An original, (currently) unpublished story by Serocco.
Set in the realm of Elysium, populated by a vast variety of fantastical and mythological species. At the top of the Elysian food chain are the Crysli, a crystalline race of beings that can evolve into more humanoid forms. The Crysli built much of the architecture found in Elysium, they hold the largest population in Elysium and they command the strongest military force in Elysium. The humanoid Crysli are the most powerful of their species, and they serve as the unofficial 'rulers' of the Crysli.
In a secluded part of Elysium, a strange, uniquely-shaped stone starts spilling out tar from its frame. The tar drops slowly descend to the ground, spawning tar-smoke creatures that antagonize the Crysli. With every new spawn, the tar quickly evolves into an armored, bipedal, almost humanoid build. Soon, an army of these soldiers, called Morrhade, launch a genocidal campaign against the species of Elysium, exterminating several species, occupying the cities and oppressing the populous. Most of the humanoid Crysli have been wiped out; both the Morrhade and the Crysli will do whatever it takes to get their hands on the few survivors of that gene pool.
- Alien Geometries: Everything involve the Morrhade.
- Always Chaotic Evil: The Morrhade provide a justification; they were designed to be weapons.
- Ambiguous Robot: The Morrhade have an unsettling bio-mechanical appearance. Their metallic noises, general lack of blood, unrelenting focus and lack of personality all make them unnervingly robotic, but we can't tell if they truly are robots.
- Anyone Can Die
- Big Bad: The Morrhade, easily.
- Bishounen Line: Both the Crysli and the Morrhade follow this.
- Black-and-Grey Morality: Okay, the Elysians can be apathetic/abrasive/manipulative/authoritative/racist Jerkasses, including the main characters, but they have enough Pet the Dog moments to keep them from fully crossing the
Moral Event Horizon. By contrast, the Morrhade are genocidal assholes that utilize torture, slavery, Thoughtcrime and ethnic cleansing, among many, many other war crimes. - Cosmic Horror Story
- Defensive Feint Trap
- Depopulation Bomb: The Morrhade managed to make a tar-bomb that upgraded into The Plague. It was used on the Disidao, the gnomes and the dwarves. The Crysli were forced to quarantine that entire area in an effort to stamp down on the plague, but the damage had been done by then.
- Eldritch Abomination
- Eldritch Location: The aforementioned stone ends up turning into one for the Morrhade.
- Elite Mooks: Even the weakest of the Morrhade provide tough competition.
- Enemy Mine
- Genius Loci: Elysium itself.
- Industrialized Evil: Something the Morrhade are brilliant at.
- Our Monsters Are Different
- Our Banshees Are Louder: These banshees are actually a lot more peaceful than you might think. Hell, they're rather friendly and hospitable, unless you piss them off.
- Our Dwarves Are All the Same: They're miners, traders and merchants, predictably. Unpredictably, these dwarves are much more civilized and well-mannered than the typical example. Though gruff, they're far from abrasive or unpleasant, and they prefer not to fight, since they recognize that they're better at crafting.
- Our Ghouls Are Creepier: Well, the Morrhade turn other beings into ghouls.
- Our Gargoyles Rock: The Balakarr is a rock-like Gargoyle subspecies of sorts.
- Our Gnomes Are Weirder: Creepy, snarling ones that try to ambush you.
- Our Gryphons Are Different: They're called Kyos, but they have more variety in appearance than the typical gryphon.
- Our Liches Are Different: Except these liches are already immortal, and they act more like scholars, doctors and historians than anything truly villainous.
- Our Monsters Are Weird: We'll list all the "Other" species here. The Disidao are plant-like; the Varlios are a bipedal tripod-like race that can flip from side to side; the Avulus are saurian; the Kishale are serpentine; the Prawns are an entire species of humanoids that resemble a particular bug; and the Losckorr resemble this complicated insignia
◊. - Our Wights Are Different: These Wights are familiars summoned by the Liches.
- Precursors: The Elysians
- Pyrrhic Victory
- Shocking Defeat Legacy
- The Siege: A massive assault occurred to the Crysli's capitol city.
- Sliding Scale of Villain Effectiveness: The Morrhade fall under the High category. You can literally count their number of losses on your fingers.
- Sliding Scale of Villain Threat: The Morrhade gradually upgrade to Global Threat, insofar as a secluded dimension can be considered "global".
- Sorting Algorithm of Evil: An unorthodox example comes from the Morrhade. They become more dangerous, intelligent and powerful with every new appearance.
- Storming the Castle: A small task force of Crysli warriors were sent to take back a stronghold annexed by the Morrhade.
- The Usual Adversaries: Rogues, outlaws that were exiled for various crimes, and work as raiders, smugglers, mercenaries and scavengers - whatever helps for their survival. Those guys always show up to antagonize the Crysli, intentionally or otherwise.
- Wham Episode: The Shadow Fortress was not taken by a couple of rogues. It was annexed by Morrhade soldiers, and they were turning it into a base of operations for their campaign against the Crysli.
- The Crysli sent some of their best and brightest warriors to take back the Shadow Fortress after their original task force was repelled. It was led by Ascyulhu, one of their smartest and toughest officers in the Crysli military. They were all wiped out by the Morrhade. It was such an unexpected loss that it falls under Shocking Defeat Legacy.
- The Morrhade were always an incredibly productive and progressive threat, but nobody expected them to besiege, defeat and occupy the Crysli capitol city that quickly.
- The biggest one comes towards the end. Elysium is sentient, and the Morrhade are its equivalent to white blood cells.
- World of Badass
- X Meets Y: Picture ICO merging with Shadow of the Colossus.
