WARBAND & M&B Pendorian Stories

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saxondragon

Sergeant Knight at Arms
Please post the adventures, sad, serious, happy, funny, adventurous whatever you feel like here.  They can be accompanied by screen shots or just your prose on what reality you created here. )

Best.

Saxondragon
 
Derfel arrived in Pendor after a life spent in the streets, before becoming a smith. His last piece of work was a well-made sword, and he brought along a set of knives, his tools, and a hunting crossbow with a pouch of bolts.

Shortly after arriving, he was set upon by a series of bandits. Despite preferring to fight on foot, he was alone, and needed the mobility his worn-out horse provided. Fortunately, the few bandits who were armed with bows were terrible shots, and despite lightly wounding his horse a few time, they were only able to scratch Derfel himself before he finished the last one off with what was almost the last of his knives.

After collecting their weapons and armor, and finding amongst them a tunic a bit more protective than his own, he stowed the rest, and set out for the closest city.

He found himself a travelling companion and raised a few troops, but was shortly accosted by some heavily armored heretics who proceeded to run roughshod over his troops. They left him alone with a hero and penniless, forced to fight in the arena to raise troops. His first fight was close, but the final champion fighter defeated him. His second fight saw victory, however, leaving him with enough money to raise a new, albeit small, army.

Months later, the warlord known as Derfel commands a small but powerful army, with two Noldor at his side. Fighting for the honor of his king's wife, and Ravenstern itself, he rides circles around the rude noble, who seems to be unused to his saddle horse. Putting the horse down with a few jarid, Derfel put his last jarid between the noble's eyes and let him sleep off the effects of spreading lies.
 
Bob arrived in Pendor to kill people, shag skinny blondes and amass great riches. He travelled around villages and recruited suicidal empire citizens. He acquired a small band of 11 men! "We few, we happy few" was their motto. They engaged in a bloody battle with a red brotherhood band, and they lost. Bob took several bolts in his face but ended up okay due to miraculously recovering from the wounds. His troops were killed or taken prisoner, he was the only one.

He attacked the eight remaining forces, killed the horsemen and dodged several crossbow bolts. As he was reloading his crossbow with his bloody left hand, which had a bolt lodged onto it, bob was ready to shoot the last troop. He aimed.. and his idiotic horse hit a rock since Bob wasn't looking forward. The last man severed bob's leg and cackled as it hanged onto his bloody leg, and eventually dropped. Bob looked up in the sky, "RRRARGGHGHGHFHGHFGHFHDAMNITFAFAFLCLAOCLPDLOPAKDOPAKOPK WHYY" he was angry, I WAS ANGRY. OH WOW, THE LASstDATA!!2313 oneone, bob yelled.

Bob rose from the dead, being Bob. He attacked the lone thief with anger and great ARAARRGGH.
"This is where i meet my destiny, BRING IT ON" bob roared!

I'm going to beat him, i sure am.

I was really angry at this point.


Bob shrugs off the pain, because he's just that badass. The thief keeps him and his 11 prisoners tied for a long time, until one day Bob uses his skills to escape, and leaves the other ones. They could easily kill the thief, but they're so very afraid. He meets his archnemesis once again, and after several hours of fighting.. Bob finally wins. He watches as the thief does 5 somersaults and warps in the air for a couple of seconds, then finally lands.

 
Tom finds himself in Pendor once more, alone, pretty much broke and only too aware of the many groups willing to beat him up and take his lunch money.
Heading for the cities whose streets are paved with gold, the discovery of two chests filled with riches armour and weaponry allow him some financial stability. He tours the land until King Gregory of Ravenstern offers him work and a fief, Mazen. He recruits men from villages, from rescued prisoners, by converting captured enemies, and by reciting speeches from 'the Magnificent Seven' to various people he meets in taverns.
He battles against heretics, snake cults, Vanskerry raiders, Jatu, Mystmountain raiders, and of course the Dshar and Empire forces with whom Ravenstern is at war.
Soon he is ready to begin attacking towns and Castles. He takes the town of Shalador from the Dshar and is given it as a reward. This base allows him to fund his now powerful army somewhat more easily, and the towns and castles of the Dshar and Empire begin to fall like autumn leaves.
He is twice elected Marshall, pretty much unanimously, despite his refusal to curry favour amongst the Nobility of Ravenstern by seeking out quests from them. His reputation is forged rather in aiding them in countless battles where his banner becomes a sign of imminent victory.
The King only allows him to keep one castle, Shieldstorm Keep, and although sorely vexed Tom holds his tongue, but attacks no more towns or castles. From that point on Ravenstern gains no further territory, and if the King regrets his decisions he keeps his own council.
Tom begins to amass an army the like of which Pendor has never seen. From his Shieldstorm Keep castle he can both attack Noldor Ranger patrols and the groups which hold them prisoner. An early mistake has him attack a group of 75 Noldor, and although his army outnumbers them two to one he is lucky to escape with his life and a few bloodied troops. He learns.
He rebuilds again, and this time his army makes the mightiest foes reconsider attacking him:
tom_pendor.jpg

The Dshar wisely sue for peace with Ravenstern, the other factions grow fat off the weakened Dshar and Empire, though both yet cling to life.
Vanskerry Raider Armies run from him before he crushes them, he defeats an 800 strong Snake Cult Army, and then another 700 strong. He wipes out the invading Jatu Army, and then when another is found weeks later his only reason to hold from destroying them is that he does not have room in his party for the sixty or so Noldor prisoners the Jatu Army holds. So he makes room and adds those Noldor to his cause. He destroys a 600 strong Heretic Army led by Demons and loses barely a dozen troops.
He is almost too powerful now. What challenge can this land offer him, save to renounce his allegiance to the ungrateful King Gregory and conquer the whole land?
He ponders his options...
 
Removed old post so i can replace it for the one i posted on my blog:

Diev arrived from the frozen north country of Nar Khazdul, his father, Woden, was a veteran warrior who once was a proud guard of the King of Ravenstern. But Fortune didn't smile to his family and for him, in an invasion of their village, some barbarians killed Woden and Diev's mother in the middle of a party.

The barbarians were from the Myst Mountains, and as a normal barbaric tribe they had their druid, a 7 feet tall skinny man called Slav Mörker, he captured the child Diev to make a sacrifice to the barbaric God of War and Death, Herdzûl, for another succesfull raid.

Diev was taken to one of the highest peek at the Myst Mountains and from there was thrown to the void known as Svärt Hull, but what Slav didn't expected, happened, an eagle with the size of a bull, one of the few survivors of the Old Eagle war with the Noldor, caught Diev while he was falling.

The eagle took Diev to the city of Rane and there gave him to a couple of merchants, Diev spent his entire childhood as a street child, fighting for food and stealing from others, because his adoptive parents stoped giving him the money for food as soon as their child came to the world.

As soon as he became older he got angry with the nobility for their arrogance for the poor people, and soon started to hunt and steal wild pigs and other rare animals meat and body parts of enough value, from the king's forest, and giving to the poors and of course taking his part from it.

As the time passed he felt that the life of stealing from the rich and selling to the poor wasn't enough to honor his real parents memory. He ran from Rane to the training field to start his life of a Ravenstern soldier, untill his group headed by an angry man named Tarkûli, got ambushed by a group of renegade knights, his entire group was dead at the afternoon minus him and Tarkûli.

Tarkûli was yelling with Diev, blaming him for what happened, when a black arrow pierced the angry man's heart. The arrow was followed by 4 more, hitting Diev's shield. Diev ran away from the battlefield on the back of his young horse, Altinmer, when he was miles away from the battlefield, he realized his life of an adventurer has just began...


EDIT: Changed the name to Diev ( God in a foreign language) to be less Tolkienish.
 
Gaia remembers her father as a travelling merchant riding high and low pendorian landscapes. Although she grew up at the family headquarters in Rane, people around her, like Alderik Humblepenny, taught her the skills of trading, travelling and avoiding troubles - mainly charme and speed. The last living years of her father she spent travelling with him until the day on which, at a bridge not far off Sarleon, a traffic jam was created. Marauders and amateur warbands abused the situation where charming is confronted with brutal steel and what does speed when still stands every wheel?

A trex ox, hit by the very first unfriendly volley of arrows, gave her cover and underneath that cadaver she survived the slaughter and the pillage. Well two days it took until all the loot was taken from that bloody bridge, carried away from the bandits while a Sarleon Lord passes by with his men at arms reaching for a castle of someone else rather than to defend its people and uphold peace in his realm. As the messeges of that raid arrived in Rane the local lord took the opportunity and seized the offices and wealths.

Those days young Gaia learned that charme and speed are valuable assets, but at the end the world is ruled by ordeal which means the sword indeed. In the infamous Pendorian Arenas she learned to fight with sword, lances and arrows and with the money she won in some Grand Tournaments she started her own caravans - this time protected by charme, speed and the sword.

The endless wars and unspeakable sufferances of the producing peasants are fertile ground to establish a trade empire, taverns give you light distraction and sometimes they do offer a friendship. It was during a bad weather period that her company rested a couple of days in Irmiz when she met Sister Mora who told her about the old days and what a pure spirit might be able to achieve in this world. Sister Mora showed her many things (yes, even how to conquer the heart of a valkirye - which in first place made only happy Riva, the first comrade of Gaia) and when the Sun came up the shores of Irmiz the female pilgrim left with the words; goodness is inside every human being, look and rise those the used to serve it!

Having no clue about the meaning of that Sister's words the party rode Pendor for high and low, trading and fighting, escorting caravans and fighting the countless plagues. It was nearly 1 year after Gaia survived that raid on her father's caravan and she was now a wealthy, studied and feared character in the whole Pendor - friend of the poor and market maker for the rich.

One morning while burying the bodies of many vikings, overlooking the battlefield and cleaning her weapon, she spotted amongst her people 2 Knights in silver and brown armour with the insignia of the Gryphon on their breasts. "Who are you who am I ? Is it real do we touch the sky?" Gaia asked. "Nothing's real - all disguise", said the birds of paradise, " You were the seed for the resurrection of our order. Our ancestors once fell in the Larian Woods, defending what already was not worth to be defended anymore. Now we are back to create a just world again and guard it by all our force and might."

Notes: I am not native enlish speaking - so please forgive grammars etc  :smile:. At this point of the story (approx 1 year 1 month), I had a party of 26 - 32 (NPCs included) and raised 2 Gryphon Knights (Yes, it works!! :mrgreen:), However I deleted the game as I felt that for continuing playing I was doing too little for my networking (quests for lords) - as by the story the consequence would be to support a claimant (that suits the story and in order to get the lords) and then to conquer whole Pendor. :oops:

Objective from the beginning was to see whether (and how long) it takes to raise Gryphon Knights by your own. Cheers.



 
When Diev stopped running he realized that Rane was near, he knew that because the he could saw the ocean and the green lands that surround Rane. The sky was as dark as the void, and some little bright points, called Tähteä (stars) by his people in the North of Pendor, the round silver mark on the sky, called Mēness (moon), illuminated his way to a enormous tree, where Diev made his camp and there slept untill early morning. While organizing his things back on his horse, some bandits appeared.
From his position, Diev only saw two of them comming, and considering the place he was, he had the advantage. The battlefield was a hill with a great tree on top of it, Träd Hill was its name. Diev got his bow from his back and like a hunter killing deers he killed both bandits. But, there were more than two bandits, there were nine bandits, and with two killed, seven bandits were comming on foot towards Diev's direction. The bandits were throwing rocks and knives on Diev, missing for 1 inche at most, Diev was young and agile, with his 19 years he were as agile as the olympics runners.
He managed to avoid the projectiles and still fire his hunting bow, while one arrows was in middle air, another was being released. He managed to kill four more before they came closer enough to Diev's axe reach their heads, one of the bandits swinged his knife at Diev's leg, making an almost harmless cut through his skin. Two bandits were on the ground with their heads separated from their body when the last bandit runned, with his might bow he released his last arrow that hit the bandits head, entering on the back of his head and leaving at the left eye.
Diev was tired of the fight but he managed to get on his horseback and left to the West, to Ravenstern city.

Cheers, to see the screenshots of this adventure go to the screenshot topic and see my slideshow.
 
Little is known about the The Serpent Cult and even this is more than often shrouded in myths and legends.
According to what little we know the cult was founded by Laorea, a daughter of a wealthy merchant noble in one of the many costal cities of the Baccus Empire, in the year 718 of the Baccusain calendar (182 after the founding of Pendor).

At the age of 17 Laorea was married to a promising young officer of the Baccusian navy. At first this marriage was everything she had dreamed of and they were regarded by many as one of the happiest couples in the city. Her happiness quickly ceased after his ship sank in a storm only 2 miles from the city harbour. She remarried at the age of 18 but as she soon discovered her new husband was far from gallant and loving as her first husband was.
He was a regular at the brothels and rarely missed a party, while she remained alone at home.
Disgusted by her new husband and still mourning the loss of the first, she became increasingly obssesed with strange rituals she belived would give her strenght to regain the attention of her husband or at least let her forget the shame and sorrow she was feeling.
As months passed by so did the rumors of her behaviour spread. There were stories of young men and women slaves found naked and mutilated outside the city limits as well as smaller body parts carried around the district, where her houses was, by dogs.

As the number of these events increased so did the attention Laorea was getting from the people and though most of it was disgust and fear there was also a small number of those who saw it as an oppurtunity to satisfy their darkest secrets. With a small group of followers she founded The Serpent Cult (their first ''official'' sacrifice was her bohemian husband) . The central part of the rituals was the sacrificial ceremonies to the unnamed goddess in the form of a snake (which is where the cult's name comes from).

The cult spread rapidly by promising power and success to its followers and it was not long until Laorea and her cult become the most powerful group in the city
Since by now she was very influencial she managed to presuade/force of the city council to build The Snake temple and ban all other religions within the city limits. Under her leadership the cult solidified its power and status and in 721 of the Baccusain calendar (185 since the founding of Pendor) they started to spread their belief through the entire Empire. Laorea now found herself a new goal in life to bring everyone under the rule of the snake goddess. In the next 16 years cult worship has spread to every corner of the Empire and in all of the society. In the year 737 (201 since the founding of Pendor) Laorea now aged 38 requested the Emperor to declare a law saying that The Serpent Cult is the only true religion and all the other are baned under the punishment of death.
The Emperor outraged by such a bold demand rejected her request and issued a law preventing any Serpent Cult worshiper to work in the military or any public service, effectivly taking away their power to influence the politics of the Empire.
The The Cult went silent and it seemed that the Emperor succeded in reducing their power.

In the next year 738 (202 since the founding of Pendor) the greatest Baccusian general Oasar and a large expeditionary army set sail for Pendor. With the best of the Empires military away, Laorea and her cult came out of the dark. The exact details are unknown, but apparently Laoera used the time when the known members of the cult weren't allowed hold to be in public or military positions to secretly infiltrate her people to the highest ranks and build an army.
What followed was a total disaster. The Emperor along with his familly and several of the highest officialls and advisors were assasinate and in the issueing chaos The Serpent Cult armies swept the Empire killing and destroying any trace of other religions and using the captured in sacrificial offerings to the goddess for the success she gave them.


By the end of 738 (202 s.t.f. of Pendor) the Empire was no more and since then The Serpent Cult has been firmly in its place instead of it.



                            ''Gaius the librarian of the Janus military academy''
 
  As soon as Diev entered in Rane, he went to the nearest tavern and there he rested until dawn, he spent 4 hours exploring the city, he changed his wolf fur for a peasant cloth, because the fur was almost in pieces from the last fight.
  He had anough money to buy some leather archer's glove, so he could use his bow without fear of hurting his fingers, and also a chain boots,his older boots were no more because of the travel he did.
  After buying some food for travel and drinking a cup of ale in the tavern, he left Rane to explore the world. Pendor was too much different from his land, while Pendor had trees, cristaline lakes and giant mountains, his land only had caves inside some hill, there were no colors like green or blue in Nar Khazdul, only a monotonous grey.
  When Diev was a mile away from Rane he got ambushed again by some bandits, but this time he was ready for everything, as soon as he saw the first bandit he had already released an arrow in it's direction, the third arrow released hit the bandit's head, the other five bandits, amused by Diev's skill with a bow, ran in fear untill they were a mile away, while the bandits flee in terror, Diev killed two more with arrows.
  When he felt he was safe again, he realized he was near the village of Orin, home of a friend of Diev's fathar called Anhalmar. Anhalmar was an old man now, he was nearly his 70th winter, he had three sons, two fell to snake cult armies, and one hit the adulthood one winter ago. This man, Altnûmbar, accepted the request of help of Diev, and joined Diev's quest to honor their parents, brothers and fathers.
 
In this chapter I shall present how members of The Serpent Cult do their worship.


The rituals

The most known of all is the sacrificial offering of a human. This is the oldest and most revered sacrament in the Cult. The rite is performed by a Cult priestess or a priest. It is usually consisted of two part which. In the first part the victim is tied to two poles half burried in the ground so they form an x and is then tortured in different and cruel ways which differ from from priest-ess to priest. The torture may involve cutting, beating, rape,... all of which is done by new members (as an initiation test) and the priest. While the victim is tortured other members pray their ''prayers'' and a priest's helper called the guardian walks among them carrying a statue of a snake on a pole.

After the first part is finished, the priest collects some the victims blood and spreys the statue of the snake goddess with it and asks the Goddess for strenght and power. Once the prayer is done they turn their attention back to the sacrifficial part of the rite. The victim (which should to be still alive) is then cut into pieces part by part and small chunks of flesh are given to the worshipers to be eaten. The rite is completed with that.

If there is a wedding the heart and sexual organs are kept and given to the newly weds to be eaten.
each eats half of the heart and half of the organ
The sacrifices in the Serpents Cult state are only held for special events like The Day of The Serpent in summer when a pair (woman and a man) is sacrificed and for the Plead of Life (in spring) when a child is sacrificed and some other.
Victims for the sacrifices are convicted criminals, people who do not follow the way of The Serpent and slaves (children are obtained either as slaves or are taken from families for the offences their parents did). Because the demand for new sacrifices is greater than the regular supply, this resulted an increase in slave trading between Pendor and the Cult state.
this has become a major business for several factions here in Pendor like The Red Brotherhood


Personal worship is performed daily. The member slightly cuts him/herself to get a small drop of blood. He or she than puts the drop on one of his/her thumbs, forms both hands into fists with thumbs up and puts his/her fists together so that the thumbs come together. The member then prays a prayer and once its finished licks awys his/her blood.


Not much is known about the Rite of the Serpent where members achieve the status of a priest/priestess. All that is known is that live snake(s) are used in the process.


                     
                              ''Gaius the librarian of the Janus military academy''
 
omg,now i will kill every snake worshipper scum i will see  (now it's only like...80% :razz: )
anyways,on topic... (i did some...travel in time,so in my game year is about 230,not 245,i hope that this is not a problem?)
Calathar was raised in Pendor,and that's the only thing that he knew for sure,until he managed to find his father grave. But first things first. He was raised in orphanage in Rane,and beacause being weak and cranky, he was beaten by the older kids, so he bear hatred for all humanity deep in his heart.When he grew older, he felt that he need to know who was his parents, but anyone in orphanage didn't knew anything about it, besides that he was bring to the orphanage in 203 after the founding of pendor,and he was about 1 year old back then. Since he was 16 now, Calathar decided to live on his own,and while not being a bad person, he certainly didn't like other people, cause they didn't gave him any reason to like them, so he joined some outlaws band and started his bandit career. Times when he was weak and onstantly sick where over, he grew as a healthy, strong and extremly agile man, and his mind was full of ambushes, battle tactics and so on. Soon he was elected as a leader of the band, and decided to move camp a little to the south, nearer trading roads in Ravenstern kingdom. With his cunning mind he managed to wipe out many caravans and patrols while avoiding any contact with lords and strong military units. Now he was 22 and he was arrogant and savage to his victims, but deep in his heart, another war has started. War beetwen his true nature and his position as a vicious outlaw band leader. When seasons passed,this war was starting to corrupt his mind, and it lead him almost to his death. Night was short and rather warm,as it was july. He lead his men on some band of farmers-but it was a trap,set by local sherif. His men was killed on sight,and he,as a wanted criminal, was transported to (geez,i can't remeber name,sry folks),capital of the Ravenstern Kingdom. He was sentenced to death, but for some strange reason, days passed and he wasn't hanged. Than one day, some noble came and gave him proposition-he will be granted new life, as a kingom's mercenary but he must tell them positions of the other outlaws camps and names of their leaders and contacts in cities. At first he refused, in some wicked way he was nonourable and loyal to those bandits,but after some time, he gave up, and told them everything they would like to know. He felt sick of his betrayal, but in that time, his true nature was starting to winning war in his mind-he felt that betraying bandits,murderers and rapists isn't bad at all, in fact he should do this earlier. He was free now, and he was given some gold and a horse and he was proclaimed Ravenstern mercenary captain,but he was all outlaws most wanted man,so his life was rather hard at that time. Some day, when he and his quatermaster,female named Maxine (^^) were buying some food, bolts and arrows for his company, some old beggar started to stare at him. After few minutes he came closer and said "You look just as someone i knew,long long time ago". Calathar didn't pay any attention at first, gave beggar some silver and go his way, but after few days he started to think bout what that old man said... "you look like someone i knew long time ago" floated in his mind for many many days, and he decded to find that man. He was lucky. At first, old man refused to tell Calathar why he said things like that, but when time passed and Calathar was patient with this half-crazed old man, he told him story, that changed Calathar's life. Once, that old man was revered knight in the Order of Griffon. Beacause of his sickness, he couldn't stand with his brothers in Larian forests,he was crushed after that win which lead to the anihilation of the whole order. And one of the younger knights face looked just like Calathar's. Old man-Benhir was his name,told him that he had a son,only 1 year old at the day of the battle, and his wife died while giving birth to his son. Calathar was crushed, pieces of facts was starting to make a perfect image-he was put in orphanage in 202, in the year of battle at Larian forests, he was about 1 year old back then in the opinion of sisters from the orphanage, and while he didn't have any proofs about it, he knew that it was truth. He made his way to that forrest, found battlefield and claimed that he will be the one who will restore Order of the Griffon or he will die trying. 2 years passed, he became knight and a vassal to the Ravenstern Kingdom, and when he was given Talon Castle as a fief, he knew that his time has come...
BTW:sorry for my terrible grammar,i know i suck with english :sad:
 
I wake up in a misty morning and roaming through the Halls of Mobray Castle. On the top of the old tower trying to spot Mount Apotheosis but nothing else can be seen than the fog and clouds banking up the mountain's ridge. It's too early in the morning so I turned back to the luxury of the lord fighting dragons and crossing sword with the people against the hoards who came to conquer.

Shiny armours and good friends I can see standing next to me. The names are there but it's the five glimmering women of demonic blood coming across the field on its red eyed stud. Here it comes; I taste the warning, no cries and no blame come from the dying ones and too quick, calling out for a friend, no answers I am getting. Sunlight pouring through the clouds and while I ride through a village nearby I see Leslie sitting on the stairs, a cobweb on her face. A felling deep inside of me tells me; this can't be the place.

Back in the court hall I sit down at the covered table, the sun shines through the bay - the food is on its way. Horus passes the butter, Riva cuts the fat off the ham and Sara plays our tune. I am flying in Morbay Castle, it's hard enough to drink the wine but giving time I'll be fine.

And now I'm standing on the grave of a soldier that died in 229 and the day he died, it was a birthday. And I noticed it was mine. My head didn't know who I was and I went spinning back in time to that day when netherworld's hunting horn and the flam on human skin sent out the red eyed stud stamping me in the mud.

(Inspired by CSNY's "Cathedral" - as always plse pardon grammar & spelling)



 
A rather sad story (at least for me)

A couple of days ago, noosers decided it was time for a little break during his study. Therefore, he started M&B: Prophesy of Pendor to cool down a bit and chop some bastards through the grinder. It worked out well, the game started, loaded and introduced him into a glorious world of death.

Midstbattle however, his graphic accelerator decided its time had come - and started dying. A very painful and distressing thing, beeing an integrated ATI mobility x300 chip. Following its expample, its deadly and evil mount, MS Windows XP, suicided along and killed itself in the process.

One of the disadvantages of laptops is that you cant switch out equipment like in desktops. Means I´ll have to purchase a new one since the repair will be prolly as expensive as a new one.

Hooray for playing MB with improved graphics in future!


Sidenote: This has nothing to do with this module, thread or Mount and Blade in general - it was just bad luck for a part of electronics to hit the end of its lifespan while I played MB:razz:oP. And it did cost me a heap of nerves since if you ever tried recovering important data with funny meshes in VGA modus you´l know what I mean.

Once I got a Rig again and some spare time I shall post the Adventures of Hendrik the Cruel. (M&B Savegames was part of my recovered data :wink: )
 
In previous two chapter I presented history of The Serpent Cult and it's rituals. It this chapter I'll present how the Cult is organised.


For the first two decades Laorea was firmly at the head of the Cult with several Serpent high priests and high priestess acting as her ministers and advisors under her direct control. Through them orders were given to individual groups of worshipers under the control of local priest-ess.

After the fall of the Empire though, this centralized system became inadequate due to the sheer size of the new Serpent state.
In order to speed up the spread of this new religion a new system was devised. Here in our library we have a copy of the official decret issued at the time. This is part that explains these changes:

...each group of followers is to be guided by a trained priest or a priestess with the aid of a Guardian who protects the sacred statue of the Goddess. Only the best of the soldier followers are to be allowed to become Guardians.

Each region is under the authority of a high priest or high priestess aided with at least 3 priests or priestesses with their Guardians and a Guardian commander in charge of regions Guardians as well as the army...


Though these changes allowed induvidual regions a lot more freedom and power for the local clergy, the Serpent throne (built over the ruins of the old Bacussian capitol Baccus) continued to hold it's power and respect over them. Before her death Laorea decreed that her place must be filled by a high priest or priestess chosen by the spirit of the snake goddess (details on what that means remain unknown).

One of the problems with getting information about the cult is the fact that every member that leaves the cult is marked to be killed as a sacrifice (for the crime of betraying the Cult).


Unfortunately this chapter is still a subject of my unfinished research and is incomplete. I may come back to it when I make some progress, but for now this is it.





                                              ''Gaius the librarian of the Janus military academy''
 
Disappearance of Arbogast: 254 - 302

Arbogast of Walven, youngest of six children borne of a carpenter and a crofter's daughter was a moderate Lucanian, a faith branded with heresy by other faiths. Arbogast was actively against the practises of his faith at the time. Lucanions roamed the countryside, taxing the peasantry and occasionally indulging in human sacrifices. Escalations of such sacrifices often resulted in entire hamlets razed and exterminated. Arbogast was a great advocate of tolereant conversion, whereby Lucanian followers and particularly priests should conduct community exercises such as education and health care to show the people that the faith did not intend to tax them mercilessly without giving anything back. Human sacrifices, an important ceremonial occasion for Lucanians, Arbogast suggested, should be restricted to an instrument of justice. His views were generally well received by the lower rung followers of Lucanians, but the priests and high priests did the feel the need to relinquish such a great source of income (loot was pooled and shared out by order of precedence) but was willing to let Arbogast live until he gained (and if he gained) too much influence in the faith, and issued a quiet warning to Arbogast.
Non too pleased to be forcibly silenced, but not brave enough to martyr himself, Arbogast obliged to the High Priest's warnings. It was not until his home town of Walven was pillaged that Arbogast resumed his teachings. He also published his memoir, which contained his moderate views, unfortunately, most of the text was lost due to cultural purges conducted by the Lucanians. The high orders of Lucania decided Arbogast had made his arguments too loudly but was still unwilling to kill him, since he still had support from their followers. A sterner warning was made this time, when Arbogast found his wife and children hung in front of his door, entrails draped on his walls. Arbogast disappears from records for two years after this, and remerges to publish the second part of his memoirs, documenting the murder of his family. The high order could tolerate his 'blasphemy' no more but their kill order was discovered and word reached Arbogast who fled to the court of Ethos. The lord however, attempted to user Arbogast's influence amongst the Lucanians to discredit the faith. Arbogast refused to betray his beliefs and for a time continued to preach his concept of tolerant conversion. In 302, an agent of the high Lucanian priest found his way to the court of Ethos and killed Arbogast by pouring hot wax down his throat. The agent was captured and quartered after a prolonged show trial. Arbogast was buried alongside his murderer, a move contested both by the Lucanion high priest and Arbogast's followers, but for different reasons.


just a thought, who knows, in a world like pendor, this could have happened, just look at 4th century europe
 
Good story tommylaw. I guess this religion is one influenced by the Serpent cult (which is probably the strongest religion currently in the world of Pendor). I think this could be introduced in the mod (perhaps a few more feifs should be added for this faction to be better exploited or they could be like heretic armies buit different.
 
i think the cult should have a small number of crack troops, and masses (200-300) almost peasant troops, perhaps those who left there homes in times of plague or bad harvests
 
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