Forsaken

The Forsaken, or Asanab-Ersi, are a race of powerful semi-immortal beings that used to rule the land of Khemet before they were banished to the black land of Gereh, where they now plot their revenge.

They denounce the living godhood of the House of Pharaohs and seek in every opportunity to depose them.

They each have a fragment of immortality within them.

Table of Contents

Nature


Some Returned go mad after escaping the afterlife. They undergo a ritual where they tear out their eyes and seek to destroy the servants of the gods.

However. these boons carried a high cost. Although the dead had no lingering emotions, they retained the memory of what it was to be mortal.

This echo of these memories overwhelmed those it possessed. becoming a source of torment. Calling themselves the forsaken, they ritually removed their eyes and bound the sockets in bandages. They loathed to look upon the mortal realm. for it was a constant reminder of the life that they cannot regain.

No one knows where this new profane ritual came from, which turns the Returned into the Forsaken.

The Forsaken want to spread out from the mortal realm and invade the domains of the gods and war against them. The forsaken seek to slake their hunger for divine essence by consuming the power of ancient relics and immortal creatures. Forsaken believe that if they absorb enough divine power and knowledge. they can finally sate the emptiness of their creation.

In the great cities of Khemet, vast libraries and impregnable vaults hold the ancient texts and powerful artifacts. Inaccessible to all but the most holy and devoted, these bastions of the dead are constantly besieged by a subtle and deadly foe. Forsaken loreseekers infiltrate and loot these ancient sites on the orders of their masters. Their secret schemes constantly test the cunning and defenses of their enemies as they search for holy relics and divine power. It is rumored that a creature that dies by a loreseeker's hand surrenders all its knowledge to the lore seeker.

The memory of mortality is too much for some forsaken to bear. The sanity of these creatures until their minds snap. Rather than exiling their kin, however, the forsaken turn these warped individuals into weapons. A forsaken slaughterer is more sensitive to the presence of divine magic than other forsaken are, and such magic drives a slaughterer into a bloodthirsty frenzy. A forsaken slaughterer is charged with annihilating the relics and agents of the gods. When it is done, it feasts on the divine power of the creature or item it destroyed.

Given the opportunity, forsaken focus their enmity on divine agents. Although most forsaken fear death, a slaughterer welcomes it, for its madness has driven it beyond reason.

In the heart of a city's criminal underworld, a forsaken cell is led by a mastermind, who carefully monitors the rumors and events of the surrounding territories. A mastermind coordinates a vast network of spies that extends well beyond city walls. Its purpose is a matter of much speculation, for its members are waiting for something.

History


At first the forsaken had always seemed a distant threat and no more. Then inflitrators were discovered within the Undying Court. These creatures' gift for impersonation is said to be a power granted by their dark rituals. Forsaken infiltrators has been tasked with insinuating themselves into shrines, temples, tombs and orders of faith. They sought positions of power to gain access to privileged materials and to undermine the authority
of the faithful they deceived.

Their imitations and duplicity were so perfect that few were ever exposed. An infiltrator did not use illusion to disguise itself. Instead, through a unique ritual of transformation, the creature painfully sculpted its flesh into the likeness of another. Infiltrators often worked in pairs so that if one's true nature is revealed, the other could continue to operate. An infiltrator sometimes gave away one of its allies to curry favor or divert suspicion away from itself.

They grew in numbers and joined together to form an army against the Undying Court. Often inhabiting ruins from which they patrol on flying mounts. Many are half mad, screaming in delight when any creature falls dead, whether ally or enemy. The forsaken are obsessed with the nature of fear and have studied it thoroughly.

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