The Lich King's Biography

The Lich King

& Secretaries

The Lich King

The names and stories below were created by Dan Panamaroff as the winning entry to name the three secretaries the Lich King had hired back in GD #18. These results were published in GD #36. Their stories were written as excerts of the Lich King's diaries so that's the format I have left them in below.

Maharet (Margaret Jones) seems to be the most "mundane" of my applicants. Back in the 1980's (Earth time), she made her living as a temporary secretary. (Hmmm... actual secretarial experience, a plus...) Miss Jones came from a lower middle-class family in the Washington, D.C., area. She grew up and had a relatively normal life. She graduated university wih a business degree, and began working a few small jobs, mostly for large corporations, and always in a temporary capacity. It seems Miss Jones had a dream of becoming a singing star. In fact, she had made a small living writing songs for some second-rate singing groups of the cosm, though never anything major. But this obsession caused her to see her secretarial job as something... temporary. She spent her life this way, until finally someone heard her demo tape and offered her an audition. Excited at the prospect, she went out to celebrate with a few of her friends. Ironically, it was at this point in her life path that she was noticed by one of Earth's vampires. (Perhaps he noticed the possibilities in her life path? Or perhaps it was just dumb luck...) She had a bit too much to drink, was a bit unwise in her decisions that night, and well... she woke up three days later in the city morgue. It seems the vampire who fed on her was a bit careless and did not use "Safe Feeding" procedures. (Beheading, heart removal, etc...) Ah well, it was probably just part of the whole series of coincidences that form her. Perhaps it was the vampire infection, or possible it was the fact that she had slept through her one and only audition, but she came out of the change a "changed" person. She has never written a song, or even sung a note, since. She has thrown herself into her vampiric identiy. Pity. She stalked the reality of Earth for 10 years until she was absorbed by the Realm of the Undead. (Many undead finally end up here.) Her vampiric abilities appear standard. Unlife, feeding on blood, sunlight, etc... except for the fact that among the usual secondary forms of a vampire (bat, wolf, mist, and sometimes rats) she has substituted a black cat for a wolf or rats. Interesting... this may be due to the fact that she was raised in an urban Earth environment. It is for this reason that she has picked up the moniker "Maharet." Sekmet was a lion goddess symbolizing the darker aspects of the Egyptian goddess Bast. Margaret melded the name together with her own into "Maharet."

Dark Weaver (Dark Weaver of Webs that Glisten with Dew in the Morning). Ah, a most interesting applicant. Her story begins 680 years ago on Jade. At that time, Dark Weaver was a high priestess of "Takat," the Dark Spider Goddess of Jade. Basically a cult that wirshipped the creative aspects of spiders and also assimilated their alien practices and behaviors. Living secluded in the Dim Crag mountains, this cult was known for its inhuman practices: Human sacrifices, everybody swimming in the same "gene pool" as it were, matrimonial cannibalism and other deeds too dark to mention. Although, usually, the activity was centered upon the culy community itself instead of the countryside and its peoples. Interestingly enough, the cult was also known for the production of beautiful blankets, wall hangings and rugs. Many noble houses of Jade were known to own such hangings. That may be the only reason the cult was not annihilated sooner than it was. (The cult existed in seclusion for over 2000 years on Jade.) Out of this festering pit came Weaver. The pale beauty Dark Weaver was raised from a child to fill the position of high priestess, as had seven other girls. Chosen for their beauty and their parents' strength and viciousness,m the girls were instructed in the intricacies of their religion, and on how to run the theocracy built around the cult. They shared a life both rich in sensuality, and showcasing the highest cruelties that humans can be vapable of. By their 18th birthday, only one girl remained alive, the rest having been killed - some at the hands of each other, but most by the hand of Weaver, by thread, rope or poison. The cult gathered, and utilizing an involved ritual, invoked the spider goddess Taket in the flesh. The goddess smiled on the incredibly vicious girl, gave her the magical abilities of her station and named her "Dark Weaver of Webs that Glisten with Dew in the Morning." The old High Priestess, "Weaver of Dusty Cobwebs in the Corner," was stripped of her powers and ritually eaten. There was much rejoicing. Only problem was that the party got a little out of hand and included two of the neighboring villages. Rugs or no rugs, this was too much. The neighboring kingdoms, utilizing their own armies and purchasing additional mercenaries, destroyed the cult and their community. Here, the story would have ended, if not for a certain vampire. My dear Natasha had been observing this cult for decades, plotting how to use the cult for her own ends. And she had also been enchanted by Weaver. Never had she encountered such a cruel creature! She had very little time during the attack, but she did spirit Weaver away. Why? Well, Natasha was spellbound by the creature, but she was also curious... What would happen if Weaver was infected by vampiric blood? Could she possibly creatre a creature more vicious and inhuman than Weaver already was? Natasha was correct... Dark Weaver's abilities are somewhat different from the standard vampire's. She has the basic template (unlife, sunlight, wood stakes etc...), but they have been modified because she is still the acting high priestess of Taket. Firstly, her eyes are fetching black orbs. She also has a bite that is not just vampiric in nature, but also beomous. Resembling the bite of the Brown Recluse spider of Earth's United States, this bite will dissolve the flesh of the victim, even undead flesh. Weaver is known to completely consume her victims. (How she keeps that lovely figure, I'll never know...) She also boasts spinnerets in her mouth and can produce webbing of impressive strength. (I asked why she produced it from her mouth. She replied, "It's better than out my butt!" I must agree...) Her secondary forms are mist, a huge tarantula (6m leg span) appearing withered in undeath, and a swarm of smaller arachnids. Interestingly, she can cast her sight into any spider withing 2 miles. She cannot hear what is happening, however.

Phillipa Smith - Miss Smith, like Maharet, also hails from Earth. She was infected in Victorian England and has spent her time feeding on its populace for the last few years. She has also haunted the eastern US and Canada, until she fell into the Realm of the Undead. Phillipa specializes in feeding on those who employ prostitutes. In fact, she was a lady of the evening before her change in jolly old England. Specializing in "subsidized dating," Miss Smith supported herself with the money raised from these activities and the energy she stole during them. Again, Phillipa is not a standard vampire. She does drink blood, but it is in small amounts. (I believe that she enjoys such acitivity...) However, her standard method of feeding is to exhaust the victim, and then drain his or her magical aura completely. This results in a spectcular light show, and a charred and desiccated corpse. She is a standard vampire in all other ways, except that her only secondary form is a harmless glowing mist. Such activity and feeding habits (although not the resulting fatality) are similar not to a vampire but a Rakshasa. I have deduced that she may have fed on a Rakshasa during her long undead career, and this may have altered her abilities. When I asked hr if she had fed on such an individual, she replied, "Yeah! Oi knew a funny fella like 'at!" She then described in detail how she "outlasted" and consumed him, but that "he" still put up a good fight right 'til the very end. (See scroll #23.3, in my personal safe, for more details on this encounter.) A side effect of her new method of feeding is that she has access to memories and skills of the individual consumed. However, it is only for a limited period of time (a few hours at least). I am very interested in trying to replicate the circumstances of her alteration, especially to see if the results can be duplicated. But where would I find a Rakshasa in this day and age...

A DEFINING MOMENT - (under construction)

	The Lich King
The names and stories below were created by Dan Panamaroff as the winning entry to name the three secretaries the Lich King had hired back in GD #18. These results were published in GD #36. Their stories were written as excerts of the Lich King's diaries so that's the format I have left them in below.
	Maharet (Margaret Jones) seems to be the most "mundane" of my applicants. Back in the 1980's (Earth time), she made her living as a temporary secretary. (Hmmm... actual secretarial experience, a plus...) Miss Jones came from a lower middle-class family in the Washington, D.C., area. She grew up and had a relatively normal life. She graduated university wih a business degree, and began working a few small jobs, mostly for large corporations, and always in a temporary capacity. It seems Miss Jones had a dream of becoming a singing star. In fact, she had made a small living writing songs for some second-rate singing groups of the cosm, though never anything major. But this obsession caused her to see her secretarial job as something... temporary. She spent her life this way, until finally someone heard her demo tape and offered her an audition. Excited at the prospect, she went out to celebrate with a few of her friends. Ironically, it was at this point in her life path that she was noticed by one of Earth's vampires. (Perhaps he noticed the possibilities in her life path? Or perhaps it was just dumb luck...) She had a bit too much to drink, was a bit unwise in her decisions that night, and well... she woke up three days later in the city morgue. It seems the vampire who fed on her was a bit careless and did not use "Safe Feeding" procedures. (Beheading, heart removal, etc...) Ah well, it was probably just part of the whole series of coincidences that form her. Perhaps it was the vampire infection, or possible it was the fact that she had slept through her one and only audition, but she came out of the change a "changed" person. She has never written a song, or even sung a note, since. She has thrown herself into her vampiric identiy. Pity. She stalked the reality of Earth for 10 years until she was absorbed by the Realm of the Undead. (Many undead finally end up here.) Her vampiric abilities appear standard. Unlife, feeding on blood, sunlight, etc... except for the fact that among the usual secondary forms of a vampire (bat, wolf, mist, and sometimes rats) she has substituted a black cat for a wolf or rats. Interesting... this may be due to the fact that she was raised in an urban Earth environment. It is for this reason that she has picked up the moniker "Maharet." Sekmet was a lion goddess symbolizing the darker aspects of the Egyptian goddess Bast. Margaret melded the name together with her own into "Maharet."
	Dark Weaver (Dark Weaver of Webs that Glisten with Dew in the Morning). Ah, a most interesting applicant. Her story begins 680 years ago on Jade. At that time, Dark Weaver was a high priestess of "Takat," the Dark Spider Goddess of Jade. Basically a cult that wirshipped the creative aspects of spiders and also assimilated their alien practices and behaviors. Living secluded in the Dim Crag mountains, this cult was known for its inhuman practices: Human sacrifices, everybody swimming in the same "gene pool" as it were, matrimonial cannibalism and other deeds too dark to mention. Although, usually, the activity was centered upon the culy community itself instead of the countryside and its peoples. Interestingly enough, the cult was also known for the production of beautiful blankets, wall hangings and rugs. Many noble houses of Jade were known to own such hangings. That may be the only reason the cult was not annihilated sooner than it was. (The cult existed in seclusion for over 2000 years on Jade.) Out of this festering pit came Weaver. The pale beauty Dark Weaver was raised from a child to fill the position of high priestess, as had seven other girls. Chosen for their beauty and their parents' strength and viciousness,m the girls were instructed in the intricacies of their religion, and on how to run the theocracy built around the cult. They shared a life both rich in sensuality, and showcasing the highest cruelties that humans can be vapable of. By their 18th birthday, only one girl remained alive, the rest having been killed - some at the hands of each other, but most by the hand of Weaver, by thread, rope or poison. The cult gathered, and utilizing an involved ritual, invoked the spider goddess Taket in the flesh. The goddess smiled on the incredibly vicious girl, gave her the magical abilities of her station and named her "Dark Weaver of Webs that Glisten with Dew in the Morning." The old High Priestess, "Weaver of Dusty Cobwebs in the Corner," was stripped of her powers and ritually eaten. There was much rejoicing. Only problem was that the party got a little out of hand and included two of the neighboring villages. Rugs or no rugs, this was too much. The neighboring kingdoms, utilizing their own armies and purchasing additional mercenaries, destroyed the cult and their community. Here, the story would have ended, if not for a certain vampire. My dear Natasha had been observing this cult for decades, plotting how to use the cult for her own ends. And she had also been enchanted by Weaver. Never had she encountered such a cruel creature! She had very little time during the attack, but she did spirit Weaver away. Why? Well, Natasha was spellbound by the creature, but she was also curious... What would happen if Weaver was infected by vampiric blood? Could she possibly creatre a creature more vicious and inhuman than Weaver already was? Natasha was correct... Dark Weaver's abilities are somewhat different from the standard vampire's. She has the basic template (unlife, sunlight, wood stakes etc...), but they have been modified because she is still the acting high priestess of Taket. Firstly, her eyes are fetching black orbs. She also has a bite that is not just vampiric in nature, but also beomous. Resembling the bite of the Brown Recluse spider of Earth's United States, this bite will dissolve the flesh of the victim, even undead flesh. Weaver is known to completely consume her victims. (How she keeps that lovely figure, I'll never know...) She also boasts spinnerets in her mouth and can produce webbing of impressive strength. (I asked why she produced it from her mouth. She replied, "It's better than out my butt!" I must agree...) Her secondary forms are mist, a huge tarantula (6m leg span) appearing withered in undeath, and a swarm of smaller arachnids. Interestingly, she can cast her sight into any spider withing 2 miles. She cannot hear what is happening, however.
	Phillipa Smith - Miss Smith, like Maharet, also hails from Earth. She was infected in Victorian England and has spent her time feeding on its populace for the last few years. She has also haunted the eastern US and Canada, until she fell into the Realm of the Undead. Phillipa specializes in feeding on those who employ prostitutes. In fact, she was a lady of the evening before her change in jolly old England. Specializing in "subsidized dating," Miss Smith supported herself with the money raised from these activities and the energy she stole during them. Again, Phillipa is not a standard vampire. She does drink blood, but it is in small amounts. (I believe that she enjoys such acitivity...) However, her standard method of feeding is to exhaust the victim, and then drain his or her magical aura completely. This results in a spectcular light show, and a charred and desiccated corpse. She is a standard vampire in all other ways, except that her only secondary form is a harmless glowing mist. Such activity and feeding habits (although not the resulting fatality) are similar not to a vampire but a Rakshasa. I have deduced that she may have fed on a Rakshasa during her long undead career, and this may have altered her abilities. When I asked hr if she had fed on such an individual, she replied, "Yeah! Oi knew a funny fella like 'at!" She then described in detail how she "outlasted" and consumed him, but that "he" still put up a good fight right 'til the very end. (See scroll #23.3, in my personal safe, for more details on this encounter.) A side effect of her new method of feeding is that she has access to memories and skills of the individual consumed. However, it is only for a limited period of time (a few hours at least). I am very interested in trying to replicate the circumstances of her alteration, especially to see if the results can be duplicated. But where would I find a Rakshasa in this day and age...