Saharon

Saharon was the ancient unified state of all the principalities covering the vast desert from whence it was named, the Saharon Dunes. Located in the far south of the Mal'topian continents it lies in the centre of the contintent, in the middle of the Afranthian Wilds. It has however been cut off from the rest of the world for thousands of years, covered in a perpetual and neigh impenetrable magical sandstorm, powered by the greast jailor himself. Because of this, the lands have fallen into obsucirity and myths. But Saharons dark secrets are not unknown, for the gods know and fear that which is hidden in the sands, for its return could spell the end of all life on the material plane.

History

The Founding

Several millennia before the Ages of Dragons and Men, a civilisation grew up along the banks of the Great River Nhirtis that scholars of ancient times named the Saharon. Five hundred years later, this civilisation found itself fully realised as the Pricipalites of Saharon. At a time when most other humans throughout the world were little more than savages or slaves, the people of Saharon had learned to cultivate the land and herd oxen and goats, and they had built cities, ships and roads. Greatest of all their achievements, this most ancient of all human civilisations had developed a sophisticated written language, the foundations of which, so their legends say, were first taught to them by the gods themselves, gods who walked amongst their children millennia before the Saharon had built their first road. The proud and strong people of Saharon conquered the wandering tribes of the desert, imposing their culture and beliefs upon all they met, unifying them into a great nation and binding them as citizens or vassals of their great city-states. From this the Saharonians then drove the tribes of orcs and goblinoids far from their lands, until all the plains, deserts and mountains from the western deserts to the eastern jungles were subjugated by the principalites of the great Saharon civilisation.
Just as it remains to this day, the greatest by far of all the ancient cities of Saharon was Morkarha, and it was the first recorded king of this great city, Ossiron, called The Eternal, who defeated the monarchs of the other city-states and brought all Saharon under his rule and the dominion of Morkarha. There are countless temples, palaces and necropoleis scattered throughout Saharon that mention Ossiron who became the first Overlord, both praising and condemning him in equal measure. He was, by every account, a great warrior and masterful general; a leader without peer in his time, though also a bloody-handed tyrant to all who dared question his rule. Ossiron was also a vain and bitter man, despising his own mortality and the fact that despite all his mighty victories and temporal power, death would one day rob him of everything he had won. So it was that Ossiron embarked upon his greatest and life-long campaign, he ordered his priests to find a way to ensure his immortality upon this plane of existence. So it was that he became the eternal ruler of Saharon, though others would hold the title of Overlord after his passing.

Rise of Necropolises

Over two thousand years later, the Saharon Dunes were still divided into the same principalites, city-states ruled by princes by the grace of the Overlord. Ossiro's fixation with immortality had led to the advancement of embalming and a rise in the constuctions of tombs. A vast and meticulously constructed system of tombs stretched out underneatch and inside massive pyramids throughout all the principalites. Every Prince demanded that his pyramid outdo the efforts of his predecessors in order to prove his superiority. Though none had the audacity to surpass the majesty of the Great Pyramid of Ossiro, ever-bigger monuments were raised to honour the achievements of the kings. Titanic statues were carved to stand guard over their remains, keeping them secure through all eternity. Before long, all efforts of the people were expended in building and maintaining the necropolises.
The growing and ever developing practise of magial embalming also included trapping the soul of the deceased inside the body, to allow it to rise at a later date. Something which had started to anger the Saharonian gods, who believed themselves to be robbed of their followers. This in turn lead to several droughts, plagues, and other signs of divine displeasure. In order to appease the gods the people were forced to expand their borders, and gather sacrifices for their gods in place of their own souls. The constant warring with neigbouring tribes and peoples had lead to the Overlord gaining more and more military might as new magical constructs of war were created. But the constant wars lead to the discord growing within the principalites themselves, creating an instability that would lead to the nations demise.

The Great Treachery

The Fall of Saharon, and the tragic destruction of its people, was brought about by the ambition of a twisted priest named Anub-Oketh. As the secondborn son of Prince Okath-Rhan of Kairohn, Anub-Oketh was destined to serve in the Egathyan Temples whilst his older brother, Thut-Oketh, ascended to rule following their father's death. Anub-Oketh was an exceptionally gifted student, and due to his talents and heritage he quickly became one of Kairohn's High Priests, but this did not sate his thirst for power.
Filled with pride and greed, Anub-Oketh coveted the throne held by his brother and looked beyond the Egathyan Pantheon in search of a greater power. There he felt the precence of a force far beyond the powers of the Saharonian gods. This turned out to be the long forgotten deity known as Mor-kuul, the Lord of Death. This being showered Anub-Oketh in promises of power and true immortality for him and his people. All he required was absolute obidience. Anub-Oketh began to corrupt the religious incantations of the Egathyan Temples, and he gathered together his most trusted allies, of which a honorable noble named Sekateph was the foremost.
One night, as the clouds covered the moon, Anub-Oketh murdered Thut-Oketh's bodyguards before entombing the young prince, known as the eagle of Kairohn, alive within the Great Pyramid of their father. Using his own brother as a catalyst for a grand ritual of Mor-kuul, Anub-Oketh sealed his own and his peoples fates. The next morning, he was changed, transformed into a being forged in bones and magic along with his followers. Blood still staining his hands, Anub-Oketh placed himself on the throne, and began the slaughter of his entire nation.

The Creation of the Boneforged

Through the powers of Mor-kuul Anub-Oketh created an army, for every person they slew fed his god as the sould was captured and the body reforged. His closest acolytes were turned into the powerful and wicked craftsmen of the Mortek Magistrate. The forms of the Boneforged were created by these Mortek craftsmen using the bones collected from the slaughter but unlike most Necromancers who simply imbue a body with unlife wherever it lies via the use of dark magic, these craftsmen process the material extensively, for though bone has a natural hardenss it is brittle and porous. Instead they mould it through arcane means into sculpted new shapes that are harder, denser and more suited to war. The spirit that animated a Boneforged was also manufactured using the souls of theslaughtered. Souls collected were rendered and blended with elements of others to create an animus tailored specifically to the role of the construct within which it is to be interred.
To help lead this army, and to give himself a more direct control over this new army, Mor-kuul sent a servant who took the form of an animated statue of Okath-Rhan, Anub-Oketh's father. This servant was Lord Commander Escarioth, the Grand General of the Boneforged. With his guidence Anub-Oketh slaughtered every single living being in Kairohn, before leading his craftsmen down into the crypts underneath the Great Pyramids where the souls and bodies of two-tousands years of dead Saharonians layed ripe for harvest. Thus, his army grew expenetionally into the most numerous undead force ever assembled.
In order to move around with his army, Anub-Oketh began creating the greatest pyramid ever created, using the ruined stones of Kairohn imbided with the power of Mor-kuul. This black pyramid not only towered over the Great Pyramid of Ossiron, but with the magical might of his god, Anub-Oketh's creation lifted from the ground itself and worked as a mobile base of power from where he could direct the armies of the Boneforged.

The Saharon Genocide

City after city fell before Anub-Oketh, and though the living warriors of Saharon fought bravely, every soldier who fell only served to swell the ranks of the Boneforged. After many long years, the remaining Princes, on the behest of the Overlord, threw all their strengths and hopes into one final gambit, and the combined armies of seven princes marched upon the Boneforged. It was not only flesh and blood warriors who besieged the undead, for beside the Princes' armies strode towering statues. Faced with destruction by Anub-Oketh's sorcery, the Egathyan Temples had finally decided to take action and put their centuries of magical research into practice and evoke the powers of the gods themselves on the battlefield.
For as the armies of the undead grew, the gods of Saharon had grown further displeased, and as their cities fell they finally decided to act and put a stop to Anub-Oketh once and for all. Uknowingly they played right into the hands of Mor-kuul. Anub-Oketh had not only been changed and empowered by the forgotten god, but he had become his first Avatar upon the material plane. As the gods materialised on the final battlefield of Saharon, Anub-Oketh unleashed the black mists of Mor-kuul and fuled by his power, he slew the gods one by one and absobed their power into his own. With this godly power he grew into a massive avatar of death, easily laying waste to the last of Saharon's cities. The complete genocide of Saharon was complete.

The Traitor Betrayed

After having been fed the by the complete death of the worlds at the time greatest human civilisation, Mor-kuul was temporarily sated. As he drew back to revel in his work, Anub-Oketh managed to realise what he had done and what he had become. Looking out on his grand army, he was filled with nothing but regret and sorrow. In his pursuit of power to rule humanity, he had lost the very thing he sought to rule. Disgusted by what he had done, and now fuled by the stolen powers of the Egathyan pantheon, he cut himself of from Mor-kuul. But the god of death and killing still lingered in all of the Boneforged soldiers. The higher ranked still retained some form of autonomy, but the rank and file soldiers were cursed by a hatred of the living and a will to bring death to all.
Fearing the power of his own creation, Anub-Oketh put them into a sleep-like stasis in the vast tombs of Saharon. From his Black Pyramid, he placed himself into a trance-like state in order to keep his forces under control, making himself both their jailor and protector. Only a few were allowed to stay awake in order to protect and maintain the Boneforged, as Anub-Oketh didn't wish to see his people crumble with time. Keeping in mind that an incursion of the living would stir his forces to life once more, Anub-Oketh channeled his might into the channeling of the greatest sandstorm the world had ever seen. This magical sandstorm shields the Saharon Dunes from divination and teleportation through arcane means, and also deters most from physically entering the desert lands of the Boneforged.

Lost to Time

Thousands of years have passed since the time of Anub-Oketh's rise to power, and still the sandstorm rages around the Saharon Dunes. The existence of the great pyramids and the Boneforged have fallen into oblivion long ago. Even the gods themselves have repressed the slaughter of their Egathyan compatriots. Altough many explorers over the past thousands of years have chosen to brave the the storms of Saharon in search of forgotten knowledge and treasure, none who enter the storm ever return. For whilst the storm prove a hindrance for the living who dare venture into it, the Boneforged remain untouched by the pestering sands and they suffer no living to tread their lands. The ever vigilant guards of Anub-Oketh keep their nation secret to this day, for should he fall the unstoppable might of the Boneforged would be unleashed upon the world.
There are forces, however, that seek to undermine the might of the first avatar. Lord Commander Escarioth, the creation of Mor-kuul, still retain a connection to his creator and want nothing more than the death of their jailor. But being unable to harm his master, he works in more mysterious ways. By sending agents of Escarioths Court out into the world, he seeks to recruit a group of heroes strong enough to fight their way through the might of the Boneforged and the Black Pyramid in order to slay Anub-Oketh himself. Something that has resulted in more and more incursions as of late, but so far none have even managed to set foot inside the Black Pyramid before meeting their doom.

Military

All Boneforged are, based on the souls from which they’re formed, moulded for a specific purpose codified through a caste system with Anub-Oketh at the summit. The Boneforged are not just warriors, there are also crafters, like the Mortek Magistrate, and assassins, such as Malkatephs Reapers. The only movement between castes is downwards, as a punishment for failure. A commander who fails in their role may be remade as a Kavalos Deathrider, or even transformed into a mere steed if he has truly disappointed the jailor.
At the top of the Boneforged hierarchy sits Anub-Oketh himself, but underneath him, beside Lord Commander Escarioth, sits his most trusted commanders, those that ventured into the Great Pyramid of his father all those thousands of years ago. These are known as the Kairohni Warlords:

• Sekateph the Watcher
  Grand Overseer of the Mortek Magistrate
• Nehekar the Black
  Commander of the Kavalos Vanguard
• Neheroth the Wise
  Commander of the Morghast Host
• Grand Executioner Malkateph
  The Jailers Blade

These, along with Lord Commander Escarioth, control the different divisions of the Boneforged military, most of which are kept in stasis underneath the Great Pyramids of Saharon.
Mortek Magistrate
The central power of the Boneforged tasked with protecting the pyramids and tombs of the Boneforged armies, containing all the craftsmen and mages of Saharon. The Magistrate itself is divided into the Necrotectural College and the Mortek Legions. The Mortek Legions are the most numrous of all the Boneforged, and they serve as the backbone of all Saharon forces and thus follow all the other Kairohni Warlords, as well as Escarioths Court. The legions are constructed into four kinds of troops. Usually armed with spears and other defensive weaponry. 

• Mortek Guard: The Mortek Guard are soul-constructs created to dominate the battlefield. Armed with life-draining nadirite weapons and shaped from impenetrable osseous armour, they grind the enemy to dust beneath their relentless march.
• Mortek Immortisans: Towering over the rank-and-file Boneforged, the Immortisans form a tough physical bulwark around the leaders of the Mortek Legions imbuded with a fraction of the powers of the dead Egathyan Pantheon. Those who come too close are hurled back by shields, then swiftly impaled on spiked halberds.
• Mortek Crawler: An unliving artillery piece that moves with centipedal ripples as it creeps towards the perfect vantage point, the Mortek Crawler is a dread catapult that can fire a variety of unnatural ammunition types. Each brings its own hideous brand of death.
• Mortek Deathchargers: The heavy cavalry of the Boneforged armies, the Deathchargers serve as the hammer to the Mortek Guards anvil, running down any foe who dares into their domain with their lances eternally cowed.

These troops are created and maintained by the magical might of the Necrotectural Colleges. These four mortisan colleges are all specialised on different arts of Necromancy, but all serve the same purpose, to strenghten the Boneforged forces with their craft and serve as a part of the further creation of Bonforged warriors.

• Mortisan Soulreaper: The Soulreapers are the most destructive members of the Mortisan orders. It is their role to cut the souls from the enemy with their magical scythes, though at need they can discharge a blast of captured spirit energy to destroy nearby foes.
• Mortisan Soulmason: Captive souls are fodder for the most gifted of the Mortisan spirit-crafters. Borne to war upon thrones of bodily remains with their own vicious animus, the Soulmasons focus the animating energies of necromancy into their Boneforged creations.
• Mortisan Boneshaper: The Boneshaper’s art is that of creation, not destruction. Though their ossified talons can rake through flesh, and though they can summon a gale of sharp bone splinters at will, these craftsmen focus their efforts on regenerating the Boneforged regiments around them.
• Mortisan Ossifector: The Ossifectors are dedicated to fashioning the greatest warriors of the Boneforged hosts. Even in the midst of battle, they can be found developing their craft, whether protecting their charges from harm or enhancing their lethal potential.

Kavalos Vanguard
The proud and agile guardians of Saharon ride around the outskirts of the sandstorm, directed by Anub-Oketh himself to slay any living being that enters their lands. Either riding on top of mighty steeds created from the souls of both warriors and ancient mounts, or marching eternally and tirelessly with sword in hand, these warriors make sure none enter the sandstorms of Saharon and live to tell the tale.

• Kavalos Guard: The rank and file troops of the Kavalos Vanguard, they march tirelessly through the storms. Armed with swords they serve as the vanguards main troopers, cutting down any living thing in their path with extreme prejudice. 
• Kavalos Deathriders: The light cavalry of the Boneforged legions, the Kavalos Deathriders are expert riders mounted on macabre armoured steeds. They clatter into the foe in a wedge formation, breaking battlelines with every ferocious charge. Armed with swords these riders stalk tirelessly across the lands of Saharon.
• Kavalos Necrofect: Necrofects are four-faced and four-armed war giants that stand twice the height of Mortek infantry created by the Boneforged to be used as shock troops. Each face of a Necrofect’s quadrangular war-mask contains the essence of a legendary warrior forming a gestalt where each aspect of can assume control of the Stalker’s body at a moment’s notice.

Morghast Host
The monsters of the Boneforged, the morghast are the terror-inducing shock-troops of the Saharon army.

• Morghast Harbingers: Morghast Harbingers are used as flying swift-striking shock troops in the Mortek legions, darting in with terrifying speed for such monstrous creatures. They descend from the skies like macabre angels, then butcher the foe with their darksome blades.
• Morghast Harvester: Harvesters are monstrous juggernauts of bone and metal created by the Boneforged as both weapons and collectors of the dead. These constructs are surrounded by the terrible miasma of death and have many limbs to tear through infantry formations and then collect their remains for later use.

We are the forged, we are the chosen, we are death.

2500 AE - 4300 AE

Type

Geopolitical, Lordship

Capital

Morkarha

Demonym

Saharonian

Leader

Anub-Oketh

Leader Title

Overlord of the Saharon Dunes

Government System

Thanatocracy / Necrocracy

Power Structure

Confederation

Neighboring Nations

• Yelanids

Related Historical Events

• 2000 AE
  Rise of Saharon