Sythrak

Overview
Favored Race	Srryn
Element(s)	Fire, Nature
Home(s)	The Lair of the Saurian Elder (vnum 1240)
Alignment	Neutral Evil
Symbol(s)	Saurian tooth, saurian claw
Portfolio	Brutality, contempt, spite, dread, instinct, dominance
Worshippers	Srryn, fire templars, supremacists, invaders, the enslaved

History in Avendar

In the wake of the Sundering, the marshes south of the Earendam river valley became the cradle of a barbaric new race: the srryn. The sapient kin of Avendar's cold-blooded life, srryn were given to both speed and ferocity. They came to revere Fenthira, Mother Swamp, as a goddess in Her own right; Her great egg from which all srryn had hatched became known as Sythtys. It was here that the srryn developed their distinctive culture, which developed rapidly even in comparison to the races that would follow. It was in this age that the srryn developed the intricate carvings which would come to dominate their religious and artistic expression. This growth would slow, and finally stall, leaving the race primitive and brutish.

According to srryn legends, two of Fenthira's children showed great promise. The first was Sythrak, chosen of the Flame. The sparks of the War of Fire would flare in parallel to His rise. Gifted with command the sphere of Fire, Sythrak's reputation grew rapidly. Those whom He taught became His priests, and in short order, Sythrak came to direct the young race in a quest of expansion and domination. These templar-generals were both the progenitors of the modern fire templar guilds, and the raging inferno that would consume much of the elder aelin culture. Cities burned, and warmbloods were tortured, dismembered, cooked, and eaten. However, on the cusp of His victory, the return of Jolinn, Father of the Seas, thwarted His disciples. With the War of Fire ended, and His power decimated, Sythrak now faced even greater opposition.

The second of Fenthira's children was Sitheus, chosen of the Serpent. Seizing upon the failure of Sythrak's war, He moved quickly to steal both Sythrak's power and authority over the srryn race. With so many of Sythrak's priests and generals dead, Sitheus had little difficulty offering a new, if untested hope for the battered race. He encouraged the srryn to put their speed and strength to use, focusing on the ways of the rogue and the talents of assassinry. During the War of Night, Sitheus wished to avoid the over-extension that led to Sythrak's defeat; His focus was upon learning the rudiments of Void magic and building His power in the swamp. Sythrak, weakened but not defeated, burned with anger at this mockery of the srryn race's destiny of dominance.

With the close of the War of Night and the beginning of the pre-modern era, Sitheus languished as Overlord of the srryn. His followers were often arrogant but not fearsome, and this perceived weakness prompted Sythrak to action. Srryn priests say that fire rained down over Sythtys for seven months as the two immortals battled for supremacy. Sitheus, long used to His unquestioned authority, was not prepared for the ferocity of Sythrak's assault and eventually succumbed to His relentlessness. Sythrak banished Sitheus from Sythtys forever, and slaughtered all who did not proclaim their allegiance to Him. Assuming control of the Sept, Sythrak's place in the modern era was all but assured. Often empowered by His followers through offering and sacrifice, Sythrak remains a source of terror throughout Avendar, within Sythtys, and without.

Goals and Methods

Sythrak intends world domination for the srryn race. Not only does this vet His own ideals, but also affirms the final victory of His ideology over all others. He revels in bloody desire, fantasizing about the butchery of all "warmbloods", a srryn slur to describe all non-srryn. When other srryn stand in the way of this supremacist dream, Sythrak also insists on their immediate death or expulsion. Eventually, the Dark Lord imagines not only an Avendar in which srryn rule, but an entire multiverse of srryn and srryn interests. This makes all alliances with the Sept a temporary one; even those pacts made with the Great Houses or demonkind. Although Sythrak savors the deaths of all warmbloods, He recognizes that their extinction would eliminate a great source of srryn pleasure. Thus, He advocates enslavement for labor, torture, and amusement at every opportunity.

The path to supremacy is one forged first by fire. Sythrak encourages His followers to indulge in the magics of the Flame, be it through training or artifacts. The War of Fire made abundantly clear to the Dark Lord just how potent the invasion and razing of empires can be. His chosen are expected to immerse themselves in srryn supremacy in all of its forms, savoring their primitive lifestyle and rejecting the excesses of warmblood societies. They are, as well, expected to hunt warmbloods much as other animals are hunted. In contrast to Girikha's adulation of the hunt, Sythrak's devoted do not hunt to venerate their ancestors or become closer to the wild. Instead, they do so to instill the rightful fear in all creatures of their reptilian overlords. To Sythrak, there can be no other gods before Him, and so the slaughter of another deity's chosen gives Him immense satisfaction. Sythrak deals harshly those who grovel to any other than He, and has been known to not only punish, but mock, those who earn His disfavor.

Organizations and Followings

The Dreadlords of the Sept

"some quote"

(barbarians, assassins, thieves, who serve the sept)

The Ysthael

"some quote"

(fire templars and whatnot)

The Slaves of the Sept

"some quote"

(this isn't really a faction so much as it is a group of non-srryn sept types. it's important to include them because it is basically the only capacity in which sythrak or his sept even remotely acknowledge warmbloods other than killing them. sept slaves have their own special role too)

Individual Followers

A Follower of the Sept often seek to duplicate the actions of his Dark Lord. He strives for supremacy in battle, particularly against warmblood adventurers. When possible, he readily offers slavery to those he has defeated, to serve him for much, if not all, of their natural lives. A warrior of the Sept shows obvious contempt for almost all whom he encounters, and this contempt extends to other srryn who do not treat him with deference. He is both quick to kill and needing of no actual provocation; yet, a dedicant of the Sept is often a braggart, proclaiming his might in the hopes of intimidating others into submission. He will never acknowledge his foes as superior, even when defeated. Because of their penchant for death, destruction, and chaos, the Sept is often aligned with the Raiders of Twilight. However, the more lawful of their numbers are not entirely unfamiliar with the Coven of the Shunned.

Sythrak is venerated primarily in Sythtys, in which His Sept dominates srryn culture. Obviously, His devoted are virtually always srryn, although those enslaved by His warriors may eventually come to worship the Dark Lord themselves. Within Avendar's cities, Sythrak has essentially no place, with nation-states such as Earendam always prepared to halt any organized Sept advance. Elsewhere in the wild, Sythrak's following is sparse at best, as those srryn who do not hail to Sythtys have often been rejected by Him or His.

Those who find favor with the Dark Lord of the Saurians are marked with the Sigil of the Saurian Tooth.

Relationships

Sythrak is well-known amongst the gods of darkness for His ferocity. He has a rivalry with Arkhural, whom He hates for both the comparison and for remaining undefeated. Gods of law have no appreciation for Sythrak, as He and His followers are often agents of chaos and destruction. Gods of the light despise Sythrak, whose designs for world domination are neither secretive nor toothless. Aeolis, in particular, seeks to thwart Sythrak for the crimes the srryn have committed against the aelin race. Generally peaceful deities, such as those of the caladaran, maintain their distance from Sythrak, while gods and goddesses of nature avoid Him despite their shared affinities. Notably, Girikha regards Sythrak as a threat to both Her and the kankoran race.

Sitheus is the object of Sythrak's hatred, as it is He who sought to rob Him of His rightful leadership of the srryn race. He seeks to obliterate any and all trace of Sitheus, and the swift deaths of His following. Likewise, Sitheus broods in His exile from Sythtys, and seeks not only His return, but the rightful punishment, torture, and permanent death of Sythrak for His impudence. Their divine rivalry endures, marking the relentless struggle for the control of both Sythtys, and the srryn race.

Shrines, Sigils, and Mobs

Rooms

A Crude, Smoke-Filled Shrine (vnum 13761)

Sigils

These sigils really probably need some work.

Tier 1 - the Sigil of the Saurian Tooth (vnum 1223)

• AC 4/4/4/4
• Damroll +2
• Save vs spell -3
• Strength +1
• Fight prog 2: Fire blast (character's level)
• Fight prog 2: Frenzy (character's level)

Tier 2 - the Sigil of the Saurian Claw (vnum 1224)

• AC 8/8/8/8
• Damroll +3
• Save vs spell -4
• Strength +1
• Fight prog 2: Frenzy (character's level)
• Speech prog Clothe me, Lord. - Loads the robes of a Saurian Darklord (vnum 1228)

• AC 10/10/10/10
• Hitroll +2
• Damroll +2
• Wear prog 100: Unsigiled characters can't wear this robe
• Fight prog 100: See below

• Rand 4: Cure serious (character's level)
• Rand 2: Echo but no effect
• Rand 1: Beam of Fire (character's level), robe self-purges

Tier 3 - the Sigil of the Saurian Eye (vnum 1222)

• AC 12/12/12/12
• Damroll +3
• Save vs spell -5
• Strength +1
• Fight prog 2: Frenzy (character's level)
• Speech prog: Clothe me, Lord. - Loads the robes of the High Saurian Darklord (vnum 1226)

• AC 10/10/10/10
• Hitroll +2
• Damroll +3
• All tier 2 robe progs

Mobs

Rshuss (vnum 13805) - Avatar of Sythrak and awesome fire damage mob that tends the shrine.

Ssenkhatha (vnum 13725) - Barbarian srryn elder.

Srryn swamp shaman (vnum 22543) - In the fens. This guy really needs to be under Sitheus' banner.

God Mark

You notice a swath of crimson scales about [his|her] shoulders.

Unarmed damage type is fire

Related Logs and Other Documents

(Put your Sythrak related notes here!)

Helps

Old Sythrak help file

Fiction

None

Logs

None