Mossovy

Near the eastern edge of the Manskin Ogres' habitat lies the city of **Mossovoy**, which occupies a large portion of the underground.

Its home to a cruel people known as the **Vzdoruye**, they enjoy a reputation as necromancers and torturers. Rumours say that they descend from a group of mages that were exiled from the Zapalovach Republic long ago, when they banned the practices of necromancy and other dark rituals.

They reanimate swamp and manskin ogres to fight for them in battle, as well as other giant creatures from the Cursed Battlefield to the south.

## History

### Origins

The Vzdoruye of Mossovoy descend from worshippers of the dark god Zanzarah in the Zapalovah Republic. The practice of necromancy and other forbidden rituals had gotten the Magisters of Zapalovah worried, and after a series of clashes within the Republic most of the Vzdoruye were forced to flee.

Making their way south of Zapalovah's borders, they founded a town, calling it Mossovoy. Initially, this town was small, and as the Vzdoruye's numbers began to grow, reports of necromancer activity sprouted up in the neighboring Kingdom of Waldemaria. Knowing that their fate would not be any different than it was in Zapalovah, the Vzdoruye decided to expand their city underground, hidden from the public eye. And thus, the "Hidden City" of Mossovoy was born.

Lacking fresh bodies for use in agriculture and mining, the Vzdoruye necromancers turned their eyes to the south, towards the Cursed Battlefield. beyond Waldemaria and the Glass Mountains. It was there where they were able to amass large numbers of corpses to use as manual labour.

### War with Waldemaria

Mossovoy started expanding, and so did their followers. Some in Waldemaria started worshipping the god of the Vzdoruye - Zanzarah - in secret, something that was not taken lightly by its ruler. Tensions rose between them, but it took almost a hundred years for clashes to begin. The Waldemarian King, fearing the Vzdoruye and their foul god, ordered his riders to attack any patrol they saw.

Decades passed, and these skirmished turned out into full blown out war, as King William Merriman II was willing to end the plague of the necromancers once and for all. The Vzdoruye started to enlist undead swamp and manskin ogres into their undead army. Soon, the Waldemarians broke the stallmate and switched to the offensive.

The Waldemarian cavalry was marching in the plains north of Needle Ridge, hoping to flank and eliminate a band of undead creatures, headed by their sorcerer generals.

What initially seemed like a victorious battle was quickly shattered at the sound of a wicked horn. King William Merriman II of Waldemaria himself turned his head to the source of the noise noise, which sounded like taunting, sadistic laughter. Another army had enroached them from the south, beyond the Glass Mountains. And there the Vzdoruye unveiled their ultimate weapon.

The King quickly abandoned all hopes of victory at the sight of two hulking giants, a race that was ancient even to the great grandfathers of his great grandafthers. How they came he didn't know, but what he did know was that those were not living creatures. Almost as tall as 20 men in height, the giants were cladded in chainmail and iron, their armor and skin covered in burning scars and cuts. Under their helmets, their skeletal eyes were growing red.

Clutching giant spiked clubs the giants marched in unison. The earth beyond them shook as they advanced towards the Riders of Waldemar. The men were shocked, ready to flee. But King William ordered them to stand their ground and face their fears. The Waldemarians fought fiercefully against the Vdzoruye. Their archers, combined with the lances of the riders, managed to fell down a giant, his skull crushing more than 10 ogres in its wake. Defeat finally came when the last remaining giant grabbed King William's horse, crushing it under his palm as if it were a fly.

The Waldemarians were defeated. The two survivors spoke of the horrors they witnessed, and from that day Waldemaria was no more. The Vzdoruye were finally free of the Waldemarian raids, but that was not the end of their woes.

Knights from the far East had made their land to the west of the Land of the Windmills. When the Vdzoruye had thought that they had finished one enemy, one more rose up. The Laurentian Crusaders quickly built many great fortresses, vowing to rid the world of the dark lords.

Many people from Waldemaria and the Land of the Windmills joined the cause of Lorentz and his knights. The fortresses were brimming with crusaders, all willing to finish the work started by the Waldemarians. Many great sorcerers fell in battle against those fierce crusaders. The first years of the crusade - when Lorentz was still alive - were particularly costly for the Vzdoruye.

Now, it's been more than 30 years since the Battle of the Needle Ridge, and the opportunities for reinforcements of their army and working force have gotten sparce for the Vzdoruye. They now have to travel through the Waldemarian lands, who have gotten even more merciless and fierceful than they were when they were united under a King.

The necromancers and the undead hordes continue to patrol their lands, with the shadow of war looming ever larger and larger...

## Society

### Government

Mossovoy is ruled by the Nine Pridvestniks. They constitute the most powerful and important of the Vzdoruye sorcerers. They are viewed as divine messengers, carrying the word of God. They are the ones responsible for the external relations between Mossovoy and the other nations.

Below them are the Masters. The masters are also the high priests of Zanzarah and are usually either necromancers or flesh sculptors. Most Masters aim to hold the title of Pridvestnik at one point, although the title of Pridvestnik seldom passes from one individual to another, thanks to their longevity.

The Vzdoruye males that do not practice magic hold administrative or economical positions, or pursue a career in academics or arts. Seldom will a Vzdoruye male have to work in the fields or in the mines, since such tasks are carried out by the undead, who act as the Vzdoruye's obedient mules. For that reason, Vzdoruye families rarely have more than two children each. Only during the long wars between Waldemaria and the Laurentian crusaders was the undead force thin enough for many males to pursue manual labour out of necessity alone.

The females in the Vzdoruye society are usually either part of the female clergy or perform many of their housekeeping duties, such as knitting, raising children and cooking.

### Flesh Sculptors

Flesh Sculptors are a group of Vzdoruye that occupy the secret city of Mossovoy. They are responsible for altering the bodies that the necromancers bring to them. Using advanced surgical and magical methods, they are able to manipulate the human body to their will.

They often create hybrids using the corpses that they are given. Ogres and gibberlings, spiders and oviscentauresses, the list of horrifying creations goes on and on. They are also known to operate on the living, as many desperate people from Zapalovah or the Land of Windmills visit the dreaded Zvdoruye. The Flesh Sculptors can use body parts from the various fresh bodies to replace the missing ones of the living. New eyes and prosthetic limbs are one of the few operations done.

However, the prices of those operations are astronomical, and some cynics have speculated that through the various implants, the Vzdoruye agents are able to see through the eyes of the beholder.

### Rhodans

One of the greatest powers that the Vzdoruye of Mossovoy hold is the power of ressurection. It's an incredibly rare phenomenon and it requires not only an almost intact, recently deceased body, but also the combination of both the necromancers and the fresh sculptors' sorcery at their full potential.

The ressurected person is also known as a "Rhodan". The few recorded instances of Rhodans have indicated that such person is not able to recall the memories of their past, but only the memories inplanted to them by the Vzdoruye. That, and the fact that the proccess of creating a Rhodan is so arduous and exhausting explains why the Vzdoruye refuse to perform it on foreigners, and rather only attempt it on their fallen leaders and necromancers.

## Culture and Religion

The Vzdoruye are an inherently isolationist people whose culture is dominated by a strict hierarchy and an overriding religious zeal. Their culture is highly suggestive of extreme male chauvinism; since only males can be sorcerers, flesh sculptors or hold any positions of power.

The Vzdoruye worship Zanzarah, the god of life, death and rebirth. His worship is now outlawed in the Zapalovah Republic and is considered a taboo in Zemylandian cultures. The Vzdoruye focus on their efforts on the pursuit of spiritual elevation through physical refinement and the mastery of the cycle of life and death. Little is known of their obscene, secretive religious rituals and even less is understood.

Both males and females in Mossovoy are usually required to wear a dark-coloured cloak that reveals only their hands and parts of the face. Others wear ornate masks and face veils.

## City

Nine-tenths of Mossovoy is said to be beneath the ground, giving the city its nickname of the Hidden City. It's apparent above-ground size have led many to underestimate the true extent of Mossovoy. Vast, sinister halls and giant arches decorate the underground, while the undead workers constantly expand the city so more temples and palaces can be carved out.

### The Bone Dome

Far in the deepest part of the city of Mossovy, there lies one of the biggest coliseums in the entire world: King William’s Undead Amphitheatre, or as it is known by the locals, the Bone Dome. It is the biggest building in all of Mossovy, and in it necromancers of all the realms participate in spectacular fights, pitting their undead creations against each other for spectacle and glory. Tens of thousands of spectators go every day to see the latest and most terrible creations of the dark wizards, and it has also become a place where necromancers can resolve their differences without going to war with each other.

The history of the Bone Dome is a tragic one. It all started during the crusade of William Merriman II of Waldemaria against the growing power of the necromancers. The undead lords were growing in power too fast, having been concealing their power in the hidden city of Mossovy, and their dark magics became too much for the Kingdom of Waldemaria to bear. The king launched a crusade to get rid of the necromancers of the city of Mossovy, before they could gain enough bodies to swarm the kingdom in waves of undead. For decades, the knights of Waldemaria fought the necromancers, and with King William spearheading many of the assaults, the necromancers had to unite their efforts to create bigger and more dangerous undead monstrosities. Simple animated skeletons and zombies, while effective in great numbers, were too frail against the heavily armored cavalry of Waldemaria. Thus it led to the resurrection of the ancient giant constructs, which led to the death of King William and the final defeat of the Knights of Waldemaria. To celebrate their victory, it is said that the dead knights, alongside many dead waldemarians, were resurrected and put to work in the construction of the great coliseum. To rub more salt in the wound, the arena was named after the defeated king himself, and rumors lurk around that the last stone was put by the animated corpse of the king himself.

The Bone Dome has become a great attraction for those with unsavory interests in the dark arts. Many people travel to the Bone Dome to experience the grim spectacle, betting on which of the thrown creations will come out on top. Many others will go to see the necromancers’ works, looking to purchase their services and their creations for their own plans. The necromancers themselves see this as an opportunity to test their dark knowledge, and to see if their experiments are up to par against their rivals. The undead creations shown in the arena are extraordinary in their nature, since showing mere skeletons would not do. The necromancers mix and match bones and body parts from many different sources, enhancing each part with different spells and giving them different levels of intelligence to match their opponents’ abilities. This, in turn, has made Mossovy’s black grow exponentially, becoming great marketplaces where you can find everything that an undead might need for their experiments.

The Bone Dome also plays a role in keeping social order in Mossovy. Since rivalries between necromancers are a common thing, the Pridvestniks decreed that no war between necromancers could be had within the walls of Mossovy, to avoid the wanton destruction that would bring. Instead, the necromancers must duel each other in the arena, to the death (and beyond) if necessary. These duels attract a particular amount of visitors to the games, since personal vendettas often bring the cruelest and most imaginative creations from the necromancers.

## Foreign Relations

### Waldemaria

The Vzdoruye and the horse lords of Waldemaria have been at war for almost two centuries now. What were initially tensions turned to small conflicts, and what were small conflicts turned to full scale war, which led to the fall of the Kingdom. Even though the war is now at a dormant stage thanks to the intervention by the Laurentian Crusade, the Vzdoruye still believe they can prevail. Unlike what the Westerlings might think, Mossovoy does not intend to wipe them out, but instead they plan on incorporating them into their realm and instating the worship of Zanzarah as the head religion.

### Laurentian Crusade

The Knights of Lorentz have been waging their crusade against Mossovoy ever since Cnayz Artyom took arms against them, in the "Battle of the Red Snow", when Waldemaria and the mercenaries were crushed. Even though the crusade has slowed down now, the Vzdoruye are ever so cautious about their eastern border with the Laurentian Strongholds, and have increased their patrols in order to halt any reinforcements coming through.

### Zapalovah Republic

There is deep hatred between the two groups, as the Vzdoruye were exiled from Zapalovah a long time ago thanks to their beliefs and practices. Zapalovah financed and reinforced large part of the Laurentian Crusade, as well as enemies of Mossovoy, such as Waldemaria and the Land of the Windmills. Zapalovah aims to completely destroy Mossovoy, while the Vzdoruye's end goal is to enact revenge upon the Zapalovahn magisters and take control of the country for themselves.

### Sniden

The Vzdoruye are the only foreigners that ever get to deal with the weird people of Sniden and their God Emperor. This is due to a fever dream that occured to Pora Mirlat, Pridvestnik of Mossovoy, in which the God Emperor Adonis appeared to save humanity from a great evil. The Vzdoruye treated this fever dream as prophecy, and since then they have tried to appease the God Emperor, supplying him with rhodans of his choice, seeing him as "Zanzarah's Messenger".

### Land of the Windmills

This place was Mossovoy's primary target for raids and target practice for their undead legions. This was due to the necromancers needing to pass throgh these lands in order to reach the coveted Cursed Battlefield, as the trek through the splinter pass of the Glass Mountains was deemed too treacherous. For that reason, the people of the Land of the Windmills hold deep hatred for the dark sorcerers and their undead minions, and were one of the first people to join the crusade against them. Nowadays, these raids have been all but stopped thanks to the presence of the Laurentian strongholds.

### Cursed Battlefield

The Cursed Battlefield is the main source of Mossovoy's bodies for their undead legions. It's there where the Vzdoruye managed to resurrect the mighty giants. The necromancers use their magic in order to shield themselves from the noxious gases of the battlefield, but even then they don't spend longer than they have to in these cursed lands, in part due to the Necromancer's presence in the underground castle below.

These incursions into the Cursed Battlefield have gotten harder and harder lately, thanks to the Laurentian Stronghold's presence in the east. Now, the Vzdoruye have to go through the treacherous Glass Mountains. Only the toughest and most experienced necromancers are tasked with making this journey, and not all make it back to Mossovoy.