Malleus, The Crimson King
(a.k.a. Blood Red Warlord. Crowned Butcher.)
General Overview
Depiction:
Malleus is most often visualized as a towering figure clad in barbed crimson armor, face hidden beneath a helm of jagged iron resembling a crown of blades. His mantle flows like a banner soaked in dried blood, and his eyes glow with a simmering fury—twin embers of endless war. In murals or heretical iconography, he is shown standing atop a pile of broken weapons and bodies, one gauntleted hand grasping a massive greataxe or cleaver crowned with runes of wrath.
To his followers, he is the embodiment of divine carnage—order through conquest, reverence through domination. Even when unseen, his presence is felt in the rhythmic thunder of war drums, the crack of bone, or the quiet, seething rage before a battle begins.
Role in the Pantheon & Shadows of Sin
Within the Pantheon:
Malleus is a relatively new divine force, and though barred from temples of The Divine Accord, his influence is feared. His essence represents untempered Wrath, Bloodshed, and Murder, absorbed from the shattered god Kalenroth. He is not a creator, but a purifier by fire—a god of destructive purpose.
Within the Shadows of Sin:
Malleus serves as the blade and executioner of the triad. He is the most aggressive of the three, pushing for violent intervention when opportunity permits. Though he lacks the subtlety of Varena and the scheming foresight of Drallen, his raw power commands reverence. The Crimson King is the hammer to their scalpel.
Worship & Rituals
Worshippers of Malleus form militant cults or blood clans, often based in remote strongholds, war camps, or ruins reclaimed through violence. Some warriors of existing faiths turn to him in secret, offering blood before battle for strength or favor.
Common Rituals:
The Crimson Rite: A warrior offers blood—often their own, sometimes another's—onto a blackened altar or a blade before battle, reciting invocations promising slaughter in his name.
Feast of First Blood: Celebrated on the anniversary of Malleus’s emergence (21st day of Avurn in 454 AEL), cults host bloody contests, trials by combat, or executions. The “Feast” is usually metaphorical, a euphemism for the reveling that follows a purge.
The Crowned Duel: A challenge between two cult members for rank, leadership, or divine favor, fought bare-handed or with chosen weapons. The victor is said to be "crowned in wrath."
Myths & Legends
Though only 20 years have passed, mortal imagination has elevated Malleus’s legend:
The Siege of Red Hollow: A small hamlet razed during a civil uprising is claimed by Crowns of Sin fanatics to have been Malleus’s first miracle—his avatar allegedly walked the battlefield, slaying all who bore arms.
The Unyielding Blade: It is said a lone paladin once sought to challenge Malleus in the realm of dreams. The tale ends with the paladin waking in a pool of blood, weapon shattered, and lips sealed shut. Some claim this legend originated from within The Divine Accord’s own ranks.
Ashes of the High Priestess: A story says that Malleus turned a traitorous cultist to ash with a mere thought, proving no loyalty is beyond questioning. His wrath is not only external—it is purgation.
Relationships with Other Shadows of Sin
Varena, the Gilded Temptress: Though Malleus scorns her games and schemes, he respects the outcomes they yield—especially when her corruption provokes war. Their relationship is one of mutual disdain but strategic alignment.
Drallen, the Whispering Malice: Malleus and Drallen rarely cooperate. Malleus finds his manipulation cowardly, while Drallen views Malleus as a blunt tool. Yet together, betrayal followed by bloodshed often proves an effective combination. An uneasy, functional rivalry.
Relationships with Other Aeons
The Law Bearer: Anathema. Malleus exists to mock order and bring its walls crashing down.
The Night Mother: Tense neutrality. She created him—however indirectly—and remains the gatekeeper of death. He does not serve her, but he respects her power.
The Verdant Warden: Ideologically opposed. Life, balance, and growth are things Malleus believes are forged in trial and fire, not peace or harmony.
Lesser Aeons: Most shun or condemn Malleus openly. Noxara, the Shadow Maiden, is rumored to have once crossed paths with one of his followers and left a “scar upon his flame.” Ferrum, The Smith, condemns him as the god who builds nothing, only breaks.
Divine Domains
Clerics or warlocks aligned to Malleus may draw from the following domains:
War – Malleus thrives in the heart of combat. This domain empowers his most devout with divine fury in battle and grants clarity of purpose in warfare. Blood spilled in honorable combat or in the heat of vengeance is considered a sacred act.
Blood – This domain is tied to both the literal and symbolic meanings of blood—heritage, sacrifice, and violence. It fuels blood magic, martyrdom rites, and the rituals that bind warrior cults to Malleus. It is the divine wellspring from which his might flows.
Destruction – Focused on tearing down rather than building up, this domain empowers those who serve Malleus to dismantle the structures of power they deem false—cities, churches, hierarchies. It is not chaos for its own sake, but a purifying collapse before rebirth through blood.
Wrath – This is Malleus's core nature: righteous fury unleashed. Followers who channel this domain often enter berserker-like states, striking down foes with overwhelming rage. It represents passion, hatred, and the drive to rectify perceived injustice through violence.
Death – While not the steward of all death like Morthal, Malleus rules over violent ends—assassination, execution, martyrdom. Those who kill for vengeance or in the name of conquest are often said to walk in his shadow.
Artifacts
The Blood Crown: A legendary helm forged with blood-soaked Dark Aetherite, turning it a deep crimson hue. It is said that a warlord who dons this crown and survives three blood duels in Malleus’s name becomes an unstoppable avatar of his fury—though none have survived the third.
Crimson Reaver: A massive greataxe forged in the aftermath of Kalenroth’s shattering, quenched in the blood of fallen arbiters. Said to pulse with rhythmic echoes of battle, this weapon hungers for violent resolution. Wielders claim to hear Malleus’s voice guiding their swings—demanding greater sacrifice with each victory.
Holy Books & Codes
Scripture of the Crowned Wrath (fragmented): A collection of war cries, chants, and ritual instructions believed to be dictated through Malach Soreth or the Crimson Seers. Few copies exist, handwritten in blood or ash-ink.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Primary Symbol:
- A crown formed of jagged blades with blood dripping from its points. Often branded, carved, or burned into weapons and armor.
- A downward-pointing axe embedded in a cracked shield, wrapped in thorns or chains.
- A bloodied gauntlet clenched around a sword hilt, with crimson mist drifting upward.
- A flame-wreathed helm resting upon a pile of bones, often etched in rusted steel.
- Three intersecting scars slashed across a crimson circle, symbolizing sacrifice, battle, and pain.
Tenets of Faith
- Blood is the highest offering. Spilled in devotion or combat, blood is the sacred tithe that honors Malleus. Whether it flows from friend, foe, or self, its presence sanctifies ground and steel alike.
- Mercy is the lie of the weak. Compassion is seen as cowardice masquerading as virtue. Strength thrives when sentiment is severed. Malleus teaches that sparing an enemy today guarantees betrayal tomorrow.
- Your wrath is holy—let it be your guide. Anger is not a flaw but a divine compass. Righteous fury, unburdened by hesitation, is the purest path to truth and triumph.
- To die in conquest is to live in eternity. Followers believe that those who perish while seizing power or victory are elevated beyond death, their names inscribed upon Malleus’s eternal battlefield in the afterlife.
- Only through violence may peace be earned. Peace is not a gift—it is a conquest. Only when all threats are silenced can stability reign. Negotiation is weakness; resolution lies in strength of arms.
- Chains are broken on the anvil of war. Oppression is cast off not with words, but with blades. Through open rebellion, violent uprising, or honorable combat, liberation is achieved—and blessed.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Malleus, unlike the more patient or calculating gods, craves immediacy in his divine impact. His ambitions are simple but cataclysmic: to drown the world in glorious strife, where only the strongest survive and the weak are culled through sacred combat. He seeks to unmake the false peace he views as the coward's illusion—a stagnant lie that suppresses potential.
Erode Institutional Power – Malleus aims to destabilize governments, temples, and orders that maintain societal balance through law or diplomacy. Through chaos, his followers pave the way for “truth through might.”
Sanctify Conflict – The Crimson King wishes to transform all war into holy war. He pushes mortals to embrace battle not as failure of peace, but as a divine rite of passage. Wherever Malleus’s name is invoked, blood must flow.
Fuel Endless Strife – He does not seek victory in the traditional sense. Eternal conflict—new rebellions, rival warlords, uprisings—is his vision of a thriving world.
Reclaim Divine Respect – Among the Aeons, Malleus is scorned. His long-term goal is to force the pantheon to acknowledge the validity of his doctrine—by proving that in the end, it is violence that decides history.
Perfect the Avatar of Wrath – Through trials, wars, and purges, Malleus awaits the emergence of a perfect vessel—one mortal who can fully embody his will without restraint. Whether warlord, knight, or outcast, they will become the living Crown of Blood.
