The World Of Khoras - Religion - Gods of the Ogres

Draxorith

The Deity

Draxorith is the lord of darkness. He represents the power of evil, the domination of good, indulgence, impulsiveness, abandonment and freedom. He is a feared and powerful god known for blessing his worshipers with dark magical powers and untold riches. While seen as a cruel demon-god by outsiders, his worshipers proclaim their lord is a strong, fearless master of fate and destiny unfettered by laws or morals. A demon he may be, but he is a cultured one. Although his physical presence is quite monstrous, his language tends to be very formal and his superior intelligence is evident. When communed, Draxorith will often speak in cryptic riddles.

The Church

Geographic Placement
The Church of Draxorith is spread out across the eastern part of Ithria. Worshipers can be found in many lands. It is even said that orcs, goblyns and other foul creatures hold cruel rituals to honor the Dark Master in the wilds of the world. The Church of Draxorith is strongest in the nation of Duthelm. It is the state religion there and is interwoven with the Duthelm government.

Temples, Churches and Holy Sites
The main temple of this religion is known as the Temple of the Shattered Skull. This colossal architectural wonder  lies at the very heart of the Citadel. Specifically, it dominates the 19th floor. It sits at the top of a great shaft which connects it to the Shrine of Lost Souls many levels below. Lesser temples can be found in Duthelm, the Coalition and other dark corners of the world.

Ceremonies
The faithful of Draxorith meet once every 13 nights in a dark mass. At these gatherings, the priests lead the faithful in prayer, tell stories of the might and glory of Draxorith, cast spells and summoning servants and demons from the Abyss to aid the Church. Sometimes enemies of the Church are ritually slain and sacrificed to the Dark Lord.

Holy Days
The holy days of Draxorith are every 13th night.

Philosophy
Mindless destruction is not the goal of this group. Rather, they seek to conquer the people of the world by doing away with the do-gooders from moralistic religions. They obey no rules but those of their god.

Scriptures and Prayer
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Symbols
The holy symbol is Draxorith's outstretched reptilian claw enclosed in a circle. The circle represents the unity of the church and the outstretched claw with its three digits, represents the three branches of the Church. The first represents the disciples and the acolytes, the main body of the Church. The second talon represents the priests of the Church. The third represents the Knights of the Abyss.

Artifacts
The most holy artifact of the Church of Draxorith is a mythical gem steeped in legend. This brilliant jewel is known as the Avisarr. It is crafted from a translucent green crystalline substance known as vertrillium. It is said that this gem was torn from the heart of a mountain that lies deep in the Abyss, the darkest corner of the multiverse from which demons come. In centuries past, it was brought to the world of Khoras and enchanted so that it would hold the soul of Draxorith and allow him to roam the world. It was this very act that brought about the Demon War two centuries ago which raged between Duthelm and Kitar.

Tithes
The faithful of the Church of Draxorith are expected to pay one half of all treasure and wealth they obtain through murder, theft, deception or other vile deeds. It is said that Draxorith is watching and so very few feel the need to try to cheat the Church.

Allied and Opposed Faiths
The church of Draxorith is opposed to all religions, groups or organizations that promote peace, harmony or well being. The Church of Draxorith is on good terms with the church of Agethos.

The Priests of Draxorith

Rank Structure

The Church of Draxorith has a very rigid rank structure as follows:

Disciples
Although originally an ogre god, the worship of Draxorith has spread to many lands and races. The followers of Draxorith are mostly ogre and human, but saurians, goblyns, orcs and a miscellany of rogues and bandits also kneel at his temples. They seek to emulate the pure chaos and freedom that their god represents. Worshipers of Draxorith are organized into ranks : disciple, acolyte, priest and knight.

Acolyte
The acolytes are servants to the priests. They study underneath the priests and labor for the church. It is the acolytes who see to the day to day trivial duties of the Church, cleaning the pews and altars, fetching supplies, repairing armor and a thousand other small duties. The acolytes labor ceaselessly in the hopes of one day donning the robes of a priest. The acolytes are given basic combat training and are the lowest tier of the Church's defense. Acolytes are often given common guard duty and such.

Priest
The bulk of the church are the priests. The priests tend to the day to day administration of the church, minister to the faithful, defend the Church with their spells, provide for the followers and generally serve as the backbone of the faith. Priests may occasionally be given guard duty for important areas. The priests of the Church number in the hundreds. Only through exceptional service to the Church, unwavering loyalty and great battle prowess is a priest of Draxorith invited into the ranks of the Knights.

Knight of the Abyss
The military branch of this church is known as the Knights of the Abyss. There are less than 100 of these highly trained, heavily armored warriors and each has magical ability granted them by Draxorith. The Knights of the Abyss are fanatically loyal to Draxorith and all are combat veterans who have proven themselves in countless battles. These are the men and women who ride out into the world on great black stallions on special missions for the Church. They also provide security at temples, lead the disciples in battles and aid the priests. 

Lord Commander of the Knights of the  Abyss
The Knights of the Abyss are led by Sirreth the Unholy, an undead skeletal knight that serves Caramus as lieutenant. Sirreth wields a magical blood reaver sword (that drains life energy from those it wounds and bestows it upon its undead wielder as healing) and flies on a bat winged horse.

The Arch Priest of Draxorith
 Ruling over this hierarchy is a single individual with the title Arch Priest. The current Arch Priest is the same one that has ruled for the last 300 years. His name is Caramus. A reclusive individual, it is believed that Caramus may in fact be half-demon; a son of Draxorith perhaps.

Abilities and Spells
Priests and knights command great spell ability. The knights tend to focus more on combat oriented magic while the priests focus on healing, enchanting magic items, divination and lore.

The Priests of Draxorith and Knights of the Abyss both use the orichcalcum mineral in their rituals and magic. They use it to increase the power of their pentagrams, their soul cages, their summoning spells and their death chants.

Dress and Equipment
Acolytes wear simple brown robes and wield short blades and small wooden shields. Priests of Draxorith wear black robes and wield blood reavers, a special sort of broad hacking blade.  Knights wear black lacquered heavy plate armor and wield enchanted blood reaver swords.

Rules of Conduct
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This page last updated Monday, October 08, 2007. Copyright 1990-2008 David M. Roomes.

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