Caliguworm

Category	Heroes
Region	Necrocrypt
Race	Kriavfahliil (Lich)
Gender	male
Title	Father of the Cult of Worms, Arch-Cabal
Alignment	chaotic evil
Deity	Thasmudyan
Birthplace	Andrithiach
Born	19 Saunas 844
Undead	6 Artifice 1019
Died	6 Brighstar 1200

Carwathir Nilduin, more commonly known today as Caliguworm, was born in the outskirts of Andrithiach, the capital city of the Melephaeusan Kingdom. His family were farmers, impoverished and constrained by a system that prevented them from ever becoming too prosperous. Caliguworm decided to take a role in the civil service, hoping to comprehend this system and perhaps discover a means to enhance it. However, this research yielded no tangible results, as history had demonstrated that the ways of his people were slow and steady, effective at curbing excess through intricate layers of bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy was deeply ingrained in the fabric of every Andrithiachian, forming the basis of the laws formulated by the Gwildath Empire, which curbed the natural entropic tendencies of the Kriavfahliil. The colonists who departed Kriav for the distant world of Bal-Kriav brought the Gwildath Bureaucratic Codices (GBC) with them. The Andrithiach faithfully adhered to the GBC, just as their ancestors had done in Celanil and as they continued to do in Gwildath.

Caliguworm, personal journal, Series 21A, Book 4-1B, Entry 3-D5 - "Restrain the Innate Impulse"

In 918, Caliguworm entered Melephaeusa's civil service. Half a century later, he had risen to become the kingdom's chief explorer. His position grew more crucial in 997 when dangerous magical storms and rogue magical creatures encroached upon the kingdom's borders, symptoms of the Gulimbor Cataclysm (996 - 1203). The looming threat of the First Khazarkar Empire, led by a cabal of power-hungry arch-mages waging the Conclave War and the Hedrac War, also heightened the concern. Melephaeusa's Council of Preservation took these events seriously, fearing the possibility of becoming a Khazarkar vassal state or being devastated by magical storms or environmental changes. The Council tasked Caliguworm with finding suitable land to relocate at least 50,000 people. On the isle of Gathrot, one of the three islands of Necrocrypt, he discovered "fantastic" resettlement locations. However, his reports would ultimately reveal a darker influence, as whispers in his sleep convinced him that Gathrot had everything an empire needed. Caliguworm then persuaded his superiors that the island, once home to the Abâthigûr, would meet their needs if they had to abandon their homeland.

In 1006, suffering from a common malady of Necrocrypt, Caliguworm beseeched Thasmudyan for a remedy to alleviate his affliction and shield his frail mortal form from the region's hazards. To earn this boon, Caliguworm had to undertake a mission against someone attempting to uncover why the Borillisk chose Sahuld as a resettlement site. With Thasmudyan orchestrating what Ermikel the Balance referred to as the Dark Calling, Caliguworm was set into motion. Carrying out the whims of his dark deity, Caliguworm enlisted the Realm Stalkers to hunt down and eliminate Ermikel. This task was successfully completed on 3 Bloom 1007. In turn, Thasmudyan imparted to Caliguworm the secrets of becoming a Pale Master.

In the year 1015, Melephaeusa initiated the evacuation of the Moredhel valley. The Khazarkar empire no longer posed a threat, as they grappled with the ramifications of the magical cataclysm engulfing Gulimbor and portions of Azrik.

In 1018, the ominous whispers guided him to the Spire of Molakh-Búle. Once inside, he encountered the one who had been speaking to him in whispers for the last two decades. It was a young, ambitious god seeking followers, from the Corralum caste, yet still a Khazarkar, named Thasmudyan. Thasmudyan had long enticed Caliguworm, promising fame and success, which Caliguworm received in abundance, even being awarded the kingdom's highest honor, the "Civilization Preserver." Now Caliguworm had to uphold his end of the bargain by spreading Thasmudyan's teachings to his fellow Melephaeusans. However, this endeavor did not go well, as the Melephaeusans had no interest in a young, upstart god promising eternal undead existence. They also opposed the necromantic practices that Thasmudyan openly promoted. Failing to gain worshippers through conventional means, Caliguworm resorted to a murderous rampage, raising the slain and slowly amassing an undead army from his own people. This force was supplemented with terrors from the depths of Mulun'nâth and other undead havens, where even more dreadful entities than mere zombies and skeletons roamed.

On 6 Artifice 1019, Caliguworm relinquished his life energy for negative energy, transforming from mortal to undead, becoming Thasmudyan's inaugural great lich. Thasmudyan also entrusted him with his notorious tome, the Last Chapter. In the catacombs beneath Phanêthil, he utilized the rituals within this book on the Melephaeusan prince Glóragar. This test subject survived, becoming a Taln'nazân Monarch. This powerful and cunning undead assisted Caliguworm in the downfall of the kingdom they once served. Once this task was complete, Glóragar proved too perilous, unpredictable and destructive, so his master and creator had him eliminated.

In 1039, Caliguworm established the Cult of Worms. Assigned by Thasmudyan, this group commenced training and recruiting necromancers, then proceeded to create a clergy and train proselytizers to disseminate the teachings of Thasmudyan. The Cult of Worms proved highly effective in Hells Womb, with cultists infiltrating the ranks of the Kal-Oni clergy, undermining their influence, propagating the practice of necromancy, and converting some into devoted followers of Thasmudyan.

In the year 1044, Caliguworm set his minions to the task of constructing the Basilica of Thasmudyan. This was to be a grand structure erected upon unhallowed ground, the very site where Thasmudyan departed the mortal realm, emerging anew as a revered Higher Power.

In 1090, undetected, Caliguworm assassinated Emperor Onkuri Kal-Oni. He then assumed the emperor's guise and position as leader of the Kal-Oni Empire. Caliguworm grafted the former emperor's flesh onto his own body, then concealed his true nature using the dark lore of the Last Chapter. As the new Emperor Onkuri Kal-Oni, he consolidated control over the Kal-Oni Empire. Thereafter, the Cult of Worms rapidly expanded in power, amplifying the influence of Thasmudyan. The Kal-Oni government turned a blind eye to necromantic practices, even sanctioning certain schools that taught necromancy.

On 13 Temporal 1092, the construction of the Basilica of Thasmudyan is completed. The following day, he assumes the role of Arch-Cabal of the realm Bal-Kriav.

In the year 1105, the League of Magicks apprehended the false emperor. He was condemned to spend perpetuity in a Hibernation Bay. It is rumored that the goddess Athena dispatched her paramour, the Solar Ephenon, to ensure the League of Magicks could accomplish this undertaking.

Nearly a century later, on 6 Brighstar 1200, Uriall-Madiess, the domain of the League of Magicks and the site of the prison, was consumed by a crevasse. The fate of Caliguworm remains uncertain; he may still reside within his prison cell, buried under mountains of debris, or be lost in some dark, otherworldly realm.

Caliguworm penned several volumes concerning the undead and the dark art of necromancy. One of his most renowned works is the Grimoire of Living Dead. This tome has been revised since its initial publication by other esteemed masters of the necrotic arts, each adding more extensive entries on the various forms of the undead and the means to bring them forth.