Saccharine » Hibernal Den » Lorekeeper

Lorekeeper

(#76634378)

the aberrant congregation

Familiar

Blight Nymph

Energy: 50/50

Personal Style

Apparel

Skin

Scene

Physical Attributes

Battle Stats

Measurements

Length

4.59 m

Wingspan

8.31 m

Weight

487.94 kg

Genetics

Obsidian
Jaguar

Maroon
Rosette

Berry
Veined

Hatchday

Mar 18, 2022
(2 years)

Breed

Adult
Wildclaw

Eye Type

Plague
Common

Level 1 Wildclaw

EXP: 0 / 245

STR

AGI

DEF

QCK

INT

VIT

MND

Lineage

Parents

Offspring

none

Biography

★★★ THE CONGREGATION

Thousands of years ago, the deities left Sornieth for the celestial plane where they would do no further damage to the war-torn planet. The Plaguebringer tore her way deep below her Wyrmwound to perform her rite as the followers she left behind wailed, lost without their mother-god and abandoned to the whims of the pestilent lake.

One took responsibility upon themselves to gather a favored group of their kin, finding a new purpose in preserving the holy place where the Plaguebringer had dug and fled Sornieth. They formed the Aberrant Congregation, keeping watch over the hallowed tunnel and meeting to commingle with their fellows and receive words of reassurance and communion from their Saint. This lair rests above a constantly-shifting dungeon, occupied by more dangerous beasts than aberrations.

★★★ THE SANCTUARY

A nondescript opening in the rim of the Wyrmwound leads to the sanctuary, a large cavern where rivulets of the lake above seep down the walls and pool on the floor. At one end is an apse where an altar holds a bone that came from the Plaguebringer’s own spines, and at the other is the entrance to the ossuary – a chamber filled wall-to-wall with the relics of past aberrations, mementos of their kin that the Congregation has lost over the years.

The head of the Congregation, the Nameless Saint, is one of only four aberrations that live full-time within the lair. Their rector dens within the sanctuary alongside Nameless, while two wardens never stray from their posts in the undercroft below the main cavern. This undercroft is the passage between the sanctuary and the dangerous catacombs below, thus the wardens keep watch to ensure nothing enters or exits the dungeon that should not be there. The other vestals of the Congregation live as they choose outside of the lair, sleeping in pocks around the Wyrmwound’s rim and fending for themselves.

However, a rare few of the Congregation are questers – individuals who leave the Wyrmwound to explore modern society and bring back what they’ve learned. Many of the more traditional aberrations in the community see these explorers as little more than heretics.

★★★ THE CATACOMBS

The dungeon is in a constant state of change as the fleshy ground heals over tunnels and tears open new ones… disturbing the parasitic monstrosities that live deep within the Wasteland’s core. However, the innermost chamber of the catacombs where the Plaguebringer left Sornieth is visited by the Saint and other aberrations who attempt to commune with their lost god where the veil between planes is weakest. Thus, members of the Congregation regularly delve into the maze to map its current layout and weed out the threats – and the most experienced delvers, or heralds, escort pilgrims who have journeyed to the Wyrmwound and want to witness the consecrated chamber.

In that chamber, the remnants of the planar gate called Mother’s Door can be found arranged in a ritual circle. Superstition holds that were the gate to be activated, the aberrations could follow their mother-god to the celestial plane – but it has remained dormant ever since.

Rough sketch of the lair. Click for fullsize.

Miscellaneous Notes wrote:

• THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER. In the olden days when gods walked Sornieth, aberrations killed in battle would be reborn as demons. Most of these demons disappeared into the celestial plane along with the Plaguebringer, but they are summonable by any on Sornieth who know old magics and their true names in the ancient language. The Nameless Saint, not themself a demon, summoned and bound a group to their will in order to create the Congregation. This information is kept very secret to modern dragons and even pilgrims from other Flights.

• The narthex includes an emergency door that can be closed to secure the lair. The ossuary includes a relic that is the preserved hide of a very large aberration who was a close confidant of the Plaguebringer (there are currently no others of such notable size in the Congregation).

• Delvers sometimes bring back ancient artifacts (mostly runestones, carvings/statues, and war banners) that have been uncovered by the shifting of the dungeon, as well as trophies of monsters they slew. These along with the written records of the Congregation are all stored in the undercroft.

• Wardens sleep in shifts by head and are brought food by the vestals. The rector mostly handles disputes and oversees lair maintenance, but can perform sacraments and officiate rituals in Nameless' place. The archivist is the record keeper who studies the delvers' maps of the catacombs and studies how it changes over time, as well as documents history and activities around the Wyrmwound. Vestals assist with lair maintenance as required - this mostly includes digging to preserve any temporary offshoots of the sanctuary being used for storage or hosting pilgrims and make sure that the vents used to redirect toxic gas from deep underneath the Wyrmwound remain open as to expel the gas outside rather than within the lair.

• A "muster" is a gathering of the Congregation as summoned by the Nameless Saint, usually when they have particular information to give to the whole group e.g. a philosophical lesson or description of their most recent commune with the Plaguebringer in which they interpreted signs from her. For pilgrims from other lands, their first dip into the Wyrmwound on their pilgrimage is called their "baptism."

• The aberrations' daily behavior is based more on birds and alligators than modern dragon communities - they do not practice crafts or trade (with the exception of the questers) and instead spend their time either drifting in the Wyrmwound and laying in wait for prey or sparring and mutually grooming each other while conversing. They do not cook and instead eat dragons and monsters that don’t survive the Wyrmwound, carve jerky-like strips from the fleshy ground around the lake, and gather insects.

• Oral storytelling is a common pastime between aberrations; the archivist will sometimes take down the oral histories shared by the other aberrations. They usually speak of battles against other ancient breeds, interactions with the Plaguebringer before she left, and other feats of glory. Most members of the Congregation only speak the ancient tongue of the Wasteland and not modern draconic, with the exception of questers, Nameless, and the archivist.

• The Congregation does not trust modern dragons and keeps them away from the lair; the aberrations are old enough to remember the days when the Plaguebringer walked among them, which the modern dragons could not possibly understand the experience of, and thus moderns have no business being on their ancient hallowed ground as far as they see it.

• Natural aberration magic includes sprouting mushrooms, rapid decomposition, puppeteering dead corpses, generating flashes of radiation, and stimulating illness. Like other Plague dragons, they all carry a strain of plague... albeit a much older one than usually seen in modern populations.

• Aberrations have a very tough exterior with a lot of posturing behaviors, but they are gregarious and social once they know their companions are not threats - thus the mutual grooming with their kin being a daily activity. An aberration that has been left to its own devices and isolated for a long time will chatter between its two heads even more than a well-socialized aberration.

• Aberrations' heads do not share thoughts or senses, so they often speak to each other and vocalize inner thoughts - a lot of their decision-making is made externally between the two heads and they tend to be very blunt to a point that would seem rude to many modern dragons. However, if one head feels a very strong emotion than the other may be influenced to also feel that way due to the shared hormone system, and one head can forcibly take full control of the body if especially frightened or angered. The heads are capable of trading off who controls the body (allowing one head to sleep at a time) and even split control as needed - such as to perform two simultaneous tasks that require split focus. While both heads can talk at once, it will begin to strain the respiratory system.

graphics by osiem and archaic
base template by anxiousghost

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Exalting Lorekeeper to the service of the Plaguebringer will remove them from your lair forever. They will leave behind a small sum of riches that they have accumulated. This action is irreversible.

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