The Undead Horde

The universal constant of each Undead Horde has been that the Night Monarch initially creates them, and has control over their actions, should they choose to exercise it. Beyond that, the structure of individual Hordes of each year have varied widely. Some have been nearly mindless automatons that have sought to destroy all living beings with overwhelming swarm tactics, while others have been joined only by the willing, in a misguided attempt to beat death and the annual destructive wars, and have been governed by a sort of Tome Zombie council. When, in one year, there were two Night Monarchs rather than one, each of the pair seemed to control a separate Horde, which had significantly different traits.   Usually, Tome Zombies assist the Night Monarch in raising the dead, and directing them against the living.   Undead Hordes have also included such undead creatures as ghosts, draugir and vampires. Ghosts are known to exist outside of November, and may or may not serve the Horde.

Culture? You mean mold? You'd be surprised at how bad the mold can get... eww.

— Foxx, offering their opinion on having been undead

  The culture of the Undead Horde varies widely, depending on the Night Monarch. It seems as though the Night Monarch can decide how much autonomy the members of the Horde can have. There is some question whether or not the Horde ever has true autonomy, as the Night Monarch likely has a powerful magical influence on their emotions and their perception of their motivations.   Some Horde members seem to develop selective or almost total amnesia about their living existence when they become Undead. It is possible this effect is part of the process of becoming Undead, and plays a role in influencing the thought processes of Tome Zombies.

The Undead Horde, regardless of its methods and reasons, always seeks to possess and control the Iron Tome so that they can control the nature of reality. Night Monarchs have had different reasons for falling to this temptation: some have sought power over their enemies, while others have genuinely wanted to change the world for what might be considered "good reasons."

While it is almost certain that the Undead have appeared before, off and on throughout history, the decline of Literomancy and the persecution of literomancers have obscured much of that history. Armies of monsters, demons, and of the dead have been described in different mythologies throughout the ages, but little can be confirmed.  

The First Word War

The Undead Horde first appeared on the scene in modern history in November of 2020, during an annual event called the Game of Tomes, an event for literomancers of ancient Houses in which they continued to practice their literomantic skills, although much reduced from what they had once been. A being known as The Nite Qing appeared and began killing both literomancers, and non-literomancers, and sending them against the living. At the same time, magic suddenly recovered its ancient potency. The prevalent theory as to why is that the Iron Tome awakened from a period of dormancy or hibernation.   With the world having been completely unprepared for zombies and magic, a zombie apocalypse quickly ensued. In most places, civilization collapsed in a few short weeks. Undead, during this first appearance, tended to mindless killing machines, even the Tome Zombies. There were, however, notable exceptions, such as the famous broadcast of AuthorGoddess' popular internet talk show Let's Talk!, in which an undead RPGDinosaurBob called the program to assure living viewers that "undead were just like everyone else." Cold- and darkness-based powers appeared to be fairly common among them.   The literomancers decided to fight the rising threat, but mostly, they were just a bunch of struggling writers, with no military training and few, if any, combat skills, so their initial resistance was weak at best. Military forces, lacking magical powers, were also ineffective as a whole.   The most effective land-based resistance was organized by Sable Aradia, leader of House Lapin, who was a military science fiction writer and a military wife as well as a literomancer. But the forces she amassed, including as many surviving literomancers as she could find and the remnant of the Canadian Armed Forces, were overrun, though they managed to hold out until the last week of what is now known as The First Word War.   Salvation came from House Mollusca, an ancient civilization of aquatic literomancers who had been dwelling quietly beneath the surface of the ocean for perhaps millennia. They provided refuge for fleeing literomancers during the course of the war, and martialed their magical defenses.   As the only House Leader to survive the fall of her House, Sable Aradia led her surviving people to The Zafforza Trench to join House Mollusca in their fight. The living forces made their final stand at the Trench, and defeated the Nite Qing, who turned out to be some kind of demonic being that had possessed Erin Righ, Sable's husband. The Horde, no longer controlled, began to disperse.   Coffee Quills, Leader of House Mollusca, wrote in the pages of the Iron Tome, which was rumoured to be able to change the very nature of reality, to Resurrect the dead. While this was effective, it also altered the coastlines and water levels of the Earth, resulting in The Restructuring.   The Iron Tome was subsequently sealed in an undersea vault in a hidden location, never to be used again. Or so the world thought.  

The Second Word War

In the aftermath of the apocalypse, society, for the most part, reorganized itself under the leadership of the literomantic Great Houses for mutual protection. As November approached, Zombie Summoning Totems began to appear near the seats of power of the Houses, usually in the form of plushies shaped like totem animals of one of the other Houses. Tensions mounted and conflicts began to break out between the Houses, and scattered rumours of returning zombies went mostly unnoticed, or were written off as the intended effect of the cursed plushies.   But AuthorGoddess, who had come to worldwide attention after reporting live on the First Word War, had apparently been chosen by the Nite Qing to succeed him, and she was responsible for the cursed items and stirring up conflict. Her Horde's attack on House Sauropoda on the 6th of November, therefore, took everyone entirely by surprise, and casualties were significant.   AuthorGoddess implemented a new form of Dark Literomancy, in which Tome Zombies, rather than feeding directly on the life energy and thus, the magic, of dead literomancers, stole their Literomantic Power instead — though this often led to their demise through critical Magic Drain.   The Horde in The Second Word War did not display the same sort of affinity for cold that previous zombies had displayed, except for the Night Monarch herself, who seemed to have a mastery of runic magic and some power over storms of all kinds. They also began to display more free will overall, and even showed susceptibility to The Filking Plague that was sweeping literomancers in an epidemic.   This time, in the wake of having been pitted against one another, the spirit of alliance prevailed among the living forces. Pioneered by the alliance between House Tiki and House Sauropoda, whose House Leaders were friends, and echoed by the formation of the Babbit Alliance when Siobhan the Writer and Sable Aradia resolved their differences, the Great Houses banded together in what became known as the Grand Alliance. This time it was House Lapin who found themselves leading the last stand, and the Night Monarch was defeated on December 1, 2021. The dead were again resurrected when Sable Aradia wrote in the Iron Tome. What side effects this may have had on the nature of reality remain unconfirmed. Many suspect that this is what formed the Void.  

The Third Word War

Debate as to whether or not the Horde would return continued over the course of 2022. Sable Aradia, now Queen of the Lapin Protectorate, spent billions of the newly-minted nation's money building bunkers and financing her military and militia, which was widely criticized by her political opponents. Elsewhere, other Houses made their own preparations, just in case.   During a filking contest between Tempest Kwake and ECC Books, Librarian of House Sauropoda, ECC was approached by AuthorGoddess, who offered to grant him power in return for securing his oath that he would step into her place as the next Night Monarch. He initially resisted, but soon agreed to the terms.   On October 31, ECC Books fell to darkness and rose again as a new, would-be Night Monarch. He made his way to The Warren to take the Iron Tome, but he had been beaten to the punch by Prince Galakrond of House Meles, Queen Sable's biological son. Prince Galakrond assaulted a surprised Prinx Tempest, his entie, who was guarding the Tome while the Bunny Queen was indisposed.   "ICC Books" followed Galakrond to Windy Willows and a struggle ensued. It appears that since both of them were holding the Iron Tome at the turn of midnight in the Mountain Time Zone, both immediately acquired the powers of the Night Monarch. Galakrond, who was not yet undead at the time, became Lord GalaWight.   The two apparently decided to work together to defeat the living to secure possession of the Iron Tome, but the Horde that was "recruited" by each individual Night Monarch showed distinct characteristics. Lord GalaWight's undead showed exceptional self-awareness and intelligence, likely driven by Galakrond's understanding of necromancy. ICC's undead displayed a strange vulnerability to ketchup, which repelled them and caused them physical pain.   ICC concentrated on amassing Tome Zombies who could assist him in trying to access the Iron Tome, along with the usual swarming mindless eating machines. GalaWight amassed fewer undead, but made exceptional use of the knowledge they had possessed in life, including all the military training of a number of Zombified soldiers. He also embarked on a personal quest to convert all the literomancers in his family, perhaps with the intention of conducting a massive ritual that would amplify his own power.   Tensions between the two Night Monarchs and their Hordes arose. ICC disrupted GalaWight's efforts by acquiring his sister, Panda Polemarch Senna Nightshade through a literomantically-binding bargain, which secured a promise that the Undead would not touch the House Ailurus Storehouses that maintained vital supplies for the living forces.   The two apparently dueled over the matter in an epic filk battle, but with no clear winner, they continued to work together for the remainder of the war. House after House fell in devastating attack, finally rallying under the leadership of House Sauropoda and "Good King" DinosaurBob. Things seemed all but lost when The Missing House disappeared while under attack by ICC's Horde, and several other Tome Knights completely vanished from existence as well. Whether they were alive or undead at the time of their disappearance is unknown.   In the final conflict, the Battle of Mount Mitchell, Queen Sable, Prinx Tempest, and Duke Buddha Kwake somehow lured Lord GalaWight away from the battlefield and back to the Lapin Protectorate. While the Kwakes conducted some sort of technomantic ritual, the nature of which still remains unclear, Queen Sable dueled Lord GalaWight for several hours. The ritual completed, the Kwakes joined her at sunrise, and together, they defeated the young Night Monarch, and Queen Sable resurrected him.   Back at Mt. Mitchell, the Horde that had been controlled by Lord GalaWight fell into disarray. Many simply wandered off into the Swamp. This exposed ICC's forces, which allowed King Bob to rally his forces and press the assault. King Bob and ICC dueled, and ICC was defeated.   Instead of writing in the Iron Tome to resurrect the dead, King Bob attempted to circumvent its destructive effects by filking them back to life instead. The unforeseen consequences of this were that not only were the dead who were remembered by Tome Knights the only ones successfully resurrected, but even they were brought back still possessing the injuries that had killed them. Many died again immediately, and many more were long in recovery. Queen Sable and Prinx Tempest were both hospitalized with critical magic drain.   Overall, between the dead and The Missing, 4% of the world's population was eliminated by the end of The Third Word War. King Bob kept the Iron Tome stored under the seat of the Stone Throne.  

The Fourth Word War

  The living had begun to learn about the nature of the undead. Distracted by The Great Migration, and suffering from grief at the loss of Prinx Tempest and magic drain for much of the year, Queen Sable missed the early signs. But by September, she was aware that Lapin Librarian AttorraRu had begun showing signs of the same odd behaviours that ECC and GalaWight had displayed in the year leading up to their corruption as Night Monarchs, especially following the Battle vs the Nite Qing.   She attempted to discreetly warn all of the House Leaders, but her warning did not reach King Bob or Raptor Captain Dazzlinkat in time. AttorraRu was able to get her hands on the Iron Tome, and therefore, it was in her possession when she fell to darkness on Halloween of 2023, and rose as the Nite Qween.   The Nite Qween's Horde were tinged with a distinctive purplish shade, like the colour of an old bruise, rather than the usual rotting green, though they were no more resistant to necrosis than any previous Horde. While her forces included the usual mindless swarm raised from non-literomancers, her Tome Zombies showed exceptional self-awareness and significant magical proficiency. However, lacking knowledge of necromancy, she was not able to imbue her other undead with any of their previous life skills.   This was fortunate for the living because she displayed a keenly tactical mind. She made the death of the Bunny Queen, with her unique healing powers, a priority. However, due to the heroism of the Owsla and some significant magical defenses, Queen Sable survived her assault, although most of the Owsla did not.  

Bodyguards taste the best.

— Nite Qween AttorraRu

  Having acquired Satrium, the Wizard of GoT, early in The Fourth Word War, she was able to make use of his significant technomantic skills. His hacking brought down the Warren's formidable electronic defenses, and allowed her Tome Zombies access to military equipment, including the B-52 bomber that was in the possession of House Ailurus, which allowed them to drop a 100 ton bomb on Zafforza City.   Her manipulation of Seneschal ShyRedFox with corrupted Glitter allowed the Nite Qween to steal Literomantic Power from the The 50K Team Up assault at the beginning of the war, disrupted the Meles portal system, and along with a once-again fallen Lord GalaWight, gave her the knowledge she needed to disrupt the wards on the Warren's main entrance.   Corrupted glitter was once again utilized prior to The Battle of Crystal Song, which used a hack into secret surveillance drones that Raptor Captain Dazzlikat had dispersed among the other Houses to target Queen Sable in an attempt to incapacitate "the party cleric" and disrupt battle planning. It would have succeeded, were it not for the quick actions and determination of the Tome Knights, particularly Senna Nightshade, Queen TaraFaeBelle of House Chiroptera, and Anassa JaySeaBoom of House Mollusca, and the literomantic inventiveness of Cheetya Ironfist.   The living forces fought the Undead Horde to a standstill, and the Nite Qween dueled Queen Tara. Underestimated by everyone, including herself, the Bat Queen defeated the Nite Qween, and through her love and friendship, Queen Tara was able to convince AttorraRu to turn over the Iron Tome. Queen Tara wrote in the Tome to raise the dead once again.   While Glitter Storms became a new weather phenomenon, and Power Writers began to notice diminishing returns on the highest levels of their literomantic prowess, no other ill effects seemed forthcoming.  

The Fifth Word War

  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'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.