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[Enoch]

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A legion of undead laborers to work the fields and the furnaces…Enoch had not seen undead used for such purposes but had no doubt it could be done with relative ease. Lord Tarothin had charged him with the task of creating such a workforce from the less useful townsfolk of the recently conquered Occlo. Re-animation was never Enoch’s primary field of study in Umbra, and most certainly not at the Lycaeum. Of course, he had performed the common re-animations that any decent necromancer was capable of…creating short lived and wildly violent undead beings out of random corpses. In his time in Umbra he had witnessed the re-animation of glorious death knights, pure extensions of the will of Oblivion, but those beautiful beings had been created from the bodies of great warriors who had already pledged their very existence to Oblivion. The meager townsfolk of Occlo had little hope of achieving such greatness, but they might still achieve some level of glory as the Dark Order’s undead workforce.

Enoch headed to Umbra to search the libraries for texts regarding re-animation. With his research gathered and a steady supply of test subjects available from the gutters of Occlo, he prepared to begin crafting the ultimate worker…one who never complained or disobeyed, serving tirelessly to fuel the new forces of Oblivion. While there was likely already a spell for this somewhere in the vast repertory of Umbra, Enoch couldn’t help but feel it would be more intriguing to apply the general principles of re-animation to a series of experiments to find the solution himself. While the death knights of old had been committed to the service of Oblivion in life, these townsfolk held no such desires. To simply re-animate them would likely result in mindless and uncontrollably violent creations, akin to those that wandered Sosaria’s graveyards. No, before they could be crafted into usefel servants of Oblivion their minds would have to be altered. Their sense of will and freedom would have to be destroyed while leaving their minds just intact enough to comprehend orders.

Thankfully Enoch was well equipped for such a task. With the sensory illusion magic that had been passed down to him by his mentor and former master Lady Kaelthir, Enoch was more than capable of wreaking havoc on the minds of these simple peasants. He would have to experiment, and there would undoubtedly be some failures before he got it just right. To avoid needless waste, he would begin with those townsfolk who had little hope of achieving anything more in life. The sick, the homeless, the elderly already teetering on the edge of Oblivion’s embrace...the world would not miss these people. If anything, Enoch was doing them a great service, providing them with one last chance to make a meaningful impact on the world and to experience that rare and treasured state of being called undeath. Everything was set for Enoch’s work to begin. This was going to be fun!

[Enoch]

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Day after day Enoch's experiments drew on in the hidden laboratories of Charnel Hill. Here, secluded far from the city of Occlo, the cries and pleas of his subjects would not draw unwanted attention. Their pathetic attempts to cling to their old lives were a mild annoyance, at worst. Enoch assured each of them that they were being elevated to a higher plane of being, but for some reason that generally failed to comfort them. Puzzled but undeterred, he proceeded to craft elaborate illusions to appropriately influence the minds and souls of these feeble people, to prepare them for a state of undead servitude. If they would not embrace undeath willingly, their minds would have to be molded into such a state that they could be controlled once they were re-animated.

The sacrifices and re-animations that followed yielded a variety of results. Some of them were uncontrollably violent, some were self-destructive, and others were so thoroughly destroyed mentally that they had to be manually manipulated like puppets. With each successive day and with each subject Enoch grew closer to his goal until finally the recipe was perfected. With a few blunders, but managing not to waste anyone of real worth, he had managed to create simple undead beings capable of labor but void of any desire for self-fulfillment. These creations could be made to perform any task they would have been capable of in life, doing so willingly and without complaint, and with only minimal supervision and maintenance. Tarothin would be most pleased.

[Enoch]

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As Enoch looked out into the fields of Occlo and saw the results of his work, he could not help but feel inspired. His creations were but a small and simple tribute to the glory of Oblivion, but beautiful nonetheless. Having spent many years in Umbra studying the properties and flow of entropic energy, he felt himself transitioning smoothly and naturally from the simple commonly known re-animation spells into more advanced and long-lasting work. The lowest levels of human filth had been cleansed from the streets of Occlo, and had been granted a second chance for a meaningful existence. After so much meaningless suffering in life, they had finally been given a purpose.

As pleased as Enoch was with the results of his experiments, this was no time to rest or slow down. These re-animated townsfolk were just the beginning. Occlo was littered with small cemeteries and graves. Enoch’s next project would be to raise long-lasting and controllable beings from the remains found within these graves. Step by step he would unlock the secrets of undeath, as his predecessors had done before him. His old mentors had given him a strong start. All that was left was to piece together the knowledge available to him.

Through clever networking, Enoch had managed to obtain unrestricted access to the vast libraries of both Umbra and Moonglow. Any spare moment he had, day or night, was spent pouring over texts and memorizing spells. He read through his old journals, reviewing the teachings that had been passed down to him by Kaelthir, Izrem, and the other necromancers of the Ebon Skull. His passion for necromancy was reaching an all-time high. He felt the call of Oblivion, and had no choice but to answer.

[Tarothin Armunn]

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After traversing the town and seeing what Enoch had accomplished, he can only think back when he first thought of installing oblivion into the Dark Order.

He had gone to Darrien Church, a lich lord of Oblivion, and he had agreed under certain conditions to head the Oblivion sect of the Dark Order years back. Though much was accomplished then, and the Order almost took over a huge chunk of Felluca, Darrien never used the weak and unjust as Enoch did.

Pleased that this was being done and little by little the population of Occlo dwindled, he went to speak with Enoch about further plans.

"Anyone in Occlo that is not fully loyal to the Dark Order or a devout follower of Oblivion needs to be made into one that will follow orders."

"Turn anyone that isn't, into.... helpers. Since our forces have yet to grow to where I wish, the only way to continue forth on the plan is to ensure this. That way we can move our main forces elsewhere and need not worry about a rebellion in Occlo."

He nodded his agreement and understood.

Occlo will be a land of the dead.

And the rest of the world will follow...

[Enoch]

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As the days drew on, Enoch continued his work. He continued to seek out any suitable subjects still clinging to life, as well as raising simple minions from the skeletons found in the graves littering the forests of Occlo. He posted undead guards outside of restricted areas to discourage intrusion from those outside the Dark Order, as Tarothin had requested. Things were going well, yet Enoch couldn't help but feel slightly unsatisfied. He was progressing quickly, but felt himself beginning to stagnate. What he needed was something more...something to continue to inspire him.

Seeking guidance and clarity, Enoch saw fit to make an offering to Oblivion. Deep in the forests of Occlo, he gathered the brothers and sisters of the Dark Order to invoke the pyre ritual. Together they piled high the magically-tinged wood of a fallen reaper, each of them offering a blood sacrifice from their own bodies as well. It had been too long since Enoch had invoked these ceremonial rites, passed down to him by his old mentor, Lady Kaelthir. As the pyre burned, Enoch let the smoke linger deep within his lungs and had faith that his path would be made clear to him that night.

As he slept that night, his dreams were vivid and violent. He found himself at first surrounded by familiar faces, but as he looked upon them the flesh seemed to melt right off of their bodies. The terrifying beings that stood before him were unmistakable. These were not simple undead minions of the variety that Enoch had thus far been animating. These were glorious death knights, like those that wreaked havok upon Sosaria during the glory days of the Order of the Ebon Skull. As he stood there, Enoch saw other beings materialize seemingly out of thin air. Ghostly apparitions driven by the force of Entropy...these were the beautiful creatures known as wraiths.

The scene darkened gradually, eventually leaving Enoch alone in a cold pitch black void. In the distance, there seemed to be a figure, but he could not make out any details. Suddenly from the darkness came what sounded like the voices of a thousand tortured souls speeking in unison.

"Child of Oblivion, your time has come. Build me an army..."

Enoch awoke in a cold sweat. He tried to stand but could not move. He tried to regain his breath, but his body seemed to be in a state of shock. After a few minutes, he began to regain his composure. Never before had his visions been as vivid as these. Finally regaining control of his body, Enoch grabbed a pen and parchment and recorded everything he had seen. He now knew with certainty what he had to do. His work was just beginning.