Children of Verkohn

The Children of Verkohn was a historical Truthful Path warrior society originally organized by the prophet-warlord Verkohn the Honest as a way to train and select heirs to lead the Kivish Horde. The Children were skilled warriors but were, by most standards, crazed and violent religious fanatics who killed untold numbers of people. 
For centuries, the Children of Verkohn fulfilled their original function of training heirs and elite warriors for the ancient Horde. After the Horde organized into an empire formally in 850 ME, the Children became less central to leadership. By 1000 ME, the Children of Verkohn went from being a governing body to a scattered cult, still training warriors in the chaos wastes. In 1440 ME, the Children were re-integrated into the rising Empire of Kizen, which sought to use their warriors and ancient religious legitimacy but still barred them from political participation.
Infamously, the Children of Verkohn couped the government of the Empire of Kizen in 1680. They launched a series of nigh-genocidal wars known as the Fifth Scouring, which created seventy years of devastation across the subcontinent. In 1750, the grand alliance that had formed to defeat the Children of Verkohn systematically butchered every known member of the Children as well as their families and allies. Now, the Children are a bad memory for Stildane and a symbol of everything wrong with the Kivish religious group.
The Children of Verkohn were founded with the philosophy that any heir to the enlightenment and power of Verkohn must be tested and reforged by harrowing experiences in the deep chaos wastes. Those who thrive the best in the most dangerous landscapes were seen as natural leaders - especially those who most deeply internalized Truthful Path teachings. The Children reveled in shows of strength, and were known to wander out from the wastelands burning and pillaging the non-Kobold villages in their path. The entire Kingdom of Vetenka was once destroyed by the Children in a moment of royal weakness. This "kill or be killed" "might makes right" attitude created a deep ambition mixed with chauvanism. The Children, more than any other group, revered the First Kivish Scouring as an unfinished mission - rather than a stain on the honor of the Kivish religion. 
Campfire tales and frontier rumors claim that there are lost cult compounds of the Children still out there, training murderous fanatics to scour the land once again. While these claims are unlikely, there may be imitators out there who have re-inhabited the old temples and hidden bases. 
This is a historical stub.

490 ME - 1750 ME

Type

Religious, Cult

Founders

• Verkohn the Honest

Official State Religion

Truthful Path

Location

Stildane

Related Species

• Kobold