Untapped Lands

You'd need to talk to someone else about the alliances held in the Malestrom as I am not a diplomat. All I know is that I've not seen any living inhabitants using Chaos magic. I have also not seen anyone supply aid to undead, let alone gloat over such things. All aid given has been to the living inhabitants.

If I recall there was a templar walking around giving people chaos blades the night we attacked the automated outpost. You might have been sleeping through that.

There have also been several stories of coordinated effort with the undead to defend against elemental forces.
 
On the subject of the undead,

Prior to the fall, the Empire of the Iron Hand was at war for thousands of years with the undead. When the living opened the elemental barriers to the planes and the elementals began streaming through, once it was clear that it was a losing battle, an alliance was formed between the living and the undead in order to try to stop the elemental onslaught. It was too late (or just insufficient) and the destruction still occurred. I had already died by this point, as I met my end right at the beginning of the fall, but my understanding from those I've spoken to is that while the alliance was tense it was also successful.

At some point, prior to my resurrection back into Maelstrom, several undead pulled themselves from the earth and 'woke up.' They came to our settlement looking to see if the alliance was still standing. At the time, someone told them that yes, it was. I can't confirm for sure who gave that order, but the primary rumor is that Dame Marize gave the command. I haven't seen her in some time so I haven't been able to confirm or deny. Since then, her majesty the Empress has made it very clear that the living are in no position to turn away allies and that the enemy we face is greater than the potential problems chaos magic can cause. Personally, I agree with her.

I've traveled to many different lands and my experience has been that undead, and chaos magic, are different in every land. I've seen lands where chaos blights the earth, and I've seen lands where chaos blights the user. I don't know what effect it has in our land, I just remember war and I remember suffering as a result of the war.

The issue currently in Maelstrom is that nobody I've spoken to has been able to remember the exact terms of the original alliance. We also don't know the history of the war itself. It is possible that the undead were the result of a plague or a curse. It could be a dark portion of the Empire's history covered up. The undead could be victims, or they could be the result of their own choices. We (the living) don't know yet. Partially as a result of the loud calls for the destruction of undead from visitors to Maelstrom, the undead locally have not been eager to come forward and speak openly or without anger and bitter feelings to the living and until we can speak to them, the details of our arrangements and a significant portion of the history of our land is in the dark. The Elementals have destroyed nearly ever source of written record and so our only chance to discover what has happened here and why comes from speaking to those we would consider enemies in other lands.

Of the local undead I am aware of, they have a wide range of circumstance. Some of them wish to become mortal again but are under curses that prevent that until certain conditions are met. Some don't wish to become mortal again, feeling undeath is the way they should be. Some undead who were not... Whatever the necromantic version of bottled is... Have been resurrecting as mortal again- sometimes when they resurrect they've tried to heal local people with chaos, forgetting that they are among the living once more. None have attacked in violence outside of their initial resurrection. One undead was previously mortal, but after receiving heinous treatment at the hands of the resurrected mortals starved to death and spontaneously resurrected as undead- which leads me to theorize about the possibility of a curse or a disease.

The situation with the undead in Maelstrom is complicated and we don't know very much yet. But, despite my personal experiences with necromancy and chaos, I am inclined to agree with her majesty- the enemy we face in Maelstrom is far, far greater than all but the worst I've ever seen chaos do. I don't know what an alliance with the undead would look like for the Maelstrom in the long term. Tian in Enerret has a system that prevents the free will of the living from being controlled by chaos and the use is regulated, the undead are willing, and that could be a possible outcome. I don't have answers for those questions yet.

If our current situation with the undead makes it ethically or morally impossible for individuals to offer aid to the Maelstrom, I understand and hold you to no obligation to continue aiding us. But, please also understand the living's attempts to understand what has happened to our home and our fight against a far greater enemy. Being understanding of the complicated situation in Maelstrom does not require that you be understanding or accepting of undead or chaos magic in other lands- every land is different. An example on a far lesser scale of seriousness, in some lands goblins are constantly vicious and little more than animals bent on constant cruelty. In other lands, goblins are recognized sentient citizens who contribute to the land. Accepting the goblins as citizens in one land does not mean you need to allow the goblins in other lands to murder you.

If you are attacked by an undead in the Maelstrom, it will be treated the same as if you were assaulted by one of the living. If an undead casts chaos on you (outside of well meaning accidents), it will be treated the same as if anyone cast chaos on you. The entirety of the undead population will not be held responsible for the actions of one, the same as the entire living population will not be held responsible for the actions of one. Until some of the mysteries can be unwrapped and more can be uncovered, the undead are our allies- and I hope that a more permanent method can be found once those mysteries are unwrapped that allows them to continue being our allies. They have done nothing that would make them not be our allies. Our homes aren't full of chaos circles. There isn't the smell of chaos in the air everywhere. They are not raising the living as undead. There is peace- complicated peace, but peace.

As I have been asked it several times, yes. At this point every land who sends us food and other aid is aware of the undead here and what their role is in our current society.

Please do not use the unique situation of Maelstrom to justify or argue actions in other lands. Our land is in a very, very specific situation.

I don't have many answers, but if anyone has any further questions about the undead in Maelstrom I am happy to try my best.

In service,

Lord Terren of Knight's Ferry
 
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To add onto that, if anyone is lost or confused about the situation in Maelstrom in general, there is a Maelstrom primer/general information document located here in dream: https://alliancelarp.com/forum/threads/maelstrom-primer-safe.34250/

The mists surrounding the Maelstrom are dangerous, and difficult to navigate without a guide who is native to Maelstrom (or who travels to it regularly). If you reside in Maelstrom and this new information makes you feel you must leave, please make sure to have a guide with you- I don't want anyone being taken by the creatures of the mists while they try to leave for a better, happier place.

In service,

Lord Terren of Knight's Ferry
 
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The Empire of the Rising Sun, the undead force composed of former citizens of the Iron Hand, was created as the result of an act of horrendous negligence and oppression on the part of the Empire of the Iron Hand. Its history is remembered. I can go into further detail elsewhere, as this situation has already devolved badly enough.
The terms of the treaty are similarly recoverable, though whether the living are willing to adhere to them is also a problem for another day.
The curse levied by the Pride against their murderers at the top of the Iron Hand, the curse that raised the Rising Sun, is under investigation, as is the disease that prompted the Pride's attempt at aid that was so viciously spurned and suppressed.
The generalities are not mysteries; only the particulars. I am not overly fond of secrets, and this is a situation with a history of unbelievably harmful secrets.
But that is not part of this merchanting conversation.

Squire Vellis Valeriana Tsalarioth, Psychopompos, of House Phoenix
 
I would generally advise that people from foreign lands not try to demonstrate how their cultures are better or worse than others. That's not going to result in peace, that's going to result in pointless bickering, at best, and warmongering, at worst.

Let those who live in other lands decide how best to save (or...not save...) those lands. They, after all, will have to live with the outcomes.

Regarding the purification of necromantic potions; it's fairly simple Earth magic, once you've learned what can be saved and what has to be discarded in fire. That requires some merchanting knowledge. It's tedious work, but not impossible. I've purified many a necromantic potion so that the important, legal components could be re-used in the market. I suspect that alchemists also have similar ways to purify them, though what those methods are, I don't know. It's probably more...uh...exciting.

-Shaman Zeth
 
It is unfortunate that the vocal minority of the Maelstrom have become such a staunch opposition of aid-from-without. Moreover, it is disappointing that their vocal interest is to profit in large ways from the war-and-elemental blasted landscape of the Maelstrom, to the detriment of the work towards resolving the land and its peoples. While stable or, dare say, safe locales may be able to enjoy such a robust markup of cost versus sale, the constantly dwindling resources of the Maelstrom can barely survive as they are, much less scavenge for as much coin as some demand. That others leave the Maelstrom to seek weapon and potion to aid, knowing full well that the locals either cannot or will not support those points, speaks volumes more than much else.

You have the most experienced among you begging other lands for food. For water. For your very survival. Desperate for sword and shield to aid those becoming capable of resurrection, those that travel away from the Maelstrom but still call it home work towards their own financial destitution, while those most capable of producing aid-from-within demand higher prices daily.

It is no wonder that the Maelstrom has not seen victory and has a constant struggle for the improvement of morale. Its heroes have a rot within their number.

-Eli
 
I agree with your points Eli, but I would like one additional point to it- We have seen victory. Not the final victory- honestly I don't think there is any such thing, there is always more- but victory nonetheless. The resurrected and the mistwalkers have successfully done significant portions of what two entire empires worth of fighting forces could not. We have had extremely few permanent casualties under the circumstances, we have had no outbreaks of disease, and despite occasional rough patches nobody has starved to death or died of thirst or exposure (outside of their own personal wishes) in the time that I have been back among the living. My Clerks report that the current level of morale among the resurrected is the highest it has been.

We combat an enemy whose very appearance is sometimes too much for mortals to comprehend, we combat endless tides of elementals which easily wiped out millions of people, somehow we still stand with extraordinarily few casualties.

This is war, and as a result it is hard. Our odds of having any success at all were... Staggeringly low. But despite that, we've won- over and over and over, we've won.

We are not a starving ramble of disorganized people, scared of our own shadows, cowering from monsters. We- the resurrected and the mistwalkers- are a fighting force of soldiers who at this point are fairly well armed and extremely well trained, many with lifetimes of war experience under their belts. My home was warlike, prior to the fall. Everyone is a trained and competent soldier.

I urge those dedicated to the Maelstrom to remember that while our losses have been sudden and always hard when they have come, our victories (though they are slow to win) have been significantly higher in number and speak to the power contained in all of us, mistwalker and resurrected alike, and our dedication to our own homes, friends, families, and loves.

I urge hope, my friends. Especially now that our hope has precedent and action to support it.

In service,

Lord Terren of Knight's Ferry
 
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