The Seven Against Nidah

"...soldiers, spies, healers, zailors. We meant to democratise death; to break Nidah's hold on immortality and distribute their hoard of years more evenly. It was a good scheme. Bourdain recruited our legions. Lorenzo charted our path. Arik sailed our troops up the red river on living ships. Batuk led our armies. Rosina healed our wounds."

Nidah is the City of Immortality and capital of the Presbyterate kingdoms. Here lies the secret of immortality, here lies the lords who hide it from the world. Many years ago, seven men and women went on a crusade to democratize death and topple the status quo of the Elder Continent. They failed, and their remnants fled to the darkest corners of the Neath to hide from the wrath of the Presbyterate. They lie in wait; though it has been a very long time and they are all in dire straits, perhaps one day an ambitious captain can bring them together for a second chance at eternity.

Mariam, the Schemer

"Her skin is the exact black-blue of the bone walls. She brushes dust from her apron. A small copper kettle steams on the floor at her feet, emitting an sharp, nutty odour.

Every surface in the chamber - a tessellation of cemented bone - is engraved. Amongst the threading scrawl, certain phrases repeat.

REMEMBER THE WAX-WIND
IT WILL FIND YOU
I AM A CANDLE
WIND WAX-WIND WAX-WIND WAX"

Mariam is the founder and coordinator of the Seven. She was once a Presbyterate princess and daughter to one of the Kings of Nidah. She was always rebellious and deemed the Presbyter system a corrupt and unchanging system. In an attempt to appease her, her father offered her the gift of immortality. It is implied that she gave this gift to a Khaganian general in an act of rebellion, which displeases her father greatly. It is implied that said general is none other than Arik, the captain that was the second to join the Seven.

Shorty after she brought the Seven to Nidah in an attempt to take it, but was lost due to increasing reinforcements. Additionally the Wax-Wind was invoked against her personally. Thus she fled to the the Fathomking's Hold to find refuge. The Fathomking turned her skin to Peligin and cursed her to forget everything she knows and sent her to the deepest parts of Scrimshander, making statues of her comrades and carving memories into the wall in an attempt to remember her grudge.

Batuk, the Soldier

"Yes. Rosina's cousin. He was one of the Presbyterate's border-guards: the Gracious. But they discharged him when he allowed an explorer access to the Interior. An explorer..." she taps her teeth, thinking. "Lorenzo? Afterwards, Batuk became a mercenary, and joined our number."

"He'd had enough of discipline. He will have sought a place of freedom."

Commander of the armies of the Seven and cousin to Rosina, Batuk is a cold and reserved man perfect for rallying and leading armies into battle against the seemingly infinite armies of the Presbyter. Before joining the Seven he was a border guard for the Presbyterate, but got stripped out of his position for allowing a surface explorer to enter.

As a Soldier, he takes the failure of the campaign as his own, claiming he charged at the city while not noticing an approaching army. Angered and embarrassed by his loss, he rejected the world and fled to Nook, where no one cares about the outside. He may say he no longer cares for immortality, but perhaps a bit of encouragement is needed.

Lytton, the Philanthropist

"Lytton. He was more than our financier. He was our courage. He inspired us when we faltered."

Charged with financing the campaign, Lytton was the second oldest member of the Seven. His and his wife's ability to raise money were vital to the quest for Nidah. He acquired money from bankers, nobles, and anyone else with money and a lust for eternity.

After his failure he fled to Low Barnet, where he... rests, sort of. His entire lower half has been encased in coral growth and merged with the wall of the church. Broken at the loss, Lytton has given up on his quest; he wouldn't be able to continue even if he tried, given his current condition.

Lorenzo, the Guide

"An explorer from the Surface, who came down here to be the first to climb the Mountain. The Nidaheen drove him away. I recruited him. He charted the Interior for us, and plotted the course of our armies.

"Now? He fled into the north, where I have heard he maintains a lighthouse."

A former Surface explorer, Lorenzo was tasked with navigating the dangers of the Elder Continent. He visit the Neath to be the first that climb the Mountain of Light, which were forbidden. Despite the help from Batuk, — who was the border guard at the time — Lorenzo failed to climb the mountain. However he has gone far enough in the Elder Continent to attain enough experience traveling to join the Seven as a guide. As a member of the Seven, he secretly had an affair with both Arik and Rosina, the later being Batuk's cousin.

During the siege of Nidah, he was supposed to scout the area for incoming armies, but accidentally failed to report a nearby army known as the Hyenas. He considers it entirely his fault that the Seven failed, and when they fled he went to the Ragged Crow lighthouse to atone for his sins, making sure no one would be led astray again. Surrounded by moths, Lorenzo is now old and decrepit. His attempt at eternity is over.

Bourdain, the Propagandist

"We were confidantes. He was a Frenchman and - in his day - a member of the revolutionaries' Calendar Council. He wrote pamphlets and placed bombs. I could not say which were more incendiary."

A former member of the Calendar Council, London's anarchist revolutionaries, Bourdain saw the quest as a way to help sick people from the surface. His charisma and writing rallied many men and women to the cause. After his party's defeat, he fled to Frostfound, and was never seen again. After several years Mariam attempted to rescue him, but her agents were attacked by Wreckers and failed in their search.

"Is he trying to say something? There is no sound. He repeats the gesture. Does he mean-? You lean in and breathe on the ice, fogging it. Bourdain gives a minuscule smile. Then he raises a finger and begins to draw a message in the fog from the other side.

He writes backwards, which necessitates some deciphering. "I NEVER LEFT.""

What happened to him is that he "failed" at the Ruby Room of Frostfound, which caused him to be trapped in the frozen wall. The Wreckers calved the ice into a slab, which is now is in the possesion of the Fair King as a mirror.

This predicament does not impede his cause. Rather with his newfound state he somehow able to coordinate his plan against Nidah with his pawn using the most esoteric means of communication: Kingeater's Castle. One of such pawn is the Gnomic Gallivant, who is tasked with murdering members of the College of Mortality that can be found across the Unterzee.

Rosina, the Healer

"Our healer, Rosina. She was the abbess at the hospital in Adam's Way, and petitioned Nidah on several occasions to afford her patients additional time. The Nidaheen ignored her. I did not."

A skilled healer and Batuk's cousin, Rosina was in charge of medical services to Batuk's men. Her greatest hindrance was the Animescence, the strange disease that ravages the men of the Elder Continent. In an act of biological warfare, the Presbyter sent infected men to contaminate and kill the Seven's armies. Rosina, in a moment of passionate anger, was quickly infected. Rosina was seemingly doomed to death by burning innards.

She hasn't given up, however; she has fled to Anthe, where she crystallizes her kidney to suppress her emotions and prevent her disease from progressing further. Her research into curing the Animescence still continues, but she is running out of time.

Arik, the Captain

"I remember that he was the first I recruited to my scheme," Mariam says. "He was a scion of the Taimen, injured in a battle against my homeland. I saved his life. My father was not pleased."

Captain of the Polythremi ships the army traveled on, Arik is a Khaganian captain and navigator. Along with Lorenzo, Arik played a vital role in logistics and repairs during the campaign. He hold a notable position in the Seven by being the first to join Mariam. It is implied that the immortality that was given to Mariam by her father are instead given to Arik, who was injured at the time.

After the destruction of the army and the scattering of the Seven, Arik hid in the moving city of Hideaway, where he is preparing an even greater vessel to travel back up the river.

• 
  Mariam, who still schemes to this day. (art from SS)
• 
  Batuk, who wants to be left alone. (art from SS)
• 
  Lytton, encased in coral. (art from SS)
• 
  Lorenzo, now a tomb-colonist. (art from SS)
• 
  Bourdain, trapped in Frostfound. (art from SS)
• 
  Bourdain on ice. (art from SS)
• 
  Rosina, determined to be devoid of passion. (art from SS)
• 
  Arik, who sought refuge in Hideaway. (art from SS)