, but first they must be driven mad. If you inflict pain on them, and make them lose their minds, then he can bolster your numbers. Cruelty to your foes grants you greater numbers and powers. Remember that.

The second rule is that to displease Althos will result in community-wide punishments. Althos can inflict famine, and starvation on communities that displease him, as well as pain and disease. And if he is displeased than he will do so. To avoid that, he is bestowing the cleric class to at least one member of each community. This is a class that serves to enforce his will and they will do their best to use the powers he grants them to ensure none of his people displease him. Respect and listen to clerics.

Worship Althos. Feast on his foes, and bathe in their blood. Praise the god of nightmares, evil, and abominations. He is your eternal king.]

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Darkness was steadily making its way across the territory controlled by the gug tribe that Luthor led. They lived in an open plain, one that was devoid of trees or even much life other than the gugs themselves.

Althos was swift, and mere moments after the tribe and the other abominations throughout the planet received the pair of notifications he had handcrafted for them, black portals appeared not far outside of the camps, towns, or rarely the cities that the abominations called home throughout the planet. The black portals were enormous, stretching ominously into the sky.

The terrifying portal that appeared not far from Luthor's tribe's camp was still for a few moments, and it was also quiet aside from the gentle, humming sounds of ambient magical energy. It was still just long enough for scouts to appear and prepare themselves for what they suspected it would do. Almost as immediately as it had appeared, it began to spew out nightmarish undead monsters.

Monsters began to step through the portal, skeletons, ghouls, zombies, as well as creatures that were altogether more frightening. The creatures that stepped out of the portal and into their new home were clearly undead monsters but unlike when Althos launched his nearly mindless horde at the reptilefolk encampment this legion was armed and armored.

Each corporeal undead that Althos had ordered through the portal near Luthor's tribe wore light armor and held some sort of weapon. Most held swords made of solidified darkness, but some held spears made of solidified light, or even maces that were little more than clumps of metals attached to wooden shafts.

Incorporeal undead, terrifying things like shadows, wraiths, and ghosts, flew out of the portal. They screamed, wailed, or just moaned as they did so and filled the area with terrifying noises.

The undead that stepped through the portal had a range of body types. Some of them were small, and had clearly been dwarves or gnomes in life. Others were medium in size, and had probably come from orcs, humans, or elves. The largest were horrifying things like driders, giants, and even gugs.

Luthor's scouts saw this and gasped in shock and awe. They stared at the sight of their alien kinsmen and the undead states the massive beast-like creatures were in.

The undead, for their role in all of this, ignored the scouts and instead marched silently towards their mission: to destroy a community of mortals, and thus secure the second tier of influence over the necromancy subdomain for their wicked master.

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Luthor himself was squatting over a firepit inside the tribal encampment. His multi-armed limbs were near the blazing fire and he was eagerly soaking in the ambient warmth the fire radiated. The massive monster was the biggest member of the tribe he led, and he was lost in thought.

The beast-like abomination's thoughts were centered on his new god. Luthor, as a reward for his humility, had been bestowed with the cleric class and he was currently mentally praising his new master.

All Luthor wished for was to exterminate the mortals that lived throughout Salifinos, and the massive monster was happy that his divine master felt the same way. The abomination was so overwhelmed by joy that he hadn't even given much thought to the fact that Althos had initially healed all life on Salifinos, including the monster's hated foes.

His fellow tribespeople were equally overjoyed but they were demonstrating that in a different way. The gugs were celebrating their new, cruel master by beating their human prisoners. All around Luthor the sounds of violence could be heard. Pained screams, the sounds of gigantic fists pummeling small bodies, and bestial roars from the gug's kin, filled the air.

Luthor, barely aware of the actions of his kin, was in a trance-like state as he communed with his god and profusely thanked Althos for choosing to aid the abominations. Althos was not interested in replying, and instead, what little attention he paid to Salifinos was fully focused on a single task: directing his undead legions across the planet to successfully attack and destroy communities of mortals, especially humanoid ones.

The god was mentally aware of the actions of his followers, as they surged across the planet and marched towards countless communities on the frontlines of the war.