Crusaders of the Nameless God: The Holy Imperium of Croma & The Hold

It was the second Dark Age of Sublanarya; beastmen swept from the east across Thule in a wave of violence that claimed millions of lives, each innocent life taken in the name of  the resurrected Kalibos, and each sacrifice feeding the endless horde and summoning demon lords to Kalibos's coalition. It was a desperate time as dwarves retreated into the deepest depths of the earth to escape the apocalyptic holocaust being carried about the beastmen, the peoples of Zafaria and Saesun were overwhelmed with Thule refugees with beastmen nipping at their heels as they fled, and the defenses of the Hamutian Empire began to waiver under constant assault from the sea. Indeed, the last thing standing between total civilization collapse may have been the Hamutian Empire but, ironically, the only thing holding the Empire together was this war for survival. The people prayed to the gods for salvation and, according to their saviors, a god did answer the call.

A host of ships was spotted arriving from east by Hamutian sailors with unfamiliar markings upon the sails. Their sails were adorned with the sign of a six pointed star with an eye in the center overlapping crosses. The designs of vessels were foreign and yet far too sophisticated for beastmen. The Hamutians prepared for invasion as they received envoys from the ships but were surprised to instead receive not conquerors but new allies.

The envoys were holy men of a foreign religion, the Church of the Nameless God, and a foreign land, but had come to the aid the people of Sublanarya. Their leaders were an splinter sect of holy knights, the Order of the Next Dawn, that had broken away from the Xalhoteccan Empire to fulfill a prophecy, a divine mission, to come to the shores of Thule and to push back against the endless hordes. Their armada had traveled far and they had suffered great losses at sea, only having the divine promise of the prophecy to guide them to Sublanarya, but with strong conviction had managed to reach their destination. They offered any Hamutian, Zafarian or dwarf with the will left to fight to take the fight to liberate Thule. This coalition called itself the Unbroken and the name would hold true.

The Unbroken legion came ashore in central Thule and took the raiding parties of the beast men horde by surprise as rather than finding pockets of resistance, they were met by entire platoons of eager and righteous warriors. This disruption caused the horde to shift focus away from Hamut and to turn against the new wave of enemies. And yet, the horde was force on the defensive by the aggressive legion. The Xalhoteccan knights were unparalleled in their tactics and guided by, protected by, and enhanced by the blessing of their divine saints. Their cavalries devastated the beastmen's infantry, their pikemen and divine casters made short work of the horde's giants and the paladins of their orderes were able to go toe-to-toe with demons. Their victories were great as they pushed from west to east where they met with the forces of Kalibos's personal legion and the Bastard Prince himself.

The Unbroken found themselves strained against the devastating and horrible might of Kalibos; his personal guard was made up of powerful demon lords, mad witches and shamans, and a host of other horrors straight out of the Wyrd Wars. They were driven back into the ruins of an old dwarven settlement and things grew grim. As battle broke and the forces retreated during a freezing rain, a Xalhoteccan knight's steward came to the tent of the battle commanders. The boy's name was Croma and he was an orphan born at sea, blind at birth, but obedient, humble and true-hearted. Despite his affliction, the boy carried out his duties to the best of his abilities. As doomsday seemed inevitable, he gave a rousing speech and with conviction claimed he had a vision that he too must ride into battle. The commanders were at first skeptical but the boy's faith was incorrigible and renewed their own conviction. After all, if they failed, they would all be slain. It was better to give the boy a chance and to all ride out with their heads held high.

Croma was given a breastplate that was not his fit and he was given an old sword and rusted shield that were too heavy for him, but he was given a good horse. The commanders did not know about Croma's lineage. They did not know that he was descended from a line of Geledan kings or that his ancestor had met Kalibos in battle before. They did not know that the gods had sent them a weapon. As they watched Croma ride into battle, all they saw was a fragile but courageous boy. Somehow he rode his horse in a straight line for Kalibos. It was as if the horse knew the destiny of the boy who rode it. In fact, as Croma held tight to the horse's reins, he felt an updraft as a pair of wings sprouted from the horses shoulders. Astride a white pegasus, Croma was taken straight for Kalibos who knocked the boy off the horse. The pegasus moved to fight off all foes who approached Croma and, in fact as if by design, a circle of knights managed to break their way in and gave Croma a chance in his fight against Kalibos.

The Bastard Prince had slain many good knights that day but, as he swung his claws at the boy, shifting and twisting his form, and striking with monstrous speed his blows, the blind boy side-stepped and dodged each of them. Kalibos grew furious and turned to unholy magic to aid him in defeating the runt but the boy's faith shielded him. In fact, as the other struck the boy with unholy magic, Croma found an inner strength of his own and began piercing the beast with spear after spear of divine light. But his strength began to falter, the beast unwavering in its assault, and he fell to his knees exhausted. With a wicked laugh, the beast struck his breastplate, exposing his chest and then, with the wicked blow's force, even exposing the boy's heart. The beast prepared to unleash his final blow when a miracle occurred. The rust from the shield was knocked away by the beast's previous blows, revealing a shining mirrored surface beneath, and it caught a ray of sunlight that broke through the clouds above. The reflected light blinded Kalibos and, hearing the beast recoil and shriek in pain, with his dying breath, Croma stood up, pointing his blade towards the heavens, and piercing Kalibos under his chin and through his skull. Kalibos fell dead and his forces panicked, breaking apart, and were quickly routed by the Unbroken.

With Croma's last moment, he died knowing that he had defeated a great evil, that he had saved his brothers in arms, and, with his final request, he asked the Unbroken to settle in this place and make it their home. And they did. On that spot, they built camp into a fort into a village into frontier town into a city into the capitol of the Holy Imperium and named them all after their newest saint, Croma.

Faiths of Sublanarya Excerpt: Kalibos the Bastard Prince and Father of the Beastmen

The Legend of Kalibos:

The Bastard Prince and Father of the Beastmen

Skoraxia Hag-Mother has given birth to many abominations but none more-so than the Bastard Prince himself, Kalibos. He was born to some long lost human king in a far away land. He committed many atrocities, unaware of his mother's influence, including vandalizing temples, hunting sacred animals, and murdering priests. He was finally stopped by a hero, who defeated him in battle, and cut off his hand.

Kalibos fled to the sea and washed ashore on an island where he would certainly die. Instead, he was found by a hideous old crone who cleaned his wounds, saved his life and gave him shelter. When she revealed herself to, in fact, be his mother in mortal guise, Kalibos lost what remained of his sanity and humanity, transforming into a monstrous new form. She taught him dark magics of shape-shifting and shadow magic. He used these to great effect, taking over the island's tribes and using them to his bidding. He led raids against nearby settlements and eventually got revenge on the hero by stealing away the hero's precious treasure. Some legends say a flying horse and others say his betrothed. But this was Kalibos's ultimate downfall.

The hero made battle again with the now monstrous Kalibos and this time took more than his hand, somehow petrifying the beast and knocking off his head. But this was not the end of Kalibos.

He had risen to godhood, worshipped among the tribes, and whispers spread his cult across the primitive and brutal across the realm. Hags and witches in need of powerful allies called upon Kalibos for aid. Eventually, he was reborn in Sublanarya's Thule due to the efforts of a witch-cult. More powerful than ever, Kalibos created a race in his image by impregnating the cult members, the race known as beastmen.

He then led his horde of man-eating monsters, they laying waste to his enemies, sacrificing entire villages in his name, and making him more powerful than ever. It seemed he would hold dominion over the realm before long. That was until the arrival of the Holy Imperium and their champion: Croma

Croma was in fact a descendant of the great hero who had defeated Kalibos all those generations before. He led his army to the Black City itself and, at first, his armies easily outmatched the disordered beastmen. But when Kalibos entered the fray, he cut swaths through the imperial lines, until he met with Croma. Croma was fast, spearing the beast king with his great spears of light from his legendary quiver. But the beast, even gouged with spears, kept coming and knocked Croma about like a ragdoll until he had him on his knees. The beast had landed a fatal blow, cracking the breast plate of Croma and exposing his heart. He only had heart beats left to live. When the sun caught the light of his shield, it blinded the Bastard Prince, and Croma lunged a final blow under the beast's chin and through his head and eye. Kalibos fell dead and Croma passed with the knowledge that he had slain a great evil. He was given saint hood and the Holy Imperium built their new Sublanaryan capitol in his honor.

Today, the spawn of Kalibos still pose a threat to the common folk of Sublanarya but the inheritors of St. Croma's courage continue to fight to extinguish their vile line.

KALIBOS 

Title(s)  The Bastard Prince, Father of the Beastmen, Cannibal King, Abominable One, Hag Prince

Pantheon(s)

Thule

Power Level

Intermediary Diety

Alignment

Chaotic Evil

Symbol

A horned skull with fangs

Realm

Butcher Island

Portfolio

Beastmen, cannibalism, witchcraft, shapeshifting, shadows

Domains

Chaos, Destruction, Evil, Strength, Shadow

Worshipers

Beastmen, witches, hags, barbarians, canniablisms, murderers, shapeshifters

Favored Weapon

Claw

Holy Day(s)

  Full moons are used for rituals in Kalibos name.

SKORAXIA

Title(s) The Hag Queen, The Hag Mother, The Foulest of Foul

Pantheon(s)

Thule

Power Level

Lesser Deity

Alignment

Chaotic Evil

Symbol

A ram's skull wreathed in flowers

Realm

Butcher Island

Portfolio

Enchantment, motherhood, witchcraft, shapeshifting, shadows

Domains

Arcana, Nature

Worshipers

Beastmen, witches, hags, barbarians, canniablisms, murderers, shapeshifters

Favored Weapon

Dagger

Holy Day(s)

 Full moons are used for rituals in Skoraxia's name.