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| - In addition to the many evil Clerics, Rogues, Fighters, Assassins, and Wizards who have gathered under the grim banner of Zhengyi, numbers of the foulest tribes of humanoids have grown in strength and are ready to march. Goblins, Orcs, and Hobgoblins in the thousands are known to be in arms, swelling the human contingents of Zhengyi’s armies. The Boneheart is divided into two tiers, the Greater Boneheart and the Lesser Boneheart. Each tier is populated by six evil spellcasters who use their magic to serve the will of Witch King.
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| abstract
| - In addition to the many evil Clerics, Rogues, Fighters, Assassins, and Wizards who have gathered under the grim banner of Zhengyi, numbers of the foulest tribes of humanoids have grown in strength and are ready to march. Goblins, Orcs, and Hobgoblins in the thousands are known to be in arms, swelling the human contingents of Zhengyi’s armies. Dedicated to self-serving evil and pursuit of power, the demigod Zhengyi rules the empire that bears his name. His armies occupy even his own land as if it were a hostile country needing to be conquered. Zhengyi does not hesitate to prey on the weak and has made several attempts to conquer the Moonsea. His empire currently encompasses the former city of Hillsfar now called Necropolis Necropolis rules the Homeland of Zhengyi and South shore of the Moonsea. Zhengyi's mighty capital, Necropolis, would not be out of place in the heart of the infernal Abyss. Even during the day, demons walk the grim battlements, occasionally leaping from their height to savage a passer-by, sometimes upon orders, but more frequently because they like the way blood feels between their fingers and teeth. The city is always overcast with black clouds in a 4-mile radius. Beyond the city's massive Iron Gates, clerics in gore-splattered robes lead armored contingents of orcs and goblinoids through a chaotic jumble of streets, past buildings in horrible disrepair, trampling the bones of the freshly dead. Though the city retains the docks that once made it one of the most lucrative stops in the Moonsea, no trade comes to Necropolis. Zhengyi imports only what his armies plunder; his chief export is misery. Zhengyi resides in a skull-bedecked stone palace that dominates Necropolis 's skyline, a dark edifice that also houses the Legion of Black Death, Zhengyi's elite orc, human, and fiend army. Not far from the palace is the demesne of the Lord of Pain's administrators, a cabal of wizards and clerics known as the Boneheart. The Boneheart Citadel and Zhengyi's palace are the center of the cancer that inflicts the southern moonsea. Given the defenses of Necropolis, little hope exists of destroying that cancer in the near future. The Boneheart is divided into two tiers, the Greater Boneheart and the Lesser Boneheart. Each tier is populated by six evil spellcasters who use their magic to serve the will of Witch King. The Boneshadow are spies and secret agents. They are six in number: Witch King One builds great temples to Orcus within his empires, but elsewhere his places of worship are small and secret things. Zhengyi's temples and shrines must be old, filthy, and dark. His altars are built of bones and include many skulls. In forbidding wilderness terrain, far from the eyes of the forces of Good, Zhengyi maintains sites for mass rituals, sacrifices, and other foul deeds. The ceremonies of Zhengyi include the burning of dung and other noxious substances, the beating of drums, and the clang of bronze bells. Blood sacrifice is practiced as often as practical, in as painful and horrific manner as the priests' creativity allows. Zhengyi's capital city, Necropolis, is a place of hideous, calculating evil. Zhengyi toys with his greater and lesser circles of advisers, collectively known as the Boneheart, and walks the nightmare halls of his palace conversing with all manner of fiends, drow, and fell things. It is almost certain that within Necropolis there is a magical portal to the Abyss, allowing fiends to be drawn to Zhengyi's halls and service. The Boneheart are no weaklings, and include powerful necromancers, High Priests, and other foul sorts. Terrifying tales circulate about events in the lands of Zhengyi. His priests are known to carry ebony staves tipped with silver and bound skulls, and these staves are said to have undead-animating powers and the ability to spit acid and weave warding magics. The fiends in Zhengyi's armies are bad enough, but Zhengyi can also summon vast storms of ferocious ravens and bony bat-like magical creatures from the Outer Planes. Boney (golem like beings with malign intelligence and mind-enfeebling gaze) are reported by some who have fled with their lives. Half-sentient, strength-sapping, freezing fogs have been said to follow fleeing refugees on the borders. A steady stream of victims from all the new lands subject to Zhengyi's rule is herded toward Necropolis along the Road of Skulls. The nature of their dispatch does not bear thinking about. Refugees fleeing the lands told astonished of Zhengyi's unbelievable evils: massacres; a road of skulls built to his new capital of Necropolis; and watchtowers along the road with beacons fed on the fuel of human fat and flesh.
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