K'Tyr
k’Tyr
Background and History k’Tyr is believed to be one of the oldest of Dragon’s religions, going back at least to the Time of Titans (nothing of Dragon’s history is known before the Time of Titans, but k’Tyr seems to pre-date both Il’Bleu and Draggoneth). Tyr is in fact a central figure in the Time of Titans; with her wish-granting power she ruled over it all, and kept granting the wishes in such a way as to insure the fighting and destruction would continue. To most people, Tyr is a Dark Goddess, the Goddess of Destruction and Strife. She is also known as the Queen of Vipers, and is the eternal rival of Bleu, Goddess of Wisdom and Justice. To her followers, though, Tyr is the Goddess of Plenty, a highly sexualized loving figure who will fulfill all your needs if you just do what she asks. Unlike some ‘evil’ religion, k’Tyr had the luxury of being ‘above ground’ for much of its history. The Tyr Temples were brothels, opium dens, and generally dens of sin. Anything you wanted could be had—for a price. Want the girl of your dreams? Kill your father. Short on money? Poison your neighbor’s crops. Long-lasting youth? Betray your best friend. Some Scandish Tsars (and some other rulers in Dragon) believed that the worship of Tyr wa san essential component in their rule by keeping the people somewhat placated with what they want. (The Draggoneth regimes in the southeast never believed this). However, the Tyreis became so numerous that eventually they were able to ally with demon-worshipping warlocks and depose the Tsar. Thus began the War of the Holy Coalition, in which the il’Bleu and the Draggoneth allied and eventually managed to destroy Tyr. She was resurrected later on, but destroyed again by the Light Dragon Ryu. She was brought back to life again with the power of Sai Krolis in the Great War, but, like all evil deities, was banished to the Place Which Is No More. As for her religion, it is the most zealously and brutally oppressed religion in Scande. There are no temples to Tyr left in the Web, and what Tyranids survive live in very free or very chaotic places, like Tasnica and Kupopolis.
Main Figures Tyr, Goddess of Destruction Strife, aka the Queen of Vipers, aka Goddess of Plenty. She appears just the way you would want her, but is most often portrayed as either a young (early teens) girl, or a giant, fearsome Dragon.
Beliefs and Tenets There are two main levels of beliefs in k’Tyr: those for the followers and those for the priesthood. For the followers, k’Tyr promotes a kind of unbounded hedonism: do whatever you want, and do whatever it takes to get what you want. For the priesthood, though, the ethos is somewhat more subtle: k’Tyr si about fulfilling people’s most destructive desires. K’Tyr seeks to build all that is strife-promoting and conflict-causing. K’Tyr wants a world at war, with everyone hating and distrusting everyone else. Tyr does not have much in the way of holy texts, as the ethics for the followers are self-evident, and the ethics for the priesthood are revealed truth in the Tyranid Initiation Rite. K’Tyr has an afterlife of eternal bliss, for those willing to commit acts heinous enough to get there. K’Tyr is unusual among the religions of Dragon in that it encourages people to promote and use magic.
Clergy and Places of Worship The places of worship were dens for all manner of sin; no longer are any standing in the Web. The clergy, like k”Tyr’s ‘light’ counterpart il’Bleu, is dominated by women. This is largely because men in ancient Dragon were always being used as fodder in some war or another. A priestess to Tyr is called a Tyranid, and were generally selected (sometimes, abducted) at puberty; they were almost as always chosen for their beauty. (Tyr found her work of dissension-sowing easy with beautiful women at her disposal). They spent several years going through Initiation Rites; of the rites, little is known, but what is known is that the full-fledged Tyranid emerged with strange powers. Perhaps the best-known of this is the Tyranids’ association with acid; a tyranid can not only spit acid, she has acid for blood (this is part of why the Red Stars’ weapon of choice was a blunt weapon). They were also noted for their seductiveness, leading modern researchers to conclude they had some degree of pheromone control. Tyranids also had a hotline to Tyr’s wish-granting power; they never could have their own wishes granted, but they were intermediaries between the goddess and her supplicants. (Since Tyr has been banished, this power no longer seems to function.) The Tyranids were Tyr’s machinators, they could call upon other minions when brute force was needed. The most famous of these was the Warrior of Dischord. A Tyranid would take an insane person (or make someone insane) and twist his lunacy inward, until all the Warrior of Discord wished to do was kill. Warriors of Dischord were also physically altered; they gained height and muscle mass, and spikes began to protrude from their skin. Their pain receptors no longer function. In wars the servants of Tyr would use the Warriors of Discord as living battering rams. Some of the most favored Tyranids would ascend to Gorgons, or Medusae, women with lizard lower halves and snakes for hair known for their ability to turn people into stone. Gorgons were Tyr’s high-level servitors; none are believed to still be alive.
