Rack the Deathless (WIPin' [censored]!)
By
Arcaine,
Posted on: 2006-09-13 05:13 in Multi-Media Fan Creations
Graver, that picture is both stunning and eerie at the same time. From the tattered clothes, the scars, positioning... wow... This piece is going to be killer when it's finished. Of course, I think that's been said of all your pieces. 
I think either title works, really (though I did chuckle at Recruitment Drive). How sad is that? I can't even give advice on the title? *sigh* :P
As always, wonderful work. I like the transition of being alive to becoming a zombie. It's got a horror feel. Frighteningly awesome.
I think I drove Graver slightly crazy last night. He put me on the spot with some questions about Rack and his undead minions and I basically had to write the second part of Rack's origin biography off the top of my head. Graver asked and he received:
Hadrian Quinn, the man who would later become the villain known as Rack, was killed by a Banished Pantheon artifact that was supposed to kill his wife, Caroline Grace, a magic wielding superhero. Caroline grew more and more bitter and desperate trying to find legitimate ways to bring Hadrian back to life. When she was finally denied the necessary information and artifacts by MAGI, she turned to unconventional and dangerous methods.
Delving in the death magicks of the Circle of Thorns, Caroline believed she had found a way to ressurect her husband by sacrificing the souls of some very powerful Death Mages to a unnamed Higher Lord of Chaos.
Only one Death Mage survived to tell the tale of what happened, and his evidence is cirumspect at best given that he was driven insane by what he witnessed and died shortly afterwards gibbering inanely that Rack had come.
According to the Death Mage, Caroline had her husbands mystically preserved body placed upon an altar somewhere in the sewers beneath Perez Park. Seven Death Mages were bound by magic and frozen in place around the altar while Caroline ritually sliced the wrists of each mage with a ceremonial jade dagger and began reciting ancient summoning rites not uttered on this plane of existence for millenia.
As darkness and shadow descended around the altar, Caroline sliced her own wrists and let her blood comingle with that of the seven Death Mages.
Hadrian began to twist and writhe as blood and shadow began mystically entering his body. Caroline completed the ritual by placing the jade dagger in the mouth of her husband.
The blood stopped flowing and the wounds on the Death Mages healed. Caroline had not expected this, and already weakened she was in no state to resist the Death Mages as they broke their magical restraints and captured her.
One of the Death Mages took up the jade dagger and whispered something in Hadrians ear. The dead man got up, apparently alive and restored to full health. Caroline wept at her husbands return but her joy was short lived.
Taking the jade dagger that was offered to him, Hadrian turned to his wife and without hesitation or emotion effortlessly plunged the dagger into the heart of his beloved wife, killing her instantly.
According to the surviving Death Mage, Hadrian then turned to the Death Mage who had handed him the dagger and said You laid this body upon the rack, but you have yet to pay six souls back.
Hadrian Quinns living visage crumbled away as skin withered and decayed, and flesh twisted and rotted. In its place soon stood an undead soulless thing animating a lifeless shell of a man. And carved in flesh upon its leathery chest was the symbol of Chaos.
And bloodshed ensured.
Operatives from MAGI soon after discovered the scene. Six of the Death Mages had been ritually mutilated, tortured and killed. The seventh was hiding in a corner behind the altar, staring up at the undead thing lying peacefully upon it as if nothing had happened.
Rack was taken into custody and sent to the Ziggursky Prison for killing his wife. The verdict was damning. Undead and insane. To be kept in solitary confinement and under constant surveillance until MAGI found a way to either reverse the summoning ritual or destroy the undead creature.
Comments:
Rack effectively has no soul. He is an undead thing reanimiated by the wild magic of Chaos. Whether or not he serves a Higher Lord of Chaos or is an avatar of one remains unanswered. Rack retains the memories, knowledge and experience of Hadrian Quinn but is unfettered by emotion, conscience and morality. There is no right or wrong - just action or inaction. And being a former sniper in WWII and a CIA agent during the Cold War makes for a character who is just as ruthless and calculating as he can be inscrutable and hidden.
Rack has the souls of six of the most powerful Death Mages from the Circle of Thorns bound to him, possibly for eternity. It is unknown exactly what happened to the soul of his wife, Caroline Grace.
Rack uses these souls to 'raise' undead from the realm of Chaos. The tormented Dark Mage souls cloak themselves in the dark and twisted forms of Chaos, usually adopting the appearance of hungering zombies, murderous knights, or a vengeful lich.
Rack can also 'order' the souls of the Death Mages to enter the bodies of the deceased and reanimate the dead to create confusion, terror and chaos. It can be an effective, if somewhat gruesome, tactic to employ.
Rack personally uses the shadow of Chaos to provide armor, to cloak himself and remain undetected, to restore his visage to his previous living self, and when necessary to impersonate the visage and clothing of opponents he has studied.
...what a backstory! Brings the villain a bit more into focus, that's for sure!
Just curious, at what point did your original writing end and the second half begin? It seemed pretty seemless. to me.
Nice evil story SMF. I've yet to write any origins for my villians. I just can't get the same inspirations for them as I do for my hero's. But that was very graphic and detailed.
[color=#cc99cc]Nice background story. It's very seamless *thinks about her own stories and breaks a pencil* 
hehe
Sometimes I have my best and wackiest or best wackiest ideas late at night and they seem like pure genius, then I wake up. 
Anyway, I think writing on the fly can produce some of our best stories, nice work!
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I think I drove Graver slightly crazy last night. He put me on the spot with some questions about Rack and his undead minions and I basically had to write the second part of Rack's origin biography off the top of my head. Graver asked and he received:
Hadrian Quinn, the man who would later become the villain known as Rack, was killed by a Banished Pantheon artifact that was supposed to kill his wife, Caroline Grace, a magic wielding superhero. Caroline grew more and more bitter and desperate trying to find legitimate ways to bring Hadrian back to life. When she was finally denied the necessary information and artifacts by MAGI, she turned to unconventional and dangerous methods.
Delving in the death magicks of the Circle of Thorns, Caroline believed she had found a way to ressurect her husband by sacrificing the souls of some very powerful Death Mages to a unnamed Higher Lord of Chaos.
Only one Death Mage survived to tell the tale of what happened, and his evidence is cirumspect at best given that he was driven insane by what he witnessed and died shortly afterwards gibbering inanely that Rack had come.
According to the Death Mage, Caroline had her husbands mystically preserved body placed upon an altar somewhere in the sewers beneath Perez Park. Seven Death Mages were bound by magic and frozen in place around the altar while Caroline ritually sliced the wrists of each mage with a ceremonial jade dagger and began reciting ancient summoning rites not uttered on this plane of existence for millenia.
As darkness and shadow descended around the altar, Caroline sliced her own wrists and let her blood comingle with that of the seven Death Mages.
Hadrian began to twist and writhe as blood and shadow began mystically entering his body. Caroline completed the ritual by placing the jade dagger in the mouth of her husband.
The blood stopped flowing and the wounds on the Death Mages healed. Caroline had not expected this, and already weakened she was in no state to resist the Death Mages as they broke their magical restraints and captured her.
One of the Death Mages took up the jade dagger and whispered something in Hadrians ear. The dead man got up, apparently alive and restored to full health. Caroline wept at her husbands return but her joy was short lived.
Taking the jade dagger that was offered to him, Hadrian turned to his wife and without hesitation or emotion effortlessly plunged the dagger into the heart of his beloved wife, killing her instantly.
According to the surviving Death Mage, Hadrian then turned to the Death Mage who had handed him the dagger and said You laid this body upon the rack, but you have yet to pay six souls back.
Hadrian Quinns living visage crumbled away as skin withered and decayed, and flesh twisted and rotted. In its place soon stood an undead soulless thing animating a lifeless shell of a man. And carved in flesh upon its leathery chest was the symbol of Chaos.
And bloodshed ensured.
Operatives from MAGI soon after discovered the scene. Six of the Death Mages had been ritually mutilated, tortured and killed. The seventh was hiding in a corner behind the altar, staring up at the undead thing lying peacefully upon it as if nothing had happened.
Rack was taken into custody and sent to the Ziggursky Prison for killing his wife. The verdict was damning. Undead and insane. To be kept in solitary confinement and under constant surveillance until MAGI found a way to either reverse the summoning ritual or destroy the undead creature.
Comments:
Rack effectively has no soul. He is an undead thing reanimiated by the wild magic of Chaos. Whether or not he serves a Higher Lord of Chaos or is an avatar of one remains unanswered. Rack retains the memories, knowledge and experience of Hadrian Quinn but is unfettered by emotion, conscience and morality. There is no right or wrong - just action or inaction. And being a former sniper in WWII and a CIA agent during the Cold War makes for a character who is just as ruthless and calculating as he can be inscrutable and hidden.
Rack has the souls of six of the most powerful Death Mages from the Circle of Thorns bound to him, possibly for eternity. It is unknown exactly what happened to the soul of his wife, Caroline Grace.
Rack uses these souls to 'raise' undead from the realm of Chaos. The tormented Dark Mage souls cloak themselves in the dark and twisted forms of Chaos, usually adopting the appearance of hungering zombies, murderous knights, or a vengeful lich.
Rack can also 'order' the souls of the Death Mages to enter the bodies of the deceased and reanimate the dead to create confusion, terror and chaos. It can be an effective, if somewhat gruesome, tactic to employ.
Rack personally uses the shadow of Chaos to provide armor, to cloak himself and remain undetected, to restore his visage to his previous living self, and when necessary to impersonate the visage and clothing of opponents he has studied.
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3 Things -
1) Good story.
2) Does "Maim! Kill! Burn!" mean anything to you?
3) I'm sorry, but as an Inquisitor I'm going to have to purge you. Ya know... Chaos and all. <lights flamer>
(Sorry <,< WH40k fan <'x'> Nice story; or should I say 'not nice' >.>
A Warrior's Friend: ID 335212 - Help Infernal save Valkyrie from Battle Maiden.
Above Mars Part 1: The Wellington: ID 159769 - Save Mars by destroying a monstrous battleship from the inside!
>.> My DA page, where I attempt to art.
Inquisitors....bah nosey power hungry bums...
defiantely nicely fleshed out background there though...very nice indeed. one day I will actually flesh out the bits I ha......oooo...look! shiney new art! *wanders off*~
...the sword is truth...
~whiteperegrine~
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Edit: and thanks for the advice on a place to shop LJ... i'll have to check them out when i free up some more funds for art suplies!
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You could always do some quick pencil only sketches for art supplies,
that is if you can find a store that mails out say 10 packs.
Hmmm here's a My Simon link for a 5 pack a 10 pack and a 100 if you're nuts...
Those are some pretty affordable prices for perspective clients I'm thinking...
Btw looking good brother!
LJ