Lords of Fire
The Lords of Fire are the rulers of The Gleaming City. They are enigmatic powers that rule across their dominion within a rigid code of honour, and a religious devotion to the survival of their city and to protect themselves from the retribution of their former masters.
Despite their moniker, the Lords are not demons wreathed in flames (although some do encourage this view amongst their worshippers). They each have their own diverse appearances dependent upon their whim, needs or the fashion at any time.
They cultivate strict subservience and obedience from their followers and protect their own wealth and power against any who may try to challenge it. Within this structure, they compete with each other for prestige, riches and the adulation of their followers.
The polite etiquette that governs the heirarchy and behaviours of the Lords is a veneer that hides the sometimes violent fury they exhibit when exercising their power against each other, or their common enemies.
Structure
The current Lords of Fire
As per the strict traditions of The Flaming Brand, there are only 21 Lords of Fire allowed at any time.Kelopi
Kyrroshi
Lechulka
Lerosis
Mallius
Porculso, the Builder
Ravac
Sethriti
Shimshak, the Unbending
Subrach
Thorith
Ukobis, the Peacemaker
Vantzeeli
Xekina
Changes in Lordships
Lordships can only be vacated upon the death of one of the 21 Lords. Death does not occur naturally, as the Lords do not age like mortal kin, but death of a Lord can occur in a number of ways.Death through duty
The Lord falls in battle during the defence of The Gleaming City or its interests. While seen as a tragic event, this is also seen as an honourable end.Death through dishonour
If a Lord breaks contract, or betrays the interests of The Gleaming City and The Flaming Brand, they are deemed a traitor, stripped of their powers by their peers and shamed publicly before being put to death.Death through challenge
A Lord may be honorably challenged by a mortal to a fight to the death. While rare, and most will fail, this has occured.Becoming a Lord
Even upon the death of a previous Lord, any aspirant must then undergo the dangerous rite known as God Tethering before they can rise to the rank of Lord. Moste recently this occured upon the untinely murder of Kholkosi. His successor, Impetine was originally a child of the Stonesky who rose in the ranks of the Merchantry of the Torrent before becoming a senior member of The Flaming Brand. When her former master, Kholkosi was murdered, she ascended to the rank of Lord through sponsorship, and by successfully undergoing her own God Tethering.History
The origins of the Lords of Fire are a closely guarded secret within the upper towers of The Gleaming City, and while many suspect, few know the full truth.
Thralls to the Elder Gods
The Lords of Fire began their age-long lives as Avatars of the Elder Gods. They were their foot soldiers against the New Divinity and the Eldarkin during the ancient Wars of Emancipation. At the conclusion of the wars, they were cut off from the world behind the Astral Sea with their masters and spent countless millenia subject to the wrath of their masters in the cold void of their prisons.Escape and incursion
During The Destruction, when the walls of Astral Sea were weakened, these Avatars found an escape into the world in an event that has become known as The Mortugurra Incursion. Thousands of avatars managed to escape during the turmoil and these set about exploring the world, hunting the terrified survivors of Destruction and adapting to the harsh environment they found themelves in. While most of the escaped Avatars devolved into wandering demons or abberations hidden in the dark places of the world, a few took a different path. These Avatars relished the heat and firey environments they found themselves in - so different from the frigid cold of their Astral prisons. To survive and keep their intelligence intact, the bonded with mortals they found that were stong enough to survive the joining, and became the first and greatest of the Devilkin. The Avatars gathered desperate kin to their banners, and fought amongst themselves for generations after the Incursion. Many died over these long years, as the planet's turmoil settled in the wake of Destruction and the Kin they ruled evolved into the many variations of Devilkin the world knows now.Unity and the founding
It was not until the discovery of the great rift at the heart of The Desolation of Ghul Drazul that the Avatars recognised a greater threat and united together to protect themselves against it. The three strongest of the Avatars brokered the First Contract, that they and all other Avatars were bound by. These three - Khonto, Golkan, and Kwazith - became the Holy Caldera and remain so to this day, and the First Contract set up the beliefs and structures that would guide and bind the Lords of Fire and their supporters over the thousands of years since. This signing of the First Contract occurred upon the banks of the Godswollen River, and the firt act of the newly united Lords of Fire was to begin building the greatest architectural feat the world of Shadowfire had seen since the Age of Excultancy. This was the founding of The Gleaming City.Worship
The Lords of Fire are themselves seen as demigods by their many followers across the expanses of Sunside, and within the order of the Flaming Brand they are subservient only to the Holy Caldera.
Their own sacred duty within the tenets of the Flaming Brand is to attract followers to worship them, and in turn pass the divine magics they collect onto their leaders in defence of the Gleaming City.
Each Lord will approach the form of this worship in any way they choose. This may range from fearful subservience, pious ritual, to exultant adulation, and even binding contracts. They have their own retinue of functionaries drawn from the towers of the High Wardens, whose role it is to manage the spread of doctrines, ephigies and other paraphanalia of the cults to their many followers across Shadowfire.
The worship received comes in the form of channeled desire into divine magics - leveraging the way Uhd - The Prime Duality powers magic and faith across Shadowfire. This power is drawn into the Lord's own Tethered Godling.
Type
Political, Family
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Official State Religion
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