Disciples of the Wither

## Summary

### Other Members

Wither Skeletons, Skeletons, Zombies, Blazes, Magma Cubes, Piglins (under mind control)

**The Disciples of the Wither**, also known as **The Wither's Disciples**, were a faction composed mainly of Monsters, but would eventually include the subsect known as the Wither Rose Cult (albeit briefly) and the human player Zephyr would be indoctrinated into their ranks for a short time. It was headed by the Wither himself, and included many monsters who would be important throughout history.

## History

### Background

After many years, Wither noticed the behavior of the creatures that lived in some of the worlds. He considered many of them to be “imperfect” in his eyes, and felt as if a universe would never truly be at peace unless there was nothing to set it off balance. And so he suggested to his younger siblings that they wipe their universe clean and start anew. His brothers were disgusted by this notion, saying that their worlds were far too grand to simply destroy carelessly. Angered by this, Wither declared war on his brothers, and attacked the Overworld. Being the eldest of the brothers, he was much, much more powerful than the others, forcing Osther and Tether into hiding. Ether, in a panicked frenzy, cut his realm off from the others completely, making it impossible to access. He was far too vain and self-absorbed to care about the destruction of the other worlds, though.

During Wither’s destructive reign over the Overworld, he created many new creatures, bringing into existence the Zombies and Skeletons, made from the remains of long-dead humans, and the Phantoms, winged creatures who preyed on the weary at night. He also found and corrupted many Villager settlements, turning the inhabitants into Illagers, and creating their mounts, the Ravagers, massive behemoths that could plow through entire houses. With his forces assembled, Wither began to attack.

### The Wither War

Not willing to watch their world be destroyed, Osther and Tether created armies to help defend the major cities of their world. the Iron Golems; large, hulking beasts made of pure steel, and were nearly unstoppable. The “Alliance of the Overworld” as they called themselves, rallied at the world’s most fortified city, Erlandia. Thousands upon thousands of players, supported by the Iron Golems, engaged in a decisive battle against Wither and his army.

During the war, a young Skeleton named Katar was promoted by the Wither to the rank of Ultra Skeleton, serving as a commander under Marzek, the Wither's right hand. Eventually Katar began to desire more, wanting a place directly at Wither's side, where Marzek currently sat. He began a revolt, taking his loyal battalion of Skeletons and Zombies to directly confront Wither, who was amused at the Skeleton's tenacity. He ordered Marzek to stand down, and wiped out all Katar's troops with a swipe of his hand. He then cursed Katar with the exposed weak point in his chest, which would forever remind him of how vulnerable he was. He then cast him underground, where he would go into hiding.

Whilst they were still in hiding, the brothers created a series of three underground fortresses, called Strongholds, and inside each one they built a portal that led into the End, where the Endermen dwelled. Now with an army of Endermen backing them up, a surprise attack was launched on Wither and his forces, trapping his armies in from all sides. However, this still wasn’t enough. In a last-ditch effort, the Brothers brought forth a conduit of incredible power, which sent a signal to the All-Mother, who was deep in the outer reaches of the void. Coming to their rescue, the All-Mother stripped Wither of his god status and powers, forcing him into a smaller, weaker form, before casting him into a limbo dimension, called the Infinite Plane. Before he was sealed away, Wither swore that he would find a way out of the plane, and he would not rest until the Overworld was a smoldering ruin. No longer worthy of his god status, Wither could not maintain his title, and went from “Wither” to simply “The Wither” With the Wither sealed away, the All-Mother said that if the Wither were ever to return, the brothers would have to deal with him on their own. With that, the All-Mother bid her sons farewell, before retreating back into the far reaches of the void, never to be seen again.

### Aftermath

Many of the Wither's Disciples that remained loyal would retreat alongside Marzek back into the Nether, however most of the monsters left behind would be confined underground, eventually forming the Overworld Union. To ensure that the Wither would never be able to return, the brothers took several precautions. They created a melody that would play for all eternity, which they called the “Song of the Caves” that entranced all of the Wither’s monsters to stay underground, for fear that they would burn in sunlight. A small group of Skeletons and Zombies would journey into the cave where Katar had been banished to, and they swore their loyalty to him, forming The Shadows of Katar.

### The Wither's Return

Trapped in the blank, white nothingness of the Infinite Plane, the Wither sat impatiently waiting, thirsting for revenge against the beings of the Overworld, his brothers, but most importantly, his own mother. In the Infinite Plane, time takes longer to pass. What was a hundred years for the rest of the universe, was a thousand for the Wither. Over time, he began to analyze and understand the patterns of the Plane’s dimensional shifts. Finally, he was able to send a message through to the Nether, telling his loyal Wither Skeletons where he was and how to save him. The Wither's most loyal disciple, Marzek, heeded his master's call, putting together technology that was powered by the Wither's corruptive influence, creating a Nether Portal into the Infinite Plane. The Wither found the portal, and escaped through, finding himself back in the Nether.

After a while of getting used to his new, somewhat powerless state, the Wither realized that not all of his godly powers had been stripped from him. While he was no longer completely immortal, and no longer possessed the ability to create matter, he still had his destructive abilities, and a faint connection to the Overworld- a tiny piece of his body had been left behind, and was absorbed by a small rose, making the first Wither Rose in existence. Through this flower, the Wither could observe bits of what was happening in the Overworld. The rose had ended up right in the middle of Provenance, resting in a church garden- Dominus’ church.

The Wither beckoned to Dominus in his sleep, presenting himself as a benevolent god named “Orpheus”, who would bring them good fortune if they were to spread his religion. The next day, Dominus presented the Wither’s rose to his followers, instructing them to spread the Wither’s religion throughout the city. Whenever the Wither rose made contact with another rose, it would convert it into another Wither rose. Thus, the Wither’s religion was able to spread quickly, creating the Wither Rose Cult. Dominus’ temple was converted into a church, where ceremonies would be held to worship the Wither, or rather, “Orpheus”

Khal, the Emerald Sage, was suspicious of Orpheus’ true intentions, not fully believing every message sent by their supposed god. He confided in the warrior Ajax, who was both a sorcerer and a champion of the city’s gladiatorial arena. Ajax and Khal wrote down their speculations in a journal, calling them “The Sage’s Journal” Finally, the Wither told Dominus that he was pleased with their worship, and that they were “worthy to bask in the glory of his presence.” and instructed him on how to build a portal to let him into their world. Once it was built, Dominus communed with the Wither, and opened the portal, giving the Wither a path directly into the Overworld.

Upon returning to the Overworld for the first time in nearly a thousand years, the Wither laughed. The humans had been much easier to manipulate than he thought. His first act was to kill Dominus, incinerating his body and destroying his Onyx Talisman. He then slaughtered nearly everyone in the church, before moving onto the rest of the city. The Sages managed to escape into an underground bunker hidden in the city, along with Ajax, The sorcerer Zighat, Novin and Netress, the potion-makers, and several other civilians. Over the course of nearly an entire year, the survivors stayed inside the bunker while the Wither reduced the entire city to rubble. Throughout the year, the survivor’s numbers began dwindling, mainly due to some leaving and being killed by the Wither, or from a mutiny uprising, where many of the remaining survivors tried to escape, against Ajax’s orders. The uprising was wiped out, presumably by Ajax himself.

Over the year of being locked underground, Novin kept a journal of the events that transpired, although it eventually began to drive him insane due to the lack of any important events happening. Eventually, Ajax hatched a plan to defeat the Wither. Using his own magic, combined with the magic of Zighat, the four Sages, and Novin and Netress’ potions, they would engage in a decisive battle against the Wither, luring him back to the church, where the active portal still sat. Once he was in position, the four Sages trapped the Wither in a tether spell, forcing him to remain in place. As a last-ditch effort, the Wither called forth some of his skeletons from the Nether, who attacked the Sages, poisoning them with fatal Wither Sickness. Fortunately, the Sages managed to hold the Wither in place long enough for Ajax to pick up a discarded sword from the ground, and stab it directly into the Wither’s heart.

The Wither’s body disintegrated, leaving only his heart behind. Ajax cast the heart back through the portal, and deactivated it, causing the skeletons that had come through to dissolve into ash, as their connection to the Wither was cut off. The Wither was doomed to forever repeat this process, as his body would slowly regenerate around his heart, cursing him in a cycle of life and death.

### Disciple War

The Allium Alliance was already at war with New Anvil and the Mushroom Cult, but it was a Cold War; no casualties were exchanged, no land was attacked. However, with Zephyr beginning to be at odds with them, the AA was on the brink of getting into another war; one that they would surely lose. So, the AA made the only play they could- they reached out to Cadmus for help. They explained the situation and gave a meeting place, but did not give any specifics as to what they had been doing. When an agreement was made, a meeting was held. The three leading members of the Allium Alliance; Damon, Charon, and Creon, met with Cadmus in the Industrial District, where they revealed the truth to him, that they had all betrayed him, and had been spying on him. But now, they were willing to put their differences aside in order to join forces against a greater threat.

Cadmus was understandably upset, but explained to them that they had been wrong; he was not trying to become a dictator, in fact, he was trying to do quite the opposite. As for the castle, it was merely a vanity project, one that people could marvel at for years to come. With differences set aside and understandings made, they signed a treaty; that the Cold War was officially over. They then showed Cadmus their secret tunnel network, and their base of Manticore I. Cadmus was impressed, not just that they had managed to build all of this, but that they had done it all under his nose. When word of the treaty got out, Zephyr was furious, declaring war on the AA, deeming them traitors and backstabbers.

The sides of the war had been set, with Zephyr naming themselves “The Disciples of the Wither” or simply “The Disciples” and the “New Alliance” being formed of Damon, Charon, Creon, and Cadmus. Knowing that the location of Manticore I was compromised, Damon evacuated it, moving all of its resources to a secret location. Ajax, being well aware of what the Wither was capable of, offered the retreating members of the AA a safe haven in his base, among the ruins of Dryll. The situation was looking Dire, as Zephyr marched on New Anvil with an army of brainwashed Skeletons backing him up. A massive battle ensued, with Cadmus giving his all to defend the southern gate from the Disciple’s forces. Eventually, the gate was breached, and Zephyr stormed the village, searching for his betrayers. However, one thing the Wither did not account for, was Creon.

Creon and Zephyr were good friends, ever since they had met. And while Zephyr was angry at him, he couldn’t bring himself to harm his best friend. So when Creon appeared to face him, Zephyr lowered his weapon. Unable to strike the blow. Creon gave him a heartfelt speech, telling him that this wasn’t right, and that their friendship should be more important than power. Reluctantly, Zephyr agreed, and Creon approached him for an embrace. Zephyr accepted it, but- Creon drove his sword into Zephyr’s heart. He apologized, saying it was the only way to drive the Wither’s influence out of his body. The Skeleton army collapsed, brainless now that the Wither was no longer in the host’s body. As Zephyr lay dying, Creon knelt over him, when a bright light appeared in the sky- it was the All-Mother. With a touch of her finger, she gave Zephyr a second chance at life, bringing him back. With that, the Disciple’s War was over before it had even fully begun.

Unfortunately, Zephyr was left in a catatonic state, which he could not be freed from unless the Wither was slain- for good. Not to be deterred, the Heroes of New Anvil assembled a team, and ventured into the Nether to slay the Wither and his lieutenants. They started first with a Skeleton who had been resurrected by the Wither’s necromantic powers, named Katar. They found him in a Nether fortress outpost, and, after killing him, moved onto his master- the Wither himself. The Wither had holed up in the most fortified fortress in the entire Nether. The battle was long; the Heroes had to fight through the Wither’s top commanders and strongest defenses. They fought the Gatekeeper; a massive Wither Skeleton wielding a stone club, who guarded the front gates to the fortress complex. They fought the Greater Blaze; an enormous Blaze who served as the ruler of the Blazes and controlled them all. Finally, they broke through his throne room security measures, and arrived at his throne room. Upon seeing the intruders, the Wither began giving a speech about how he has regained strength over the centuries, and he will regain his god-like form, and with it, destroy their universe, and everything in it, and his only regret is that they will not live to see it.

The fight against the Wither would be difficult and perilous, with many of the team members nearly losing their lives. Eventually, the Wither was slain, reverting to his soul form, retreating out of the room and onto the roof. When the heroes approached the Nether Star, the Wither’s soul, it flew out of their grip and down below, where the Wither spoke to them once more, taunting them by asking if they thought it would be that easy to beat him, and saying he had given up on his weak, mortal form. He then says maybe they will finally see his glory before he kills them.

The Wither then reappears, having assumed his true, enraged, god-like form- The Wither Storm. Extremely powerful and almost immortal, he would throw his entire might  at the Heroes of New Anvil, but with their combined strength, and the added power of Ajax’s enchanted sword, they were finally able to kill him, reverting him back to his Nether Star soul. With the Wither dead, the group was finally approached by the All-Mother, who spoke to them. She praised them for having succeeded in killing the Wither, and urged them not to allow the Nether Star to fall into the wrong hands.

### Final Death

In the Aftermath of the Wither’s final death, Zephyr would wake up from his catatonic state, grateful to his friends for having saved him, and they forgave him for giving into the temptation of the Wither. To ensure that the Wither would never be able to return, the heroes of New Anvil split the Wither’s soul into eight pieces, with each taking one to create a beacon- a device that concealed the Nether Star fragment within to keep it safe, but also resonating energy that empowered individuals standing within a 50-meter radius. The members who the fragments were given to were; Cadmus, Damon, Charon, Creon, Ajax, Argo, Zephyr, and Pandora.

The Wither's Disciples were not truly dead yet, however, as Marzek still lived, swearing revenge on the humans who killed his master. He had taken up residence in a Piglin Bastion, where he had used the mind control powers gifted to him by the Wither to hold dominion over the fortress's inhabitants. His insurrection was quickly put down, however, as the Heroes of New Anvil invaded his Bastion, killing the Greater Magma cube, navigating the perilous tunnel caverns where deranged Titan Hoglins dwelled, and finally killing Marzek for good.

It is unknown what became of the surviving Wither's Disciples, but with their leadership gone it can be assumed that they scattered across the Nether, unable to reform into a larger group with their lack of figureheads to fill the shoes of both Marzek and the Wither. It is also unknown is there even were any survivors, as the Heroes of New Anvil killed just about every inhabitant of the Wither's Fortress, and most of it was destroyed when the Wither emerged as the Wither Storm.