02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

318 Iron Kingdoms
108.1.141.197
Mass graves, and other sites oF vioLenCe on the MainLand in
order to suppLeMent their suppLy oF neCrotite.
Toruk and the Lich Lords
Toruk is the unquestioned lord and living god that
rules all of Cryx, but it was not always so. Thousands
of years before the Iron Kingdoms Era, Toruk split
His incredible power into several pieces to create the
dragons of Immoren—His children. In His efforts to
make servants worthy of His attention, Toruk instilled
the brood with a powerful and terrible ambition akin to
His own. In the centuries of their nurturing, they also
grew in hunger—a hunger making them dangerous
and unruly. In time the broodlings attempted to steal
their father’s power.
Toruk’s children betrayed Him, and a great war
erupted in the skies between father and spawn. In a
magnificent rage the Dragonfather slew His children
and devoured their athancs, the heart stones that
gave them life, and in doing so reclaimed that which
He had given them. Some of the treasonous brood
escaped His wrath unnoticed, and learning from the
deaths of their siblings, they banded together. In
His weakened state, Toruk could not withstand His
children, and He departed in haste to bide His time.
After the Dragonfather’s departure, the innate natures
of His brood took over. The dragons forgot their oaths
to one another, and they engaged in cannibalistic
duels, each desiring the athanc of the other.
Meanwhile Toruk eventually settled in the Scharde
Islands and began to lay the foundation for what would
become His Nightmare Empire. When He arrived,
Toruk discovered the islands were ruled by a dozen
pirate kings. The Dragonlord offered a choice to
the rulers of the Scharde Islands—bow or be broken.
The pirate kings instantly bowed before His majesty
and surrendered their crowns. For their fealty Toruk
bestowed upon them great power, transforming them
into His Lich Lords and granting them unending
servitude in undeath. From within the dark halls of
His city-citadel of Skell, the Dragonfather has ruled
through their dark ministries.
Each Lich Lord is charged with carrying out
Toruk’s will and, in turn, they are served by an army
of dedicated servants and thralls. The Lich Lords
seldom work in concert, and each bears his own
responsibilities. Some govern territories while others
serve as generals commanding a portion of His vast
fleet. Always twelve in number, more than half of the
original Lich Lords remain in the Dragonfather’s
service, for when one of them falls, another is elevated
to take his place. In this way Toruk ensures He is
always served by the most cunning and ruthless of His
powerful undead servants.
Cryx’s Military
The forces of Cryx exist solely to devour any and all
things at the behest of the Dragonfather. Their martial
strengths are speed, surprise, and force in numbers.
Enemies of the undying know they must never be
lax in their vigilance, for seemingly out of nowhere
raiders can arrive without warning, carried across the
sea aboard their infamous blackships.
Spreading like a cancer, Toruk’s agents constantly
gather the dead of the battlefield. The Cryxian military
is varied and powerful. More than once an apparently
defeated Cryxian army has suddenly risen to snatch
victory from its would-be vanquishers. These forces
are made of blood-starved Satyxis reavers, degenerate
mercenaries, and shambling thralls.
From the metal-rending fists of a mechanithrall
to the filth-belching cannon of the bloat thrall,
necrotechs have placed their stamp on everything that
walks, crawls, or slithers out of their dank, macabre
workshops. Supporting Toruk’s legions are the
necrotechs’ black-iron masterpieces: shadow-forged
bonejacks and helljacks. They are ultimate products of
malignant intention and some of the most harrowing
creations in the Cryxian arsenal.
While scouring western Immoren for its dead,
Cryxian agents have specifically sought the bodies of
arcane mechanics, innovaters, and strategic thinkers
and stripped them of their secrets—questioning the
dead is often easier than interrogating the living.
What these forensic necromancers uncovered has
bolstered their ‘jacks even more. They ascertained the
make up of the arc node allowing warcasters to channel
their potent magics through their warjacks. Effectively
extending the range and battle potency of warcasters
to devastating levels, this pilfered technology has
augmented Cryx’s ‘jacks to even greater levels of
malevolent destruction.