Necropolis as seen The Chronicles
The Necropolis is the center of worship and capital to the Necromonger Empire, it consists of a large hall and throne room for the Lord Marshal, the leader of the Necromongers. Covu the Transcended, the first Lord Marshal, first created the structure on the tallest mountain on Asylum. Afterwards it was later incorporated in the Necromonger flagship called the Basilica.
History[]
When Covu returned from his long banishment, he told of his wondrous visit to a 'verse on the far side of the Threshold, a glorious place he called Underverse. Covu took righteous retribution on the Austeres who had cast him out. He fought and killed their commanders, claiming their heads as he did so. In victory, Covu assumed the new office of "Lord Marshal," the one rank that cannot be superseded. After forcing them to bow before him, Covu reorganized the last living Austeres into a more regimented, though still pre-military society. So different was this society that it begged for a new name and a new place of worship. Covu termed, this new ideological order "Necroism." As a powerful testament to it, Necropolis, their most hallowed hall, was erected on the tallest mountain of Asylum.
Designed by Oltovm the Builder, he laid the first and last stone of Necropolis. As a congealed celebration of death made of metal and stone, the interior of Necropolis was a daunting achievement. The monumental structure was a cathedral of the dead, a place to worship and salute the end of life. Towering and vaulted, it would have constituted an imposing enclosed space on any ground. That it existed and had been transferred whole and intact inside a starship only added to the effect it created on those who were allowed into its presence. Riddick was taken inside the Necropolis after the invasion of Helion Prime to be interrogated by the Order of the Quasi-Dead.
The sculptures that decorated its high walls, many commissioned by the great Lord Marshal Kryll himself, were designed to make an indelible impression on all who looked upon them. Like the vast open space in which they were set, they were intended to impress upon visitors the inevitability of the final passage. Within its tomblike aura, dozens of the penitent and the hopeful trod the nearest thing to the Threshold the mind and skills of man could create. The overall result was to humble, to shrink, to reduce in stature any who passed through.
Necromongers bowing to Riddcik in Necropolis
After Oltovm chose his successor and then chose ritualistic suicide at the edge of the Threshold, he appointed Naphemil as the new Lord Marshal. Rather than leave Necropolis behind on Asylum, Naphemil ordered the structure unearthed and entombed in a far larger ship, the Basilica. The first Necromonger church would travel with the armada through space, into which it ventured on Ascension Day, to spread the teachings of Covu. Six regimes of Necromongers would go on to call the Necropolis home.
Commentary[]
Lord Marshal Zhylaw's commentary on the Necropolis is as follows: "The Necropolis is our constant reminder of the glorious and ever-expanding Necromonger Empire. As a powerful testament to Necroism, Covu, the first Lord Marshal, erected Necropolis on the tallest mountain of Asylum. But it was not until the third Lord Marshal, Naphemil the Navigator, that the structure was unearthed and entombed inside the Basilica ship, where it remains today. And so with each new world we conquer, the purified may bow before this monument to Necromonger power and glory."
Sources[]
- The Chronicles of Riddick (Film)
- The Chronicles of Riddick (Novel) by Alan Dean Foster
Gallery[]
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