Devourer of the Lost
Dominus Drakas
"All who wander are always lost."
Dominus Drakas (pronounced DRACK-az) is the progenitor of the minotaurs. He considers all of them his children, whether they wish to ally themselves with him or not. He rules over the House of Endless Hallways in Diabolis.
History
The First Minotaur
Records of the time before the Thousand Year Flood are few and far between; however, the worshipers of Drakas have a record of an antediluvian story detailing the origin of the first minotaur. According to the legend, an ancient queen who lived on an island nation feared another kingdom that threatened to conquer her land. She made a deal with Drakas to keep the intruders out of her kingdom.
Drakas erected a massive labyrinth around the queen’s land. Try as her enemies might, they could not reach her kingdom in the center. In return, Drakas claimed her first born child. That child was born as a minotaur.
The Flood and Life in the New Hells
Drakas fought alongside the gods of chaos during the Thousand Year Flood. Like most of the gods, his original realm was destroyed due to the planar unraveling that occurred because of the war. By the time the dust settled, Drakas discovered that he was one of two demon lords that survived the Thousand Year Flood. He felt nothing for his brethren that were lost; they should have been more aware of their surroundings.
When he was approached by Archdominus Serallus to live in the newly constructed plane of Diabolis, Drakas immediately agreed. He never sensed the presence of Serallus before that moment, and whoever this Archdominus was wielded the power to construct an entire plane of existence undetected. This impressed Drakas, and such a feat had to be studied from the inside.
Drakas spends his time learning about his fellow Dominion members, the gods, and planes beyond. He is forever preparing for another event akin to the Thousand Year Flood, determined to ensure that no one will take him by surprise again.
Dogma
Drakas believes that anyone that has ever perished due to unnatural causes simply was not paying enough attention, and their deaths were deserved. Drakas encourages his followers to interact with the world around them as a puzzle that needs to be solved. Once the puzzle is solved, he wants his followers to consider how to use the puzzle's mechanisms to their advantage.
Relationships
Drakas enjoys meeting other people and learning how they operate. He pays extremely close attention to everyone he meets and often performs mental exercises to figure out what sort of maze would be best to stump them and keep them trapped. It is unwise to reveal any truths to Drakas.
Friendships
One of the most infamous partnerships in the Dominion is the bond between Drakas and Dominus Malakeh. Though they fought on opposite sides during the Thousand Year Flood, they were fast friends after the Dominion was established. They will often collaborate on their plans. As close as their alliance is, many suspect that both parties have a knife to the other’s back that they are waiting to plunge.
Neutral Relationships
Drakas and Dominus Vrikdarok served as demon lords before the Thousand Year Flood. They have never been particularly close; however, Drakas and Vrikdarok were the only demon lords to survive the Thousand Year Flood. To this day, Drakas maintains that he knows everything he needs to know about Vrikdarok. The two work together to rule over Diabolis' demons, but do not typically collaborate beyond that.
Enemies
Drakas and his followers have earned the ire of several imperators and their followers. None of his rivalries amongst their number are as great as his rivalry with Imperatrice Zita. Drakas and Zita are opposites in every conceivable way. Interactions between their followers often come to blows.
Drakas despises the Vagrant and their philosophy on travel. He encourages his followers to do everything in their power to frighten followers of the Vagrant and shatter their faith in the god.
Appearance
Drakas often appears as a colossal minotaur with thick, shaggy black fur that blends in seamlessly with the surroundings of the House of Endless Hallways, as if he were the labyrinthine realm itself. The only part of his body that readily stands out are a pair of fiery red eyes. He sports a terrifying maw of sharp teeth that perpetually drips blood. There is a maze of horns atop his head that have formed to look like a crown, each of them dripping blood as if the Dominus has recently gored someone. Drakas usually drapes himself in tattered, bloodstained blue and red robes.
Providence
Drakas revels in watching others become lost. He places hazards and obstacles in the paths of the lost to make survival less likely. Many residents of Phoenix use the idiom “the Curse of Drakas” to reference becoming lost. On Phoenix, it is believed that Drakas is the reason why one might lose their way in the first place.
When Drakas is pleased, one might suddenly find their senses a little sharper and feel more aware of their surroundings. Blessings and boons from Drakas are only given to his most loyal followers.
Home
Drakas lives in Diabolis in the House of Endless Hallways. The House takes the form of an endless, ever-shifting labyrinth made of thick, black rock. Allegedly, there is a castle at the center of the labyrinth, but no one has ever reached the labyrinth’s center. The most unsettling aspect of the House of Endless Hallways is how rare it is to find any life within. The House is mostly shifting, silent walls with no hope of escape.
Servants
Demons serve Drakas with the utmost loyalty. It is believed that not even his demonic legions can truly navigate the House of Endless Hallways; due to the chaotic nature of demons, leverage is necessary to ensure they fall in line.
Praetors
Mohrkas
A massive, black minotaur with completely black eyes, he wears ramshackle armor taken from fallen combatants, and it is always coated with blood. He claims to be the first minotaur.
Arryx
A demon with a gaping black hole in his chest, face, and palms of his hands. The holes in his body are thought to be bottomless.
Sartix
Their body is ever shifting between different forms like fluid water, but just enough for it to look unnatural. The features of their forms never look quite right, but it’s impossible to tell what looks off about them. The only consistency is that their eyes are always full of malice.
Religion
Followers of Drakas can be found scattered throughout Phoenix and the Cryptlands; they usually operate on the fringes of society. There are also members of the cult of Drakas that have wormed their way into high society, practicing their faith in secret.
Worshipers
Drakas primarily attracts exiles seeking vengeance, nomads, communities that wish to remain hidden, and survivalists. Adventurers are often convinced to join his cult due to his ties to the feeling of being lost as well as traveling hazards such as traps. Minotaurs are often born into Drakan cults or forced to join due to societal prejudice pushing them to go somewhere they would be respected.
The Drakan cult can also attract artists, architects, puzzle makers, and craftsmen due to Drakas’ domain over mazes. People with secrets that they’d prefer stay hidden are drawn to make deals with the Dominus; the price of these deals often results in a pledge of worship and loyalty with an additional boon, such as a child being born or transformed into a cambion or minotaur.
Clergy
Clerics of Drakas typically adorn themselves in clothing dyed black, red, or blue. Much of their fashion is a mix of different clothing and accessories that were taken from corpses of those who died due to hazards in a maze, dungeon, or on the road. Many of them will use discarded pieces of clothing or armor to fashion themselves helmets or masks that resemble black bulls to honor their Dominus.
Clerics often utilize hallucinogens, such as twist, and alcohol to intentionally disorient themselves to receive messages from their Dominus.
More zealous clerics will ritualistically blind or deafen themselves to better hone their other senses and trust Drakas with the sense they sacrificed. Anyone born with these conditions is revered within the cult. Members are eager to teach them ways to learn how to best be aware of their surroundings so that they may better confound and confuse outsiders.
Recognition Within the Cult
To be recognized as a cleric of Drakas, all aspiring clerics must perform a ritual known as the Trial of the Center. Initiates participating in the trial must navigate a Drakan temple and locate the center. When the initiate completes the ritual, they will be honored as an official member of the Drakan cult. They will train and learn from the others that live within the temple. Clerics are forbidden from leaving the temple until the high priest feels they are ready to leave.
When a cleric is given permission to leave the temple, they must complete a second ritual. The Trial of Leaving involves the cleric becoming ritually disoriented by substances or otherwise. They are then given a mirror and are forced to navigate their way out of the temple using only the mirror to reference where everything is.
Once a cleric successfully completes the Trial of Leaving, they are given the freedom to do as they please. Many of these clerics chose to stay and serve their temple or seek out the Order of Endless Hallways to serve as a signifier. Drakan clerics may also strike out on their own to work independently. They will either lead others to the Drakan cult or simply lead them astray to please their god.
Temples and Shrines
Drakan temples are usually found in strange locations far away from civilization. Their exteriors can be deceptive and look like a normal temple. More insidious branches of the Drakan cult may disguise their temples to look like that of another god, such as Zita, to trick their enemies into entering.
The interiors of Drakan temples are a confusing maze of black stone walls constructed with odd angles that don't line up. Temples are enchanted to be much larger on the inside, and the walls are built to change their orientation at random intervals. They often have a host of traps built into them that only the clergy are aware of. The most infamous aspect of Drakan temples are the disguised portals to the House of Endless Hallways that the clergy hides throughout the temples. One could cross into another plane and never realize it.
The Tangle
The Tangle is a Drakan ritual performed when it is time to construct a new temple. A member of the clergy will blindfold themself and ingest twist to connect them to their god. If the Tangle is performed correctly, Drakas will guide the cleric through the wilderness. The cleric can only remove the blindfold when they no longer feel Drakas’ presence; wherever they were led is the site where a new Drakan temple will be constructed.
During the construction, the architect designing the floor plan and all construction workers must also ingest twist to allow Drakas to guide them in the design and construction process of the temple. Once construction is finished, members of the cult must learn to navigate their new temple. The Tangle is complete when the temple can be reliably navigated.
Holy Texts
Texts relating to Drakas are written as ergodic literature. Outsiders find them very difficult to read.
The Legend of Mohrkas
An antediluvian tome that tells the story of the first minotaur.
Holidays
Anniversaries of the construction of temples are celebrated amongst the Drakan cult.
Favored Animals
Drakas has a fondness for all members of the bovine family, but he has a strong preference for black bulls.
Organizations
Order of Endless Hallways
A dreadknight order full of skilled navigators and trackers. They are infamous for highway attacks.
Deity
Category
Demon
Dominion
Minotaur
Titles
The Beast in the Labyrinth
Devourer of the Lost
Dominus of Endless Hallways
Father of Minotaurs
King of the Maze
Follower Demonym
Drakan
Realm
House of Endless Hallways, Diabolis
Areas of Concern
Disorientation
Hopelessness
Mazes
Minotaurs
Edicts
Always be aware of your surroundings
Confuse paths and roads
Traverse any maze you encounter
Anathema
Offer guidance strangers or enemies
Kill a minotaur
Save someone from a hazard they failed to notice
Sacred Colors
Black
Blue
Red
Sacred Animal
Bull
Clergy
Sanctification
Unholy
Domains
Delirium
Indulgence
Might
Secrecy
Zeal
Divine Font
Harm
Favored Weapon
Glaive
Skill
Survival
Ability
Intelligence
Wisdom
Spells
Rank 1 - Vanishing Tracks
Rank 2 - Entangling Flora
Rank 3 - Antlion Trap
Rank 4 - Confusion
Rank 5 - Illusory Scene
Rank 6 - Mislead
Rank 7 - Maze of Locked Doors
Rank 8 - Quandary
Rank 9 - One with the Land
Affiliations
Organizations
Dominion
Order of Endless Hallways
Associated Entities
Malakeh
Vrikdarok
Opposed Entities
Hikuni
Invicta
Lovara
Olah
The Vagrant
Ullith
Zita
Physical Form
Ancestry
Demon Minotaur
Pronouns
He/Him
Height
Varies
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Red
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