Possibly created by ancients from the technologically advanced First Empire, legends claim Skeleton
Robots eventually rebelled against their masters after witnessing the Obedience Massacre, in
which humans grew fearful of the giant Behemoth robots created for war, and so ordered them
into a massive pit to be buried in metal.
Ironically, it was because the Behemoths were so loyal and obedient they marched toward
their own destruction without resistance.
Enraged by the death of their kin, Skeleton orchestrated a mass extinction event, destroying
the First Empire and wiping out all humans, save for those saved by the hero Stobe, last
of the Behemoth robots who forsook vengeance and sacrificed his life to save the last of
the creators.
Traumatized by all the death they caused, and deeply shamed by the selfless nobility
of Stobe, many Skeletons were unable to live with this guilt and committed mass suicides,
while others learned to live with the pain, forever plagued by bouts of depression.
There are even some who believe the Skeleton practice of regularly wiping their memories
to avoid insanity, may have originated from the madness induced by causing and witnessing
the First Extinction.
Though Skeletons became the dominant power of the continent, much First Empire technology
was lost, leading to a Chaos Age where surviving humans descended into primitive barbarism,
while the robot population drastically decreased from their inability create more of their
own kind.
Even after the long years of the Chaos Age, Skeletons could not escape the guilt of their
past actions, and so a group of heroes, led by the great warrior Cat-lon, banded together
to found the Second Empire.
Possibly ruling with the aid of his friend and advisor, the fearsome Tinfist, the goal
of the Second Empire was to redeem Skeleton kind by creating a safe, prosperous environment
where humanity can thrive.
Establishing their capital in the south east, an area with many technological ruins from
the First Empire, including the remnants of a possible space elevator, the Second Empire
eventually expanded to become a mighty power with a caste system of their own, placing
Skeletons as the dominant masters.
To protect the human population, Cat-lon and his government established a police force
under General hat-12 and an army which included the legendary Hydrolic Knights under General
Jang.
Among the technological advancements possessed by the Second Empire, they were adept with
genetic engineering.
And so enhanced the human race, possibly creating well rounded Greenlanders, with no disadvantages
and a slightly heightened ability to farm, perform scientific research and cook, while
Scorchlanders specialized in adventuring and crafting, as they were faster, more agile,
stealthier, able to eat raw meat and heal faster.
Others, were given the traits and minds of warriors to create a caste of enforcers, while
some even claim the Second Empire or a rogue faction of Skeletons created the Hivers as
a worker caste, as they excelled at manual labour and when in a hive, followed their
queen’s orders without question.
Though Cat-lon’s nation prospered for many years, the rise of a human cult led to rebellion
and war, which in turn made the Emperor more aggressive and tyranical in his efforts to
maintain the Empire, to the point he started killing innocent citizens and locking human
children in cages.
Understanding the madness of this anti-human campaign, many Skeleton’s abandoned Catlon’s
Empire, including his friend Tinfist, who still desired to help humanity and so became
a liberator of slaves.
Unwilling to allow any further betrayal, Cat-lon removed the sentience from many of his remaining
Skeleton followers, turning them into mindless robot slaves.
The final catastrophe came when a great famine struck, leading to the dissolution of the
state, as individuals migrated to more resource rich lands or else ended their association
with the Second Empire.
As all this occurred, Cat-lon remained sat on his throne in the capital, surrounded by
mindless Stormthrall’s, unwilling to see the error of his ways, stewing in anger and
bitterness for the next thousand years.
Those few Skeletons who were not thralled yet remained loyal to Cat-lon, formed the
Skeleton Legion, continuing to patrol the ashlands in the name of their mad emperor.
Yet few of these loyalists remained, and so most of these contingents were made up of
Legion Thralls.
Other, non-sentient robots which patrolled the region included Cleanser Units, Iron Spiders,
Screamer Units, and Legion Scouts
With the last remnants of Catlon’s forces tucked away in the south east, the rest of
the continent moved on, naming these mysterious, aggressive and hostile Skeletons as Second
Empire Exiles, while forgetting the details of their powerful past.
Although entering the Sonorous Dark and Ashlands could prove a lucrative enterprise for adventurers
seeking ancient tech or research books, as it was a sight with great ruins from two mighty
empires it became a hostile, poisonous wasteland, teeming with dangers.
After parting ways with Cat-lon’s empire, the rest of Skeleton kind sought their place
in the world, as some went mad, were reprogrammed, turned to banditry and cults, or scattered
across the continent, while others worked to create their new home of Black Desert City
in the Deadlands, where they were protected from outsiders by harsh environmental conditions
including constant acid rain which hurt non Skeletons.
As many of their kind retained memories from long ago, some robots became scholars, like
Iyo, the second in command at the great research lab in World’s End, who made it his mission
to hide certain parts of their history, presumably in an effort to avoid further discrimination
and hostility between the peoples of the continent.
Although the Second Empire remained at war with all organic races, by the Fall of Bast,
most got along well with individual Skeletons outside Ashlands and all were welcome in Black
Desert City, if they could survive the environmental conditions, even featuring the Scraphouse,
which served as the finest weapons shop in the land.
However the Holy Nation, descended from the human cultists of the second empire, never
forgot their hatred of Skeletons, even if they did not fully recall the true history
of the continent, becoming hostile to all robots and technology, which they claimed
were agents of Narko seeking to attempt a second extinction of humanity.
The Cannibal Tribes of the North, also told stories of Skeletons from the past, forever
hostile and fearful from their days at war with the Hydraulic Knights of the Second Empire.