Xandrelith

## Description

The precursor of dragonkin and the tyrannical ruler over all dragonkin, Xandrelith was the one that breathed life into all of dragonkin and their kin. Ever the covetous deity, she seeks to amass ever greater riches to her already staggering hoard, chief among them is knowledge- be it sacred texts, important secrets, long thought dead practices and non-widespread findings. Whispering into the ears of scholars in a feeble attempt to bring them to her side or actively sending out dragonkin to steal knowledge for her own grubby claws to hoard onto. She views the dragons and their subraces as the dominant races of the world, and seeks to bring order to the world through ruling over the "lesser races" as they call them. Only through her knowledge and her rule, does she believe that the world truly obtains peace.

A seeker of Knowledge, Xandrelith aims to horde all the knowledge she can get her claws on. She views the Dragons and their sub races as the dominant races of the world, and seeks to bring Order to the world through ruling over the "lesser races" as they call them. She believes that only through her knowledge and rule can the world truly obtain peace.

## History

It is unknown when or how the religion of Xandrelith first began, most believe that the religion is as old as dragons themselves, and if dragonkin knows the origin of it, they aren't forthcoming with that information.

Some believe that it began from various tribes of kobolds and it spread from one to another, peculiarly some archeological finds depict Xandrelith as more hydra-like than her more contemporary depiction, having a head for what is assumed every color of all chromatic and Metallic dragons, and found itself spreading and popularized to what we see today.

Others believe that Xandrelith used to be a particularly powerful Red dragon that found a way to become a deity, this is believed because her Avatars are Red Metallic Dragons and it stands to reason that she would make her avatars in her image.

Regardless of what the truth is, it is shrouded in mystery.

In the years following Xandrelith’s rule over dragonkin, a mass of dragons started to arise that doubted the words of the goddess and sought out freedom out of the goddess’ influence. Led by Typhon, ruler of the First Great Dragons, led an assault against Xandrelith and dragonkin that still remained loyal to her, which later would be known as the Great Dragon War. The war over dragonkin lasted many years and had thousands of casualties on both fronts, with it only ending when Typhon fatality wounded Xandrelith’s Champion with the help of the other Great Dragons. Her champion was forced to flee from the Prime Material and recuperate somewhere else within the depths of the world.

In the aftermath of the Great Dragon War, those that rebelled against Xandrelith feared that she and her followers would one may day return and preside once more over dragonkin so many of them decided to flee from the Prime Material and reside within other planes of existence to hide from the dragon goddess and her followers. Those that fled to Elemental Planes would later become known as the Gem Dragons. Those that fled to the Outer Realms would later become known as the Planar Dragons. Those that remained upon the Prime Material would later become known as the Metallic Dragons, becoming sentinels over dragonkin against the forces of Xandrelith and her remaining loyal followers.

Historically, the following of Xandrelith as been particularly popular in Vrachódis and the northern parts of Stoneleaf, particularly around the Spear of the Gods; the former due to the overwhelming presence of dragonkin and the claim that it was the cradle of where the religion spawned, and the latter for the strange presence of the dragons that chose to make the mountain their home.

It's rumored that Xandrelith ‘helped’ in the construction of the Cursed Archives, having whispered into the ears of the founder of the Archives over many years in an attempt to create a sanctuary to hoard vast quantities of forbidden tomes on magic.

## Worship and Rituals

The worship of Xandrelith as one might expect is sacrificial in nature, one must sacrifice valuables to her be it of worldly value or of unworldly value, this is done in a ritualistic fashion where the person who is making the sacrifice must walk to a large burning brazier that is overlooked by a gilded dragon head located in the center of the temple and announce aloud what they intend to sacrifice, whatever it is must be visible for all to see after which they must walk up to the brazier and toss whatever it is into it, however the particular one of a kind items such as sacred texts for example, require a vetting process by the a cleric of sufficient standing within the clergy of Xandrelith to confirm the veracity of such an item, if it found that the item confirmed to be of such value the item is returned to the person and is to be sacrificed at its return, those do such a feat are offered formal training in priesthood and are more often than not blessed by Xandrelith herself regardless of whether or not they accept priesthood; on the other hand if the item in question is found lacking the person is reprimanded for wasting the time of a member of high status in the clergy and repeated offenses can result in excommunication.

The fire that lights the brazier is magical in nature, whatever it touches will quickly start melting away, this includes items that would normally be immune to fire, this fire is immune to magical effects that would attempt to manipulate it. The process to acquire this magical fire can only be described as suicidal at best, the temple that wishes to gain this fire must first and locate a Red metallic dragon, then they must  carry a large brazier to said metallic dragon and beseech it to grant him his fire for their rituals, if the dragon for whatever reason finds them unworthy of it, their fates are sealed and they are burned alive by its fire. If it does however give them the fire they have to take the fire all the way to the temple all while trying not to drop the brazier or setting a forest on fire.

As it comes to funeral rites for those belonging to this religion, the person in question will first be cremated and then the ashes are place into an urn, after which a member of their family (or a member of the temple if they lack any family) must throw the urn into the brazier of the temple along with all their worldly values, so that once they reach Xandrelith she can assess their value to her and acquire a better afterlife in her domain.

## Folklore and Stories

There are many tales revolving around Dragonkind, many of them are cautionary tales or romanticized.

One such tales is: “The Fable of Rokmir the Great Kobold” - this tale follows the titular Kobold’s life on an unknown island, and it begins when he attempts to bargain with the dragon goddess, his offer would be that in return for a blade that would allow him to rise to greatness and elevate his kind he would give her ever increasing treasures the reason is that on that island Kobolds where prey to many of other beasts that roamed the Island, she would grant him such a blade, and true to her word such a blade would be of such power that he and his tribe managed to conquer the Island and over time, established what is said to be the first ever Kobold kingdom, and for a while everything was fine they the kingdom prospered and was safe, however one day the bargain brokerd with Xandrelith became to much to  pay, and the day that happened it was a black day for that Island, the sky darkened and thunder boomed as a Gargantuan scaled claw crushed the Island and plummeted the kingdom into the ocean its location lost to time, the kingdom and the blade remain undiscovered to this day and it is uncertain that they ever existed in the first place.

   Another popular fable is that of “Virkala the imprisoned”: it is said that there once existed a dragoness that claimed to be far more powerful than Xandrelith and that if she could not protect her hoard it should be taken, the dragonnesse true to her hubris decided to loot temples belonging to Xandrelith incurring the wrath of the Broodmother of Dragonkind and so she was cursed with immortality and an insatiable greed for a crown inside Atijour Mountains located in Draeton, and once this crow was within inches of her grasp chains made of magma reached out and imprisoned her inside the mountains, it is believed that to this day she trashes and spews fire in her seething rage, the object of her desire always remaining out of reach in an eternity of unfulfilled desire.