Skaraz

Skarázdralègth

Identity

  • Titles – The Dragul God, Skarázdralègð, The Eleventh
  • Influence – Dragul, Birthright, Power, Majesty
  • Appearance – Skarázdralègð was a Dragul with red and gold scales, and vast webbed wings

Attributions

  • Symbol – Dragul, Dragul alighting onto a promontory
  • Focus – Claws or teeth
  • Color – Red and Gold
  • Element – Fire
  • Animal – Dragul

Cult

  • Center of Worship – Viríllis
  • Scriptures –
  • Leader – Prydyrim Gor, …
  • Priesthood – The Dragùlgaldàr (clergy), Eyes of Skarázdralègð (high priests)
  • Orders – …
  • Aspects – none
  • Touched – Vdr. Egdris the Summoner
  • Holy Days – Vulūne 10th (Day of Advent)
  • Friends – All Dekàli Cults and Orders
  • Enemies – Virílli Resistance
  • Sayings – “May your enemies lie smoking in the ground, for your foe and my foe are the same”

Introduction

Some scholars believe that the arrival of Skarázdralègð marked the end of the Old Empire. For centuries the great Dragul had waged unholy war against the kingdoms of Acèntyra. His mate and progeny had been slain during this time, most by the legendary sword Wyrmmurd, which traveled widely to find the hands of able heroes. When the sword emerged in Viríllis in the 8th century HK, it was seen as a portent of great hope for it was believed that only the Dragul Father remained. When the bane-sword had been uncovered in centuries past, it had done so in times of need. The Queen of Viríllis immediately sent emissaries throughout the Twin Seas seeking a hero to wield the famed blade but before her queries could be answered, Dekàli forces landed at Rallàūn and the region was thrust into the Illyri Campaign. Worries about the Dragul Father were replaced by fear of the invading Empire.

In 738 HK, the City of Mirégil, last bastion of the Kingdom of Viríllis, surrendered to the invaders. The invading Ðard commander Egdris marched into the capital city and seized the Granite Throne. Queen Azgària II was thrown into shackles and placed on a ship to Lanádus. As the ship left harbor, her family was marched onto the castle walls to watch the ship leave. As the Queen watched from the deck of the ship, each member of the ruling family was executed. Seated upon the throne, the servants of Egdris emptied the kingdom coffers, bringing all manner of treasures before the Regent so that he might decide which to send to the High Queen, and which to keep. Chests and chests were emptied, but little caught the Regent’s attention until the sword Wyrmmurd was found. Virílli advisers urged the Regent to continue Queen Azgària II’s search for a great warrior, or all that he had gained would be lost. Instead, Egdris called to his wizards and established the Divine Council of Viríllis to explore another possibility. During the ensuing years, the temples of Viríllis were desanctified, their reliquaries destroyed, and their artifacts dispersed. Many of its temples were either razed or converted to the common use.

Six years following the fall of Viríllis, Egdris was elevated from Regent to High Lord with the elevation of the kingdom as the eleventh city-state of the Dekàli Empire. The world waited and wondered how this could be, for historically the Empire denied the admission of new city-states until an approved religion was established that could answer to the Council of Lanádus. In the fall of 744 HK, the world got its answer when the High Lord Egdris I of Viríllis climbed to the top of the Finger of Tarnàzhyin, a magnificent promontory that reached out over the Straits of Avyrdāen. Onlookers from coastal villages and a host of Dekàli soldiers looked on with awe as the great Dragul wheeled from the sky, landing heavily upon the promontory’s tip. At that time the High Lord bowed deeply and offered the Dragul the bane-sword Wyrmmurd, in accordance with the pact established between Skarázdralègth and the Divine Council of Viríllis. At first the great Dragul recoiled from the blade, but then accepted the offering and launched into the sky with a great beat of his majestic wings. Gasps and cries of horror rose from the coast, for the bane-sword was believed to be the only hope of salvation from the dread Dragul. The High Lord returned from the promontory and proclaimed to those assembled that they had just beheld the god of Viríllis.

The Cult

The first order of business before the fledgling Cult was to reconsecrate the standing temples and shrines to the new god. These acts helped to forge the Virílli Resistance Movement (VRM), a clandestine army of nationalists who sought to undermine the new government and religion. The seditionist tactics of the VRM plagued the new Cult and government until their demise in 1246 HK. Most importantly, the VRM served as an example of what could be done to stymie the spread of the Empire, an example that was soon emulated in many other Dekàli territories. Though the Virílli government and Cult of Skarázdralègð did everything in their power to rout and punish members of the VRM, its activities continued for over 500 years. This common enemy, and the combined efforts of the Cult and state, created a unified organization much like the Cult of Amra. Within a short time, even the judges and litigants of the land wore the robes of the Cult. In time, the livery of soldiers reflected the Cult’s influence as well.

An enemy of the state was now an enemy of the Eleventh god as well, and therefore a heretic. To find and extinguish this element, the Cult of Skarázdralègð created a branch of the Dragùlgaldàr called the Teeth of Skarázdralègð. This infamous group began a series of inquisitions throughout Viríllis in an attempt to find sympathizers to the seditionists’ cause. The Teeth were also used to oversee the religious conversion of the populace, and to select those young persons that were “worthy” and able to serve the Cult. It is not known how many people were killed during this time, though thousands are known to have been moved to various prisons throughout Viríllis for “instruction”.

Perhaps the most famous event of this struggle was the Fire of Fivèndam in 912 HK. A great explosion destroyed the main tower of the prison that held hundreds of heretics awaiting their fate. The explosion killed the warden and many guards. The nature of the explosion was likely magical though there were suspicions of blackpowder. The prisoners escaped into the countryside only to be hunted down and slaughtered by Virílli troops. Any found harboring the fugitives were also massacred and their farms burned.

The Priesthood

It was difficult to discern priests from other Cult functionaries except by the jewelry that was sewn into their garments. Priests of Skaraz traditionally wore red robes tied with gold-thread belts and elaborately embroidered with all manner of precious stones and threads; elaborate silver masks were worn by the Eyes of Skarázdralègð as well as scaled hides from red Kelvìri fire-lizards.

Promotion within the Dragùlgaldàr was contingent on the power of the individual, specifically a person’s access to the spirit of Skarázdralègð.

Daily Activities

Holy Days and Rituals

The most important holy day for the Cult of Skarázdralègð was the Day of Advent (10th of Vulūne) which marked the day that the Dragul made good on the Pact and took the Wyrmmurd from Viríllis. It was on this day that the Skaraz faithful first gained their powers. The day was seen by the other Cults of the Old Empire as recognition by an Elder race of Yrūn destiny, a passing of the torch. In exchange for his shepherding the High Lord offered him the one instrument that might end his Immortal life.

Places of Worship

Following the fall the Dekàli Empire, most of the Cult’s temples were destroyed. The temples few that survived are maintained by a small priesthood who maintain the rituals and ceremonies of the Cult in the hopes that can appease the great Dragul by living up to the Pact. With many centuries having come and gone without a sighting of Skarázdralègð, most have dismissed the stories as legend and feel that the temples should finally be dismantled and the Cult disbanded. The current Cultists warn that this would have dire circumstances for all of Acentyra.

Temples to Skarázdralègð remain in …