Marduk Akil
From MoongatesWiki
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| [Source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- "Fear is the foundation of Power"
- — Marduk Akil
Contents |
About Marduk Akil
Marduk Akil was a castaway from Britain. He ended up in Malas at an early age, from slave to Necromancer he worked his way up the ranks being very successful. When the Moongate opened to the rest of Britannia he saw potential in new allies but his ideas were rejected by the Council. Marduk was furious, he revolted against the ruling Council of Umbra and gained allies such as Saktoth of the Severed Heads Clan, Xirzin De'muz of Naeloth and Ashoka of Nujel'm. With his new allies he fought against the ruling council, splitting Umbra in two.
Thus Umbra entered a new era, a civil war broke out loyalists against the seperatists. One by one the Council members fell victim to his greed, dying or fleeing there were but few left to fight this menace. Elder Aryala tricked Marduk and he ended up with a blade to his throat "die or join us". He joined the Council and sat for several years but within this dark alliance they had formed with Naeloth and Nujel'm, a new conflict arose. With the new Nujel'm rulers and Umbra fighting Naeloth and standing up against their tyranny which leaked out on their allies. The dark alliance which Marduk had once formed was all in vain, it was at that crucial moment that Marduk's sanity took the best out of him. For years he had been tormented by the spirit of his dead brother and it finally became too much. After murdering an Acolyte he took his own life, Elder Aryala and Elder Cain continued to rule Umbra.
A man associated with the Orcs of Tolagâl was a translator and an enforcer for the Orc known as Ashdurbûk Kraadu, he was eventually identified as Marduk Akil and brought back to Umbra through a deal Aryala struck with the strange Orc leader. He's now bound to Aryala's will and do whatever she commands him to, a simple servant of the Umbra Council.
Brothers forever
As the two surviving brothers entered Malas through the Gravewater Lake, they were stranded in the lake for weeks with only their fathers corpse to keep them company. Starving they argued amongst each other, what little sanity they had left faded away in the hectic moment. It was kill or be killed, the younger brother took a board from the ship and hit his older brother until he didn't move.
The days passed and the little boy known at the time as Eric had little choice but to feast on the remains of his brother to survive, the cruel fate of the young boy seemed to become more hopeful when two men much older than him found Eric whimpering and struggling for his life on the small beach. He was taken away to a town known as Umbra, where they saw it fit to use his fragile body as slave labour. In the cell with cruel men and women he could not sleep at all, as they whispered in his ear all night. Things he had not heard before, they called him a murderer, monster and things that only they would call an Orc. In the morning the boy had lost all sanity and as the slaver approached him to drag him out of the cell, the young boy did as the voices told him to. "Bash his head in... brother..." It seemed as the boy said later on "right", what would become of the young boy was unsure but killing a grown man with his bare hands is that of potential one of the masters said. "I will take him as my own and teach him the ways of our people, from now on he will be known as Marduk..." So the story goes that the little boy of 8 did not see a happy ending, his brother stayed with him since that day and never left his side. "Brothers forever..."
Council of Umbra
The Council of Umbra or known as the Council of Six, the six strongest Necromancers in the lands. Old traditions say that if you kill a Council member you take their place in the Umbra Council. You will be granted the power of the six, a power that unless broken by another Council member you will not die. So it was written but for the first time in Umbran history after fulfulling his deeds, Marduk Akil was denied his rightful place in the Council. Although that conflict is long over by now, you can still see the dammage he caused. Only two of the Six Council members remains, Cain Bishop being a more recent addition to the flock. Aryala being the oldest living Council member she has great knowledge hidden from most, Marduk is bond to her will through an Orcish binding bracelet. He must do what she commands and nothing more or less, loosing his humanity he has no choice but to follow Aryala to the grave.
Civil War in Umbra - "the New Era"
Marduk was the single cause of the Civil War that broke loose in Umbra. His desires for power made him a dangerous enemy for the Council, the preassure added to the tension. Those loyal to Marduk saw the opression and saw only truth in Marduk's preachings. War was inveitable, devided in two there was the Seperatists and the Loyalists. Even though they did not wage open war on each other, death was frequent. Masters of the dark arts assasinated on the streets of Umbra, betrayal was everywhere. Marduk was dubbed the betrayer and denied his request for power in the Council, it was then that the Civil War became serious. Four Council members lost their lives in the mess, Elder Aryala and Al'dara were the only ones left. It was Elder Aryala's cunning mind that ended the war, she hired outside help and kidnapped the leader of the seperatists. Forced him to join the Council or die, Marduk along with two of his followers, Malnick and Anne Lorxen joined the Council and became Elders themselves. This changed the course of the Council which you can see today, being more open to outsiders and welcoming more people to join their cause.
The Allies
Marduk was the first Necromancer to ally himself with people from outside Malas, he suggested alliances with Naeloth to the Council but it was frowned upon. He befriended several people including Saktoth, Xirzin, Elias, Ra'karn, Garod and several others, as his lust for power rised Marduk's uprising against the Council became worse and worse. Losing many of his friends and allies as time passed the last Councilmembers took action against Marduk and won the battle. He was appointed Elder due to the loss of many Councilmembers, as was his loyal followers Malnick and Anne Lorxen. The trust for those allies left became weaker and weaker as the Naelothian allies as well as Umbra saw no profit in staying together, it came to the point where war was unavoidable. People lost their lives, including Marduk that took his own life. Time faded and as Marduk returned from the grave there was nothing left but shattered memories, he had a strong affiliation with the Tolagâl Orcs. However in the end, his loyalty remained with Umbra and the Council.
Assasination Attempt on the Spiritwood Baron
Spiritwood, a peaceful place that was allied with Moonglow at the time. Umbrans and Necromancers were frowned upon because of the hostile activity against Moonglow. The Civil War was still raging in Umbra and the seat of power was unstable, Marduk and one of his minions came to Spiritwood with histile intent. As the Spiritwood Baron was approached by the Seperatist leader and his minion he was suddenly attacked. The Baron was seriously injured but survived the incident, even though this was an act from Marduk and not Umbra. Umbra was blamed for the assasination attempt, a ban was placed and eventually a war delaration followed.
Uneasy Alliance with Naeloth
Drow and Man should not become friends if they both lust for power. Such was the case with Naeloth, they both harmed each other. A few Acolytes saw injustice in the Drow, Jhaniss Glannaths', words and decided to take action. Several assasination attempts by still unknown Acolytes were made on Jhaniss that inreturn blamed Marduk for the incident. As events unfolded both sides argued amongst each other, the invasion of Moonglow by the Dark Alliance and demand by Umbra that Mayor Yoldran was to be turned in to Umbra after his capture was enough to spark an uneasy alliance with Naeloth. Umbra and Nujel'm made a pact against their old ally to wage war and rid themselves of Naeloth once and for all. The covert attacks on Drow during their visits on allied grounds, Naeloth demanded the arrest of several people involved in the matter but it was all delayed by excuses. Eventually the matter was eventually forgotten when a Naelothian tried to establish a neutral ground for a peace treaty. Nothing was resolved but both sides went their own way claiming that nothing could be gained from an alliance with either one of them.
Death of Marduk
Marduk's split personality was a constant problem, from a compassionate man he could turn into violent criminal. The outbursts became worse as time passed, eventually he killed a close follower that he loved dearly. That was enough for him to take his own life, how he took his own life is still unknown. A body was never recovered but it was assumed he was dead when he went missing for several years. He eventually returned but his body was nothing but a wandering corpse.
The resurrection
On the Ashdurbûk Kraadu's search for the 'Word of Evil' he encountered a wretched creature by the name of Ru'Kra deep under the mountains. He was a goblin of sorts, a lesser orc, who was keen to impress this powerful new, magic-wielding Orc from the surface. Ru'kra spoke to the Dushatar about a corpse of a necromancer and lead him to it. The corpse had just been dumped. Not caring why, Kraadu continued with his plans. Abusing the magic of a Necromancer would be extremely beneficial to his cause. Upon further inspection the body proved to be none other than Marduk Akil, whom Kraadu had had brief, barely noteworthy, encounters with in the past. Upon leading Kraadu to the Necromancer Ru'kra became angry, demanding his payment. With no intentions of actually rewarding the Goblin, Kraadu killed him and used his blood in the summoning spell to resurrect Marduk as a sinister Matgûl. Kraadu informed Marduk, now a loyal, mindless (yet powerful) slave, to prepare for his return to Tolagâl. And so he did. Kraadu continued his search for the 'Word of Evil'.
