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Players Guide To Otkorion
Mythos and History
Out of the Void came the Creator, who was bold and great, autre and Just. His Might was above all else, he was the Supreme Omnipotent Being. He formed the Cosmos with His Divine Power and then rested. To rule his Cosmos he made the Emperor, who was served by his Celestial Court. At first what the Emperor gave to his people was also Just and also Mighty, and the Cosmos was pleased.
But with time the Emperor grew giddy with his power and soon he become corrupt and evil, and denied the Creator His Divine Right to see his Creation grow as he pleased, and instead the Emperor turned to evil and the Devil.
One Just and Bold god was named Orlanth, whom the Creator had seen fit to instill the Power of Storm to. Orlanth challenged the Emperor to three Contests, that of Music, Dance and War. In the first Orlanth was defeated by the Golden Harp, in the second Orlanth defeated the Emperor with his War Dance, but when the third contest came, that of Battle, the Emperor sent forth many evil things that were from Outside the Creator, they are known today as Krjalki or Chaos, servants of the Devil. Each of Orlanth's brothers came forth to meet the new foes, and each defeated them, although one was turned mad by what he faced and would never recover. In return, Orlanth sent Humakt, the Angel of Death, whom had been blessed with a new power by the Creator that he might stop the Emperor. That power was Death. The Emperor fell to his own hubris, and to the might of the Storm gods, and fled to the underworld.
Yet without the Emperor, the world was in disarray. Orlanth tried to assume the Throne of the World, but without the Divine Heritage that the Creator had bestowed upon the Emperor, he was unable to oporperly control the forces. When the Throne of the World was destroyed by Chaos, the world fell into what we now know as the Darkness. While the sun still shone, the clouds of Darkness, and the anti-light of chaos obscured it. Underneath it the world was in disorder, brother fought brother, wife fought husband, man fought his shadow self and lost. Orlanth could see that what the Cosmos needed was new order. So he set out on the Lightbringer's Quest to instill Law and Order to Glorantha again.
In the depths of the Underworld he suceeded and discovered the Creator at the end of his path. The Creator named Orlanth the First Among Equals, or the King of All Gods, and gave him the right to sit on the Throne of the World and rule the Cosmos. Orlanth's first proclamation was to return the Cosmos to it's rightful state. His second was that he would rule his Divine Host through common consent rather than the tyranny of one. His third proclamation was Time, and by the powers of the Spider Woman, was the Cosmos made anew.
In the First Age the followers of the Emperor, whom the people of Galin call Ehilm, used the ancient powers of the Emperor and summoned up an uncontrollable force known to us as Gbaji, the Deceiver. St. Humakt sent his own son, Arkat, to deal with the problem. Arkat, a demi-god and almighty Hero, descended to Our lands and forced himself through the evil hordes to the borders of the Land of Doom, Dorastor, wherein lays Gbaji. Here he was slain.
Then Orlanth commanded a worshipper, Harmast Barefoot, to travel the Path of the Lightbringer, and to bring Arkat back, in which he suceeded. Arkat and Harmast turned to Dragon Pass, which lies East of here, and freed it from the Deceiver's Tyranny. Then he headed back to Dorastor. It was here that Arkat sacrificed all he had for us, he sacrificed his own soul, his own Immortal Solace, by turning into a troll and fighting against Gbaji with new found powers. In doing so, however, he betrayed the Invisible God and would never earn eternal Solace.
After this Arkat founded and ruled a great Empire in Ralios which was based on the tenets and teachings of our church. The empire only fell when the foul God Learners conspired with Chaos and the Devil. However, the truths of the church survived in Fiesive where they were found and promulgated by our Holy Archbishop.
Now it is the Third Age of Time and in Our struggle against Chaos and the Emperor we have foreseen the coming Apocalypse. The Red Moon, which is yet another mask of Gbaji, has arisen in the lands of the Emperor once more and threatens to engulf the Cosmos. It is only our purity and piousness that our Church will be able to defeat this monstrosity. Harden your souls, sharpen your swords, for St. Humakt is ready to walk the lands once more.
The People of Otkorion
The people of Otkorion origanted from Lankst, the Orlanthi lands to the north which have not yet accepted the true nature of the Invisible God. However, centuries ago we were enlightened by the prophets of the Creator and have thusly have risen from the barbarism of living in huts and we built cities, and a society. You are a member of Fiesive, the capital city of Otkorion, and are a member of one of four castes, either Farmer, Wizard, Warrior or Lord. While you are born into a Caste, you may change Caste if you demonstrate aptitude in skills neccessary to join another. You are also a member of a family, most families originate from Lanskt, for instance you may be a member of the enigmatic Marrghan family, or the Royal Family of Rolymer, or the Rawson family.
You are also a member of a cult. While we all worship the Creator, the Invisible God, in everything that we do, you might also be a worshipper of one of the Saints. You might have chosen to worship a Pagan God, for the ways of the Invisible God are difficult to follow and sometimes a lesser being is easier to understand, but in doing so you have foregone the Cult of the Invisible God. If you are a member of the Hero Cult of Goriant you may even worship both the Creator and a Pagan God, but this is frowned upon by the Church and society as a whole.
Our enemy is Chaos, which is an agent of both the Devil and the Emperor. It is also known as Gbaji, the Tyrant. The Devil leads a demonic host of chaos demons and gods, and such demons manifest often in our lands, and are called broo, or bagogi. Krjalki, however, is the term that refers to all chaos beings. If you are pious enough then you might learn the secrets of St. Urox and fight against these hordes for your whole life.
All Orlanthi are supposed to embody the six Virtues of Orlanth. They are Courage, Honour, Wisdom, Generosity, Justice and Piety and without them, no Orlanthi will ever amount to much. An Orlanthi will always fix what he had made wrong, a true Orlanthi is ready to accept responsiblity. There is no stigmata attatched to gender, a woman is different than a man but just as dangerous. Men in our society are commonly prone to emotional explosions of rage, grief, happiness or gloom. Women are cold, caculating and aloof. There are exceptions, however, such as the male worshippers of St. Lhankor Mhy who are removed from such base things as emotions, and female worshippers of the pagan Babeester Gor, who are prone to VERY dangerous acts of violence.
What matters to you depends upon your Caste, but all members of our society are expected to excell at what they do and in doing so earn eternal Solace when you die. When you die we will wait seven days before your body will be burnt in an open area for no expense if you have done whatever was asked of you, and the pyre will be built with rune carved logs, and the priest will cry for great Orlanth to send the Winds to take your soul and your family will wail out your name. Of course, through the Divine Might of Orlanth we might be able to bring your soul back to your body, but only the most pious (or richest) can manage this.
And remember TAPPING IS EVIL AND CHAOTIC! If you are found tapping you will find your body torn into many pieces by morning and hanging outside in the Market Square after the Holy Day when all Chaotic Heretics are tortured and killed, then excommunicated.
The Pantheon of the Henotheistic Church
There are the gods we worship:
The Creator:Our main focus of worship is the Invisible God who brought and shaped our Cosmos from the Primal Ooze it first originated from. He is the Almighty, He is the Divine, He is the Greatest, He is the Creatrix.
St. Hrestol: Hrestol taught that the Brithini were wrong in their strict interpretation of Malkion's Law. His actions, and supreme self-sacrifice, showed that anyone could change their class if they were worthy. He is also known for teaching the laws of Hospitality and Honour.
St. Orlanth:The King of the Gods, and is known in four major forms, although many more exist. Orlanth is worshipped by all of us, and a large portion join his cult. His cult is then split into four major sub-cults and numerous minor ones. The major sub-cults are Orlanth the Thunderer, the Weather Lord and also worshipped mainly by the Wizard Caste for his Priests are connected to the Magical side of the Cosmos. The second is Orlanth Four Weapons, who is worshipped by the Warrior Caste and whose priests are known as Wind Lords. The third is Orlanth Rex, the cult of nobles, kings and poets. It is worshipped mainly by the Lord caste and the Priests are known as Thanes or Kings. The last is Orlanth Lightbringer, a mysterious sub-cult worshipped by various men and women, it is ecclesiastical in nature and only a few of his followers can be seen about. The Farmer Caste often worship Barntar the Plower, Orlanth's son.
St. Ralia:Orlanth's wife, she is the Saint of the Earth and married Orlanth first in the barbaric ceremony of weddings, and later in the Ceremony that the Creator gave to Orlanth so that their marriage would make her a Saint as well.
Barntar the Plower: Is not a Saint, but we send prayers and praises to his soul for his acts in the Darkness. He is the patron of the farmer caste and, alongside his mother, they foster the worship of those in the caste.
St. Urox: Became patron of Valantia in 1611 ST and is the chaos killer. In Godtime his family were all slain by the Devil, and driven by grief Urox sought out all those responsible and slew them. Today the Family Bemurok is conposed entirely of his worshippers. Those who join his cult divorce themselves from their own family and join the Bemurok family instead.
Hedkoranth: Again, not a Saint, but he is still given great recognition among the Otkorioni and features both in prayers and rites. He is the Head of the Storm Brothers and his name is recited in the chants of the Iron Councils everytime they come to session.
The Lightbringers:They were St. Chalana, the Healing goddess, St. Goldentongue, the trading god and the guide for the dead and psychopomp of the Orlanthi. There is St. Lhnakor Mhy, the Learning God who knows more than any other. There is St. Eurmal, the Trickster, who only became a Saint by accident and by trickery. There is St. Humakt, who is the Angel of Death and is the Bringer of Severance. Lastly there is Ginna Jar, whom is unknown to all of us except the worshippers of Orlanth Lightbringer.
St. Xemela:The Mother of Hrestol. Avatar of St. Chalana. She sacrificed herself in saving Seshnela from the Black Plague by consuming the poison of the Well of Vapours and in doing so trapped her own soul. Hrestol released her in the First Age, and she is now worshipped as a Saint.
Elmal: The Sun. While he is not a Saint he is a great ally of the Orlanthi people and we bless him in our rites.
St. Gerlant:A companion of Arkat during the First Age, he is the embodiment of a Lord for he sacrificed his friend for the safety and purity of his people.
In addition there are numerous sects of Arkati worship. These sects each have differing beliefs on what and who Arkat was in the First Age, and each claim to be descended from the original Arkat Cult before the God Learners came and destroyed it. Here are the more popular sects:
Arkat Chaosbane:He came from the Divine Tribe, an apostle of the Old Man, and vanquished Chaos. He is the greatest Mortal ever known, though he was part god. He killed Krjalk, Wakboth and Pocharngo, he found the Unbreakable Sword and also defeated Ragnaglar, all before he bested Gbaji. He is worshipped today in Otkorion, even though our Church disdains it's presence.
Arkat DestroyerWhat you hear about Arkat is all wrong, what we say is true!! Arkat is the Destroyer, the Creator's tool of ressurection for only by destroying the Cosmos may it be rebuilt. He has come before and will come again!
Great Arkat: Arkat was the King and will come again to reclaim his Empire. We prepare the way once again for his coming and will be the heirs to the power of the Dark Empire, only those in our cult will be saved.
Arkat the Deceiver:This cult is very small, very few people in Otkorion are willing to believe that Arkat was in fact Gbaji. It is not illegal to worship him, but most people keep it secret.
Other gods are worshipped in the city, but they are all Pagan gods and only one (Babeester Gor) has a temple in Fiesive. They are; Babeester Gor, Donandar, Elmal, Humakt, Hippoi, Issaries, Maran Gor, Odalyla, Orlanth, Urox, Uleria.
The City of Fiesive
The city is not a sprawling metroplois, it is not a city with defined walls and nicely built houses, this is not a city that the Lunars would recognize as such. Fiesive originally was a small fort built on a mountainside, but it slowly grew until it is now a maze of houses and buildings hanging off the side of the mountain it was built upon (known, obviously, as Mt. Fiesive). Inside the darkened catacomb interior of the city are even darker things...
Entrance is either up the side of the mountain into the city proper, but only Lords and Wizards may enter via that route, and those in their company. Chair lifts take you from the path to the dizzy heights of the enormous city. The other way is through the large gates in the bottom that lead into the Great Temple to St. Ralia, and it is here where most marketing takes place under the watchful eye of priests of St. Goldentongue. Outside the city ground is where most Farmer Caste members live, in steads built outside the city walls in expansive field. Each stead is part of a larger commune which is in turn represented by a bourgeoisie which is elected at the start of Earth Season normally. The Lands around Fiesive are rich, and nutritious and the presence of the Great Temple of Ralia means that the land is expensive and the farmers are rich.
The city is ruled by the Iron Council, which is headed by the King. The Iron Council also appear in Court regulary and make decisions there. The King is King Leoban IV of the Family Rolymer, who has only recently ascended to the throne of Fiesive after the death of his father, King Leoban III. Oddly, for some unknown reason, the King used an ancient law that allowed him to marry his sister, Queen Kirstine, which she agreed to without hesitation. This has caused a lot of consternation in both the Court and the Church.
The Church is represented by Surantyr the Non-heretic, the Archbishop of the Church, his underling is Bishop Cardy who controls the day to day running of the City. Surantyr wields an immense influence, and his power is said to be almost limitless. Ever since he came to the position of Archbishop he has expanded the Church of Otkorion's power to most of the Safelster and a lot of Northern Ralios. He is said to have great influence with the king.
The General of the army is General Stefan of Azilos, and is not a native Otkorioni. He is a Sword of Humakt and has undergone the Razor Dance of Goriant, allowing him greater freedom -- although the exact specifics of this are unknown to non-members of the HeroCult of Goriant. He carries his war against Azilos with a fevour unsurpassed by any other, and his brother is the General of Valantia.
The Red Circle is the head of the Wizard Caste for the city. It is close knit and controls with an iron fist the sorcerors of Fiesive. Entry into it's ranks is almost neccessary ot survive in the city, those who do not join have a habit of dissappearing, or just turning up dead. It has also started taking up itself more tasks than it used to have, such as supporting the warrior caste in their guard duties or claiming religious functions as being under their jurisdication (this is heavily contested by the Church). Lastly, the Court Wizard refused to join the group and subsequently, after two and a half years of heated arguments, dissappeared without trace one night and no account was given of how or why. If it was the Red Circle then their power base is surely greater than once thought.
Relations
The city has various treaties and unofficial agreements with portions of Lankst, and the Otkorions are welcomed there in the main, even when preaching. Other portions are so hostile that entry by Otkorioni means almost certain death.
They are to be considered at war with Azilos, although no armies have amassed this is most likely because neither city wishes for a wholesale slaughter of their own armies. There are, however, many spies from both cities on both sides. They are almost always at a hostile boiling point with the other city states and kingdoms of the Safelster, especially Naskorian, although they have had trade treaties with Borin for about a decade or so now.
Otkorion has always been at war with the trolls of the Western borders, and sirmishes often break out. It is worst near the forest known as the Poldark where the evil worshippers of the Black Lord lie.
Rumours
The previous King was murdered by his son whose disguise of innocence and naivety covers his evil interior which is only marred by his very real incestuous love for his sister, the Queen.
The king is still a virgin, and does not have intimate relations with the Queen.
The Queen has already had four children, but each has been slain at birth because they were hideous chaos spawn.
The King has an immense interest in the Ancient Beasts Society.
There is a temple to an evil pagan spirit in the depths of the temple to St. Ralia that is used to prevent the evil spirit from destroying the city.
The Red Circle killed the Court Wizard to institute their own puppet replacement.
The Court Wizard actually fell in love with a young scullery maid and ran away with her one night.
A poltergeist exists in the Library to St. Lhankor Mhy and often steals books before returning them at a later date. The librarian has named it the Ghost of Fal as a joke.
General Stefan refuses to use sorcery as he believes it to be an evil, soul sucking force.
The Thieves Guild is run by the Guild of Chaos Monks.
There is a fragment of Gbaji hidden in the city which has since been left unguarded ever since the original Arkati monks died off.
Surantyr is in fact a shapeshifted baboon.
Arkat will appear at the 7th Ecclesiastical Council of Malkion.
The Court Chamberlain is manipulating the King, as he is an agent of Ralzakar/Ragnaglar/Azilos.
The Queen is having an affair with an Azilos nobleman.
THE CRIMSON BAT IS.. ARGGHHH!!!(followed by the insane gibberings of a maniac)
Staurmburg the Dragon, an evil beast that plagues the citizens of the land, guards something that even it does not know what.
The being that killed the Inhuman King of Ormsland still lives -- in this city!!
When the Court Wizard dissappeared in his bedroom, a huge glowing magic rune was found on the floor before it faded away.