Order of the Shattered Throne
Conclave of the Spheres
Legion of the Fallen
Primal Blood
Primal Blood
Champions of Avakra
No cities, no borders, no boundaries of any kind, for the Primal Blood know that freedom must be absolute, and that the path of the All-Mother is where the strength to protect that freedom lies. Fractured into many kiths, the warriors and shamans are united by the common wish to topple all the walls of Selejia, revel in the rubble of civilizations, and awaken Ymiris, so that she may sow the seeds of a new world in the ashes of the old.
About the Faction
History
People of the Faction
Magic
Throughout the forests of Paxos, warriors of the kiths gather around the campfire. Berserkers sharpen their blades, flay their quarry, and devour the flesh of the hunt, while shamans chant stories of Avakra, the Dreaming Warrior, daughter of Ymiris, and first of the Primal Blood.
Avakra was the closest of her siblings to Ymiris, seeing beauty in all her mother’s creations. In the aftermath of the Great Wounding, Avakra could not bear the guilt of the Everlasting’s betrayal. She broke away from the others, believing now that she had acted in grave error. Striking out for the north, Avakra fled the grasp of her siblings, taking with her a great number of the First Children. There, Avakra formed a new nation, far beyond Selejia. She named this new land Oeri, and those who had followed her named themselves the oerikan.
Avakra remained deeply connected to the slumbering Ymiris, and she alone could hear the goddess calling out to her in her dreams. She could feel the pain, wrath, and sorrow of the All-Mother. Fuelled by these visions, Avakra gathered her followers, preaching against the Triumvirate and urging the oerikan to help her free Ymiris. Avakra believed that in her great wisdom, Ymiris would spare all those who had remained loyal to her. But as the visions grew increasingly intense, so too did Avakra’s zeal. Assembling a huge army, she set out for Selejia, intent on storming Olem and freeing Ymiris to remake the world. Yet the Triumvirate, wise to Avakra’s plans, struck first, murdering the Dreaming Warrior before she could command her followers to strike. They forged her soul into the first of the Everlasting Vestiges, the Heart of Avakra. The place where Avakra’s blood was spilled became known as Avakra’s Dusk.
The oerikan fought on valiantly, but were eventually subjugated by the Triumvirate. They were taken to Olem, where they were stripped of their freedom, culture, and pride. Nominally subjects of the Astarian Paradux, they were treated as second-class citizens in every respect, and in the centuries that followed, they were eroded as a people. They would not be free again until the final years of the Everlasting War, when one amongst them, Octna, found the means to commune with the Heart of Avakra, which granted him visions and power enough to raise a rebellion. The oerikan people followed this Warrior-Prophet and broke free of the Triumvirate, taking the Everlasting Vestige with them.
The Kiths of the Primal Blood
Octna led the oerikan to Avakra’s Dusk and there buried the Heart in the body of a fallen giant, hopeful that the ever-healing flesh might prove fertile ground for her soul to take root. In that sacred place, a great tree sprouted from the parched earth. The roots of the tree drank deeply from the power of the Dreaming-Warrior, and its fruit sustained the people, body and soul. Through Octna, Avakra’s wisdom flowed to the people, and through Avakra’s Heart, Ymiris’ power flowed once again to her progeny. Octna taught the oerikan of the Takras of Stone and Spirit, the paths to communion with the All-Mother, for he knew he could not remain with them forever. After leading his people through the first century of the Age of Strife, his body started to fail him, and the Warrior-Prophet departed to join with the All-Mother.
Yet even with the threat of the Everlasting now gone, all was not at peace within the hearts of the oerikan. Without the uniting will of a true, visionary leader, Octna’s closest followers fell upon one another, unable to agree on the correct interpretations of his teachings. The Primal Blood fractured into many hundreds of Kiths.
While the Kiths remain a fractured people, they are united in their cause to free Ymiris, and are urged by Avakra to continue to delve ever deeper into the unsteady darkness of the Malediction to accomplish this aim. Many amongst the Primal Blood believe Avakra to be a wise progenitor, a guiding hand that steers their people towards salvation. Others believe her to be a corrupting influence, infecting them with her misplaced zeal and driving them towards extinction. Each Kith of the Primal Blood is unique, but there remains commonality in the way they are structured. A Kith is generally divided into two castes. The warriors are known as the berserker caste, while the spellcasters and spiritual leaders form the shaman caste.Both the berserkers and the shamans follow the teachings of Avakra but each traces a different path towards greatness.
The Berserkers follow the Takra of Stone, the path of death before defeat, and the righteousness of might. They are the body of the Primal Blood, always on the frontline of battles and ready to taste the spoils of victory and defeat alike. The berserkers are charged with overseeing the Trial of Stone. By defeating an enemy greater than themselves, any warrior, even an outsider, may prove their worth in the eyes of Ymiris.
The Shamans follow the Takra of Spirit, the path of communion with Avakra and Ymiris. They summon the power of the All-Mother, give shape to her wrath, pain, and sorrow. It is their calloused hands that harvest blood, gore, and skin from the body of the giant, enriched by Avakra’s soul. In such a way, the Dreaming-Warrior never ceases to provide for her followers.
Each Kith has a primary leader for each cast. The leader of the berserkers is the Kor-Takra, while the leader of the shamans is the Ur-Takra. In theory, these two work in tandem to lead the kith, but in practice, one of them rises to prominence, and the other assumes a supporting role.
Primordial Power
All of Agnar’s magic ultimately hails from Ymiris, for magic is the power of the soul, and all souls were born from her. The All-Mother, however, endowed her creations with free will, and with it they chose to stray from her path. Yet there were those who remained true. The Primal Blood have never turned away from Ymiris and her primordial magic, even when doing so brings them ever closer to madness.
After the Great Wounding, Ymiris’ Echo became tainted by pain, sorrow, and wrath, threatening to overcome its wielder’s mind and warp their body. The Primal Blood, however, weaponize this curse, harnessing these powerful emotions, risking their own sanity to channel them into dangerous magic that imbues them with power. The All-Mother’s pain becomes curses; her wrath becomes weapons; her sorrow becomes the anima that drives the shamans’ constructs across the land. Through the Heart of Avakra, the Primal Blood temper this power, allowing them to bear a fraction of the AllMother’s rage. For they believe in one truth above all else: As the goddess suffers, so shall we all.
Ymiris has been bound for millennia, but her rage and pain are born from a deep love of her people. Through the Heart of Avakra, the Primal Blood can taste of this love once more. The shamans of the Kiths harvest the colossal corpse of the everhealing giant, infused with the soul of Avakra, and from its gore, flesh, bone, and sinew, they can craft everything from blades and armor to battle concoctions. By mixing this soul-infused blood with the earth of Paxos, the shamans create primordial clay, lighter than steel, stronger than stone. This strange material carries fragments of Avakra’s Echo, and, so commingled with the pure earth of Ymiris, allows the Primal Blood to fashion weapons and armor for their warriors, and to impart a semblance of life to powerful golems that the shamans may command in battle.
So, too, do the shamans brew concoctions from the giant’s echo-infused blood, mixing it with other enhancements and substances drawn from the beasts or the land. Such brews enhance the prowess of berserkers in battle, or fuel the transformation of oerikan into beastial forms, or else allow the shamans to commune more closely with Avakra. These concoctions are a means to guide and employ the All-Mother’s wrath, giving the Primal Blood incredible dominion over nature and the elements. Although most Primal Blood are aware of the dangers of Ymiris’ magic, few are cognisant of the insidious effects it has on their behavior. The Primal Blood is but a shadow of what it once was, for, over time, Ymiris’ wrath has affected their minds, transforming their once-honored fight into dangerous, disoriented bloodlust.
The Seekers
The Malediction holds secrets untold, and only a Seeker may uncover them. Join the ranks of the brave few who dare face death.
Thundersteps
Within the Malediction, death is the only abundance to be found. Chaos ravages the land and twists the magic of the world, so that none who face these dangers can walk away unscathed. But what if there was a creature forged from these dangers, whose body had been tempered in rage and blood? A creature so strange that its mere presence threatens to change Selejia forever?
In’Gor, The Spiritbound
The In'Grok dynasty is but a shadow of its former glory, and its heir, In'Gor, the Spiritbound, will not rest until he sees the Primal Blood united under his banner. With his body possessed and warped by foul spirits, many thought In’Gor to be done for, but he refuses to give in, for his agony is a small price to pay to achieve his grand vision.
Auric Evenhand
The hammer strikes, and the red-hot metal bends again. It will become a shield to defend his brothers in arms, or the blades that will slay the savages of Paxos. All beings are like soft metal, waiting to be given a purpose. All except for Auric, for he knows he must be the hammer that will forge a new path for his people and crush all who stand in the way.