The Withershadow Combine

The Withershadow Combine has acted as one of the more subtle tools in Cryx’sarsenal for five centuries. This trio of liches embodies the vast intelligence andpremeditated malignance of Cryx. By combing through ruins and manipulating agents to penetrate mainland cabals, they have gathered a massive collection of arcane lore, including many Orgoth secrets and other forgotten truths. The Combine has served various lich lords over the last few centuries, though their origins and ultimate agenda are unclear. They offer no threats or demands, only respectful obedience and service.

Recorded sightings of Admonia, the eldest, date back to the early rebellion against the Orgoth, which she apparently spent much time observing. She is particularly fascinated with the origins of arcane magic on the mainland and has allegedly plundered the ruins of notable arcane repositories from both sides. Passages in apocryphal journals suggest these include the excavation of the Arcanist’s Academy, the lost ruins of the tower left by Scion Nivara, and the hidden grave of Scion Stacia. These tales must contain some truth, since the Thamarite cabal known as the Shroud seeks her destruction in the hope of recovering lost relics.

Maelovus has access to lore never transcribed in book or scroll. The first recordedsighting of him was on the Sand Narrows during an outbreak of Brackriver plague. Locals witnessed him reaping souls along this length of shore so often that they began to make offerings to him as an incarnation of death. One desperate village sacrificed an entire generation of their children in his name. Crude statues bearinghis likeness still rest in recessed crevices of this region’s dark cliffs.

Tremulus joined these two ancient horrors seven decades later, after a long tenure overseeing Cryx’s charnel pits. Fascinated with manipulating mortal minds, he infiltrated the sanctums of several arcane organizations throughout the Iron Kingdoms to pry loose their secrets. By his labors in later centuries, the Combine gained a better understanding of mainland warjacks; the liches passed this knowledge to Lich Lord Morbus, thereby affecting the development of a number of weapons systems. Though extremely intelligent, Tremulus is completely insane by mortal reckoning. The twitching of his macabre marionette forces enemies torespond in kind—a mystical manipulation that reflects what some might mistakefor a sense of humor possessed by the peculiar lich lord.

Together these liches transcend their individual strengths. With coordinated incantations, the three harness energies that contort the very walls of reality. By conducting lengthy rituals at certain key astrological conjunctions, they can open a yawning portal to deliver helljacks and bonejacks taken from the bowels of Cryx’s necrofactoriums, thereby reinforcing mainland armies. Future efforts in the war abroad may reveal as yet untapped powers from this trio as mainlanders come tofear their horrific arcane ingenuity.