The Dead World

Also known as the Dead World, Nekrosa was once the most technologically advanced Realm in the system’s history. It was also the first world taken by the Rogue Star, and has no known Underworld. The desolate, ash-stained landscapes of this small planet are covered in industrial structures and buried cities, telltale signs of a final war that killed the world inside and out. Nekrosa has a habitable atmosphere with regular rain and snowstorms, but is highly toxic in some areas due to the large active volcanoes present on the planet’s surface.

During its own Incursion War, Nekrosa had two main factions: Therma and Steadfast, two industrial juggernauts that were fighting over the planet’s dwindling resources. Therma had thrown their lot in with geothermal power, hoping to harness the nearby volcanoes to power their cities as well as their war machines, while Steadfast turned to harnessing psychic power from a mysterious realm that seemed to overlap with Nekrosa on a different wavelength. Eventually, both sides discovered ley lines beneath the earth that they harnessed to create even more powerful weapons, as well as the most pivotal discovery in the planet’s history. This device, known as a Phylactery, could prevent death ad infinitum as long as there was organic material around to reanimate into the human form. Eventually the denizens of Nekrosa were killed so many times that they no longer resembled themselves, leaving flesh and blood for the synthetic masses they produced within underground production plants. Both sides made great strides technologically, but refused to see eye to eye until a new threat descended from the smog above. This marked Gehenna’s first appearance, and Nekrosa’s final days. Therma and Steadfast hurriedly came to a ceasefire and poured all of their resources into combating the flying city, which landed in the expansive arctic circle. The people of Nekrosa developed new technology at a breakneck pace in all directions, from psionics to artillery to even teleportation. For the first time, and the last time since, Gehenna was caught off guard as its minions were obliterated by geothermal railguns and magically infused explosives. As the Nekrosans rushed to combat the global threat, however, Gehenna quickly began devising its final solution to the real threat that this new Realm posed. It released four Behemoths - terrifying beasts the size of cities - which began to demolish the planet’s surface. Steadfast’s oceanic cityscape was pulled into the sea, while Therma’s urban sprawls were razed by unholy fire. Nearly every Phylactery on the planet was uncovered and destroyed as well, naturally being Gehenna’s main target. The people of Nekrosa, in turn, brought forth their own final solution: three colossal bombs infused with necrotic energy that would irradiate their targets so thoroughly and so destructively that death would be unavoidable for the Behemoths. These would prove enough for the Behemoths and ultimately send Gehenna away, but to destroy the Behemoths, the Nekrosans could do nothing but target the planet itself. The population would slowly wither away, with the last great minds of Nekrosa putting everything they had into finding a way off the planet. It is unknown if anyone managed to do it. All that is left of the Realm now, however, is a charred wasteland surrounded by barren tundras and blackened seas. There is a peculiar exception to the rule, however; in a select handful of communities, the denizens of Nekrosa live on. It seems as though a few Phylacteries were left untouched by Gehenna, giving a sort of half-life to the souls that remain there. These groups of giant ghosts, with no living matter left to inhabit, live in limbo and are slowly forgetting the memories of the world that Nekrosa once was.