[Information] History of the Cult of the Dragon

[realbrit70]

The book describes the history of the Cult of the Dragon, from it's foundation as a small cult based in the city of Halspar where greedy merchants came together to worship her aspects of avarice and wealth to the rise of Xilenos, the first priest-mage of Tiamat, and his vision of the subjugation of the world.

Before Xilenos rose to power the Cult was minor in form and function. Limited to a number of unscrupulous merchants in Halspar, their activities centered around avoiding taxes, duping their customers and gathering what wealth they could unto themselves. They worshiped Tiamat, asking her to bring them wealth and opportunity. Her response was to bring them Xilenos.

The book does not detail Xilenos origins, just mentions that he rose to power from within the cult to become the first fully fledged priest of Tiamat associated with the cult. It details how Xilenos expanded the power of the cult throughout the city and then throughout the realm of Fayvar. Preying on the weak and recruiting the immoral the power of the cult grew swiftly on the back on Xilenos' promises of a new time to come. Xilenos preached the coming of a new dawn when Tiamat would walk the earth and those faithful to her and able to venerate her with wealth and gifts would survive while those without would die.

According to the book Xilenos had been given the secrets of a powerful ritual which woudl open a gate to a Fane in the Astral Sea and allow Tiamat and her legions to enter this mortal world. The faithful were encouraged to seek out the items required to perform the ritual and promised great rewards for their return. Xilenos threw himself into the preparations for the ritual, researching mighty magics and preparing all sorts of ritual components.

At this time the book reveals that a traitor, one who wanted the power Xilenos possessed and wished to replace him as envoy to the Dragon Queen, sold out Xilenos and the cult to the followers of Bahamut. The book does not name the traitor but simply refers to them as such. The result of the treachery was a devastating attack on the cult headquarters in Halspar. In the heat of the battle Xilenos was destroyed by the combined forces of the leader of the followers of Bahamut and the traitor, yet Xilenos' fervor is such that he kills the traitor and seriously injures the Bahamutian leader allowing several of the cultists to escape carrying the most important items for the ritual with them.

The final chapters of the book cover the flight of the cult members from the forces of Bahamut and their time moving from place to place trying to find respite enough to continue the ritual. The book ends with the last members of the cult heading over the Inland Sea and setting up a small monastery close to the dwarven town of Hammerdown.