[✗] Curse Of The Outcasts (Dreadknight Lore Addition)

[Swgrclan 2632]

“A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.”



Though there lies leagues of loyal Dreadknights who, after generations of absence and defiance to the ancient Blood Mages, hailed under the rule of the Dreadlord, sparse was there mention of defectors. Those that rebelled against the Dreadlord or conspired with the prime enemy, whom-ever may they had been, were often thrown to the fire; their bond to the Iron Crown shattered, and their coil of wretched armor broken down to molten mess and ash. Mercy was no option, and the price of betrayal meant the undoing of ones’ darkened soul - however, greater means of punishment had been devised overtime. The machinations of the Dreadlords were based on the infliction of pain and suffering of mortals, not so much their outright doom. For those who would betray the unending mission, this pain was also deserved - amplified, and stretched onward infinitely.

The destruction of a Dreadknight’s soul was not enough of a capital punishment. It implied peace for those who were rebirthed into a life shaped by fury and pain, when peace was no longer an option. Though the undoing of ones’ soul simply erases them entirely, and grants no reprieve, it is also without punishment of pain, and thus something worse was devised - to mark traitors as outcasts, and to cast them out into a world that would not accept their damned forms.

~:;:~

The Outcasts

The outcasts are Dreadknights who defy their Dreadlord, and are punished with a curse that both erodes their being, and forces them to remain alive upon the mortal realm. Many binds to the Iron Crown and their Dreadlord are broken, and thus a variety of things take place - they erode, they crumble; they are lost and without cause; they are rejected and they are spited. To be an outcast is to be an outcast to all things, not only the Dreadknight chapters that an outcast was forced to leave behind.

The most prominent affliction an outcast must endure is the erosion of their armor. As often-skeletal corpses trapped within the confines of metal plate, it is not their inherent bodies that rot away further (as if it was even possible), but the metal skin they had been “born-again” in. An outcast rusts overtime, and some of their limbs, once strong and firm, begin to loosen. An outcast is to develop a debilitating limp, lose an entire arm or be forced to carry their helmet around in order to see, for by some means these parts refuse to connect back to their body - and if given a forced fix, erode quickly once more.

The power of “rebonding”, a Dreadknight’s ability to regather it’s dismantled armor over a long span of time, is flawed for the outcasts. It is upon the ruination of the designated joints or limbs that they are forever cursed to wander without them; meaning that when an outcast’s arm falls from their body, rusted and broken, they would not be about to rebind it to their being. Their only hope is to reattach it by conventional means, wherein the limb would hang uselessly; prone to simply falling off again, if too much stress is applied.

However, an outcast is not cursed to fall apart completely in the end - this would suggest they would find some kind of peace, unable to put themselves back together. They are only burdened by the erosion in some places; an infection that expands to one place, but does not crawl beyond. The rusting of their banished bodies spells the deter of where it touches, forcing the outcast to adapt.

Though their connection to the Iron Crown (the artifact that enables Dreadknight revival) is weakened, it is not broken, and thus upon defeat or otherwise complete destruction, an outcast would rebuild as much as it could, bar the pieces that rusted and crumbled away.

An outcast is not entirely doomed. Though their unnatural bodies wither and rust, and they are as if lepers to both the worlds of good and evil, there lies a number of silver linings that were likely unnoticed or overlooked in the design of such a damnation. Though an outcast is initially without purpose, as per the abandonment of their chapter and Dreadlord, they are free to renew what goals they had in life. This is the prime reprieve to their damnation - freedom. Their hatred of all life would gradually fade, their unsettling aura would diminish, and an unsteady neutrality would align itself within their damaged souls. The crippling curse of undying fury would be no more, replaced by the bitterness of enduring their afflicted reality.

Whether it be an old knight seeking to serve their old king or a Cleric whose desire to serve Tahariae or other patrons that ended up as an outcast, they are free to reassume these duties - given that they would be allowed to. Though the horror of past, re-embraced loved ones would hurt their scrambled emotions, the burn of Clerical magic remains all the same despite their disconnection to their Dreadlord. An outcast is still a Dreadknight, though without the desire to spread dread. They are corpses encased within broken, old armor - unnaturally alive, and thus victim to the powers of the Gods.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages

- Free from the tyranny of the Dreadlord and unable to be further controlled or ensnared by it’s powers.

- Free to reconnect with the world they were forced to leave behind, and cursed to fight forever. Though they are given this freedom, an outcast may also be easily confused as a Dreadknight, thus narrowing the possibility of this advantage succeeding down a considerable degree.

- Free from the curse that enables their hatred for all life and the desire for it’s undoing. What is left instead is a shell of who they were in life; broken down by their unholy state of being, but stable, and able to resist urges of violence.

- Though based on the loss of certain limbs or body parts, an outcast may find themselves quicker and more balanced on their feet as they were in life. While the loss of an arm would allow a swordsman to retain a degree of their skill and possibly lessen their weight, it would also mean the use of a shield would be impossible, for example.

- Able to resist the weathering of the elements. While an excess of fire may damage them more than normal Dreadknights, an outcast cannot drown, nor are they particularly affected by any other magical element that would harm the mortal body, like electricity. Earth evocation and it’s blunt, damaging nature may be more of a hazard.

- Another option to the removal of a Dreadknight aside from permanent deaths.

Disadvantages

- Subjected to the ruination of their iron coils. Atleast one debilitation would be inflicted upon them - most commonly the loss of a limb, though this is able to be discussed and planned with the Dreadlord that disconnected the outcast OOC.

- Easily mistaken as a Dreadknight. Given the vile reputation of the regime of the several Dreadlords through-out history, to find mercy and acceptance among the mortal masses may be rare and instead drowned out by violent confusion and backlash.

- Still weak to the common debilitation of all other Dreadknights. As they are still undead beings, Clerical magic and whatever that is able to damage their armored body is still able to beat them down.

- Still unable to learn magic.

- Forced to keep frequent maintenance on their rusted bodies to assure complications would not further arise, beside the erosion of certain joints, limbs or parts. Also means parts of their armor would be weak against the stress of damage.

 

 

[excited 10833]

I like this a lot, excellent job once again, Swgr. +1

[Arkelos 1027]

The outcasts are Dreadknights who defy their Dreadlord

This would be the only issue atm, Dread Knights can never defy the Lord that made them, however they can still be a total disappointment and fail to meet the standard of their masters. Meaning that this would be used as a veiled threat in some ways of removing them from the Dread lord's Servitude.

Thats the only thing I see as an issue, not sure if we went over that (In PMs) but if we did, that was a mistake on my part

[Augor 142]

It's an interesting idea. I personally like it, I just wonder how the Dread Knight's would defy the Dread Lord in the first place?  Another good thing to mention is that the Dread Knight probably wouldn't like themselves much if they gained freedom of mind. They'd feel pretty bad after all that they did, and would have no purpose any longer. It'd take a lot to get yourself back on your feet mentally after something like that.

[Swgrclan 2632]

Having witnessed a Dreadknight tussle with a Dreadlord (Augor and Watyll at the time) before, I assumed some kind of direct defiance was possible. As for the outcast dealing with their crimes emotionally, it's not like they can kill themselves- the curse is preventative of total destruction, forcing them to handle it all and make amends.

[Arkelos 1027]

Now that I see that its been fixed you have my full support with this. Should anyone have any specific Dread knight Questions feel free to ask here and I'll assist Swgr in answering what I can.

[Augor 142]

Having witnessed a Dreadknight tussle with a Dreadlord (Augor and Watyll at the time) before, I assumed some kind of direct defiance was possible. As for the outcast dealing with their crimes emotionally, it's not like they can kill themselves- the curse is preventative of total destruction, forcing them to handle it all and make amends.

That was kind of a unique situation, yet there are ways around it, but they aren't really easy to do, and usually require another person's help.

[Merkaken 516]

Dread KNIGHT. TWO WORDS. All who say otherwised will be cleansed!

 

The only issue I have with it is the same as what Augor said. It's a rare occurance that a Dread Knight is able to resist the Dread Lord, namely said Knight being a former Dread Lord, or the Knight's rune being altered (By someone who knows what they are doing with said rune). This has only happened a few times, so perhaps try to incorperate a way on how they can resist. it isn't as simple as being strong willed.

[Eleatic 1033]

Dread KNIGHT. TWO WORDS. All who say otherwised will be cleansed!

 

The only issue I have with it is the same as what Augor said. It's a rare occurance that a Dread Knight is able to resist the Dread Lord, namely said Knight being a former Dread Lord, or the Knight's rune being altered (By someone who knows what they are doing with said rune). This has only happened a few times, so perhaps try to incorperate a way on how they can resist. it isn't as simple as being strong willed.

 

Ye. There have been loads of strong willed Dread Knights whom can't, and could not, resist the overwhelming power of the Runic magic. In reality, though, loads of DKs join up willingly, so, this wouldn't be used too often, I wager.

[Swgrclan 2632]

It is, in essence, a tool for roleplay expansion. Not every Dreadknight in the future can be confirmed as a loyalist to the Dreadlord, and an option beyond permanent death when attempting to defy the Dreadlord's rule (something that shouldn't be impossible, but difficult to handle) should be reasonably viable. I'm not completely familiar with how the Dreadknight blood runes operate, but during the development of this lore I thought up an idea that seemed reasonable, when regarding how to actually become an outcast.

As Blood Mages and Dreadlords meddle in the "same" kind of magic, would it not make sense for Blood Mages being able to release Dreadknights from their bindings? I would think it would be a cross-consented thing, where the Blood Mage who learned the ritual able to break Dreadknights from their master would confirm things with the player in question, and then inform the Dreadknight's master. The IC process can consist of luring Dreadknights with promises of freedom or trapping them in order to forcefully break the Iron Crown's binding from their soul, under their consent, for example. 

[Pandan 1448]

The lore is now [under Review] .

 

We apologize for the wait, this is mainly down to the fact we usually await 5-6 pieces of lore to accumulate before doing another loremag. However occasionally we go '**** its been nearly a month' and do it early. Sorry once again! Expect a response within a week or just afterward. 

[ski_king3 0]

Unfortunately, this lore has been Denied.

 

Feedback on this was varied based on the LM's, but some feedback that came in was that the drawbacks weren't very significant (rusting body parts can be downplayed quite a bit), that it allows for an inherently evil creature to be good, and it suggests the Dread Lord willingly will give up control over a Dread Knight. It seems that there are very few situations where it is allowable for a Dread Knight to act in opposition to the interests of the Dread Lord, and there's a fear that these few acceptable instances could grow more common with an accepted punishment meant to deal with this.

It's well-written, and a good read, but unfortunately we don't think it's fitting for LotC. Feel free to contact use with more questions.

[ski_king3 0]

This Lore has been denied.

Topic moved to Denied Lore forum.