Iker - The Blazing Sun
These invaders seek to ravage our lands as their accursed god once did, and it stands to us to uphold Our Lord's word that no foreign dogs will ever hold an inch of Alborian soil! To arms, and let Iker's flames stoke your rage to a billowing inferno that will consume these barbarians!
Iker may be a god of magic, but unlike most such gods who focus on the acquisition and development of arcane knowledge, Iker is soley focused on the power of magic, and how it can serve in building and maintaining law and order. A powerful warmage and king in life, Iker was responsible for uniting the majority of what would one day become known as The Alborian Empire. He has a strong rivalry with Canan the Conquerer, as they fought one another in life, ascending on the battlefield after dealing each other mortal wounds.
Mortal Life
A powerful warmage and king in life, Iker ruled a portion of what would one day become The Alborian Empire known as the Kingdom of Ephosmos. At the time, Alboria was dotted with small kingdoms with fiefdoms, all warring with one-another and vying for control of the lands around them. Leading his armies at the head of a contingent of powerful war mages known as the Immolators, Iker began to expand his holdings, taking over nearby kingdoms and forcing their rulers to kneel before him. As Ephosmos continued to expand, Iker began to name their rulers as dukes under him, allowing them to retain their holdings in exchange for swearing oaths to serve him.
Foreign Dogs and the founding of an empire
When Canan The Conquerer began his conquest of the northern and western coasts of Alboria Iker was incensed and declared that "Foreign hands will never retain their grasp on Alboria". Iker declared that he ruled the the Alborian Empire, restoring his dukes to their former statuses as kings, and that they would tolerate "No Foreign Dogs to hold so much as an inch of Alborian soil". He redirected his campaign of conquest towards the western coast of Alboria, absorbing all of the kingdoms in his way, and when some rulers refused to bend the knee, he obliterated them ruthlessly.
After taking over the port city of arldsmouth, he marched his forces out to the portion of the northwest coast known as "Le Museau", or "The Muzzle" to confront the invaders. Unprepared to face such a large force, especially one with as much arcane power as Iker and his Immolaters brought to the field, Canan and his forces retreated, humiliated and thoroughly defeated.
After defeating Canan The Conquerer, Iker barely slowed down in his push to unite Alboria, pushing north to the cities of Valon and Auburnoit before returning south. At this point, the Alborian Empire encompassed the entirety of the Arldempt River valley and all of the major cities along the north-west coast and Iker returned to his capital city of Ephosmos to consolidate his forces and allow his armies a chance to recover. In the following years, Segno and all of the cities along the Nesse river would be absorbed into his river, followed by most of the cities in the south-east of Alboria.
With most of Alboria under his control, Iker directed his kings to begin pacifying their territories, clearing out bandits and driving the monstrous races out of civilized lands. Trade deals were struck with the North Iron Port Dwarves and a land route to their hold was built for the first time.[
Invasion and Ascension
Twenty years after his first invasion, Canan The Conquerer returned at the head of a massive invasion force composed of both Alhamish raiders and a substantial force of Stormborn reavers. Sweeping down the north-western coast of Alboria, burning all in their path, they arrived at Arldsmouth before any substantial opposing army could be raised and laid seige to the port city. With the city under siege, the bulk of his forces moved into the fertile Arldempt River Valley, spreading death and destruction everywhere they went.
Iker was quick to raise an army and march to confront these invaders, sending off messengers to all of his kings within marching distance of the Arldempt River Valley to raise their own forces and clear out the leading elements of the invader's forces. Two of these kings, confident that their armored knights could defeat the raiders, decided to combine their forces and attack the main body of the invaders themselves. They marched on Arldsmouth and were met in the plains outside of the city, under stormy skies, by the army of Canan the Conquerer.
Having learned from his last failed invasion, Canan had enlisted a number of spellcasters in his army, and enlisted the services of a band of Stormborn reavers. As the armored knights of Alboria massed for a charge, the stormclouds intensified and the druids and shaman of the Stormborn began calling down lightning in massive sheets, obliterating the knights in instants. As the Alborians blinked the spots from their eyes, they were met with a horde of reavers charging down the field at them.
Pressed on all sides, thunder rolling overhead and fingers of lightning reaching down from the clouds to land within their lines, the alborian forces began to break, but had nowhere to go. Suddenly, blasts of fire erupted within Canan's Lines, the clouds parted in places to allow shafts of sunlight to illuminate the field of battle, and the rumble of hooves announced the arrival of Iker's forces, and their heavy cavalry.
In the center of the field, Canan and his honorguard cut their way through the Alborian forces, only to be met by Iker and his Immolators, peerless battle mages who cleared swathes of the enemy army with their magic and strength of arms. Iker and Canan clashed in the middle of the battlefield, arcane strength pitted against martial strength backed by enchanted steel. As his men began to break and run, Canan struck a mighty blow against iker, his axe digging deep into the chest of his enemy. Dying, Iker raised a hand wreathed in arcane energy and slammed it into Canan's chest, rending the armor and the flesh beneath and blasting the two enemies apart. As they laid across from each other in the center of the battlefield, dying, shafts of golden light slammed down from the sky, enveloping both of them, followed by a blast of blinding radiance which knocked over combatants for hundreds of yards around the downed leaders. When the light cleared, both were gone, nothing but motes of golden light left where they once sat.
Worship
Worship of Iker began among The Immolators, and spread quickly among the admiring masses who saw him both the unifier and savior of Alboria and The Empire. It wasn't long before those who spread word of his divinity began recieving divine power and his godhood was confirmed. Today, Alboria is the center of his worship and pilgrims regularly retrace the paths Iker took on his way to repel each of Canan's invasions.
Worshippers of Iker overwhelmingly tend to be arcane casters, particularly those with a martial bent or who are employed in a position where their power is used to enforce law and order. One would think that Iker would tend to be popular with young, enthusiastic wizards whose idea of a mighty wizard is one who tosses fireballs about like its going out of style, but the strict lawful bent of the god and his clergy tends to turn them off. Iker's worshippers tend to be looked down up on to a certain extent by other casters as either barbarians who only appreciate magic for it's destructive potential or bullies who believe that their power gives them the ability to control others, and they often view other wizards as useless academics obcessed more with gathering knowledge than practical application of magic.
The Immolators
Originally founded by Iker himself, the immolators started as a contingent of powerful battle mages who accompanied him into battle, and after his ascendancy were the first to worship him as a god. While they still worship Iker, today the Immolators are simply an elite unit within the Alborian military, the organized religious aspect of the unit having split off to become first the Cult of Iker and later the Alborian Church.
The Cult of Iker
The original form of organized worship of Iker, the Cult of Iker split off from the Immolators shortly after Iker's divinity was realized. From it's founding until the 1660s the cult held a tremendous amount of power and influence within Alboria, but this ended in the aftermath of the Alborian Civil War. Blamed for many aspects of the civil war, the cult fell out of favor and was folded into the newly founded Alborian Church, but the cult wasnt made illegal and still exists. The modern cult is composed of those who feel that the creation of The Church was an insult to the cult and to Iker, who deserves to be worshipped alone. Seen as radicals, the Cult still produces a large percentage of the Immolators and retains a firm place among the alborian people.
The Alborian Church
Founded in the aftermath of the Alborian Civil War, the church was created tor two purposes, to dilute the influence of The Cult of Iker by integrating it into the new church and to officially adopt worship of The Ascended within The Empire. The Church considers Iker to be the head of a pantheon of other members of The Ascended consisting of Sigune, Borja, Galterus, Siegmund, and Ambroys. Placing their gods underneath Iker has caused anger with worshippers of most of the other gods, save perhaps Ambroys, and has actually harmed The Empire's foreign relations in some cases.
As the official state religion, The Alborian Church has a presence in every town in Alboria, and the presence of a church is actually a requirement for a newly founded settlement to be recognised. Each duchy has a cardinal assigned to it, and the assembly of cardinals meets yearly at the great cathedral in Ephosmos.
Iker
The Blazing Sun
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Edicts
Use power to enforce law, uphold societal order, and crush ones enemies in battle.
Anathema
Use your power to disrupt society and break laws,
Areas of Concern
Magic, Power, Law and order
Follower Alignments
LN, N, NG, LG, LE
Devotee Benefits
Divine Ability
Charisma or Intelligence
Divine Font
Harm
Divine Skill
Arcana
Favored Weapon
Morningstar
Domains
Magic, Zeal, Sun, Fire
Cleric Spells
Comments