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The Tomb-Empire of Harri'Kan

The Grand Pyramid of Rimal-Mutaharrika

The Grand pyramid of Rimal-Mutaharrika was an imposing sight over the citadel of bone on which it overlooked, a monolithic building built from carved and etched sandstone, and topped with a solid gold cap. The building had been commissioned some thousand years ago, and had stood tall despite the intrusions of the savage tribesmen of the deserts, or worse, upon these lands. The interior was equally as lavish, upon all the walls were etched and coloured hieroglyphs denoting the ancient history of the Harri'kan people, from the earliest days as rock-flinging savages into their current, damned, existence as undead. In each corner of the main hall, wherein the throne and thus the Lich-King himself sat, were immense sandstone columns etched with ancient runes and lined with gold, all the most lavish of luxuries from a millennium of unending toil.

The main hall itself was a huge subterranean design, first designed by Sottom the Perfect, though perfected by the hand of the Lich-King. It was easily the size of any living-creature's throne room, and echoed with a history, a discernible past of which it's builders still remembered. The room was dimly lit, save for several braziers that spat out an ethereal, ghostly-blue flame, and it had relatively few occupants today. 

Upon the main throne, a lavish marble design that was fitted with red velvets and silks, was a robed being, monstrous in size and possessed of a most strange aura. In his hand was clasped a staff of gold and of bones, that gave off that same ethereal blue light as the braziers did. His face was a foul imitation of life, as dried and gnarled skin barely clung to his skull, his eyes replaced with a foul, flickering fire. Upon his head, he wore a crown of Obsidian and bone, shaped like an immense effigy to some, undoubtedly, dark gods. This man, this poor imitation of life yet so vastly powerful, was Horsophkekh Ekochen Fashke Anos, the overlord of this Empire.

Flanking him on either side, were immense stone statues – clad in ancient, guided plate armour and wielding immense halberds many times the size of a man. They didn't move, nor breathe, but the haunting life that echoed across their existence was enough to send shivers down s lesser man's spine. 

Several other undead stood tall in the room, some dressed in fineries and lounging around while others were clad in full armour, some several were even in the attire more fitting to a Hierophant, all of them had their attention upon one man, however. 

Before the Lich-King, however, was a living man, dressed in simple tribal clothing and currently kneeling as if in prayer. The man's face said otherwise, for it spoke of untold levels of terror permeating across his very soul, he felt the steely gazes of the undead fixed firmly upon him, and they indeed found him wanting. Abdul Maalik Farhat, was his name, first born son of the Chieftain, Jaarallah Anwar...and currently, a tribute to the Lich-King in order to spare the father's own mangy hide.

The relative din of the room continued for several more minutes before an immense commotion became audible, and an undead messenger appeared, his alabaster skeleton and ragged clothing a start contrast to those around him. He walked, with some anxiety despite his undeath, towards his master before kneeling and delivering.  

“Grand Lich-King Horsophkekh, I bring you word from the stronghold of Amini and their currently progress. The Overseer Mourad reports that his task is nearly complete, yet the ranks of this living-one's tribe do harass his workers...”

The mortal in the room protested and pleaded against this, arguing that his people were peaceful and would never be so foolish. His outcry was cut short when his entire body was flayed alive by a casual flick from the Lich-King's hand as he arose from his throne. 

“Then inform Overseer Mourad to obliterate them, just as he shall do to any of the savages dwelling with my Empire.”

The messenger nodded at this, before delivering his second message. 

“The Master of Horses has reported strange creatures at the northern borders, towards the forested regions and presumably past that. Strange red-furred humanoids with tails and lupine snouts. No conflict has come, yet we fear that they may try yet to establish themselves further.”

The Lich-King almost chuckled at this response, but instead his response was a muted scoff as he dismissed their existence entirely.

“This continent, our continent, is changing it seems. No longer are the races of Man, Elf, and Dwarf dominant...and yet interlopers come to claim the carrion corpse. This will not be allowed, send them a warning informing them that any intrusions into this land will be met with their death and subsequent reanimation into corpse-subjects. No exceptions, am I made clear?”

The messenger nods before scurrying off back into the streets of the capital city, however one of the more lavishly dressed herirophants approaches the Lich-King, his staff creating a soft tapping as he went. 

“Lord, should we not be more concerned with the recent expansions of those monstrous Greenskin creatures to our west? After all, they do border us...and their dead would make a fine warrior caste. Finer than whatever fiction the Master of Horses spouts, that is...”

Horsophkekh was not amused by this, yet responded with some respect for the ancient.

“They would, yet you tell me this numerous times. We understand their ranks, yet we do not understand the ranks of these...new creatures... in any case. We shall await to see who acts first, the long war is our ally, after all...”

The Tomb-Empires of the Harri'Kan

"To have died once...is enough." 

Overview
The ancient dead of a once proud desert empire stir from their aeons-long slumbering. Composed of the long-dead remnants of the ancient Rimal-Mutaharrika, the nation owes it's fealty to it's skeletal overlord and his cabals of Dark Hierophants. They may not be masters of anything in particular, but the dead do not dawdle like the living do...

Geography

Rimal-Mutaharrika, the ancient homeland of the Harri'Kan people, is a land of scorching heat and relentless sunlight. It is comprised of rolling desert dunes and of sandy mountains stretching high into the air, rivalled only by the imposing stone monolith-cities of the Harri'Kan, as their millennia-old gold artwork glitters in the harsh sun.

Little grows within these wastelands, as all the plant life simply can not sustain itself without the vitalising waters of a coastline or the rain, and no real fauna other the most heinously horrific would dwell within a place so harsh...

History

Ancient beyond belief, perhaps even the oldest of all human civilisations in the Old World, the hallowed history of the Harri'Kan goes back nearly several millennia. In their heyday they were a behemoth of an empire, stretching from coastline to coastline, incorporating numerous different races under the iron fist of their Maliks. Entire cities made almost entirely from shimmering gold with the titanic Tombs of long-dead monarchs casting dark shadows over the land.

The Empire was first founded by the Malik, Sottrom The Flawless in the dawn of humanity in that region of the world. Sottrom was, as his name suggests, counted amongst the holiest of all Harri'Kan gods – a tradition that has since held true. His rule was one of warfare and of conquest. He saw a bedraggled mess of tribal desert-savages and transformed them into a mighty nation easily rivalling even the most dastardly of foes. Their imperial rule over these lands lasted for millennia...until fate decided otherwise...

All was not merry forever, however, as civil wars and upstarts plunged the nation into a never-ending pit of warfare wit itself as both, insurrectionists from other races and the ever-looming peasant resentment reached it's fever pitch. The old Empire of Harri'Kan died in those years, replaced with a nation that simply wore it's skin like a poorly fitting visage. All hope had been lost for the nation, until a day wherein the Great Malik Tosars III was approached by a man in strange, tribal, robes and festooned with alien trinkets from foreign lands.
The mysterious stranger spun a tale of lies so deep it truly did kill the old Empire of Harri'Kan, not in the sense of a nation, but in a far more literal sense. In accepting the man's offers of unlimited power and stability in his lands, the Malik signed away his life – and the lives of all his followers. That night, many thousands died as a once proud nation of skilled humans became something resembling a nightmare, as flesh fell from bones and screeching persisted long into the night. 

Harri'Kan emerged from that time as a changed land. No longer was it the powerhouse it once was, nor was it normal in any sense of the term. In all his shame and all his grief the newly undead Malik turned himself upon the mysterious strange,r only to find that the stranger was, in fact, far worse than even he could have assumed.
The stranger was not the feeble old man, and pedaller of lies that he was assumed to be. A vivified ancient of a human, but something far more than a mere man. Horsophkekh Ekochen Fashke Anos The Glorious Hierpohant and scourge of a thousand souls, a necromancer of such power and terror. The new Tomb-King was swiftly slain, his body soon reanimated into a mindless puppet...his kingdom, his people, his very mortality, all taken from him.
 Horsophkekh Anos, the Lich-King of the Harri'Kan crowned himself that day, his rule lasting ever since.

Government

In some sense of the word, the Empire of Harri'Kan is a mixture between an Absolute Monarchy and a Theocracy. A long and lonely ruler sits on the throne now as he did several hundreds of years ago, a dreaded and vile man who rules this nation of the dead and damned with an iron fist.  Horsophkekh Ekochen Fashke Anos, first of his name and household sits upon that throne, though he holds no right to do so. All power in the nation flows through him.
There is some significance of religion and magic, as the next step down in society is that of the Hierpohant. These, Kahin, fulfil the duel-roles of priests and as necromancers for they keep the masses of Harri'Kan animated and working their jobs. These priests all owe direct fealty to the Lich-King himself. 

Below these priests are the Alnnubla, or nobles, they serve as the district and small-time rulers of smaller settlements and singular forts. As a cruel trick of irony the Lich-King has made most of these nobles be of the same dynasty that he replaced all those years ago. The nobles are mostly free-willed but they are normally suppressed into a point of being unable to strike a member of their own race, all the better to ensure they can't dawdle around.

Race Description:
In their day, the ancients of Harri'Kan were tall, beautiful Humans with tanned skin and captivating brown eyes. They wore garments of finery, of silks and of precious metals. Their people were a race as rich as could be, with a people as proud as could be. All has since changed.

The average citizen of Harri'Kan is now a literal skeleton. An alabaster-boned undead with little sentience aside from doing their job and the basics of protecting themselves. They see all living beings as hostile, though there are very few mortals who prove themselves useful. They bear no real traits, aside from unnatural toughness and strength due to their magical nature, aside from this, they are beings of necromantic origins. Terrible to behold.

The nobles of Harri'kan are far greater in nature than the peasantry. Their skin, while dry and cracked from the scorching sun, still retains some level of beauty to it as the necromantic energies propelling them onwards is far grander in scale than anything a normal citizen could hope to have. They are festooned with gold and garments, of silk. The nobles, and really any of the more important people in the society are also far larger and more robust than the citizenry, standing a proud height amongst their hunched skeleton-minions.

Culture:
The culture, what remains of it, is heavily suited towards the fulfilment of duty. Be that in the army or in hard labour. The nobles do still practice all their ancient traditions, from grandiose chariot racing events to live gladiatorial combat in huge arenas. The nobles enjoy nothing more than hunting the various game animals they have managed to reanimate into unlife, or perhaps even indulge in the artworks and music of their near-dead empire.
Economy/Industry

Despite their lack of need for food and drink, the Harri'Kan do make a fortune out of their magical aptitude and use of mortal slaves. They make constant use of their civilian population – the never tiring legions of the undead, to run most of their economy and industry however, as their untiring nature makes them incredibly useful when compared to the fleshy workers of other races. The unthinking populace works 24/7 and then some, mining, and fulfilling all manner of tasks that would be needed of them. 

Some even say that the Harri'Kan deal with the elusive Vampires, but no mortal has yet to confirm that.

Magic:

The Harri'Kan do not use magic in the normal sense of the word, their magic being so weird and personal as to be almost called unique in nature – or so any of their priests would tell you. Their magic is a blending of the undead, necromancy, and death lores of magic, mixing debilitating curses with the ability to reanimate their vast armies and bring them back into fighting shape. These spells, as powerful as they, are doubly terrifying for they reanimate any mortal corpse not protected in some special manner, as the fell powers imbue even enemy corpses with the power to fight back against the former allies in life.

Military:

The Empire of Harri'Kan has a rather sizeable standing army of rather good quality, each man having been a soldier in life and now also in undeath. The army can be, in times of war, multiple hundreds of thousands as the very dead themselves are conscripted into the vast necromantic ranks of the undead, a tide of lurching bones and rusted old swords that are certain to crush the foe through sheer force of numbers if nothing else. Given that their entire industry is almost always running at full capacity, all their soldiers are well equipped, well-maintained, and highly effective at their job, their nature itself is fear incarnate to most as well. Their lack of mortal pain and terror is a sight to behold, as they do not hold back like a normal man would do, they do not flinch like a normal man does, they are soulless killing machines that only seek to destroy the living.

The Harri'Kan war machine is a terrifying thing to even think about, as their number of soldiers can – theoretically – scale to be as large as the number of casualties the conflict has sustained...and nothing gives the priests merit to their arrogance quite like winning a fight and technically suffering zero casualties...

Pros:
-Stronger and tougher than normal humans.
-Extremely high numbers.
-Undead: Causes huge amounts of fear, needs no food/water, and takes no attrition.
-Powerful mages.
-Powerful cavalry/chariots.
Cons:
-No navy.
-Extreme emphasis on the officers.
-Crumbles without magical support.
-Antiquated tactics.

Name: Rajil, footmen. 
Type: Tier 1, Light Infantry.
Short Description: The very basic foot soldiers of the Empire, these are literally just skeletons of the dead with little in the way of armour or weapons. Most carry rusted spears alongside shields.

Name: Siad, huntsmen.
Type: Tier 1, Light Archers.
Short Description: The common born who were hunters in life, they are rather inaccurate but make up for it with their recurved bows and immense volleys of fire.

Name: Faris, horsemen. 
Type: Tier 1, Light Cavalry.
Short Description: Poorly armed and armoured men riding upon skeletal steeds, they are rather terrifying against lightly armoured soldiers but mediocre otherwise. 

Name: Miqlae, skirmishers. 
Type: Tier 1, Skirmishers/Archers.
Short Description: Armed with slings and javelins, they wreak havoc amongst the lightly armoured, but little else. They are often used as bait.

Name: Ramah, pikemen.
Type: Tier 1, Pikemen.
Short Description: Armed with long and heavy spears designed to stop charges, these men are often the bulwark at the front of the armed force, stopping cavalry and charges alike.

Name: Asrab, ranged cavalry.
Type: Tier 2, Skirmisher Cavalry.
Short Description: Thundering skeletal steeds matched with the power of a recurved bow.

Name: The Walking Corpses, swarms.
Type: Tier 2, Swarm.
Short Descrption: The freshly risen dead of all fleshy types with corpreal bodies.

Name: Hisan, melee cavalry.
Type: Tier 2, Medium Cavalry.
Short Description: Thundering skeletal steeds matched with the power of a recurved bow.

Name: Almuharibun, Warriors.
Type: Tier 2, Medium Swordsmen.
Short Description: Armed and armoured, they are the truly first decent melee unit in the army. Armed with longswords, metal shields, and armour.

Name: Harba, Spearmen.
Type: Tier 2, Medium Spearmen.
Short Description: Wearing armour and wielding shields alongside their spears.

Name: Tamthal Living Stone Phalanxes
Type: Tier 2, Large Infantry.
Short Description: Literal living statues, they are armed with huge halberds and rely on their stone-flesh to stay alive.

Name: Jifa Carrion-Eaters.
Type: Tier 2, Large Beasts.
Short Description: Flying vultures that have been tamed by the common folk, they are terrifying.

Name: Shifting Sands Scorpions 
Type: Tier 3, Large.
Short Description: Monstrously huge scorpion statues brought to life through fell magic.

Name: Shock Cavalry.
Type: Tier 3, Heavy Cavalry.
Short Description: Armed with immense swords and full plate armour.

Name: Temple Guard 
Type: Tier 3, Heavy Halberd Infantry.
Short Description: Equipped with ornate armour and well-maintained halberds.

Name: Heavy Chariot
Type: Tier 3, Heavy Chariot.
Short Description: Single chariot pulled by two skeleton steeds, has a single archer and a single spearman onboard. They are all equipped with knee-high wheel spikes.

Name: Heavy Crossbowmen
Type:  Tier 3, Heavy Crossbow men.
Short Description: Armed with relatively newly designed crossbows stolen from Dwarven settlements near the edge of their lands.

Name: Living Warsphinx
Type: Tier 3, Large.
Short Description: A literal sphinx. Brought into foul unlife through necromancy.

Name: Sand Stalkers
Type: Tier 3, Large
Short Description: Stalkers and assassins resembling grotesque, hunched, snake-like humanoids.

Name: Knights of the Black Pit
Type: Tier 4, Heavy Infantry.
Short Description: The premiere heavy infantry of the Harri'Kan empire, they are terrifying to behold as many of them possess some innate magical abilities to compliment their horrifically potent melee abilities. 

Name: Bone Titans
Type: Tier 4. Large
Short Description: A race of giants now long extinct, they stand two dozen foot tall and can crush formations of less beings underfoot.

Name: Chariots of the Gods
Type: Tier 4, Heavy Chariot
Short Description: The premiere of the chariots of the Harri'Kan, they pulled by multiple horses and have a sizeable war platform at their backs.

Name: Onyx Warsphinx
Type: Tier 4, Large
Short Description: An even larger version of the  Harb 'abu alhul, designed to slay the largest of the enemy's ranks.

Name: Phalanx of the Iron Spines
Type: Tier 4, Light Infantry, Magical
Short Description: These are the awe-inspiring mage priests of the Harri'kan. They are the reason their armies fight on despite horrible casualties, they are the reason why the Harri'kan armies are nigh impossible to kill. 

Name: Assassins of The Guided Pyramids
Type: Tier 4, Heavy 
Short Description: Living relics from a time long passed, these men are the be all and end all when it comes to multi-purpose fighters in the whole of the empire.

Heroes and Lords:

Name: Horsophkekh Ekochen Fashke Anos
Position: Grand Lich-King of the Empire of Harri'Kan
Powers: An awesomely powerful sorcerer drawing from Death, Darkness, and Fire. No slouch in close combat either. Has a phylactery somewhere, preventing death from being permanent...until someone destroys the device that is. He carries a scythe, the “Musabbib lilmawt“ - Bringer of death, an immensely powerful artefact.
Short Bio/Personality: The great betrayer, the grand vizier of lies, and yet now their overlord. He came to power though his manipulation of the dire situation of the Empire several hundred years ago, betraying the current Malik. He is a manipulative, scheming, horrid person, but he isn't a moron. He knows a potential ally when he sees one, even if they have flesh on their bones...

Name: Sottom, Al'aqwia' al'asad min alllainihayiy alssahra' The Perfect
Position: High General.
Powers: Extremely powerful melee combatant and personal right-hand man to the Lich-King.
Short Bio/Personality: Sottom the Perfect was the first great Malik of the Harri'Kan people, he was instrumental in making their empire as grand as it once was – seeing this chance for irony and power, the Lich-King brought him back for another go.

Name: Hæssan'sh 'iimbratur rimal mutaharrika 
Position: Grand Vizier, Ruler of the Priests.
Powers: Second most powerful sorcerer in the empire.
Short Bio/Personality: Eccentric and erratic, constantly moving and constantly acting. Hæssan'sh is a timeless old man from the old days before the Lich-King. He is perceived well by his peers, but not the Lich-King himself.

Name: Omhen, 'innah aldhy yahmil alssulijan 
Position: Lord of Horses.
Powers: N/A.
Short Bio/Personality: A valiant and stoic warhero. 

Name: Tetmi kabir huk alssamawat 
Position: Mistress of Enchantment
Powers: Charming and supremely manipulative. Half decent sorcerer.
Short Bio/Personality: Vivified by her peers for a reckless and covetous nature. She acts as the primary diplomat to the living-world.

Name: Asotham, almulk alhudad 
Position: Master of the Watch.
Powers: The mourning king – fuelled by the death around himself.
Short Bio/Personality: No one is entirely sure about this man, he tok a vow of silence many thousands of years ago...his crimes, forgotten.

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