The Cult of St. Urox

by Nikk Effingham, based upon the description of Urox in River of Cradles, with thanks to Sandy Petersen for his Saint notes and Steve Marsh for his Shifting Ruins notes which provided me with one of the spells

Author's note: This is a draft copy, all comments are welcome, please send to nikk@MailAndNews.com.

I. Mythos & History

Urox Bemurok was a son of Umathil and a member of the Bemurok family in the Darkness, they were a house of the highest templars whose Warriors were named the Bull Knights, and they were feared for their prowess. Urox joined Umathil's Kingdom when Urox's sister was assassinated by agents of the Evil Emperor for speaking out against the Emperor's self-idolization. With the invasion of the Devil, the entire family put aside their Farmer Caste, Wizard Caste and Lord Caste and all joined the Warriors. They fought with a viscious passion, instilled by their ancestor, Bemurok, who begat all of the people of the Bemurok Family. They fought in the almighty Battle Of North Gate, and half their numbers fell without any sign of regret in dying for their people.

When King Orlanth asked his people to find new lands for them to live in, the Head of the Bemurok family took all of his Bull Knights and Templars into the Lands of the Darkness, while the Umathili camped far away. Here they met disease, spirits, chaos and Dehori - while they battled long and hard they lost all but one of their number, Urox, the Great Bull Knight, but their deaths meant that the Umathili found a new home in a hidden valley at the bottom of a blasted plateau, which was cleared by Urox and his family of the chaos creatures that lived there.

In honour of his Family's sacrifice, and his own actions, Urox was made into Orlanth's Private Bodyguard and Chaoskiller. In the Godtime, when hunting parties sallied forth in an effort to beat back the Devil's forces, Urox often led them - and often returned alone, his allies slain in deadly battle leaving only the Great Knight to return home. He defeated the renegade mage, Ragnagthil, who fought him and was slain. He put his own brother, the Mad One, out of his misery. He saved Ralia from two of the three attempts of Yelmalio to kidnap her. He even fought Malia, and saved the Kingdom from disease.

His greatest actions came when he was left at home, in the Kingdom, when Orlanth went on the Lightbringer's Quest. He was made the head of the Warrior Caste for it's duration. When the shattered remains of the Kingdom were faced by the Devil, who stood at the edge of the valley, standing a quivering mass one thousand man heights tall and crackling with chaos. Urox met the Devil in the midst of the Holy City - the battle was long and hard, Urox took several blows that would sunder any normal man into not one piece, but hundreds. When his legs were shattered, and he fell to the ground, Urox called upon old favours. An Angel of the Cretor came to him, and brought with him the power of the Invisible God. Standing once more, Urox battled again, and fought back the Devil. Then, with a great block of adamant, he cast down the Devil and crushed him underneath the Stone. Though the Devil was dead, the Holy City was destroyed.

For his actions in defending the people of Orlanth, for his actions against chaos and for defeating the Devil, he was Sainted by the Creator. He arose to Solace and remains there, guiding us. His followers are adopted into his family and become Knights in defence against Chaos.

Those who joined Urox to kill chaos are assured a place in Solace if they die fighting any form of Krjalki. Those who joined Urox to cleanse themselves of Sin are assured reincarnation if they die fighting any form of chaos. All bodies are burnt in the manner common to the Henotheistic Chruch.

St. Urox's Runes are Death, Storm and Beast.

II. Cult Ecology

The Cult of St. Urox is the Chaoskiller and the ultimate Killer of Chaos. He is responsible for the defeat of many chaos beings and Dehori in Godtime. His cult is dedicated to religious fanaticism of chaos raids into Tinaros and Lalia, as well as crack squads involved in the Inquisition. They wield no political power, and their numbers vary on an almost daily basis due to fatalities. The entire cult is composed of Warrior Caste, and is considered to be under the juristication of the Sword of Malkion, the military branch of the Church.

Uroxi spend all of their time fighting chaos, and preparing to fight chaos. They are normally dark, broody warriors who have seen too much death and violence and have little to live for. They are revered throughout Valantia for their selflessness. They are powerful Knight's Templars, and do not resemble the unruly Storm Bulls of Prax or East Ralios.

Each season has a holy day in Stasis Week. The exact day varies with thr Season. In Sea Season it is Freezeday, in Fire Season it is Waterday, in Earth Season it is on Clayday, in Dark Season it is on Windsday, and in Storm Season it is on Fireday. The High Holy Day of the cult is in Storm Season, Stasis Week, Wildday, when the Destruction of the Devil and the infamous I Fought We Won is celebrated.

III. The Cult In The World

St. Urox is worshipped by the fanatical chaoskillers of Valantia. While it has temples elsewhere, they are few and far between compared to the Great Temple of the Bull in Valantia. The cult has little influence on even religious politics. Urox is also worshipped as a god capable of cleansing evil sin, all but the worst sinners have a chance of absolving themselves by dying in fighting chaos. Many members are ex-convicts, the cult does not allow people to swap prison sentences for cult membership - so those scheduled for execution are still going to die. The cult is funded by both it;s own plunder and donations made on Holy Days of the Church.

The cult is active in protection of Otkorion from the unknown, unimaginable horrors of Tinaros (even though not many have been spotted....), advances into Lalia (where chaos nests are sometimes found) and aiding in the Thantari Inquisition, although in recent years there has been little acitvity.

There is a Great Temple in Valantia, and a handful of Temples near the border of Lalia, one in Fiesive and one in Tempest Halls. There is a minor temple in Urox Fort on the border of Otkorion and Tinaros. The cult is ruled by Seamus Bemurok, a minor Hero, who normally spends his days in divination searching for the locations of chaos nests etc....

Shrines teach Impede Chaos.

IV. Initiate

Only members of the Warrior Caste may join the cult of St. Urox and the canidate may not be chaos tainted. They must also swear unwavering fealty to a Bull Knight willing to accept their following (basically any Knight). They must pass the standard initiation test of Any Attack, Any Attack or Parry, Ceremony, Scan and Search.

All initiates must spend at least half the year with the Bull Knight they are pledged to (normally working from for the Church, but sometimes Bull Knights and their followers can be found working as mercenaries, or as Family Guard - Uroxi are also favoured by the Arkati anti-chaos fanatics), and must return when called. They must work fevrently against any and all chaos, reporting all chaos activities and engaging all chaos forces as best they can - so suicidal charges into overwhelming chaos forces are not required, although are far from unheard of.

In return the Bull Knight is required to feed and board the initiate. In their spare time they are normally trained free of charge by the Bull Knight, and usually are taught Uroxi spirit magic in return for killing chaos. Normally an Uroxi will have a few points of spirit magic at the very least (for this reason, the list of spirit magic is included here).

All initiates are members of the Bemurok Family of Otkorion and are immediatley severed from their previous Family. They also gain access to the skill, Sense Chaos.

Spirit Magic: Detect Enemies, Dispel Magic, Fanaticism, Heal, Protection.

V. Bull Knights

The Bull Knights are the symoblic representation of St. Urox on the Mundane Plane, bold killers devoid of any good emotion other than apathy, hate, pain and misery. They live for nothing more than killing chaos, their followers and the day they die. A Bull Knight owes allegiance only to the Warrior Caste and his God.

A canidate for Bull Knighthood must have 90% in any weapon attack, and four of the following; a second attack, Ride, Scan, Search, Sense Chaos, Shield Parry, Track. There is no need for a vacancy - there is always a vacancy, there is never a short supply of things to slaughter. No Bull Knight may marry, as all their sons would be without a Bloodline, but there are no restrictions on concubines, casual sex and bastard children. They must devote all of their time to the cult, and any spare time they end up with is spent training their followers.

They gain access to reusable Rune Magic, 1d10 Divine Intervention and are raised to the position of Knight (in my House System, they receive the Advantages of Status 30pts and Military Ranking 120pts.). If they suceed in a simple HeroPath (which can be abstracted as a POWx3) then they receive an allied spirit bound usually into their distinctive bull helmets.

Common Rune Magic: All.
Special Rune Magic: Beserk, Command Sylph, Face Chaos, Impede Chaos, Shield.

VI. Special St. Urox Cult Skill

See River of Cradles p.155 or Gods of Glorantha p.67 for a description of this skill.

VII. Special St. Uroxi Rune Magic

See River of Cradles p.155 or Gods of Glorantha p.68 for a description of the cult spells.

VIII. Sub-cults

Spirit of Reprisal
The cult reprisal spirit only appears to cultists who aid chaos, any other infraction is left for the Church to deal with. If a cultist wishes to leave the cult, they are free to do so. The spirit that comes to pay retribution is Aoif Headhater, the famous Heroine who brought the light of St. Urox to Otkorion. She is a POW 25 INT 16 spirit that attacks the character in spirit combat - if she suceeds in defeating them then the character will forever more alert all other Uroxi to their presence if they come within 100m, the Uroxi will innately sense their nature and seek to kill them for their crimes.

High Priests of the Cult can gain access to the spell Mass Face Chaos through Aoif:

Mass Face Chaos
3 points
special range, temporal, one-use
This spell allows all persons within the sound of the caster's bellow to face chaos without suffering any adverse effects from active chaos powers (e.g. a ghoul's howl) or the passive effects that chaos has upon the mind. Any passive features (i.e. those caused by appearance etc..) will have no effect. In addition, all those facing the chaos will be under the effects of fanaticism for the duration of the spell.

St. Arkat the Liberator
Arkat Swordlord was the Liberator of Ralios. He was the son of Humakt and his wife, a member of the Evil Emperor's family who had rebelled - she was eventually killed and lost from the knowledge of most mortal kin. Her son, Arkat, was sent to the world to slay Gbaji Jotimamson, an evil god who lived in Dorastor. While he suceeded, his fantical nature drove him to worship the minions of the Evil Emperor and succumb to corruption. Yet, since he did save the world he is still worshipped by the people of St. Humakt, as a reminder not to fall to temptation lest you suffer the same fate as he did.

To worship St. Arkat, you must sacrifice 8 POW to him. From thenceforth you may invoke his Blessing. This costs 1 POW and causes all Illuminated begins within 100m to turn a translucent white until the next sunrise. This includes the Devotee himself, if Illuminated.

St. Gerlant Flamesword
Gerlant fought alongside Arkat in the wars against the Vampire Lords and became his liege lord. Though Arkat sacrificed so much for his lord, eventually Gerlant had to choose between his people and kingdom, and Arkat. He chose to save his people, and not his friend, and this betrayl is recorded throughout the sagas. He is worshipped by the Uroxi cult for his acts in defeating the Vampire Lords of Vivamort.

To worship St. Gerlant costs 3 POW. This will allow the caster to use his Blessing. The blessing costs 1 POW to invoke, the blade of the devotee becomes magical, whenever it is touched it produces a Fireblade. The effect is permanent, and Gerlant has to be invoked again to switch it to another weapon. Only one weapon at a time can be affected.

IX. Associated Cults

St. Chalana
She grants the spell Cure Chaos Wound.

St. Orlanth
His Lord grants the spell Flight.

Valind
His unruly relative grants the spell Cloud Call.