Kroog & The Arisen
Kroog arrived in Allods Online in 2012 as an Imperial Arisen, and that choice had a lot to do with how striking the race is on paper and in the game world. The Empire in general leans into that Russian‑influenced, industrial‑magical aesthetic, but the Arisen push it a step further: necromechanical revenants whose whole culture is built around intellect, engineering and an uneasy kind of immortality. They bear notable parallels to characters such as Taylor Bloc from Neal Asher’s The Voyage of the Sable Keech, cybernetically augmented resurrected beings, blending science fiction with themes of posthumous existence.
Officially they’re the Arisen, but around Sarnaut they’re just as likely to be called Zems, people of Zem, or, less politely, “Returners”, “Zombies” or “Ironmen”. The nicknames speak to both their origins and their appearance: once, long before the game’s present, they were tall, slim, dark‑skinned humans with amber eyes; now, after extinction and resurrection, they’re undead bodies shored up and extended with mechanical parts. A characteristic mark on the face is one of the few visible traces of their original forms, and most Arisen models in the game keep at least a little of that mummified flesh on display beneath plates, lenses and cables.
Their route into the Empire runs through Yasker’s rise to power. When they first reappeared three centuries before Allods Online’s present, the Arisen were weak‑minded slaves in the Xadaganian mines, still adapting to their new state and used mainly for brute labour. Over time their intellect and organisation flourished, and they moved from mine shafts to laboratories and shipyards, becoming key designers and builders of Astral ships and mana stations—the infrastructure that lets the Empire travel and fight among the floating allods. Current lore pegs their “birth rate” at roughly three to four hundred new Arisen a month, as more of the old Zem souls finally claw their way back into preserved or reconstructed bodies. It’s a strange mix of necromancy and industry, and it gives the race a sense of being both very old and perpetually renewed.
Socially, the Arisen are an odd fit with their Imperial allies. Xadaganians and Orcs tend to joke about their corpse‑like appearance and emotional distance, but those jokes stop where real disrespect begins; in practice, the Arisen are treated as full citizens and valued specialists, and both human and Orcish soldiers are quite prepared to kill anyone foolish enough to insult them openly. Their mechanical augmentations—sometimes obvious, sometimes hidden under robes and uniforms—double as status symbols: visible proof that they have survived where ordinary mortals would have rotted away long ago.
Intellect is the core of Arisen identity, and even their naming system underlines that. Every Arisen uses a two‑part name: a scientific or academic title followed by a given name, often pulled from or inspired by Egyptian mythology. Junior titles such as Semer, Sarang, Yaver and Sarbaz indicate lower tiers of scholarly achievement, while senior ranks—Yasskul, Nomarkh and Negus—mark out more accomplished figures. At the very top sits Nefer, the highest possible title, held by only one Arisen at any given time: Nefer Ur, their Great Mage and de facto leader. It’s an elegant bit of worldbuilding that makes even a nameplate over a character’s head tell you something about who they are meant to be.
For a character like Kroog, stepping into that culture means inhabiting more than just a good looking model or an unusual silhouette. Playing an Arisen is about leaning into that blend of death, machinery and cold, methodical curiosity: a citizen of an Empire that is happy to use any tool available, and a member of a race that clawed its way back from extinction and intends, this time, to stay.
