Worshippers, Clergy, Temples | Dogma | Appearance | Relationships & History | Related Images
Thekel the Reborn is the Goddess of Kings, Warriors, Fortune, and the Night. She is the only known Living God, a divine entity with a physical form of meat and bone which is none the less fueled by a deep and self-replenishing well of divine quintessence. She is what mortals could achieve over a billion years of floushing, and what no divine could ever be of their own accord. Thekel serves as the reigning monarch of the City of Omlar, and the Chief Divine of the Way of Kings and is described by the Cult of Thekel as the Mother, Guardian and God of Freedom.
Thekel is the only divine killed during the Irisian War to return to life and regain worship. She finds this description annoying and antithetical to her teachings of self reliance, self improvment, and making the world what you want it to be by your own might and wisdom. Thekel favors followers who treat her as a sage, or use her as motovation, or an example. She is just as lickly to curse somone praying to her as blessing them, save for the cases when the individual praying is truly powerless.
Thekel is a thoughtful, wise, and prudent being. She despises weakness, but seeks to strengthen ratehr than weeken. She is loath to give council on request, but delights in giving it to thsoe who demand it from her. In her eyes, those who ask for something are week and undeserving while those who demand it are self actualised enough to be worthy of not only her attention, but respect. She also respects nogotiation, baterting, and other forms of trade provided the other party opens from a posision of strength.
Thekel does not hate those she sees as lesser, she pitties them. She laments their weekness and seeks to safeguard them from the darker things in the world which prey uppon such poor creatures.
Thekel is much more of a person than any other divine. She laughs, she loves, she weeps. She delights in many mundane activities, and her goals and ambishions relate to mortals, mortal affairs, and operate on mortal time scales. She is a god of the people, seeking to improve them. If offered worship she will accept it with irrtation, but grant those who cannot protect themselves her mercy and patronage as their divine.
She also loves sending her avatars to wrestling tournaments to serve as a supprise chalanger.
"LODGED IN MY SKULL ... WAS A PIECE OF THE CRYSTAL OF YOUR KINGDOM! YOUR MADNESS! THEY SAID, 'BUT WARRIOR, IT'S LODGED INSIDE YOUR SKULL,' AND I SAID, 'SEW IT IN! LEAVE IT WHERE IT LAYS!'"
"What?"
"Bro, it's wresteling. You gotta ham it up for the audience."
"Your grace... this is sport wresteling."
"Ew, lame!"
- Thekel, transcript from audio recording
Worshippers, Clergy, Temples
The Way of Kings is a small religion without much cultural influence which orginated in the Awníhg Moorland the durring the latter half of the 3rd century. The religion was founded by the Cult of Thekel, a group of people who were enraged at the Kami's system of assigning a Kami to people and restricting the worship of the world's few remaining deities to those in physical proximity to them.
The Cult searched history for any trace of a God which might accept their worship, and found Thekel, Goddess of Kings, Luck, Warriors, and the Night.
Vestments
Thekel demands her faithfull wear what they please, when they please. The few who live within her realm as citizens under her protection are typicaly dressed in loose airy garments made from white silk, and adorned with golden jewlry. Quite litteraly so they do not clash with Thekel's decore.
Hierarchy
The Way of Kings has no ranks, nor hierchy. It is an organization of equals who seek to improve themselves.
Temples
The Way of Kings has been devoted to Thekel ever since, working to her will in all cornors of the world, though only in small pockets. The religion has a singular sacrad site, the Temple of Thekel, which is located in the southern reaches of the Preschil Maquis in Pressingstone. The Temple serves as the gateway to Thekel's divine realm, a demiplane which she has created for the most faithful of her followers to live and work in, and also serves as the religion's afterlife.
Rituals
Orders
Dogma
The Way of Kings seeks to remove its followers from their native cultures, metaphysically speaking. Those who follow the way seek to reforge themselves anew as the master of some group of others, be that group large or small. This process requires removing the values instilled uppon them by their culture of birth, to turn weakness into strength, indecision into decision, and will into action. The end of the way brings a person to the point where they will no longer follow the wills of others unless it furthers their own ambitions, for that is the way of a King.
The Way of Kings emphasizes the importance of honor, justice, wisdom, and decisiveness. These qualities are those it seeks to instill in its followers as the keys to power, and traits one should turn themselves to embrace wholeheartedly and to the greatest extent.
The day-to-day application of The Way of Kings is simple: Act with self sovereignty, with no gods nor masters other than those you have chosen to serve. This does not mean one should be a fool, nor ignore the will of those in power over them. The intention is to remove limitations placed on the self by society to do as one desires without harming their reputations.
The Way of Kings is not a religion of deviants, it is a religion of people who seek the power to shape at least a small corner of the world to their will. Thus, it promotes daily behaviors and activities which take power form others and brings it to one's self. Gaining favors from others by preforming services for them, participating in local government, schmoozing with nobles, challenging those who have wronged you to a duel for honor, and other similar activities that spread one's name and deeds as a force to be reckoned with, yet one which can be negotiated with, is the foundation of the Way's adherents.
The Way of Kings is seen by most faiths as heretical, for it promotes a viewpoint which opposes the idea of being under the dominion of the Kami. Indeed, most of those on The Way are greatly opposed to being ruled over by others simply due to being born where they were. Consequently, the religion as a whole tends to be slightly xenophobic towards other religions on the institutional level, with no will will towards the religions members.
Of course, many people on the Way see the faithful of other religions as subjects to be ruled, for they do not seek to be their own sovereign.
Appearance
Thekel takes the form of a eight foot tall humanoid panther with four arms. She posesses the physique of a bodybuilder, the grace of a ballet dancer, the speed of a horse, the endurence of a human, and the ability to punch someone and make them stay punched without using any of her divine powers. Thekel has sandy-colored silken hair which leans twards brown, the eyes of a tiger which shimmer and glitter like gold, and is typicaly dressed in gold and obcidian jewlery appriate for an ancient king of ages long past. These garments are not modest, constituting what ammounts to a swimsuit of woven gold threads and plates of polished obcidian. Her fur typicaly glistenes as if oiled or bronzed.
Relationships & History
The Wood Elves and the Kami refer to her as "The Threat", "The Abommination" and "The Accursed" for her nature is anathema to mortality and divinity, akin to the state of undeath from the perspective of divine beings. She is friend to Tol and Illia, who call her by name, with Illia receiving the honor being permitted to call her "Thekkie" without being smote in a dozen ways.
As Empire built themselves from stick and stone, but long after the Kami chose their peoples, in a lonely corner of the world, there dwelt a scattered people whom the Kami's Mandate incensed. Linked not by blood, nor bone, nor law, but by desire. Desire to be served rather than serve, a rejection of the prescripts of their birth.
These people gathered in quiet corners of the world, speaking with one another, sharing their ideas and ideals, forming a brotherhood of likeminds. In time, this brotherhood’s eyes turned to the ruins of fallen Zom, and from the rubble of eons past unearthed the name Thekel. A name which matched their beliefs. A name untouched by the Kami's Mandate. They labored around this name, searching apocrypha and obscurity with zeal, while those outside their circle laughed at their antics, believing the brotherhood little more than jesters.
Then came the winter solstice of no moon and black sky. Great clouds covered the havens such that no stars shown upon the face of the world. Upon the stroke of midnight, when the hidden moon reached its zenith, thousands of the Brothers fell upon their swords as the rest of their kin prayed reverently, uttering the name until they grew horse, clasping their hands to their chests until their nails cut their flesh unto the bone.
Their prayer reached out to great totems constructed in years past. Totems now drenched in the blood of the willing. Totems the Kami have taken from this world, and purge any knowledge of their workings unto this very day. For the totems, blood, and prayer wove a great blasphemy.
Divine Necromancy.
From this blasphemy the name Thekel became flesh. On this night the Thekel the Reborn clawed her way from the grave. The Reborn’s howls shook the foundations of the world such that all peoples know of that night, even if they know not what caused the tremors which toppled buildings and forced the magma from the hearts of mountains.
The Kami mustered their armies to attack the Reborn, for her existence was an abomination, and the Divine cannot abide a divine unbound by their Mandate. The Brotherhood had planned this moment for generations, knowing the will of the Kami would be to attack their chosen. They prayed through the night, channeling their nourishing faith to the Reborn and brought her swiftly from a most primal state to serenity.
The Armies of Heaven arrived before the Reborn and drew into ranks. Their power was greater than that of any single god, yet the night was black and the Reborn was within her Domains.
Before the battle commenced, the Reborn drew upon Fortune and spoke to the members of the Kami's armies, her words were for those of fallen Zom. "Soldiers," she cried, "if there is one among you who would kill his Emperor, here I am."
Great heartbreak and sorrow came upon many of the soldiers, and a quarter of the Armies of Heaven turned their spears upon their fellows. As they turned, their hearts belonged to the Reborn and they became creatures of the night. The Reborn drew upon The Dark and also upon Night and her army’s power swelled to equal that of the Armies of Heaven.
The forces engaged upon the Reborn’s grave, causing the sky to burn and the winds to die. The Generals of Heaven commanded their men from the rear, relaying the orders of their Kami who watched the battle from their Hall. The Reborn commanded her soldiers from the front, leading each charge, guarding every withdraw, and breaching every line as the point of her spear, for that is the way of Warriors and Kings.
The Armies of Heaven crumbled under the Reborn’s assault, drawing the Kami to the field of battle. The Reborn’s Domains were mighty, and as the night was black two stood their fullest, but there are none who can withstand the full might of the Kami United. Yet, the Kami paused in their attack, fearing for their individual lives. The Reborn could not kill them all, but they knew with certainty that she could kill one before succumbing. If she could kill one, Fortune would premit her a second, Warriors a third, and perhaps Kings a fourth.
As none would be the first to attack the Reborn, the Kami called for truce. They told the Reborn of the mandate, and offered her a place in the Divine Order. The Reborn refused their offer, for one cannot hold domain over Kings, yet be vassal to another. Knowing her life would be forfeit unless some agreement could be brokered, the Reborn spoke, informing the Kami that while the mandate was anathema to her spirit, its purpose was noble and she understood the whole of it. If they would cease their hostilities, leave her in peace, she would work within their rules in respect for the peace they had created, but would not submit to any shackles, nor agree to take any oath.
The Reborn concluded her speech. “I yield to none, yet I work alongside all who honor me. If my word alone is not enough for you, then trade your lives for mine.”
The Kami granted her request, and departed in peace, warning the Reborn that should she violate the rules of the Mandate they would return in force. The Reborn understood, and reminded the Kami that by their rules, all Kami must lead mortal people. They offered her the dregs of their own followers, yet she refused, for the Reborn had been chosen and thus would not choose.
The Reborn reached across the world to those Brothers still praying and spoke to them saying, “My subjects, I accept this crown you have given unto me. As I have been reborn, so too shall you be. Let thy flesh take upon my image, and march to the ruins of my cathedral. There we shall erect the city anew and we shall arise as the greatest Empire this Age shall know.”
With those words uttered, the Brothers fell to their faces, their flesh contorted, twisted, and changed. The races they once were melted away, and they were now all as one blood, for they were the Omlar, and they heeded their chosen’s commands, and made their way to the wood of Winera to restore that which lay in ruins.
And so the Omlar came to be, by the grace of Thekel the Reborn, Lord of the Night, Darkness, Kings, Warriors, and Fortune. She who was the last to stand against Iris the Tyrant at the end of fallen Zom, and she who was the first to defy the Divine Mandate.
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