Rebellious allods online. Sources and prototypes: Race Zem (Allods Online) Allods rebelled

The rebels are the accustomed official name of this people in the world of Allods, but they themselves call themselves "the people of Zem" (or simply "Zem"). The rebels - the citizens of the Empire and its "brain" - the military advantage of the Empire over the League during the First Astral War was provided precisely by Zem. There are even those in the League who complain that at one time, when decayed creatures rattling with rusted iron crawled out of their tombs, the League, without understanding, staged a genocide of a “new kind of undead”. After all, perhaps if Zem had taken the side of the League, the Empire would not have survived ....

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, Zem were ordinary mortal people: tall, slender, with dark skin and amber eyes. Their state Hikut was located in the southern deserts and steppes, next to the state of the Juns. And the history of Hikut is the history of the search for immortality, the reason for which was the terrible and almost instantaneous death of the great neighbor of the Zem people. At first, the people of Zem tried to follow the path of necromancy, then science and technology came to the civilization of Zem. “The dead are not initially able to die again” - this is what the adherents of the new doctrine said, developing ways to replace the mortal body with a mechanism that can exist, if not forever, then still much longer than the flesh. And soon it became fashionable among the people of Zem to flaunt new silver-plated limbs made of strong and light metal.

But there was one among Hikut's necromancers who did not accept new trends, but diligently continued his research, armed only with magic - his name was Tap. Studying the nature of death, Tep realized that every creature has a certain basis, a spark of life that is enclosed in the body and leaves it with death - many called this spark "soul", "divine essence". After he managed to catch the spark of another person, Tap continued his experiments and soon realized that with the help of these sparks he could ensure immortality for himself, using them as consumables to support his own life - if you collect a huge number of other sparks in a single place.

Thirst for immortality clouded Tap's mind. Using his knowledge, Tap could provide a "quick" way to fill his vault. And a terrible disease broke out in Hikuta, which threatened to destroy everyone. People died, and their "sparks of life" rushed into the Pyramids of Tepa, which he placed in the desert.

So the goal of civilization became the cause of its death. The cities of Hikuta were choking in the agony of death. The sparks of the dead filled the Vaults of Tap. Having figured out the causes of the plague that hit Hikut, a handful of desperate, doomed to death last representatives of the Zem people attacked Tap, who had taken refuge in the Pyramid. As a result of the battle, Tap, who could die as many times as he liked - die and immediately resurrect - won, but the price turned out to be incredibly high: Tap's personal protection from the disease he had sent was destroyed. He got infected.

There was no cure for the disease - Tep died in terrible agony and immediately resurrected again, receiving nourishment from his Vault. He resurrected to become infected again, spend time in terrible torment and die ...
New creatures came to the place of Hikut, new states of people appeared - Kaniya, Khadagan - and few people remembered about the people of the Zem tribe. Their tombs were covered with sand, forests grew on the burial mounds. And the Tepa Pyramids remained scattered all over the world.

And all this time, more than 1500 years, Tap was dying, resurrected for several hours, suffered and died again. That was the price of immortality.

The cataclysm that split the world into allods destroyed several of the Pyramids of Tep. Millions of sparks broke free and rushed in search of their true containers - the bodies of the people of the Zem tribe. This is how the Rebels appeared - new creatures with the mind and memory of the people of the ancient Zem tribe, placed in half-decayed ancient bodies-mechanisms.

The rebellious Zem, unlike simple undead, have free will, reason, memory, they remember their history, they are eager to take revenge on Tap, who caused their death. But at the same time, Tap fulfilled their main goal: albeit in a dead body, but the Zem tribe gained immortality - only violent death leads to the death of the rebels. But now they do not age, and one, “their own” spark is enough to maintain life in a dead body for a very long time. And their long life, life without emotions, passions, desires, they dedicate to science - it was the Rebels who became the brains of the industrialization of the Empire. It was the scientists of the Rebellion who, having studied the captured Kanian ship, uncovered the secret of astral travel and created imperial ships that far exceeded the League ships in their characteristics. It was at the Institute of MANANAZEM (Magic and Legacy of the People of Zem) that astral energy was discovered, which became the key to the greatness of the Empire ...

Once upon a time, the rebels were tall, handsome, yellow-eyed people, but the search for immortality and death changed them. Now the rebels are sentient undead. Parts of their bodies have been replaced with mechanical prostheses, and their faces are hidden by elaborate masks. The rebels are beautiful with the terrible beauty of death. After their resurrection, the rebels had no feelings left, only the memory of them. The rebels are a cold pure mind, enclosed in a dead shell. Story old era Thousands of years ago, in the shadow of the great empire of the Jun race, there existed an ancient civilization of the people of the Zem race. After the death of the juns, a new state appeared in a few centuries - Hikut, the state of the Zem people. After the terrible death of the Jun race, they directed all their forces in search of immortality. The Zem have made great strides in necromancy and embalming. Years passed, but the inhabitants of Hikut could not learn the secret of immortality. Magic turned out to be powerless, then it was replaced by science and technology. “The dead are not initially able to die again” - such a postulate was put forward by the adherents of the new teaching. They figured out a way to replace short-lived flesh with machines. For some fifty years, it has become fashionable among the people of Zem to flaunt new silver-plated limbs made of strong and light metal. Necromancy has fallen into decline. But there was one among the necromancers who diligently continued to seek immortality in magic. His name was Tap. Studying the nature of death, Tap found out that every creature has a spark of life that leaves the body after death. Tap spent many years trying to "catch" the "spark", many people died because of his secret experiments, and finally he managed to carry out his plan. Tap continued his experiments, he managed to find out that with the help of sparks he could ensure immortality, only a lot of souls were needed. Tap built a chain of huge storage pyramids that were supposed to be the key to his immortality. Very quickly, Tap realized that the sparks of people who died of old age were too weak for his purposes, and then he created a terrible plague and set it free. People were dying by the thousands, there was no cure or salvation for the plague. Zem civilization perished in terrible agony. The last surviving Zem tried to get revenge on their killer and succeeded. Although Tap could die as many times as he wanted, his defense against the plague was broken and he became infected. He found the eternity he dreamed of, an eternity of torment and pain. new era After the great cataclysm, part of the Tepa pyramids was destroyed. The sparks imprisoned in them were released and returned to their dead dwellings. Thus appeared the rebels, intelligent undead. The goal of the Zem race was achieved, they gained immortality. If the Kanians ruthlessly destroyed the rebels, then the Khadagan necromancers quickly figured out everything. Due to the small number and lack of organization, the rebels were turned into slaves in the mines. This continues for about a hundred years, until the rebels have a leader named Nefer Ur. He raised a rebellion and forced to reckon with himself. The result of negotiations with Nezeb was a ban on the use of the rebels as slaves. The rebels make up for the “sleep” lost over the millennia and become the brain center of the scientific, technical and magical development of the empire. Soon the people of Zem are recognized as full-fledged citizens of the Empire, they are given the possession of the allod Kadagan, Nefer Ur becomes a great magician. Excerpts from a history textbook for elementary grades. Izun-press. 1010 AD Origin of the species Disputes over the origin of these ungodly creatures do not subside to this day. Some believe that the rebels are the fruit of an unholy union of dead cuirass walkers and orcs, while others think that these are all malicious intrigues of Khadagan necromancers who have fallen into darkness. But whoever they are, everyone agrees on one thing: it is inappropriate for these creatures to trample the earth, they must all be devoted to the purifying fire. An excerpt from a treatise on the peoples of the Imperial. Monk-naturalist Frol Kosoruk.

Knowledge, Death, Ideal

* Life is death
* Death is immortality
* Happiness is us
* Empire is the stuff
* League - also material
* Astral is knowable

The rebels, also known as the people of Zem, are one of the six races in the MMORPG Allods Online. In my opinion, the most impeccably designed, stylish, almost pure perfection. Talking about them is a pleasure, so I could not restrain myself.

Source - allods.ru. The full description from the developers is worth reading. I give a free retelling)

In fact, the Risen in Allods represent the undead - but the undead are not quite standard. Their appearance is directly related to the history of this race.

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, Zem were ordinary mortal people: tall, slender, with dark skin and amber eyes. Now these are creatures, most of whose bodies have been replaced by mechanics, and their faces are hidden under masks.

The civilization of Zem existed in ancient times in parallel with the civilization of the Junes, who were the Atlanteans of their time: they reached incredible heights in magic, architecture and science. However, the June people died from an unknown curse, and this traumatized the civilization of Zem: she was seized by the fear of death and a passionate desire to defeat her.

Zem's search for immortality took two paths at once: necromancy and technological progress.

Necromancers have perfected the art of embalming in order to preserve as many bodies as possible until the time when the secret of eternal life is found. How does it resemble "cryomedicine institutes" that provide a similar service for the conservation of the mortal shell, isn't it?

Zem scientists have learned to replace worn out parts of the body with mechanical prostheses and artificial organs. which significantly prolonged the life of people, but did not cancel old age and death. This is also quite familiar to us ...

That which turned history at a new angle and ultimately destroyed and revived the Zem race is, of course, the energy of a genius. In this case, an evil genius.

A necromancer named Tep discovered the concept of "Sparks", some analogue of the soul, and (through terrible experiments) learned to extract and hold these sparks. To maintain his personal immortality, he began to collect a huge amount of sparks in special receptacles, now known as the Tepa pyramids. Only the sparks of people who did not die of their own death were suitable for the cause, and Tep unleashed a deadly plague on his people. So the Zem civilization perished.

The Global Cataclysm, which shook Sarnaut and split the planet into allods floating in the astral, destroyed part of the pyramids and captive sparks rushed to their containers. So the Zem civilization rose in the guise of non-dead creatures with mechanical limbs.

Now they are the ones who know death. Cold mind, the best scientists and magicians in the whole world.

Besides, they are just cool ^^
Here is my beauty:

Sarnaut is one of those worlds that has absorbed only the best of other fantastic settings that have been popular at different times. In Nezeb and Jasker, we recognize the casual version of the Emperor of Mankind from the Warhammer universe. The story "The Fog" by Stephen King is an echo of the original version of the Astral in the world of Allods. But its modern incarnation in AO is an undeservedly forgotten classic in the form of the game Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace.

Elves in AO now do not cause the slightest doubt in the resemblance to their older brothers from Tolkien's Middle-earth or the World of Warcraft game universe. Wormfaces are reminiscent of the D&D Illithids, who, in turn, take their origins in the image of Cthulhu in the works of Lovecraft.

But AO is not a rip-off universe; it is the Universe-synthesis, the main ideas of which have been unchanged and original for about fifteen years. And although the borrowings that I will describe below using the example of one of the playable races are obvious, this does not detract from the innovations of the developers.

Many of us, when choosing a race for a playable character, were guided by our preferences in such games in general. Accustomed to playing for the undead, choose the Risen Zem.

What do we know about them?

The rebels are the accustomed official name of this people in the world of Allods, but they themselves call themselves "the people of Zem" (or simply "Zem"). The rebels - the citizens of the Empire and its "brain" - the military advantage of the Empire over the League during the First Astral War was provided precisely by Zem. There are even those in the League who complain that at one time, when decayed creatures rattling with rusted iron crawled out of their tombs, the League, without understanding, staged a genocide of a “new kind of undead”. After all, perhaps if Zem had taken the side of the League, the Empire would not have survived ....

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, Zem were ordinary mortal people: tall, slender, with dark skin and amber eyes. Their state Hikut was located in the southern deserts and steppes, next to the state of the Juns. And the history of Hikut is the history of the search for immortality, the reason for which was the terrible and almost instantaneous death of the great neighbor of the Zem people. At first, the people of Zem tried to follow the path of necromancy, then science and technology came to the civilization of Zem. “The dead are not initially able to die again” - this is what the adherents of the new doctrine said, developing ways to replace the mortal body with a mechanism that can exist, if not forever, then still much longer than the flesh. And soon it became fashionable among the people of Zem to flaunt new silver-plated limbs made of strong and light metal.

But there was one among Hikut's necromancers who did not accept new trends, but diligently continued his research, armed only with magic - his name was Tap. Studying the nature of death, Tep realized that every creature has a certain basis, a spark of life that is enclosed in the body and leaves it with death - many called this spark "soul", "divine essence". After he managed to catch the spark of another person, Tap continued his experiments and soon realized that with the help of these sparks he could ensure immortality for himself, using them as consumables to support his own life - if you collect a huge number of other sparks in a single place.

Thirst for immortality clouded Tap's mind. Using his knowledge, Tap could provide a "quick" way to fill his vault. And a terrible disease broke out in Hikuta, which threatened to destroy everyone. People died, and their "sparks of life" rushed into the Pyramids of Tepa, which he placed in the desert.

So the goal of civilization became the cause of its death. The cities of Hikuta were choking in the agony of death. The sparks of the dead filled the Vaults of Tap. Having figured out the causes of the plague that hit Hikut, a handful of desperate, doomed to death last representatives of the Zem people attacked Tap, who had taken refuge in the Pyramid. As a result of the battle, Tap, who could die as many times as he liked - die and immediately resurrect - won, but the price turned out to be incredibly high: Tap's personal protection from the disease he had sent was destroyed. He got infected.

There was no cure for the disease - Tep died in terrible agony and immediately resurrected again, receiving nourishment from his Vault. He resurrected to become infected again, spend time in terrible torment and die ...

New creatures came to the place of Hikut, new states of people appeared - Kaniya, Khadagan - and few people remembered about the people of the Zem tribe. Their tombs were covered with sand, forests grew on the burial mounds. And the Tepa Pyramids remained scattered all over the world.

And all this time, more than 1500 years, Tap was dying, resurrected for several hours, suffered and died again. That was the price of immortality.

The cataclysm that split the world into allods destroyed several of the Pyramids of Tep. Millions of sparks broke free and rushed in search of their true containers - the bodies of the people of the Zem tribe. This is how the Rebels appeared - new creatures with the mind and memory of the people of the ancient Zem tribe, placed in half-decayed ancient bodies-mechanisms.

The rebellious Zem, unlike simple undead, have free will, reason, memory, they remember their history, they are eager to take revenge on Tap, who caused their death. But at the same time, Tap fulfilled their main goal: albeit in a dead body, but the Zem tribe gained immortality - only violent death leads to the death of the rebels. But now they do not age, and one, “their own” spark is enough to maintain life in a dead body for a very long time. And their long life, life without emotions, passions, desires, they dedicate to science - it was the Rebels who became the brains of the industrialization of the Empire. It was the scientists of the Rebellion who, having studied the captured Kanian ship, uncovered the secret of astral travel and created imperial ships that far exceeded the League ships in their characteristics. It was at the Institute of MANANAZEM (Magic and Legacy of the People of Zem) that astral energy was discovered, which became the key to the greatness of the Empire ...

Of. AO website

Experienced players will see in this backstory, a kind of national "quente", an imitation of older brothers and their ideological predecessors.

Back in 2001, Nival Interactive released one of its first ambitious creations - the game "Edmiurges". A sequel followed two years later in the form of Demiurges II.

The setting of the game is fantasy. In a fictional world, there is a conflict of four races or sides: vitals (green color, life and nature), chaos (red color, chaos and fire), kinets (blue color, movement and water), synths (black color, synthesis and technology) .

In slightly different ways, representatives of each side seek to bypass the rest and take the place of the Lord of the Ether. The player makes two choices during the short campaign: first, either the vitals with kinets or the chaots with synths are dealt with. Later, a choice is made from the respective two sides.

Wikipedia

The faction of the Synths drew particular attention to itself:

Wikipedia

Reading this description, an inexperienced AO player involuntarily imagines ... Rebellious Zem. This is understandable, because even outwardly in the surviving art we see a direct inheritance of recognizable features:

Synthet from "Demiurges"

Concept art of Zem from AO

From a more detailed description, we get an even more visual picture of the transfer of the race to Allods Online:

How to find out? They cannot be confused with anyone. The streams of the ether of Synthesis are not the best environment for the existence and development of living beings. Therefore, synths, trying to adapt to these very specific conditions, left in themselves a minimum of life, replacing the missing mechanisms.

Black color.

Their strength lies in the fact that they are incredibly tenacious - but how could it be otherwise, because there are so few living things left in them! In addition, being the complete opposite of vitals, synths perfectly interact with inanimate nature: in the ether of Synthesis, chemical reactions and physical processes proceed rapidly, and all living things exist with difficulty. They are characterized by cold calculation, clear organization and scrupulous planning of any action.

Their weakness: synthetics cannot completely get rid of the “softness” - they only maintain the balance of living and non-living. Sometimes this balance is disturbed - and in the unbridled desire to become "mechanical perfection" synths lose their minds, becoming mindless destroyers. In addition, even well-established mechanisms have breakdowns that cannot be repaired.

being the Lord of Synthesis... be prepared for the fact that they will not believe in you at all. Your wards can bring a huge amount of evidence that you are not. However, this should not worry or embarrass you: after all, the main thing is that your vassals do what you need.

In the case of a direct appeal to the synthet, remember that for him communication with you is an emergency situation, akin to a short circuit or an unsolvable paradox. Such an unforeseen failure causes their brain to work in a super-stressed mode, using all mental resources.

But if Demiurges were the forerunners of AO, as well as contemporaries of the Allods game series in general, then such “wanderings” between games are quite understandable. The situation is different with the Necrons from the Warhammer universe:

Many millions of years ago, long before even the ancient Eldar, the intelligent race of the Necrontyr fell victim to an insidious betrayal. In search of immortality, they turned to the gods for help, who gave them really eternal artificial bodies - however, while absorbing their souls and making them their faithful slaves. For sixty million years, the Necrons - former Necrontyr - slept in the deep crypts of the desert planets. Their masters waited until the galaxy was overflowing with sentient beings again: the gods needed souls, billions of souls. And in the 41st millennium, such a time has come, the Necrons awakened and began the ruthless extermination of all sentient beings they met indiscriminately. Their unexpected blow further crippled the already declining Human Empire.

Necrons are mechanical creatures, most similar to animated skeletons. The upper part usually looks more or less human, but instead of legs, Necrons can have snake tails and anti-gravity platforms. In addition, mechanical spiders fight in their ranks - from small scarabs to monsters the size of a tank - and silent, ghostly Lords in fluttering shrouds lead the “dead people” into battle. The Necrons are armed with powerful energy rifles capable of spraying matter into molecules.

Magazine "World of Fiction"

If the Zem race adopted fundamental features from the synths, then the history and spider pets are undoubtedly worth looking for in the Warhammer setting.

Nekron. Against the backdrop of a ruthless killer, Zem look like dolls for children

This is by no means NII MANANAZEM

I had to extract a few details from it in order to enter it into the AO

as Guardian Necromancer Zem

The creative producer aptly put it back in Nival Online when she called the Risen "a Russian breed of undead."

Zem is the natural beauty of cold knowledge. Above all, they put the mind, and would gladly exist. without a body, if it were not yet unrealizable. In everything they do - and in their own bodies as well - the perfection of technology is combined with perfect calculation. This is the secret of the incredible charm of these cold, heavy and (what is there) unfeminine creatures.