The Undead Horde 2024

The Undead Horde is usually an absolute monarchy, ruled by the Night Monarch with an iron fist. The Horde of 2024, however, felt more like an acting troupe or a collective... although, of course, there is some question as to how much of the Horde's will remained their own. They were all still driven by their darker impulses, and whether or not the emotions and will of The Bard with No Names had an undue influence on a magical level remains an open question. The Bard was known for his powers of enchantment and persuasion prior to having those abilities enhanced by the power of the Night Monarch. It is possible wanting something to happen made the rest of the Horde want it simply as a matter of course.   It is known that former Night Monarchs are often drawn back into the Undead Horde in subsequent years without any other magic being necessary, as if they maintain something of a "taint" on their spirit, and they continue to have some popular influence within the Horde, often counseling the Night Monarch on strategy and affairs of state. AttorraRu was no exception, and she became The Lord of the Hunt's second-in-command.

When a new Undead is welcomed into the fold, they are, by tradition, given a name by the reigning Night Monarch to represent their new status. This is often wordplay on their living name. The Undead also often refuse to be bound by "living-supremacist spelling conventions."   Once again, the 2024 Horde was an exception. Some of the Horde chose new names, while others chose to keep the names they'd been known by in life.   Undead usually revel in being villains. They exist to defeat the living, and if anything, they write harder than they did as living Tome Knights However, their villainy does not extend to each other. Their thralldom to the Night Monarch assures that unlike in the living Houses, there is never any betrayal.   Again, the 2024 Horde was an exception. It seems that permitting free will among the Undead had the inherent drawbacks of free will in any sentient creature. At least one of the Horde, Duochanfan , chose to return to the living when the offer was made to her by Queen Sable at a karaoke gathering to which the living were invited.

Unlike previous Undead Hordes, the Horde of 2024 presented no desire to destroy the living. It was a point of honour for them that they would offer "gentle death," "merciful death," to those who accepted the offer. The Bard with No Names went on a public advertising campaign to this effect, attempted to negotiate armistice treaties with The Great Houses, and in general, utilized the powers of persuasion as opposed to force.   As a result, the Horde genuinely believed they were doing the world a favour, and they had an almost evangelical approach in their attempts to convince the living to join them and their cause. Many were seduced — or persuaded — by their soft approach.   Others were even more disturbed by this than they would have been at open force. Queen Sable and Regent Dazzlinkat were, at least at first, openly suspicious. However, Dazzlikat agreed to an armistice treaty with the Horde when House Sauropoda fell, and even Queen Sable was said to have considered their offer.   Of course, this was cast into doubt when The Bard with No Names lost his mind at the Fall of Ailurus.

The Undead Horde first made its appearance in the First Word War of 2020. Their first leader was The Nite Qing Erin Righ. They were ultimately defeated by the living, but not without a brutal fight. Upon their defeat, the Undead were all restored to life.   Prior to The Second Word War Erin Righ disappeared. He was later confirmed to have returned to the Undead Horde, and was a significant player in the hierarchy.   The second Night Monarch was AuthorGoddess, who developed the ability for the Undead to steal Literomantic Power from the living to sustain themselves, which often led to fatal Magic Drain.   In the Third Word War, two Night Monarchs emerged; ECC Books, chosen successor of AuthorGoddess, and Lord Galakrond, who was corrupted by the lure of The Iron Tome. They each maintained and controlled independent Hordes with differing abilities and weaknesses, but in general, agreed to work together to acquire the Iron Tome, on the understanding they would sort out who was actually in control later. However, power struggles did create internal conflict within the Horde, which may have contributed to their ultimate defeat.   In The Fourth Word War, AttorraRu, the Lapin House Librarian, was corrupted in the Battle vs the Nite Qing, and became the Night Monarch through that insidious influence.   Prior to The Fifth Word War, Archon Mykola Lapin-Void fell ill. In the middle of the war, she took refuge at the Warren.   It has become a custom for the undead to receive new names from the Night Monarch to reflect their new identities and status. Therefore, the Iron Tome removed the additional names when the dead were resurrected. However, the Changeling The Bard with Many Names, being fey, lost all of their names to this process, and fey without a name die at the coming of the next winter.   While many realized that Bard was ill, they did not know the nature of the malady, and Bard confided it to very few. He sought his own solution, and decided that he would take the Iron Tome, become the next Night Monarch, and convince everyone to join him in undeath — thus, putting an end to the cycle of warfare and defeating death forever. He took the Iron Tome from Queen Tara, who did not make an effort to stop him, since she had now come to believe that the loss of the Iron Tome at the beginning of November was inevitable. He then challenged and defeated the leader of the Wild Hunt, so that he could also direct the Wild Hunt to do his bidding.  

I didn't "steal" the book. It called. I answered.

— The Bard with Many Names, post WW5

  Initially, he offered undeath to the world as a personal choice, and negotiated non-aggression pacts with some of the other Houses. He also negotiated with living writers in the Fifth Word War's 50K Initiative to offer them twice the Werds they were able to generate, in return for "donating" a portion of that raised Literomantic Power to the Horde. As a result, there were relatively few mindless undead, and up until the fall of House Ailurus, they were created here and there mostly by accident.   House Ailurus attempted to save The Bard with No Names by utilizing his True Name, the knowledge of which had been acquired by Senna Nightshade. She used Queen Sable Aradia's memory as a reference point, since the two had met when the Mother of Bunnies was a child and she had heard a nickname of Bard's, and then searched The Infodump for further information.   Unfortunately, this had a disastrous effect. With no identity to latch on to, the utterance of Bard's True Name drove him to savage madness. The result was a slaughter.   After that, The Bard with No Name and the other Tome Zombies who had joined him attempted to rein in the mindless zombie Horde, but their efforts were not perfect, and the Horde spread.   Otherwise, the culture among the Tome Zombies was filled with camaraderie. They created an Undead Folk Band and celebrated their dead state together with music and filking. They also seemed to preserve almost full autonomy. Several House Leaders, when approached by the Bard with No Names, were tempted to join the Horde. Queen Sable, deeply traumatized by her previous experiences, remained suspicious, but even she accepted the invitation of the Horde to come to a karaoke night gathering with the promise that she would not be harmed. The Bard, however, was not present.   Queen Sable and "Roarabryn," the new undead identity of AttorraRu, spoke at length, with little hostility between them. The former undead claim that even the Bunny Queen was sorely tempted by their offer.   But in the end, two of the Owsla, Cheetya Ironfist and Flubb, followed Queen Sable to the karaoke gathering, and perhaps this may have grounded her. She convinced Duochanfan, a Lapin who had also joined the Horde, to accept resurrection, and the four living Lapins left together at the end of the night.   The Bard with No Names decided that Queen Sable would never accept his offer, and therefore felt he had to destroy the threat she represented. He took the battle to the Warren. Since he could not get in, he called the Warren's population out through a bard's siren song. The Bunny Queen came out to meet him, and the two led an epic filk battle between the literomancers.  

I heard that Sable was keeping people in the Warren and stopping them from coming to me. I got angry. That doesn't make me a bad person.

— The Bard with Many Names

  In the end, there was no clear winner. Some say this was by the Bunny Queen's design. Realizing that they were playing the roles of a fairy tale, Queen Sable recognized she had been cast in the role of the heartless queen. As the "villain," she could not win... but if she lost, the living would lose the Iron Tome. Therefore, her battle plan capitalized on distraction and delay, while her main assault plan was, in fact, arranging for Queen Tara to confront Bard, who was a friend he trusted.   The Bard with No Names gave up his quest for the Iron Tome when he realized he was too late to save Archon Mykola, who was already being animated entirely by the Void, and therefore, could not be made undead.   Queen Sable picked up the Iron Tome he had abandoned. Although it is said she attempted to save the Archon, her daughter, by writing in the Tome and resurrecting everyone, she was unable to do so. Archon Mykola passed away in early 2025. Fortunately, her writings did successfully resurrect everyone else. Since then, it appears that a Void rift has opened up in the bowels of the Warren. Whether this is the only one remains unknown.   A few scattered undead remain after the war. The Sauropoda Ancestors, who were raised when the Horde attacked Sauropoda near the war's beginning, still dwell in their undead states in the tar pits they were called from. Now Regent, Dazzlikat's ancient "Aunt Martha" is a constant goad to her.   Some are not entirely convinced that the Mother of Bunnies wasn't, in fact, the villain of the tale.

December 2, 2024