Bloodstrike

Bloodstrike, The Dragon Friend
Domains	Chivalry, honor, duty, chastity, perseverance
Subsidiaries:
Additional Symbols
Colors or Aesthetics	Red and gold

Basic Overview

Bloodstrike is the particular patron of a devoted order of knights in Sylvanator called "The Knights of the Dragon." This ancient order predates interference from Thracia and it was recognition of the order that led to the acknowledgement of Bloodstrike's place in the Thracian Pantheon alongside the other gods. Standing for knightly virtues like chivalry, honor, and duty, even the ordinary followers of Bloodstrike seek to be shining lights in their communities and to do good works. Most prominantly worshiped in Myn'Traval, the name is an early and rough translation of the very old name of the Elven god "Voronda Feasercë" which means "The one whose spirit/nature is steadfast in allegiance/faithful/honorable because of the purity of his blood". Explanations and negotiations being what they are this was eventually brought down to "Bloodstrike." Though the ancient and knighthood associated with the God is almost purely Gael'braugh, he remains a popular god amongst the aristocracy throughout the Thracian world, standing for simple virtues and standing up for the downtrodden. The downtrodden themselves are usually less enthused about this god, but they do not object to him or his worshippers. In Sylvanator, the worship of Bloodstrike is far more nuanced and general. He is seen as one of the parent figures of the sidhe races and is believed to have put all that was good and pure in the world into their creation, while all that was dark and evil was cast aside into the Goblin Wastes. Thracian belief holds that the creation of mortal kind was more general and that the Sidhe are not necessarily the oldest of the races. Neither does Thracian theology grant supreme superiority to the Sidhe, when humans have for so long been the masters of empires. As such, the stories associated with Bloodstrike are very different in lands that were totally under Thracian rule, softened and simplified to their virtuous grounding, whereas he is a more important and complex figure in Gael'braugh myth.

Mythology

Youngest of all the major gods, Bloodstrike is the child of Verax and Vindikari. He was born after the twins had brought order and law to the Gods and so never had to live through the great wars that preceded them. Born into this gentler time, always under the firm hand of his parents righteous guidance, Bloodstrike grew up the purest and most virtuous of the gods. He believed firmly in the responsibility of the strong to care for the weak, for the rich to care for the poor, and for honor and virtue to rule all action. Some of the other gods considered him weak or naïve, but he was greatly admired by mortals for his kindness and willingness to defend those who could not defend themselves, to make friends out of enemies, and to champion truth and justice. The other gods sometimes take advantage of Bloodstrike's sense of honor, but he will not be compromised. He is known as "The Dragon Friend" because his mount was a great golden dragon, the only of its kind, which was named Willorea (Golden Flight) and who bore him to and from the mortal world on her shining wings, and who was always gentle to his followers and merciless to his foes in honorable battle.

Popular Myth

Bloodstrike was passing through a range of craggy mountains when he came upon a clear pool and wished to slake his thirst. He drank deeply of the refreshing water but was interrupted when a great a terrible creature, a golden dragon with flashing eyes and terrible anger, burst forth from a cave and accused him of stealing the water that was for her alone, blessed to her protection by the lost god of mountains in the days before the world was fully made. She was enraged at his intrusion, but she was ultimately a beast. A powerful magical beast, it is true, but she would be no match in battle for a God. Yet Bloodstrike was deeply ashamed of his indiscretion.

Though he could slay the creature with but a wave of his hand, he instead fell to his knees before her. "Beautiful lady" he said to the dragon, "I beg your forgiveness for my intrusion upon your land and your sacred pool. If I could but undrink the waters, I would do so." and he prostrated himself in humility before her, accepting whatever punishment she decreed for his transgression.

The Dragon was astonished, realizing who she had challenged and yet that she had not been slain for the offense, but she remained a proud and fierce creature and was still wroth about the violation of her place. Furthermore, she had a serious wound upon one wing which prevented her from flying to her own tasks. Given permission to ask anything of him in exchange for the theft, the golden dragon commanded him to go forth and complete a series of tasks she set before him, for she was a guardian dragon. With her injury she had been unable to guard the mortals tasked to her protection, and so he was sent forth to slay dangerous beasts and rescue lost children and retrieve rare medicines on her behalf, one task after the next, until he had completed ten tasks for his dragon mistress.

As time passed her anger with the Godling diminished and she grew to admire his devotion to virtue. At the end of the tenth task she released him, forgiving him for the theft of her sacred water and offering that he may now drink of it any time he so pleased in gratitude for the good work he had done. Bloodstrike asked the dragon her name, and it was Willorea. Then he asked her why she had chosen the tasks she had assigned him, and she replied with the story of her duty and her injury keeping her from it.

Aghast, Bloodstrike set off at once to beg Khilaina, most beloved of all the gods, to visit with him to the lands of his new friend and see to her injuries. Fond of the young god and eager to ease the suffering of all things, Khilaina came with him to heal the mighty creature of her wound. When she met the creature and learned of her tasks in the world, Khilaina went further and gave the creature not only health but immortality from the breath of her own lips. So Bloodstrike with this act of benevolence won the heart of Willorea and she became his friend, companion, and mount, by his side forever in the purity of friendship.

Worship

Simple Devotions

Worshippers of Bloodstrike will often publicly advertise that devotion by wearing prominent visible charms or jewelry featuring a golden dragon in flight. Tattoos similarly depicting the soaring dragon, though not gold, are also not unheard of.

When making an oath, promise, or statement of absolute truth the worshippers of Bloodstrike tend to use a very specific hand gesture or salute to signal their vehement and holy affirmation of the statement. This is done by holding the right hand in a vertical blade with thumb relaxed. The blade hand is placed against the right side of the brow directly over the pupil of the right eye with the relaxed thumb just at or below the level of the mouth. The hand is then brought sharply forward as is common in other salutes. Where other salutes commonly invoke the touching of a hat or visor, this one invokes clear-sightedness and forward motion in a fashion similar to ranger hand-speech.

At small chapels or shrines associated with Bloodstrike, the most common form of offering is a glass or bowl of water, with the ostentation of the vessel helping to indicate the quality of supplicant. Stoneware with ornamental glazing is not an uncommon choice, and some shrines may include a well and a collection of relatively simple vessels to fill and leave on the altar stone or space. The role of a cleric in such a situation is to tend and refill the vessels, keeping them free from debris or interference, and replenishing the supply of cups or bowls. Ideally if not practically, such vessels are only removed very gradually under crowding and kept stacked or layered around the space to showcase how long the shrine has been present. Very large or well trafficked shrines cannot follow this principle effectively, and retain only the finest or most significant vessels as they are gradually weeded out.

In the home, a bowl or cup of water placed on the home shrine to honor Bloodstrike is called a "promise cup". These are kept full to the brim daily.

Other gifts and offerings are often left at shrines in addition to the promise cups, with widely varying regional practice.

Major Religious Centers

A strong presence in Myn'Traval, particularly beloved by Gael'braugh descended nobility in Malay, features a martial retreat and prominent priesthood in rural Northumbria, Alba.

Formal Orders

The Knights of the Dragon

An ancient order of knighthood devoted to Bloodstrike in Sylvanator. Arrogantly superior but devoted to resolute concepts of righteous chivalry, the Knights of the Dragon in Sylvanator tend to be trained in secretive communes (with the occasional chapterhouse elsewhere), and to enter into the direct service of powerful families and polities within Gael'braugh society. The city of Myn'Traval has a formal contingent of Knights of the Dragon that account for the defense of civil government and international affairs there, presiding over the safety and security of public buildings and purposes in the way a Royal Guard might do in another country. The Myn'Traval chapterhouse of the Knights of the Dragon is also the formal center of their order, which is much more rigidly constructed than the norm for Sylvanator. There resides the Arch-Priest of Bloodstrike, a designation not duplicated in any other worship of the god, who must be an elevated and long-standing member of the order as well as formally trained in clerical duties by an outside center of worship. The Arch-Priest, serviced by a council of senior Knights, manages the formalities of the order and presides over disputes or the implementation of discipline when the Knight's extreme code of conduct is violated.

As an example of this, if a Knight of the Dragon ever commits a serious breach of chivalry he will immediately return to the Knights’ chapterhouse in Myn’Traval and report his transgression to their Archpriest, who will than decide whether or not to allow the Knight to commit ritual suicide. If denied, the fallen Knight will travel the world as a rootless vagabond, bearing a distinctive brand that marks him as pariah to any Gael'braugh or well informed citizen. This has the consequence of formidable shunning in proportion to the amount of respect given the Knights of the Dragon in any given place.

Aspirants must apply to a chapterhouse, of which there are few, if they wish admittance to this order. Those who are not immediately rejected are taken in as servants for an indeterminate period, sometimes years, before they are squired to a knight. Squiring can last years in itself. Some squires never attain knighthood. Upon attaining full rank, a Knight will either serve the chapterhouse directly or be sworn to particular service such as guardian of a physical location, courtly duty to a prominent citizen or family, courtly duty to a foreign noble, messenger, or even diplomat. Occasionally, a Knight of the Dragon will wander as a knight errant, untether to specific service. This is usually the result of either being given a very specific task of personal fulfilment by the order, or as a self-enforced atonement for some indiscretion. Knights Errant of the Dragon are formally devoted to their philanthropic vows but lack the force of authority that might be granted a Knight in particular service and are notably not granted the same category of absolute respect that would be given someone in a more politically bounded order such as the Knights of King George.

Sodality of Willorea

A formal priesthood devoted to Bloodstrike in an extremely rigid and rigorous fashion. The Sodality of Willorea is named for the golden dragon ridden by Bloodstrike and arises from a single monastic retreat deep in the heart of Sylvanator. It is an order that is absolutely exclusive to sidhe, with no exception whatsoever. No paleteth, no human with really good relations, no convert, and importantly no one who is Gael'braugh in form but not in bloodline. There is an extreme background check to verify the sanctity of the devotee's origins which usually involves a bloodline that has had no paleteth in it whatsoever for at least 3 generations. This relates closely to doctrines about the divine origin of the sidhe peoples and the way in which the rules that Bloodstrike hands down to his followers are carried within the sacred blood of the sidhe. While it is technically possible for an Endrani or Taelgranis to join this order, doing so is very uncommon.

While believing in the principles of the worship of Bloodstrike in a fashion very similar to that of the Knights of the Dragon, the Sodality of Willorea is not a martial order and represents only priestly devotion and good will on the basis of those principles. Uncommon beyond the boundaries of the Sidhe forests, they nevertheless have small centers of worship and charity found throughout the world, particularly in wealthy cities or places where many Gael'braugh are likely to congregate and desire their particular religious attentions. The order tends to be well supplied and well-funded, devoted to philanthropy, and keeps to very strict codes of conduct. Member priests of the Sodality of Willorea may serve their order in a host of capacities including the simple task of serving as a friar in rural areas, ministering to the needy and providing religious consolation to worshippers of Bloodstrike. They do not generally proselytize in any fashion, but are welcoming of all worshippers with no racial bias such as would be present in an effort to join their number. Oaths undertaken in service to the Sodality of Willorea revolve around a vow of personal austerity which means avoiding personal profit, power, or influence. It also implies the avoidance of all excesses or indulgences. You may see a Priest of the Sodality of Willorea drinking a glass of wine, but you will never see them intoxicated.

Presence in Alba

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