The Cursed City, Anteras

The Nameless Guide: A construct in the shape of an humanoid dragon, wearing a cracked armor and a mask over her draconic visage. The guide waits patiently for new souls to arrive to the city of Anteras, she gives them the chance to turn away or continue, and should they continue she'll follow them into the city. The new arrival will be dubbed an aspirant to the throne, for souls coming from the outside hold the potential of challenging the king. She'll follow any aspirant through the city but will not intervene, as they enter each part of the city, she'll give the aspirant a brief explanation of the place. And she's also in charge of telling the aspirant when they're ready to challenge one of the great accursed. The nameless guide is an odd being, at times she's stoic and serious, performing her duty as it were a sacred task. Other times she's playful and jester-like, goading the aspirant into doing dangerous acts or just messing with the aspirant. It's almost like two souls inhabit her body, and that's because that's what it is. Before the curse befell the city, there were only two beings who dared to defy the king: The Jester and the Queen. The King, furious at their insolence had their souls striped away from their bodies and forced into a single golem-like construct, and them banished them to the border, forced forever to guard the gate. Now, the guide leads each aspirant through the city, hoping one of them becomes strong enough to defeat the king, usurp the throne and end the curse. The Guide is an unique existence even by the standards of Anteras, as no husk or accursed dares to step close to her. Not even the strongest cursed ones dare to approach them, much less harm her. She's the only being that can walk freely inside Anteras. Whenever the aspirant is locked in battle, the guide will keep her distance, watching for afar the outcome of the battle. The Guide is an anthropomorphic dragon of an imposing height, towering over others. Her body is covered in grey fur. She has an anthropomorphic body, with clawed talons at the end of her limbs and a digitigrade stance. Under her fur, her whole body is covered in smooth scales. She has a toned, slender, buxom figure, with a thin waist, shapely hips, long legs and a firm, supple, peach-shaped butt. Her tail is long and thick, a very long lizard-like tail covered in fur. She has long, thin, draconic snout and blue eyes. Her arms, legs, thighs, abdomen, crotch, chest, breasts, shoulders and face are covered in fur. Her thighs are incredibly thick and meaty, and her ass is shapely, firm, doughy and bouncy. She has a pair of huge, truly massive breasts. The Guide wears an ornate, yet cracked, plate armor which exposes her ample cleavage. The guide also wears steel shoulder pads with a golden trim, and a silken tabard fluttering on the wind and hiding her privates.

The Cursed City, Anteras: Surrounded by giant walls of stone, the great city of Anteras was the capital of the Deimos kingdom. It was one of the greatest cities of antiquity, a sprawling metropolis inhabited by millions of citizens. The city was divided in 4 great districts located at each cardinal direction, the paths are paved with smooth, polished stone. But time has left it but a shadow of what it once was. Buildings have crumbled to ruins, dilapidated rubble of rotten wood and cracked stone. The few buildings that remain standing are covered in dust and ashes. Husk parade through the ruined roads in a sinister mockery of the past, and the accursed wait hidden in the shadows, waiting for other accursed to pass for them to ambush them and consume their souls.

The Hollow King, Lagos: Valiant, wise, resourceful and righteous. Lagos was the greatest king Deimos had ever seen, and he was loved by his every subject. Alas, even the greatest of men succumb to time, and Lagos was no exception. As he felt his strenght waning and his life ebbing away, he grew fearful, thoroughly terrified of death. He became cruel, distrusful and selfish, a tyrant who forced the entire kingdom into looking for ways to extend his life. No one knows how he got it, but one day he dissappeared and came back with an old parchment detailing an ancient ritual, written in an unknown tongue. It was the beginning of the end, the ritual was performed under orders of the king, and the curse befell Anteras. Lagos became and immortal king, but at what cost. Now he lies in wait in the throne room, his soul eternally linked to the souls of his every subject, syphoning their souls slowly to feed his own crumbling one. The king retains his umparalled strenght and intellect, and is a foe to be feared in combat. His body is the core of the curse, and the dark sorcery keeps him alive in a way different from the other cursed beings. The king's soul can't be consumed by normal accursed, and even if his body was turned to dust he will raise again and again. Only a cursed being whose soul has grown to become stronger than the King's may consume his soul and become the new core of the curse.

The Nobles' District: Located at the north of Anteras, just outside the King's keep. The nobles of Anteras have taken to the curse like fish in the water, leading their armies to prey on other accursed, until eventually they also consumed their own servants. Over time they developed the ability to control husks, and now wage eternal wars against one another, sending their husks to die over and over in an unending conflict. Their bodies have morphed into misshapen mockeries of themselves to reflect this newfound ability, with flesh tendrils coming out from their backs connecting them to their mindless servants. The stronger the noble the more tendrils it has and the more misshapen is their body, and they can control more and stronger accursed.

Duke Gursef: The old, lazy duke is now nothing more than a shriveled, limbless being. His head abnormally swollen into an inhuman form, and unlike other nobles, he has no tendrils. Instead, the duke control the accursed purely through his mind, forcing any weak cursed being to follow his orders. As his physical body dwindled to empower his mind, the duke now sits atop the back of one of his knights, Sir Duram, the greatest knight of Deimos. Gursef commands an army of husks, accursed knights and mages. If defeated and consumed, Gursef's soul grants the [Command] skill, giving the ability to control up to three husks or one weak accursed.

The Flesh Market: The place where anything can be bought for souls. Husks are treated like cattle, and they developed cattle-like traits, animals ears and horns to ressemble bulls and cows. The accursed merchants that take residence here harvest the meat of the immortal husks, selling it for souls to the nobles and anyone wealthy enough to buy it, and they're guarded by hulking bodyguards. Accursed wandering alone through the market will be targeted by hunting parties paid by the merchants, and they'll be captured and sold in auctions, their meat and soul harvested until they're just another husk, their bodies forced to regenerate over and over until they become humanoid cattle.

Butcher Diona: Once upon a time, Diona was a simple butcher. Now her shape has been irreversibly altered, with knife-like limbs and tongue. She dances with ethereal agility, cutting everything in her path to shreds. She's the woman in charge of the merchant district and revels in the act of cutting husk and accursed alike, before selling their meat and taking their souls for herself. If defeated and consumed, Diona's soul grants the [Blade] skill, allowing the Aspirant to invoke a weapon unique to themselves from their own body.

The Fallen Church: The church once stood as a bastion of unitiy and faith, a last safe haven against the horros of the curse. The bishops opened the doors to receive every accursed that came to them for assylum, and the holy knights enforced strict rules to ensure no one consumed the soul of another. Yet it was this very unity that the curse corrupted. One day all the accursed found themseves grafted into another, turned into a giant tree, an amalgamation of flesh, faces and limbs. Flesh roots with screaming faces burst from the ground to attack any accursed that wanders into the temple, eager to merge them into itself, to add another soul to feed their merged one. Each of the millions of mouths covering its every surface chant scriptures endlessly, praising the god of peace and unity, Torazef.

Archbishop Esneo: At the base of the tree lies Archbishop Esneo, his upper body extending intact from the flesh trunk, forever chanting scriptures for his eternal mass. The living tree follows his will, and all roots, branches and creatures that inhabit it will come to his aid if he's attacked. If defeated and consumed, Esneo's soul grants the [Merge] skill, granting the aspirant the ability to take the body parts of other accursed for themselves, with a limit of two body parts at most. If the amount of parts grafted to itself by the aspirant is superior to the limit, the parts will fall off and turn to dust.

The Bloodthirsty Garrison: The army of Anteras was an army of conquerors. Fierce, merciless, skilled warriors filled its ranks, men full of drive to become stronger and ambitious for promotions, eager to expand conquer new lands for the kingdom of Deimos. When the curse befell them and they learned of its traits, a cruel competition began between them, as they consumed one another in a drive to become the stronest. Their bodies became as beastly as their minds, as they fed in a frenzy, culling the weak until only the strong remained sentient, leaving the weak as beast-like husks. Every once in a while, the husks will hear the howl of their general, and they'll become frenzied, fighting against each other and consuming their souls, until some of the husks regain sentience after consuming enough souls. Then the strongest Accursed to emerge will be consumed by the general, and the cycle begins anew.

General Ulkaros: The undefeated general, Ulkaros, was an ambitious man, and even after the curse he never stopped wanting the crown. He consumed every single one of his soldiers souls to grow stronger, yet he was still unable to match the king. Now he sits atop the Garrison's walls, forcing his soldiers to fight against each other and consuming the strongest to strenghten himself. If defeated and consumed, Ulkaros' soul grants the [Maddening Howl] skill, a howl that forces all weaker accursed into a frenzy, making them lose mind and causing them to attack one another. To accursed equal or stronger than the Aspirant, it weakens them for a brief moment instead.

The Slums: As the lowest of the low in the city of Anteras, the people of the slums were the first to lose their souls to other accursed. Now it's mostly weak Husks that inhabit the slums, with barely few accursed still living there. The accursed of the slum try to stay away from the conflict and mostly hide themselves where others can't find them. The accursed of the Slums changed like all the others, some of them growing elongated limbs to be more agile, turning into opportunistic hunters lying in the shadows, waiting for other accursed to pass by. And the others, mostly the females, have turned into gorgeous succubi of ivory skin and extremely alluring, voluptuous bodies, offering themselves in exchange for souls.

The Ivory Spire: At the eastern district of the city lies a natural park, full of trees, clear streams and small animals. The place is almost idyllic in nature, a safe, peaceful heaven completely at odds to the rest of the city. No accursed dares to step past the entrance to the garden, almost out of reverence or fear. In the middle of the park lies a great spire of white stone, with ornate carvings chiseled on its surface. A singular stairways leads the way to the top chamber, where the princess forever sleeps in peace, in a bed of flowers.

The Eternal Dreamwalker, Princess Anatelia: A princess of porcelain skin, sapphire eyes, voluptuous figure and golden curls. She dreams alone atop the Spire, dreaming an eternal slumber as the price she paid for a spell. As the curse befell the city, the kindhearted princess knew she couldn't allow to extend beyond the city walls, she sacrificed herself to cast a last spell and fell into a eternal slumber, but her sacrifice managed to keep the curse confined, never to leave the walls of Anteras. No matter what happens to her body, the princess will never wake. Even if her body were to be destroyed or her soul consumed, the curse will reconstruct her, yet she will never wake up, for all eternity she'll sleep atop the spire. If consumed, Anatelia soul grants the [Dreamwalk] skill, granting the Aspirant the ability to enter the psyche of other accursed, exploring their minds as one would a physical world. Be warned, dream worlds are unpredictable in nature, and some accursed may be vastly stronger or weaker in their dream worlds. Any damage suffered in the dream is reflected in the real world.

The Accursed: The citizens of the city of Anteras, cursed to exist forever in a state neither alive nor dead. The accursed still retain the traits and personalities from before they were cursed, but their memories slowly erode away as decades pass. Now, only a few sentient Accursed remain, those who have fed on others souls or those whose soul has never been consumed by others before. They feel an instinctual need to feed on others souls to prolong their sentience, and most of them would attack other accursed or trick them into traps to feed on their souls. Some accursed who had strong morals and self control before the curse can resist the temptation, and may be willing to aid others that wish to end the curse.

The Husks: Empty Immortal Husks, walking bodies of what once was. They amble slowly, stumbling while babbling incoherently, desperately seeking souls to consume, trying to regain a flicker of their former selfs. Husk are inherently weak, even the weakest accursed can defeat a husk one on one. Yet they know no pain or fear, only hunger remains. They rush towards any accursed one, intent on ripping them from limb to limb and consume their cursed souls. Husks provide little to no benefit if their rotten souls are consumed.

The Curse: It nestles, it burrows, it corrupts. It takes over the soul and dyes it the colors of decay. An exchange between body and soul, trading eternity for rot and degradation. The curse grants its bearer an immortal body, at the expense of making their soul fade slowly, ultimately turning them into empty, eternal husks. Yet there exists a way to stoke the flame of a dying soul, to reverse the decay and even make it stronger: To consume another cursed one, to take pieces of their soul as your own. And with each soul consumed, the devourer becomes stronger in body and spirit. But it only delays the inevitable end, for all cursed ones are bound to the same fate, to end as empty husks. Any being afflicted by the curse is unable to die, they'll always rise again, and even if their souls are eaten by other accursed, a small flicker will always remain.