Kal-Ithir

**Kal-Ithir**, also known as the Dark One and the Bringer of the Long Night of Endless Horror, is the ultimate personification of evil and suffering in the universe. Older than the stars, it is said that Kal-Ithir was present at the very creation of the universe - indeed, Ithirian cultists claim Kal-Ithir created the universe, and is entitled thereby to destroy it.

## History

Kal-Ithir was worshipped back on the World That Was - indeed, in very much the manner He is today, by secret proscribed cults, meeting in shadowed places to perform unholy rites under certain sentence of death if caught.

On the World That Was, a powerful figure now known only as the Risen Commoner worked for many years to bring to pass the Rite of Calling. He was not the first to attempt it, but he was cunning and clever, and many of his plots and schemes were successful before his efforts to construct the Candle of Souls drew the attention of the world's churches and governments. After much political disunity, a band of mighty heroes were dispatched to the Risen Commoner's fortress-monastery at the Edge of the World. Fighting their way past guardians, traps, and all the cunning machinations of their foe, the heroes finally broke their way into the sacrificial chamber - eighteen minutes too late. The Candle had gone out, the Risen Commoner and his acolytes were dead, and Kal-Ithir had been summoned.

Nothing could stop the process. Kal-Ithir returned, and with his powers restored ushered in the Long Night of Endless Horror. The sun blazed red and started to shrink, a process that would take centuries but could not be stopped. With the eternal perspective of the gods, Kal-Ithir was prepared to wait for the star to be consumed and the souls of the dead available for his consumption.

The population instead used the time to build the Ship and send off at least a tiny portion of their population to survive, and Kal-Ithir was too busy consuming the system the Ship left behind to pursue. By the time the Dark One realised what was happening, the Ship was too far away for him to follow. Now he lingers amid the dead, waiting for his faithful to Call him to the Ship, that he might finish his dread purpose.

## Dogma

The philosophy of the cultists of Kal-Ithir is simple, if deranged. The basic assumption, which drives all their philosophy, is that the victory of Kal-Ithir is inevitable. Since it is inevitable, the choice is simply if one wishes to die fast or slow. Cultists generally prefer fast - they believe that their loyal service will earn them quick and painless deaths, as opposed to the slow, lingering ones of those who defy the Dark One. Cultists of Kal-Ithir therefore do not fear death, and have no remorse about inflicting it on others - after all, even a torturous death at the hands of his cultists is quick and painless compared to what Kal-Ithir will do to them otherwise.

## Temples

It is commonly - but inaccurately - said that there are no temples to Kal-Ithir. Certainly there are no publicly-known temples, but powerful, deranged cultists of the Dark One have constructed huge facilities to try and carry out the Rite of Calling. Since these structures are often large and remote, crusaders are generally happy to slaughter the cultists, free or execute any sacrificial victims, and conceal the entrances, rather than commit years of work to full-scale demolition. Rumours abound regarding the vast treasures lost in such structures.

## Cultists

"Cultist" is the general term for any worshipper of Kal-Ithir, although this term can cover a huge range of possibilities. One significant group of Ithirian cultists are liches - unlike Thyrm, Kal-Ithir does not forbid lichdom among his acolytes, and indeed encourages the most powerful of his followers to pursue such a course. One Ithirian theological school propounds that liches, and the undead generally, are not consumed by Kal-Ithir and therefore can follow him without fear, making their devotion more powerful.

Ithirian cultists tend towards isolation and sophisticated cover-ups of their true devotion, since Ithirian worship is punished by sudden, instant and even immediate death. Most are well-known (if fraudulent) worshippers of other deities, and some even rise to the clergy of those churches, which habit prompts ruthless internal pogroms when Ithirian cells are discovered and annihilated. Even an allegation of Ithirian sympathies can be fatal.

While Kal-Ithir has no direct influence on the Ship, his cultists are encouraged to support, protect and shield each other, which means that one powerful cultist can quickly surround himself with others, like a cancer growing inside a healthy body. Even non-Ithirians, who happen to work closely with a revealed cultist, can find themselves under deep suspicion, and for this reason many such people become cultists themselves out of self-preservation.

Ithirian cults tend to have a strict internal hierarchy, reflecting the increased powers granted by their dread patron.

### Postulant

The lowest rank of Ithirian, postulants are the newest members of the cult, and by far the most expendable. Postulants who manage to avoid ritual sacrifice are likely to find themselves used as scapegoats if paladins get too close, or left behind as a rearguard if the cult headquarters are ransacked, or fed to the cult cell leader's pet owlbear if the food runs short. Only the bravest, most cunning, and most ruthless survive.

### Acolyte

Acolytes have performed terrible rituals, and given their souls up unto Kal-Ithir. They recieve some token of the Dark One's approval - usually some minor magical power - and have the power of life and death over mere postulants. Acolytes usually have an identifying symbol marked somewhere on their bodies - the symbol varies based on the specifics of the cult in question.

### Priest

Individual cells of the Ithirian cult are lead by priests, a catch-all term for clerics of the Dark One. Priests of Kal-Ithir have been part of the cult for several years, and have sworn dreadful oaths and performed profane rituals to bind their souls to the Watcher In The Night. Priests have near-total authority over their cells, and many priests choose to avoid direct action in the service of Kal-Ithir in order to preserve their little flock and continue enjoying the perquisites of their position. There are between two and three hundred priests of Kal-Ithir on the Ship at any one time.

Priests, unlike the lower orders, do not work together. Priests have no internal ranking, and nobody who has survived the ruthlessly competitive environment of the Ithirian cult is inclined to take orders from anyone. It is not unusual for an Ithirian cell's greatest threat to be another Ithirian cell, rather than paladin-led crusades.

### Arch-priest

Every cell leader reports to the arch-priest. Rumours abound as to how many arch-priests there are - more than one, probably; less than ten, probably. The identities of the arch-priests, and the manner in which they identify themselves as arch-priests to their underlings, are very closely-held secrets and appear to vary widely anyway. An arch-priest of Kal-Ithir is very powerful, very evil, and very, very ambitious. If the arch-priests themselves have a superior to whom they report, no evidence of that individual has ever come to light.

## Scratch a cultist, find an Ithirian

This is the philosophy advanced by many non-Ithirian church leaders - all cults, they say, are vulnerable to infiltration and subversion by Ithirians, who find the cult mindset very suitable for their needs. Moreover, it is proposed that the terrible punishments awaiting any who consort with Ithirian cultists means that, once a cult has been infiltrated and subverted, even revealing the subversion will not resolve matters, since the cultists now have no choice but to go along with their subversion or face death as a consequence for consorting, however unknowingly, with an Ithirian - and in a cult, no less.

Occasionally, a senior cleric will raise this issue and propose a less-rigourous application of the "universal death" policy. Unfortunately, most clerics who propose this are found shortly thereafter to be Ithirian cultists, so it's never really gotten off the ground.