Sanguine

There is a light in a hall beyond. Figures clad in black robes embroidered in silver with an ouroboros stand, row upon row, upon a scintillating blue stone floor. The figures remove their hoods in unison. Among the group stand both men and women, some hold deerskin drums, some hold daggers. A woman at the front is wreathed by a gigantic snake. The woman yells. The drums are struck in unison. And the people begin to move in time with a chant. Around and around, in concentric circles, weaving a pattern of impossible complexity. The dancers with daggers spin and cut their hands, dripping blood onto the floor. The Ouroborites step in the small pools of blood as they move and drag them in arcs along the floor. Inlaid in the iridescent floor is a dark stone ouroboros.
As the dancers move the eye of the ouroboros opens, and the mosaic comes to life. The snake spins slowly around, undulating to the music. As the snake moves blue light streams up from the floor, snaking back upon itself as if weaving a cloth.
Suddenly, black smoke races along the floor from the doorway and coalesces as a figure. A tall woman steps forth.
“You’ve defied me for the last time, Isolde” she screams. The woman holding the snake retorts: “The cycle is NOT YOURS! Begone! Sanguine, thou art a false god!”
The snake slithers from Isolde’s shoulders as she draws a sword from beneath her cloak. Sanguine holds out her hands as they morph into claws. “Your death will hurt just as much with your brave words. And now you have condemned your followers to a senseless death when they could have joined me”. Her teeth elongate into fangs. She claps her hands above her heads and the cloud of black smoke returns and races around the room. The sound of screams echo through the air. The smoke cuts a path between a figure knocked to the ground and Sanguine - standing on the head of the Ouroboros. In her claws is Isolde. Blood streams from claw marks across her chest. The muscle and skin of her left cheek hangs as a flap, revealing teeth drenched in blood. Tears stream from her eyes but she does not scream. Sanguine takes a claw and scores deep gashes into Isolde’s skull as she addresses the figure on the floor. “Congratulations” she drawls, “You get to live. Run, little snake, and tell people that Sanguine is returned, and this is what becomes of those who stand in my way.” She reaches down and opens her mouth far too wide, like a child’s nightmare. In one fluid motion she rips out Isolde’s throat and casts her carcass aside. “One more thing little one” Sanguine says as she strides towards the figure on the floor. The last Priest of Nathair scrambles back but cannot contend with a god. Sanguine picks up the figure and sinks her teeth into the priest’s neck, transfusing him with her vampiric gift.
Sanguine turns towards the Ouroboros on the floor and begins to chant:
Ó, időtlen gyermek
A mestered vagyok
Vérem a vérét
És adjam a sajátomat
Most két dolog kötődik
Mindörökké
Én vagyok a királynő
A vérből és az időből

[O timeless child
I am your master
I take your blood
And give my own
Now two things bound
Forever after
I am the queen
Of blood and time]

As she chants red energy flows into the ouroboros, and blue from it to her. The snake is once again alive and writhing. As she says the final words its mouth opens and its tail is released. In a final cloak of darkness, Sanguine disappears, the scene along with her.
The god Sanguine was unknown in the Empire prior to the events of 686. Now, the name strikes fear into the hearts of all mortals.

Sanguine is a truly ancient goddess, predating to before the existence of humanity. Once the principal god of Erden, she was cast down by her elven followers at a terrible price. But she was not destroyed. In the following millennia, she nursed her strength and returned, bringing untold devastation each time. The world has seen Sanguine defeated four times - with each defeat heralding the end of a Cycle. But with each Cycle, she grows in power, and who is to say she can be stopped again?

A lawful being, Sanguine believes in a strict, hierarchal ordering of the world where the weak are sacrificed or enslaved to elevate the strong, a product of the ancient arrogance of her creators. In Sanguine's twisted logic, she shows her love to her followers by granting the gift of immortality and service to a greater good. Immortality has many forms, however - from a deranged zombie to a higher vampire. As with her creators, Sanguine values hedonism and pleasure, approving of those who use others for their own enjoyment. As the greatest being in existence and one brought into being to bring order to the world, it is Sanguine's divine right to dominate all other beings, her will enacted by the so-called Firstborn - the Calabim.

History

The history of the world itself is the history of its relationship with Sanguine and her followers. As the most powerful being to ever walk Erden, and one that seeks the domination of all sentient life, Sanguine has inspired awe and terror in equal measure for ten millenia. Yet, as a being created by mortals, Sanguine herself was never powerful enough to resist all of her many foes. Instead,