## Player Introduction ### The Premise You'll be playing agents of an undead empire - but not the mindless, shambling kind. The Risen have retained their minds, their personalities, their sense of self. They see themselves not as cursed, but as **liberated** - freed from the tyranny of mortality that the gods imposed on the world. This is a campaign about **immortality's price**, ideological conflict, and what happens when brilliant vision meets harsh reality. ### The Setting **The Underdark - Reimagined:** Forget cramped tunnels. The Underdark consists of massive nested shell levels - hollow worlds stacked one atop another, each miles across with ceilings lost in darkness. Think vast underground plains lit by bioluminescent forests, cities visible from miles away, underground seas, and mountain ranges in the dark. The Risen Empire controls several of these levels, connected by precious paths through the stone. **The Risen:** The empire's inhabitants are undead, but there are two kinds: - **Hungry Risen (majority):** Need regular exposure to special Lanterns that sustain them, or they must consume the living. Most of the population and military fall into this category. - **Stable Risen (rare elite):** Self-sufficient, no need to feed. Proof that better undeath is possible, but expensive to create. You can play either living or Risen characters - both exist within the faction you'll start with. ### The Core Conflict **Nergal** (a charismatic immortal) leads the faction you'll be part of. He's brilliant, philosophical, and genuinely believes he's saving mortals from an unjust system. His goal: perfect the Risen condition so everyone can reclaim the immortality they had before the gods took it away. He's making progress, but his methods are... imperfect. And he has a track record of "I'll fix that later" problems. **The Emperor** is Risen and pragmatic. He wants to consolidate what they have, build a sustainable empire, and stop chasing impossible perfection. The tension between these two visions drives the campaign. ### What Makes This Different - **Moral complexity:** The Risen aren't evil - they have a philosophical position about mortality and the gods. But their empire literally runs on harvested souls. You'll grapple with whether the ends justify the means. - **No simple heroes:** Nergal's vision is compelling, but he's created world-breaking catastrophes through lack of foresight. The Emperor's pragmatism makes sense, but means accepting permanent imperfection. - **Inherited messes:** You'll deal with the consequences of Nergal's past "brilliant ideas" - problems he left for Future-Nergal to solve. - **Epic scale:** Vast underground civilizations, path-building as infrastructure, frontier territories where Lanterns are scarce and hunger rises. ### Character Options **Risen PCs might be:** - Experimental subjects with unusual properties - True believers in Nergal's mission - Recently Risen, still adjusting - "Perfected" prototypes of new improvements **Living PCs might be:** - Necromancer researchers working on the improvements - Those who want to eventually become Risen - Pragmatists who see Nergal's faction as their best option - Scholars studying the empire's unique magic **Party dynamics:** - Risen who need Lanterns vs. stable Risen vs. living party members - Different "generations" of Risen with different capabilities - Ideological believers vs. pragmatists - Mix of backgrounds and motivations ### Themes & Tone - Philosophical conflict over mortality, immortality, and divine authority - The price of progress and perfection - Tragic brilliance - watching genius create catastrophes - Resource scarcity (divine sparks as currency) - Epic fantasy with morally complex situations - Potential crossover with Campaign 1 at some point :-) ### What to Expect - Session 1 will be dramatic and launch the campaign's direction - You'll have agency over whether to pursue Nergal's vision, chart your own path, or abandon it - Opportunities for research, exploration, combat, intrigue, and moral decisions - A setting where your choices genuinely matter - Connection to the existing campaign's world and lore (go explore stuff not under c2 for some of it!) ### Questions to Consider 1. Does playing in a morally complex undead empire appeal to you? 2. Are you interested in grappling with philosophical questions about mortality and divine authority? 3. Do you want your character to be living or Risen (undead)? 4. What draws you more: the idealistic vision or the pragmatic approach?